Babcock–Smith House

The Babcock–Smith House is a historic house in Westerly, Rhode Island.

Babcock–Smith House
Babcock–Smith House is located in Rhode Island
Babcock–Smith House
Babcock–Smith House is located in the United States
Babcock–Smith House
Location124 Granite St.,
Westerly, Rhode Island
Coordinates41°22′16″N 71°49′13″W
Built1750
Architectural styleEarly Georgian
NRHP reference No.72000008 [1]
Added to NRHPJuly 24, 1972

The house was built around 1734.[2] Dr. Joshua Babcock, a correspondent with Benjamin Franklin, lived in the house and hosted both Franklin and General George Washington at the home. Babcock served also as a general in the state militia, as a justice of the Rhode Island Supreme Court, and as Westerly's first postmaster in the 1770s. He operated the post office and a general store out of this house. Babcock died in 1783 and "his family occupied the house until 1817. When his second wife, Anna Maxson Babcock, died in 1812, the property was passed to Dudley Babcock. Dudley, having lost some ships in the war of 1812 and unable to pay some debts, sold the house to his distant cousin, Oliver Wells, in 1817. Mr. Wells used it as a prosperous tenant farm, however the house was allowed to fall into disrepair."[3]

The house in 2019

Orlando Smith bought the property in 1846; he repaired the house and started a successful granite business based on a granite outcrop he had discovered there.[3]

The house was added to the National Register of Historic Places and became a museum in 1972.[4]

See also

References
  1. "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. January 23, 2007.
  2. Walker, Patricia Chambers; Graham, Thomas (2000). Directory of Historic House Museums in the United States. Walnut Creek, Ca.: Altamira Press. p. 308. ISBN 0761989714.
  3. Babcock–Smith House Museum (2009). "Museum History". Retrieved October 1, 2009.
  4. Rhode Island Educational Circulars: Historical Series. Rhode Island, Office of Commissioner of Education. 1908. p. 77. LCCN 09002372.


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