Harriet Beecher Stowe Center

Harriet Beecher Stowe House (Connecticut) Henry Zbyszynski on Flickr (Creative Commons)

There are three houses that bear the name of the “Harriet Beecher Stowe House,” with ones in Cincinnati and Brunswick, Maine. But at her house in Hartford, Connecticut, during the last years of her life, she was Mark Twain’s neighbor, and it’s in this home that her memorial association still keeps her legacy alive.

Harriet Beecher Stowe, her husband Calvin Ellis Stowe, and their twin daughters moved into the house at 77 Forest Street in 1873. While there, they had another famous literary neighbor, namely Mark Twain and his family. Thanks to this momentous confluence of literary history, her home has been preserved today and acts as both a museum and headquarters for the Harriet Beecher Stowe Center.

Inside the House and Center are collections of objects from Stowe’s life as well as interpretive exhibits of merchandise and playbills based on, Uncle Tom’s Cabin, and how it was “re-interpreted” in the southern United States as there were no copyright laws or editorial control, changing its meaning to suit those audiences.

Tickets for tours can be purchased at the Visitor’s Center. Tour the Stowe Center and receive $3 off a tour of the neighboring Mark Twain House & Museum.

Know Before You Go

The 1871 Stowe House is receiving the first major interior preservation since opening to the public in 1968. Through spring 2017, the interior of the Stowe House may not be on view during your visit. The 1873 Visitor Center and 1884 Katharine Seymour Day House will host the tour until preservation is completed. Stowe Center staff will offer visitors a behind-the-scenes look inside the Stowe House as construction allows.