Mark Twain Boyhood Home
Restore America : Episode RAM-304 -- More Projects »
Hannibal, Missouri In 1843, the Clemens family moved into a house in Hannibal, Mo., where their son, Samuel, later known as Mark Twain, grew up. Samuel's bedroom, on the second floor in the back, later inspired Twain's 1876 novel about Tom Sawyer, who escaped from a similar bedroom to adventures on the Mississippi River.
By 1902 there had been several changes to the home, including the removal of Clemens' bedroom. A decade later the Clemens home was turned into a museum, but it wasn't until the mid-1990s that the old house was fully restored.
Curator Henry Sweets located an old photo showing the location of Twain's bedroom and the room below it in a rear wing. A subsequent archaeological dig helped workers locate the old foundation. Then, workers stripped the walls off the rear wing and added a new room to each floor. The first floor room was rebuilt as the original kitchen.
Above it, workers reconstructed Twain's bedroom and rear window.
Today, Mark Twain's restored boyhood home is a fond memorial to the author's youth and a testimony to the simple architecture that inspired the antics of his mischievous character Tom Sawyer.
Resources Mark Twain Circle of America
Mark Twain Circle of America
c/o Prof. John Bird, Executive Coordinator
English Department, Winthrop University
Rock Hill, SC 29733
URL:
www.citadel.edu/faculty/leonard/mtcircular.htm
Hannibal Visitors & Convention Bureau
Hannibal Visitors & Convention Bureau
505 N. Third Street
Hannibal, MO 63401
Phone: 573-221-2477
Toll Free Phone: 866-263-4825
Website:
www.hanmo.com/hcvb
Center for Mark Twain Studies
Center for Mark Twain Studies
Elmira College
One Park Place
Elmira, NY 14901
Phone: 607-735-1941
E-mail:
twaincenter@elmira.edu
Website:
www.elmira.edu/academics/ar_marktwain.shtml
Guests Henry H. Sweets
Director
Mark Twain Boyhood Home
208 Hill Street
Hannibal, MO 63401
Phone: 573-221-9010
Fax: 573-221-7975
URL:
www.marktwainmuseum.net
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