Tour America's History: Mark Twain House and Museum

Monday, August 27, 2012

Mark Twain House and Museum

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Visit our Tour Destination: Connecticut page to see the entire tour of the state’s Save America’s Treasures sites.

The Mark Twain House in Hartford, CT.
Credit: John Groo for The Mark Twain House & Museum.

The Mark Twain House & Museum

351 Farmington Avenue

Hartford, CT

Website: The Mark Twain House & Museum

The Treasure: This is the house where Mark Twain wrote Adventures of Huckleberry Finn—and lots more, too.

Accessibility: For most of the year, the Mark Twain House and Museum is open Monday through Saturday from 9:30 to 5:30 and Sunday from noon to 5:30. From January through March, the site is closed on Tuesdays.

Mark Twain in 1907.
Image courtesy of The Mark Twain
House & Museum.

Background: Samuel Clemens, better known by his pseudonym Mark Twain, moved into his Hartford home along with his wife Olivia “Livy” Clemens in 1874 and remained there until 1891. It was to be the happiest and most productive period of the sharp-tongued author’s life. While ensconced in his private study on the top floor, he wrote and published The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, Life on the Mississippi, The Prince and the Pauper, A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court, and (perhaps most famously) Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.

For a total of 17 years, this house served as home to the author, his wife Livy, and their three daughters. During that time, Twain’s taste for new technology quietly altered the space, including the introduction of an early telephone in the kitchen. Of all the places he lived during his life, this one was certainly his favorite.

The couple engaged New York architect Edward Tuckerman Potter to design an ambitiously large house which they paid for with Twain’s earnings from his books as well as Livy’s significant inheritance. The house follows a Victorian Gothic Revival architectural style, including a steeply-pitched roof and an asymmetrical bay window. At the time of its completion, the house cost between $40,000 to $45,000 dollars—a considerable sum for the time. Still, Twain didn’t mind. According to him, his Hartford house was “a home, and the word never had so much meaning before.”

The Mark Twain House -- the Clemens family on the porch.
Photo courtesy of The Mark Twain House & Museum.

Notes from the Editor: Mark Twain is a favorite author of mine to the degree that one of my most frequently-worn shirts bears a quote of his: “Those who don’t read have no advantage over those who can’t.” His genius found no subject too sacred to comment upon, and his own words remain the best way to capture his personality.

Here are some of my favorite Mark Twain quotes:

“It were not best that we should all think alike; it is difference of opinion that makes horse-races.”

“Life does not consist mainly—or even largely—of facts and happenings. It consists mainly of the storm of thoughts that is forever blowing through one's head.”

“There is a charm about the forbidden that makes it unspeakably desirable.”

Twain thought quite a bit about how “thinking” itself works, and he questioned everything. His incisively witty descriptions of his 19th century surroundings invariably succeeded in capturing distinct times and places while reflecting universal truths. As he once pointed out, the call of “Mark Twain” on a steamboat was one that could always be relied upon—and he upheld that same standard in his writings.

The Mark Twain House -- The Dining Room.
Credit: John Groo for The Mark Twain House & Museum.

The Mark Twain House -- The Billiard Room.
Credit: John Groo for The Mark Twain House & Museum.

Other Recommended Sites: The Mark Twain Library in Redding, CT takes pride in its roots in Twain’s generosity. He was one of the founders of the library and donated a large collection of books to start them out. There are artifacts associated with Twain in the library and notable Twain quotes line the walls.

Mark Twain grew up on the banks of the Mississippi River in Hannibal, Missouri, where you can visit the Mark Twain Boyhood Home & Museum, explore the river on a Mark Twain Riverboat, and descend into the Mark Twain Cave Complex that inspired the memorable climax of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer.