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The Justin Smith Morrill Homestead is the historic
The main construction phase of the house was between 1848 and 1851, and was personally overseen by Justin Morrill to his own design. Its year of completion was also the year of Morrill's marriage to Ruth Barrell Swan, with whom he had two children. Morrill primarily used the house as a summer residence, as a spent much of his time in
Friends of Morrill Homestead
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Morrill, Justin Smith, Homestead National Historic Landmarks in Vermont Carpenter Gothic architecture in Vermont Carpenter Gothic houses in the United States Historic American Buildings Survey in Vermont Historic house museums in Vermont Houses completed in 1855 Houses in Orange County, Vermont Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in Vermont Museums in Orange County, Vermont Organizations based in Vermont Vermont State Historic Sites National Register of Historic Places in Orange County, Vermont Individually listed contributing properties to historic districts on the National Register in Vermont Buildings and structures in Strafford, Vermont 1855 establishments in Vermont
Carpenter Gothic
Carpenter Gothic, also sometimes called Carpenter's Gothic or Rural Gothic, is a North American architectural style-designation for an application of Gothic Revival architecture, Gothic Revival architectural detailing and picturesque massin ...
home of United States Senator
The United States Senate consists of 100 members, two from each of the 50 U.S. state, states. This list includes all senators serving in the 119th United States Congress.
Party affiliation
Independent Senators Angus King of Maine and Berni ...
Justin Smith Morrill
Justin Smith Morrill (April 14, 1810December 28, 1898) was an American politician and entrepreneur who represented Vermont in the United States House of Representatives (1855–1867) and United States Senate (1867–1898). He is most widely reme ...
(1810–98) in Strafford, Vermont
Strafford is a town in Orange County, Vermont, United States. The population was 1,094 at the 2020 census. The town of Strafford was created on August 12, 1761, by way of a royal charter which King George III of Great Britain issued to Govern ...
, and was one of the first declared National Historic Landmark
A National Historic Landmark (NHL) is a National Register of Historic Places property types, building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the Federal government of the United States, United States government f ...
s, in 1960. and It is located at 214 Justin Morrill Highway, south of the village green of Strafford. The homestead is a Vermont State Historic Site owned by the Vermont Division for Historic Preservation, a state agency, and is open for tours from May to October.
Description and history
The Morrill Homestead is set on of land on the east side of Justin Morrill Memorial Highway, just south of the village green and the heart of Strafford Village. The property includes, in addition to the main house, several barns and sheds as outbuildings, and is set off from the road by a flush-boarded fence with granite posts, all painted a reddish color. The main house is a rambling -story wood-frame structure, set on a brick foundation. The walls are finished in flushboarding, and it has a steeply-pitched slate roof. Portions of the roof are decorated with vergeboard, finials, and crenellated parapets. The interior features elaborate mahogany woodwork, and is predominantly Gothic Revival in character (matching the building's exterior), although the main parlor is more Greek Revival in character. Original furnishings and Morrill family possessions remain in the house, from the furniture to linens and kitchen implements. The interior walls have seen only minimal alterations, which have generally been limited to maintenance such as new coats of paint. Exterior alterations are similarly modest, including the replacement of rotted trim elements with matching materials.
The main construction phase of the house was between 1848 and 1851, and was personally overseen by Justin Morrill to his own design. Its year of completion was also the year of Morrill's marriage to Ruth Barrell Swan, with whom he had two children. Morrill primarily used the house as a summer residence, as a spent much of his time in Washington, DC
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and Federal district of the United States, federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from ...
, where he died in 1898. The property remained in the Morrill family, with little alteration, until World War II
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
, when the property was sold to a concern planning to establish a boarding school. This plan was quickly shelved, and the house was then acquired by preservationists, who sold it to the state in 1969.
Morrill's primary legacy to the nation consists of two landmark pieces of legislation, both bearing his name. The Morrill Land-Grant Acts
The Morrill Land-Grant Acts are United States statutes that allowed for the creation of land-grant colleges in U.S. states using the proceeds from sales of federally owned land, often obtained from Native American tribes through treaty, cessi ...
of 1862 and 1890 respective established and expanded on the concept of the land-grant university
A land-grant university (also called land-grant college or land-grant institution) is an institution of higher education in the United States designated by a state to receive the benefits of the Morrill Land-Grant Acts, Morrill Acts of 1862 and ...
, by which the federal government gave land (and in the 1890 act, funding) to the states for the establishment of universities. These acts made possible the establishment of a significant number of state-run universities, as well as a few private schools that were contracted to the state to fulfill the requirements needed to receive the federal grants.
Other significant accomplishments by Morrill during his long tenure in Congress include seeing through the completion of the Washington Monument
The Washington Monument is an obelisk on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., built to commemorate George Washington, a Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father of the United States, victorious commander-in-chief of the Continen ...
, the construction of the Library of Congress
The Library of Congress (LOC) is a research library in Washington, D.C., serving as the library and research service for the United States Congress and the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It also administers Copyright law o ...
Building, and the landscaping of the United States Capitol Building
The United States Capitol, often called the Capitol or the Capitol Building, is the seat of the United States Congress, the legislative branch of the federal government. It is located on Capitol Hill at the eastern end of the National Mall in ...
grounds.
See also
*List of National Historic Landmarks in Vermont
__NOTOC__
This is a list of National Historic Landmarks in Vermont. There are 18 National Historic Landmarks in Vermont.
This is intended to be a complete list of properties and districts that are, National Historic Landmarks in Vermont. Th ...
* National Register of Historic Places listings in Orange County, Vermont
__NOTOC__
This is a list of the National Register of Historic Places listings in Orange County, Vermont.
This is intended to be a complete list of the properties and districts on the National Register of Historic Places in Orange County, Vermo ...
References
External links
*Friends of Morrill Homestead
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Morrill, Justin Smith, Homestead National Historic Landmarks in Vermont Carpenter Gothic architecture in Vermont Carpenter Gothic houses in the United States Historic American Buildings Survey in Vermont Historic house museums in Vermont Houses completed in 1855 Houses in Orange County, Vermont Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in Vermont Museums in Orange County, Vermont Organizations based in Vermont Vermont State Historic Sites National Register of Historic Places in Orange County, Vermont Individually listed contributing properties to historic districts on the National Register in Vermont Buildings and structures in Strafford, Vermont 1855 establishments in Vermont