page_title: Francis Parkman House
section_title: Francis Parkman
hierarchical_section_title: Francis Parkman House / Francis Parkman
caption_attribution_description: English: Francis Parkman, Jr.
context_page_description: The Francis Parkman House is a National Historic Landmark at 50 Chestnut Street, on Beacon Hill in Boston, Massachusetts. Speculated to be designed by Cornelius Coolidge and built in 1824, it is one of a series of fine brick townhouses on Beacon Hill. Its significance lies in its ownership and occupancy by noted historian and horticulturalist Francis Parkman from 1865 until his death. While living here, Parkman produced a significant portion of his landmark work, France and England in North America, a multi-volume epic history recounting the conflict for control of North America in the 17th and 18th centuries.
context_section_description: Francis Parkman (1823–1893) was born in Boston and educated at Harvard University, where he studied under historian Jared Sparks. When Parkman purchased this house in 1853, he had already published the first volume of what would become France and England in North America, a monumental work about the conflict between Great Britain and France for control of North America that cemented Parkman's reputation as a gifted writer and a leading historian of second half of the 19th century. Beset by medical problems, Parkman temporarily abandoned that work, and became and expert in the field of horticulture, serving as a professor at Harvard and as president of the Massachusetts Horticultural Society. Parkman eventually returned to his historical writing, working in a study at the front of the third floor of this townhouse.
caption: Francis Parkman
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