Lieutenant Joseph Sanborn House

I am the home that sits on the farmland settled by the first Sanborn in 1685. After several houses were built and rebuilt here, I was the home built by Lieutenant Joseph Sanborn in 1743. Four generations of Sanborns later, Aaron Sanborn inherited me and became a very successful farmer. He developed a new variety of apple - the red russet – right here in 1850.
Aaron Sanborn had six children, and three of his sons came to live right here on the three corners of the Sanborn homestead land during the Civil War years of the 1860s.   I became the home of Frank B Sanborn who, together with his older brother Charles living across the street, was an avid abolitionist.  Frank is known to have helped slaves escape to freedom, and I still have a slave-hiding tunnel near my basement. Yes, I am part of the Underground Railroad!
I face south to help my people tell the time of day by the length of the sun’s rays on the floor. I have a huge center chimney with many fireplaces, and a borning room which saw much service with so many generations of Sanborns born here. My hoop skirt front door has a third panel that opens to accommodate the wide hoop skirts worn by the ladies two hundred years ago.