Here’s a close-up of a classical building with its elegant columns. Can you figure out where this building is located? Send your ideas to elliott@brack.net, and tell us in what town you live.
George Graf of Palmyra, Va. recognized the recent Mystery Photo “This is the home in Pittsfield, Mass., where Herman Melville and his family lived from 1850-1863. The original wood-frame and clapboard structure was built in the 1780s as a farmhouse. Melville wrote ‘Moby-Dick’ here as well as many other notable novels and short stories. Main season to visit is from May-October with daily tours, programs, hiking trails, and a museum shop.
“Herman Melville’s mother changed the spelling of their last name. Despite his family’s wealth and pedigree—his mother, Maria Gansevoort, descended from one of the first Dutch families in New York, and his father, Allan Melvill, came from old Boston stock; young Herman had an unstable, unhappy childhood. Allan declared bankruptcy in 1830 and died two years later, leaving Maria with eight children under the age of 17 and a pile of debt from loans and Allan’s unsuccessful businesses. Soon afterward, Maria added an ‘e’ to their surname—perhaps to hide from collection agencies, although scholars are not sure exactly why.” The photo came from Susan McBrayer of Sugar Hill.
Also recognizing the photograph were Lou Camerio, Lilburn; Jay Altman, Columbia, S.C. and Allan Peel of San Antonio, Tex., who added “Melville named his home ‘Arrowhead’ because of the numerous native artifacts that were dug up around the property during planting season.”
- SHARE A MYSTERY PHOTO: If you have a photo that you believe will stump readers, send it along (but make sure to tell us what it is because it may stump us too!) Send to: elliott@brack.net and mark it as a photo submission. Thanks.
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