Mark Twain House and Museum

Mark Twain built this historic home in 1874 in the Victorian Gothic style and it took about a year to complete. Other notable writers lived in the neighborhood, including Harriet Beecher Stowe, the author of Uncle Tom's Cabin, who lived next door (her house is now The Harriet Beecher Stowe Center). Twain wrote several of his famous novels here, including The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. The home is now a museum and adjacent to a new museum built in 2003. The house was named as a National Historic Landmark in 1962 and listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1966.

Mark Twain, whose first name was Samuel Longhorn Clemens, and his wife moved to Hartford in the early 1870s. Twain had lived in many places previously, most notably Hannibal, Missouri where he grew up and which inspired many of his writings. They liked the town so much they decided to build a permanent home, which they were able to do from the proceeds of Twain's writings. Harriet Beecher Stowe visited the house often to play the piano and she also designed the conservatory. The family had to move to Europe after Twain got into serious financial trouble and after one of his daughters passed away; they never returned to the house.

Another family owned the house for a number of years and it was later a boys school. The local community saved it from demolition in 1929 and the Hartford Library opened a small branch in it. One of the rooms became a small museum. Enough funds were raised by the early 1950s and the house was restored in 1955. 

Schroer, Blanche, H. "Mark Twain House", National Register of Historic Places. 8-15-66. https://www.marktwainhouse.org/house/history.php