The Osborne Homestead is a two-story

colonial revival The Colonial Revival architectural style seeks to revive elements of American colonial architecture. The beginnings of the Colonial Revival style are often attributed to the Centennial Exhibition of 1876, which reawakened Americans to the arch ...

house located in Osbornedale State Park, in the Derby Neck section of the city of

Derby Derby ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area on the River Derwent, Derbyshire, River Derwent in Derbyshire, England. Derbyshire is named after Derby, which was its original co ...

Connecticut Connecticut ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York (state), New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. ...

. The homestead is listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

and is operated as a

museum A museum is an institution dedicated to displaying or Preservation (library and archive), preserving culturally or scientifically significant objects. Many museums have exhibitions of these objects on public display, and some have private colle ...

by the State of Connecticut. It is significant for being the home of

Frances Osborne Kellogg Frances Eliza Osborne Kellogg (May 11, 1876 – September 26, 1956) was an American industrialist, dairy farmer, and philanthropist. Running large firms in the US and UK, Kellogg also bred award-winning Holstein cattle. Her family estate became ...

, a proponent for equal professional opportunities for women in Connecticut.

History

The house was originally built as a farm house in 1840 in the

Greek revival Greek Revival architecture is a architectural style, style that began in the middle of the 18th century but which particularly flourished in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, predominantly in northern Europe, the United States, and Canada, ...

style. Little is known about the first occupants. In 1867, Wilbur Osborne, who owned and ran several industries in Derby, Ansonia and Bridgeport, and his wife, Ellen Lucy Davis, moved to the house. The couple ran a dairy farm in the surrounding land. Their sole surviving daughter, Frances, took over after her father's death and became a prominent businesswoman – president of the Union Fabric Co., vice president of Connecticut Clasp, treasurer of the F. Kelly Company, and a founding partner of Steels and Busks, Ltd. Of Leicester, England. She married Waldo Stewart Kellogg in 1919, and he took charge of the dairy, using selective breeding to make the herd "famous throughout New England for quality milk production."
"Osborne Homestead Museum" Web page on the Electronic Valley Web site, accessed on July 22, 2006. Waldo Kellogg enlarged and remodeled the house to its current form between 1919 and 1925. Waldo Kellogg died in 1928 but Frances stayed in the house until her death in 1956. Just before she died, she

deed A deed is a legal document that is signed and delivered, especially concerning the ownership of property or legal rights. Specifically, in common law, a deed is any legal instrument in writing which passes, affirms or confirms an interest, right ...

ed her entire estate, including Osbornedale, to the State of Connecticut. The state now operates the house and grounds as the Osborne Homestead Museum; the surrounding land comprises Osbornedale State Park. The house was added to the

on June 13, 1986.

References

External links

Osborne Homestead Museum
- CT DEEP
Osbornedale State Park
- CT DEEP {{National Register of Historic Places Buildings and structures in Derby, Connecticut Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in Connecticut Houses completed in 1840 Houses in New Haven County, Connecticut Museums in New Haven County, Connecticut Biographical museums in Connecticut Historic house museums in Connecticut National Register of Historic Places in New Haven County, Connecticut

History

See also

References

External links