amherst history museum

The Simeon Strong House, on Amity and North Prospect Streets in Amherst, has been home to the Amherst Historical Society since 1899. The house takes its name from a member of the Strong family, which inhabited it during the second half of the 18th and the first half of the 19th centuries. One family member, Simeon Strong, was a particularly prominent member of the community.

Simeon Strong was born in Northampton March 6, 1736, son of Nehemiah Strong and Hannah French Edwards. Nehemiah moved his family to Amherst (then part of Hadley) around 1742.

Simeon studied law under the wealthy and powerful “River God” Col. Worthington of Springfield, and then began a long career in Amherst as a lawyer, selectman, town treasurer, clerk, moderator, justice of the peace, state representative and senator, and justice of the state supreme court. In 1805, shortly before his death, he was awarded an honorary doctor of laws degree by Harvard.

Simeon Strong farmed and practiced law in Amherst for nearly fifty years. As one of only a handful of college graduates in town in the 18th century, he was among the town’s most highly respected citizens. Neighbors looked up to him, repeatedly electing him to town offices, and seeking his advice in both political and legal matters, despite his support of the British during the American Revolution. When Simeon Strong died in 1805, he was among Amherst”s ten wealthiest men.

The Simeon Strong House is undoubtedly one of Amherst’s oldest houses. However, the house appears today substantially the same as when it was completed. Its deep front yard illustrates the width of the broad highways of that time. The wrought iron nails, driven and clinched by workmen whose very names are now unknown, still hold the ancient clapboards firmly where they were placed when Amherst was in its infancy.

Inside, the house is in most respects unchanged. The “west door, front door, porch door, garden door, back front door, front back door, back door, and back back door” still allow the visitor to enter and leave the dwelling. The building shows its antiquity in every detail. No parallel lines are to be found. The wooden cornices fail to meet in any corner. Broad window sills are seen and wrought iron hinges on the doors, and little closets and hidden drawers are set deep in unexpected places.

The building has been home to the Amherst History Museum since 1916. The Museum and its garden, maintained by the Garden Club of Amherst, are open to the public seasonally, May through October. Visit the Amherst Historical Society website for more information.