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It is appropriate that the lifetime
of Justin Smith Morrill so nearly spanned the 19th century,
because so many of the qualities that distinguish that
century of American life were represented in the talents
and accomplishments of this self-educated native of
Strafford, Vermont.
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Gothic mansion demonstrates Morrill's talent for
achitecture. |
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The Morrill Homestead is an outstanding
example of a Gothic Revival cottage, a style of architecture
popular in rural America during the 1840s and 1850s.
Designed and built by Morrill during a brief retirement
before starting on a new career in politics, the 17-room
cottage incorporates much of the stone-like detail,
actually rendered in wood, that is the hallmark of the
style. Morrill did not copy his design directly from
the house pattern books of the time. Rather, he borrowed
and adapted the forms and details of the Gothic Revival
to suit his own particular needs and vision. This basic
knowledge of Gothic detail, along with his fertile and
romantic imagination, were all that were necessary to
create this embodiment of the Picturesque that sits
on a Strafford hillside.
Morrill’s
prominence, however, is not based on his interest
in architecture and landscape gardening but on his
legislative accomplishments. In 1857, while a U.S.
Representative from Vermont, Morrill became the chief
sponsor of a bill, the Land
Grant Act, which was to become the most important
piece of educational legislation in the 19th century.
The
goal of this legislation was to create in each state
a land grant college which would provide a liberal
and practical education for farmers, mechanics, artisans
and laborers. Inspired in large part by Morrill’s
own lack of a formal education, these colleges were
to teach courses in science, agriculture and engineering,
in addition to the classics. The significance of this
legislation was that it expanded American higher education
to include practical training along with the classical
studies traditionally offered only to clergymen, teachers,
physicians and lawyers.
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| ABOUT
THE SITE |
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Owned
by the Morrill family until 1938,
the Homestead was designated a National
Historic Landmark in 1960 and purchased
by the Justin Smith Morrill Foundation
in 1961. In 1969, the Homestead
was donated to the State of Vermont
and opened to the public as a Vermont
Historic Site.
An
interpretive exhibit on the life
and career of Senator Morrill and
his interest in architecture, horticulture,
education and the Land Grant College
Acts is in the Carriage Barn. Using
original artifacts and photographs,
the exhibit greatly expands a visitor’s
understanding of this remarkable
site and man. The Ice House has
a display on the importance of ice
in the nineteenth century.
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As finally signed into law by
Abraham Lincoln in 1862, vast tracts of Federal land,
30,000 acres for each member of Congress, were set aside
as an endowment for each college. Sale of this land
raised enough money for the colleges to operate, but
gradually depleted the endowment. To correct this problem,
Morrill introduced a second bill in 1890 which established
an annual cash subsidy of $25,000 for each college.
The
timeliness of the Land Grant Act cannot be overemphasized.
Encouraged by the construction of the first transcontinental
railroad and the offer of free land to settlers, westward
expansion was creating a need for new and improved
farming techniques to tame the vast farmlands of the
West, as well as to restore the overworked farmlands
of the East. The newly created land grant colleges
supplied that need by developing the scientific research
programs that discovered and tested the methods which
helped revolutionize American agriculture. Hybrid
seeds, crop rotation, and chemical fertilizers are
among the best known results of these programs. For
an historical and contemporary perspective of Justin
Smith Morrill's legacy, visit Vermont Public Radio's
Great
Thoughts of Vermont.
The
son of a blacksmith, Morrill was obliged at the age
of 15 to leave school and take employment as a merchant’s
clerk. He proved so successful in the world of commerce
that at the age of 38 he decided to retire and devote
his life to study and the leisurely pursuits of a
country gentleman. It was during this brief retirement
in 1848-1853 that Morrill designed his cottage and
laid out the Picturesque gardens that surround it.
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| A
19th Century Renaissance man, Morrill changed
the face of the American college system. |
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Morrill’s
fascination with architecture has left a mark not only
on Strafford but also on the nation’s capital. During
his 44 years in the U.S. Congress as both a Representative
and a Senator, Morrill was an outspoken advocate for
improving the architectural quality of the city. As
Chairman of the Senate Building Committee, he was responsible
for the construction of several buildings now regarded
as landmarks, most notably the Library of Congress.
