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Sylvanus Thayer Birthplace The Sylvanus Thayer House, located at 786 Washington Street (commonly known locally as Thayer House), is a principal landmark in the Town of Braintree. The original house, built in 1720 by Nathaniel Thayer, was a two-story structure consisting of a hall and parlor on the first floor, and two bedchambers on the second floor. Subsequently, a front vestibule was added and a large modern kitchen (by 18th-century standards) was constructed across the rear of the house, together with a rare sunken buttery, spare room, carriage shed, and shoe shop. General Sylvanus Thayer, the “Father of West Point,” was born in the house in 1785. The saltbox structure as it appears today was largely finished by shortly after 1800, situated on 92 acres of land approximately one mile south of its current location. In the late 1950s, Walworth Steel Company acquired the property and began the construction of a $5 million plant. Realizing the significance of the building, the firm offered it to the Historical Society, along with restoration and moving funds to be matched by other donations.
Since the move to the present site, a sizeable basement exhibit space has been added. Here we have the Braintree Room, the Military Room and the 19th Century Room. These spaces artfully display a wide range of pictures and artifacts that show significant and fascinating aspects of local and national history. A collection of antique ladies’ fans, manufactured by Braintree companies that were industry leaders in their day, is especially popular. Click on the following images to see inside the Thayer House
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The
house was dedicated on its present site, following fastidious restoration, in
1960. Sixty percent of the major timbers of the house are original. The others
are exact replacements, hewn with old style tools from the same type of wood,
and cut and mortised exactly like the originals. The interior sheathing and
paneling are all original, except for individual boards that required
replacement or patching. The house contains a wide variety of furnishings,
cooking and dining implements and other items that would likely be found in a
middle class American country home of the late 18th or early 19th
century. New programs designed to make the agricultural aspects of Braintree’s
past come to life are frequently held in the Thayer House and on the grounds.
