MassachusettsThe Josiah Day House at 70 Park Street in West Springfield is believed to be the only existing unaltered brick saltbox house in the country and is the oldest brick building in Hampden County, built in 1754 according to a dated brick set in its east wall. The two-story brick main section, three bays wide with a central slightly recessed doorway, central clustered chimney, and integral saltbox roofline, retains much of its original interior, including butterfly and H hinges, interior shutters, five fireplaces, late-17th-century vertical linenfold sheathing in the kitchen, and eighteenth-century raised paneling. It was built by Josiah Day, grandson of Thomas Day, one of the first settlers to receive land grants west of the Connecticut River, and Josiah co-signed the 1770 petition to separate West Springfield from Springfield. The Day family occupied the house for over 150 years, and it is now operated as a house museum with period rooms and historical exhibits. Listed in the National Register in 1975 as a significant example of mid-eighteenth-century New England vernacular architecture.
Day, Josiah House
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Day, Josiah House is a landmark in West Springfield, Hampden County. It is one of 3,654 landmarks documented in Hampden County, among 3,815 historic sites cataloged across the county on MassRoam.
The site sits at 42.1070, -72.6183 near West Springfield. The nearest cataloged historic site is Hessian Encampment Marker (historical marker), about under a tenth of a mile away. Others within a short drive include Knox Trail Marker, West Springfield First Congregational Church, and West Springfield Schoolhouse Marker.
This record is drawn from public historical records. Use the map below for its exact position and turn-by-turn directions.
The Josiah Day House at 70 Park Street in West Springfield was built about 1754 and is believed to be the oldest surviving brick saltbox house in the United States. The 2.5-story brick building has a side-gable roof that sweeps down to a single story at the rear, giving it the classic saltbox profile. It is the oldest building in West Springfield and probably the oldest brick building in Hampden County. Descendants of the builder sold it to the local historical society, which opened it as a museum in 1903, and it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1975.
Sources: en.wikipedia.org
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