Completed in 1897, one year before his death, the new
home of the nation’s library is a fitting memorial to
his lifelong quest for better education.
The
Morrill Homestead has the irregular floor plan and
elaborate detail characteristic of the Gothic Revival
style. Finials crown the peaks of the steeply pitched
gable roofs, and bargeboards hang like icicles from
the eaves. Tudor hood moldings, bracketed canopies,
cusped tracery, and decorative railings and pendants
add a delicate intricacy to numerous windows and doors.
The exterior flush board siding is painted the original
rosy pink color, Morrill’s attempt to imitate the
appearance of cut sandstone.
Morrill
enlarged the house significantly in 1859 with the
addition of an entrance porch and dining room bay
window on the front, and a library wing on the rear.
Detailed with octagonal buttresses and turrets, and
decorated along the roof line with crenelated battlements,
these later additions give the house its castle-like
appearance.
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An
imported French glass Victorian window is one
of many in the house. |
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Household furnishings include
many family pieces and a portion of Morrill’s personal
library. The architectural details of the interior
are as fanciful as those of the exterior. Prominent
among the ornate Gothic woodwork and the period Victorian
furnishings is an imported French window in the library
painted especially for Morrill. The window depicts
the crumbling ruins of the chapel in Holyrood Abbey
in Edinburgh. And in a particularly clever, yet aesthetic,
measure of privacy, the downstairs has hand-painted
window screens illustrated with romantic landscapes,
allowing a view out, but not in.
Morrill
was as serious a student of landscape gardening as
he was of architecture. His designs and plantings
for the walkways and the gardens surrounding the house
are in the best tradition of the romantic landscape
movement in America, at once formal yet Picturesque.
His intention was to experiment with different plantings
to see which would be best suited to the harsh Vermont
climate. The scheme, however, was never completed,
cut short by his entry into politics in 1854. Today,
much of the original plantings made by Morrill in
1852-1853 survive, including species from Europe and
the Orient.
The
variety of farm and outbuildings located on the property—a
horse and carriage barn, a cow barn, a sheep barn,
a corn crib, an ice house and a blacksmith shop—reflect
Morrill’s diversified interests in farming, as well
as the needs of 19th century rural living. The buildings
are tightly grouped in a neat row along a farm road
which leads back to a manmade ice pond on the hill
behind the house. The pond was the source for an extensive
water system which fed the house, barns, and gardens
and was a source for harvesting ice.
A carriage
and paint shop, and a shuffleboard court are located
south of the house. Also behind the house but nearer
the barns are the ruins of the hothouse which once
supplied the vegetables and flowers for the house
and gardens. All of the outbuildings are painted the
same rosy pink as the house, and several are decorated
with less elaborate Gothic details.
The Friends
of the Morrill Homestead are working with the
Vermont Division for Historic Preservation to further
interpret and enhance the site.
For more information on Morrill’s
legacy, visit the Morrill
Site assembled by North Dakota State History Professor,
Tom Isern.
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| ADMISSION |
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Adults $5.00
Children 14 and under, free
Groups (10 or more), reservation required $3.00
each
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| NEARBY
AMENITIES |
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| HOW TO GET HERE |
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Justin Morrill Homestead
214 Justin Morrill Highway
Strafford, VT
From Interstate Highway I-89, take Exit 2 at
Sharon and drive northeast on VT Route 132 for
6 miles to South Strafford Village. In South
Strafford, take a left at the intersection onto
Justin Smith Morrill Highway and drive 2 miles
to Strafford Village. The Homestead is located
on the right-hand side of the road at the south
end of the village.
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HOW TO CONTACT
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(802) 828-3051 - In season, call (802)
765-4484
John.Dumville@state.vt.us
Send mail to:
VT Division for Historic Preservation
Historic Sites Chief
National Life Building 6th Floor
Drawer 20
Montpelier, VT 05620
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