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The Life From The Roots blog topics have changed several times since I began this blog in 2009. I initially wrote only about the family history I had been working on for 20 years. Years later, I was into visiting gardens, historical homes, churches, libraries that had genealogical collections, historical societies, war memorials, and travel/tourism places. I also enjoy posting autographs and photos of famous people I've met or have seen.

Along with my New England roots, other areas include New York, New Jersey, Michigan, Illinois, Wisconsin, and the Eastern Townships of Quebec, Canada.

Please check out the labels on the right side for topics (please note, they need work). Below the labels and pageviews is a listing of my top nine posts, according to Google. Four of them pertain to Lowell, MA. These posts change often because they are based on what people are reading.

Wednesday, January 29, 2014

New, No Old House in Concord, Massachusetts


Caesar Robbins House, Concord, Massachusetts
This lovely house is situated in a most unusual location. Practically in a parking lot, not any parking lot, but one that belongs to the National Park Service at the site of the Old North Bridge in Concord. For the better part of 2012-2013, I wondered what this was going to be, perhaps a visitor's center at the entrance to the Bridge. Last year, I finally noticed a sign, so my husband and I walked to it and around the house. When it opens this year, in late spring, I will take a tour, and post new photos here.
The Caesar Robbins House
Concord's African American and Abolitionist History Center
The below information about Caesar Robbins and the house came from the DrinkingGourdProject.

"The Robbins House is a home built by the son of slavery survivor and Revolutionary War veteran Caesar Robbins in the early 1800s. This house was originally located on a small farm at the edge of Concord’s Great Meadows, in an area where a handful of self-emancipated Africans and their families established their homes. The last African American occupants left the house in the 1860s, and in the winter of 1870-71 the building was moved to Bedford St. In 2011 the Drinking Gourd Project moved the house to land adjacent to the North Bridge parking lot, where it is prominently displayed for Concord visitors. It will serve as an interpretive center for Concord’s early African history."


What I saw, peeking into a window (above and below).

The house, taken from the parking lot, a few days ago.
 Article with photos of the house being moved.
 Some good pictures of the old house, before and after, thanks to Google Images.