LandmarkWing Fort House
Sandwich · Barnstable County
The places that make Massachusetts, Massachusetts.
The Story
The Wing Fort House on Spring Hill Road in East Sandwich incorporates a one-over-one room 'fort' built shortly before 1641, when Stephen Wing bought it; it is among the oldest structures extant in New England. Around the mid-18th century the house was more than doubled in size by moving and joining a second dwelling (built c. 1700), giving it its present two-story, four-bay, center-chimney form with 18th-century paneling. The house is significant architecturally and historically, and for having remained in the Wing family since 1641; it is now operated as a museum by the Wing Family of America.
About this site
Wing Fort House is a landmark in Sandwich, Barnstable County. It is one of 6,558 landmarks documented in Barnstable County, among 6,897 historic sites cataloged across the county on MassRoam.
The site sits at 41.7508, -70.4638 near Sandwich. The nearest cataloged historic site is Wing, Frank Everett Memorial (historical marker), about under a tenth of a mile away. Others within a short drive include Wing Family Monument, House at 62 Spring Hill Rd, and House at 57 Spring Hill Rd.
This record is drawn from public historical records. Use the map below for its exact position and turn-by-turn directions.
History
The Wing Fort House at 69 Spring Hill Road in East Sandwich was built in the 17th century and is recognized as the oldest home in New England continuously owned by the same family. Stephen Wing acquired the homestead around the time of his marriage in the 1640s, and his descendants occupied the saltbox-style house until 1942, when the last resident sold it to the Wing Family of America, Inc. Now operated as a museum, the house was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1976.
Sources: en.wikipedia.orgwingfamily.org
Massachusetts