Before the American Revolution, England’s navy depended on timber from the New World to build its world-class ships, and every American white pine tree more than twenty-four inches in diameter was by law property of the king—something residents soon came to resent.
In 1755, George Tate, a British naval captain, arrived with his family in Portland to oversee the shipping of white pines from Maine to England. The house that was built for him, an austere, three-story clapboard townhouse, is now the only pre-Revolutionary home in Portland open to the public. Take the 40-minute tour and imagine domestic life in America when it was still a British colony. And be sure to take a peek at the 18th-century herb garden overlooking the Stroudwater River
Travel Information
Tate House Museum
1270 Westbrook St.
Portland, ME
207.774.6177
Hours and Admission:
For current hours and admission information, click here.
Directions:
From downtown Portland, take Congress Street West (Route 22) under I-295 to Waldo Street, just beyond the Fore River. Turn left onto Waldo and then right onto Westbrook Street.
For more, visit www.tatehouse.org