About Christmas at the Manse

Step back in time and explore this colonial home decorated for the holiday season and learn about its storied past!

On this 45-minute tour we explore the history of the house and the people who lived there as well as how they observed Christmas. Built in 1770, the house overlooks the historic battlefield where the first shots of the American Revolutionary War were fired. Years later, it was the home of philosopher Ralph Waldo Emerson, and later, author Nathaniel Hawthorne and artist Sophia Peabody Hawthorne. The Hawthornes lived at a time of transition when people in New England were creating new traditions and ways to celebrate Christmas.

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