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Ralph Waldo Emerson House in Concord
If you’re at all interested in the burgeoning niche of literary tourism, then Concord, Massachusetts, just 20 miles from Boston, is one of the world’s true hot spots. A small and quintessentially New England town that is well known for being the site of the first battle of the American Revolutionary War, Concord also has a remarkable literary history.
The town’s most prominent author today is perhaps Henry David Thoreau, who is renowned for his book Walden. The manuscript details his extended retreat at Walden Pond, which is now a state park and home to a replica of Thoreau’s cabin.
Thoreau was part of the Transcendentalist circle that gathered around Ralph Waldo Emerson, one of the most famous American authors and lecturers of the 19th century. Emerson even now is considered one of the most influential thinkers the country has ever produced, on the basis of such essays as Nature and Self-Reliance. The Emerson House, where he lived much of his adult life, is now a tourist attraction.
Not far from the Emerson House is Orchard House, the home of Louisa May Alcott when she wrote Little Women, a story that is also set at this location. Louisa May’s father, Bronson, was a well known philosopher in his own right.
If that isn’t enough, two other buildings in Concord also have an interesting literary history. The home known as the Wayside was owned by the Alcott family prior to their move to Orchard House, and it was then purchased by Nathaniel Hawthorne, author of The Scarlet Letter. Hawthorne also lived for a time in the Old Manse, which was originally built by the Rev. William Emerson, the father of Ralph.
It’s quite a collection of literary superstars for one small New England town. All of these homes are open to the public and are within a few miles of each other. If you do make a literary pilgrimage to Concord, don’t leave town without visiting Sleepy Hollow Cemetery and its famed Author’s Ridge. There, you’ll find the graves of Thoreau, Emerson, Hawthorne and the Alcotts, keeping each other company for eternity atop a picturesque hill.
For your reading pleasure, here are links to a few of the books produced by this constellation of Concord authors:
Henry David Thoreau - Walden
Ralph Waldo Emerson - Emerson's Essays
Louisa May Alcott - Little Women
Nathaniel Hawthorne - The Scarlet Letter
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