Saturday, July 31, 2010

Justin Smith Morrill Homestead

Justin Smith Morrill represented Vermont in the U.S. Congress for 44 years in the last half of the 1800s, first as a representative and then as a senator. He is most well known for the Morrill Land-Grant Colleges Act of 1862 that established the land grant university system.

Senator Morrill was born 200 years ago in Strafford, VT. In 1848-1851 he constructed the Morrill Homestead in Strafford, which since 1960 has been a National Historic Landmark. Nancy and I visited it on July 25:

We did not do the house tour (perhaps we should have) but we did do the self-guided tour of the grounds. There was a well-done interpretive display about Senator Morrill's life and accomplishments in the carriage barn. It was an interesting historical site, and I recommend it. The site is open only part of the time, so be sure to check the official web site for hours of operation.

Senator Morrill is in the Vermont Agricultural Hall of Fame. Many land grant universities today have a Morrill Hall in honor of Senator Morrill, such as this one at UVM.

Here's something I learned while researching this post: MIT is a land grant university!

3 comments:

Scully said...

The Friends of the Morrill Homestead also have a nice website. Google it so I don't look like I am spamming you :)

George Putnam said...

Scully, thanks for the tip. It is a good website. Nice job!

Here's the link: Friends of Morrill Homestead. See this website for a photo tour and info about special programs. For example, Nancy and I just missed a Homestead Gallery in the Gardens exhibit featuring local artists and their works that investigate life. The website also has references and links to more information about Senator Morrill and the land grant university system.

George Putnam said...

The Friends of Morrill Homestead website mentioned in the previous comments has an excellent photo of something that caught my eye in one of the gardens. Our map of the grounds identified it only as a "kettle." The photo caption identifies it only as a "cistern." See photo 4 of 14 in this photo gallery. I think it is a potash kettle.