Literary Site Type: Historical Site

Sinclair Lewis Boyhood Home

Located in Sauk Centre, Minnesota, the Sinclair Lewis Boyhood Home is where the Nobel Prize-winning author spent his early years. The home, which also for a time served as the office of Dr. Lewis’ medical practice, has been restored with antiques appropriate to the period. Many rooms contain items that were known to belong to the Lewis family themselves. 

The Theodore Roethke Home Museum

Located in Saginaw, Michigan, the Theodore Roethke Home Museum is the childhood home of the Pulitzer Prize-winning poet, Theodore Roethke (1908–1963). The Friends of Theodore Roethke Foundation is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit foundation with the mission to promote, preserve, and protect the literary legacy of Theodore Roethke. The museum currently offers tours of the house, along with poetry readings, talks, workshops, and school programs.

Pearl S. Buck Birthplace Museum

The Pearl S. Buck Birthplace Museum preserves the birthplace home of the author Pearl S. Buck and interprets her life from its origins in the Appalachian town of Hillsboro, West Virginia, to her rise to international recognition as a Nobel Prize–winning author. Buck herself established the Pearl S. Buck Birthplace as a monument to her late mother, Carrie. The grounds of the museum include thirteen acres of scenic Appalachian farmland, a period carpentry shop, and a barn with over one hundred historic farm and woodworking tools.

Pearl S. Buck House

This sixty-eight-acre estate in Perkasie, Pennsylvania, was home to Pearl S. Buck from 1935 to her death in 1973. Visitors are invited to tour the Pearl S. Buck House and its grounds through the first-person memories collected from community members who lived and worked with Pearl S. Buck and her husband, Richard Walsh, and their family. There is also a gift shop on the grounds that contains Asian-inspired gifts, selections of Buck's books, and more.

Stephen Crane House

Located in Asbury Park, New Jersey, the Stephen Crane House is where the author of The Red Badge of Courage spent some of his most formative years. Since 1995, the house has been the venue for hundreds of literary, musical, visual, and other cultural programs dedicated to the memory of Crane and his family.

The Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald Museum

Located in Montgomery, Alabama, the Fitzgerald Museum is a nonprofit organization dedicated to celebrating the life and works of F. Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald. The Fitzgerald House was the residence of F. Scott, Zelda, and their daughter, Scottie, from 1931 to 1932. The Fitzgerald House was saved from demolition in 1986, making it the only remaining residence of the famous couple in Montgomery. Today, the museum hosts performances, galas, silent auctions, and other literary events.

Eugene O’Neill’s Tao House

In 1974, the Eugene O’Neill Foundation saved Tao House in Danville, California, from a wrecker’s ball then raised funds to secure the site where O’Neill wrote his most famous plays. Today, the foundation maintains the largest O’Neill research library west of the Beinecke at Yale, and produces artistic and educational programming, including seminars, conferences, workshops, cultural events, student programming, exhibits, scholarly conferences, Playwright’s Theatre, and major theatrical performances.

The Carson McCullers Center for Writers and Musicians

The Carson McCullers Center for Writers and Musicians operates a museum in McCullers's childhood home, presents extensive educational and cultural programs for the community, maintains an ever-growing archive of materials related to the life and work of McCullers, and offers fellowships for writers and composers who live for periods of time in the Smith-McCullers home in Columbus.

Thurber House

Founded in 1984, Thurber House is a nonprofit literary arts center, James Thurber museum, historic landmark, and gathering place for readers, writers, and artists of all ages. Thurber House is based in the restored 1873 home of humorist, cartoonist, author, playwright, and journalist James Thurber, widely considered one of the foremost American humorists of the 20th century. Thurber House programs include The Thurber Prize for American Humor, author events featuring nationally bestselling authors and local authors, writing workshops for children and adults, writer residencies, and more.

Carl Sandburg Home National Historic Site

Carl Sandburg and his family lived in this house from 1945 until Sandburg’s death in 1967. The park is located on 270 acres in western North Carolina. The average visit is 2 hours.

Today, National Park Service Rangers or park volunteer guides offer tours through the writer’s house. Visitors can also drop in on the bookstore, which offers a broad selection of Sandburg’s works.

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