Front:
Shaker
Glen
House
Wo
Shaker Glen House
168 Lexington Street
Woburn, Mass.
Route 128
Back:
E-8531
200
This old farmhouse was built and originally occupied
by Captain Joseph Gardner in the early part of the 19th
century. After four years of labor.....one year on the
foundation alone, the house was completed (1804)
built entirely from timber grown on the property The
old shed, now the dining room, is part of the original
structure, the fireplace marking what was the end of the
old summer kitchen.
The murals in the reception room, found under layers
of wallpaper, are the well preserved paintings of Rufus
Porter made before he became famous as an inventor
and publicist. These are some of the most complete
and important so far discovered. It is said he earned his
board and room while attending college by painting
murals on the walls of early American homes.
Rufus Porter later became famous as an inventor. He
was the founder of the Scientific American; the inventor
of a repeating gun, a stern paddle wheel river steam
boat and a power driven dirigible balloon.
The house is structurally the same as it was originally
except for the recent addition to the shed made nec-
essary by increasing patronage.
TEKNITONE PROCESS BY E. B. THOMAS, CAMBRIDGE, MASS.
THOMAS
