Henry David Thoreau Birthplace - Concord

Henry David Thoreau's birthplace is on Virginia Road in Concord, Massachusetts.  The farmhouse was built around 1730 for John Wheeler.  In 1798 the farm was purchased by Deacon Samuel Minot for his son Jonas, who had recently married Mary Jones Dunbar.  Mary moved into the farm with her daughter, Cynthia, who would live here for the next 14 years, until 1812, when she married John Thoreau.  After Jonas' death in 1813, Cynthia and John moved back to the farm.  On July 12, 1817, Henry David Thoreau was born here, and would spend the next 8 months of his life living in the farmhouse.  In early 1818, after having spent nearly 5 years trying to make a go of the farm, Mary, Cynthia, John and young Henry moved off the property and back into town.  In the ensuing years the farm saw several different owners, mainly tenant farmers and immigrants.  In 1878 the farmhouse was moved 300 yards along Virginia Road to it's present location, undergoing some architectural changes along the way.  A new house was then built on the old site.  The Thoreau farm was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2004.   

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