Literary Connecticut
Two legendary names in 19th-century American literature -- Mark Twain, pen name for Samuel Clemens, and Harriett Beecher Stowe -- lived and worked in Connecticut. The homes and workplaces where they did their history-changing work are open for visits by the public in the capital city of Hartford.
Mark Twain/Samuel Clemens (1835-1910)
A prolific journalist, fiction writer, essayist, and lecturer, Samuel Clemens enjoyed a life that spanned enormous changes in America. Born in Missouri during the presidency of Andrew Jackson, Clemens traveled the world and died a decade before World War I. In 1874, Clemens’s lavish, 19-room house on Farmington Avenue in Hartford was completed. The couple and their three daughters lived on Farmington Avenue until 1891. Here, Clemens wrote The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, Life on the Mississippi, The Prince and the Pauper, A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court, and Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.
Harriet Beecher Stowe House and Library
77 Forest Street
Hartford, CT
Phone: 860-522-9258
Hours: Open year-round. Mondays from Memorial Day to Columbus Day and the month of December 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.; Tuesday through Saturday all year, 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.; Sunda,y noon to 4:30 p.m.
This historic site includes a Visitor Center that occupies a carriage house built in 1873, a museum shop, the Harriet Beecher Stowe House, which is open for tours, and the Katharine Seymour Day House. A tour of the Stowe House provides an intimate glimpse into the life of the author of Uncle Tom’s Cabin. The Day House offers magnificent interiors with changing exhibits and a research library. Guided tours.
Mark Twain House & Museum
351 Farmington Avenue
Hartford, CT
Phone: 860-247-0998
Hours: Monday-Saturday, 9:30 a.m.-5:30 p.m.; Sunday, noon-5:30 p.m.; closed Tuesdays January to April.
Whimsical and full of odd details and flourishes, the Mark Twain house, where the family lived from 1874 to 1891, was designed by architect Edward Tuckerman Potter. The 19-room house is light-hearted and unpredictable. It has many different levels and asymmetrical gables. Chimneys and towers jut from broad, sweeping roof lines Many styles from distant cultures are presented in pattern, texture, and color. An eclectic taste combines northern Africa, Asian, and Indian images. Admission is by guided tour only. Visitors should allow at least two hours for the tour and a visit to the museum. Free parking.
Mark Twain/Samuel Clemens (1835-1910)A prolific journalist, fiction writer, essayist, and lecturer, Samuel Clemens enjoyed a life that spanned enormous changes in America. Born in Missouri during the presidency of Andrew Jackson, Clemens traveled the world and died a decade before World War I. In 1874, Clemens’s lavish, 19-room house on Farmington Avenue in Hartford was completed. The couple and their three daughters lived on Farmington Avenue until 1891. Here, Clemens wrote The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, Life on the Mississippi, The Prince and the Pauper, A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court, and Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.
Harriet Beecher Stowe House and Library77 Forest Street
Hartford, CT
Phone: 860-522-9258
Hours: Open year-round. Mondays from Memorial Day to Columbus Day and the month of December 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.; Tuesday through Saturday all year, 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.; Sunda,y noon to 4:30 p.m.
This historic site includes a Visitor Center that occupies a carriage house built in 1873, a museum shop, the Harriet Beecher Stowe House, which is open for tours, and the Katharine Seymour Day House. A tour of the Stowe House provides an intimate glimpse into the life of the author of Uncle Tom’s Cabin. The Day House offers magnificent interiors with changing exhibits and a research library. Guided tours.
Mark Twain House & Museum351 Farmington Avenue
Hartford, CT
Phone: 860-247-0998
Hours: Monday-Saturday, 9:30 a.m.-5:30 p.m.; Sunday, noon-5:30 p.m.; closed Tuesdays January to April.
Whimsical and full of odd details and flourishes, the Mark Twain house, where the family lived from 1874 to 1891, was designed by architect Edward Tuckerman Potter. The 19-room house is light-hearted and unpredictable. It has many different levels and asymmetrical gables. Chimneys and towers jut from broad, sweeping roof lines Many styles from distant cultures are presented in pattern, texture, and color. An eclectic taste combines northern Africa, Asian, and Indian images. Admission is by guided tour only. Visitors should allow at least two hours for the tour and a visit to the museum. Free parking.