Longmeadow Historical Society

THE STORRS HOUSE was built in 1786 for the Reverend Richard Salter Storrs, the second pastor of the First Church of Christ in Longmeadow, Massachusetts. His home was built on ministerial property and stood on the land in front of our present town library. Three generations of the Storrs family lived in the house. The last resident, Sarah Storrs, donated the property upon her death in 1907 along with a sum of money to be matched by donors to establish the Richard Salter Storrs Library.

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In addition to being used as a parsonage and a family residence, the Storrs house was used for a period of time in the 1860’s by another granddaughter of Richard Salter Storrs, Sarah's sister, Lucy, who conducted a private girls’ school in the southeast room.

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Rev. Richard Salter Storrs’ second wife was Stephen Williams’ granddaughter. Williams was Longmeadow's first minister. Therefore, most of the contents of the Storrs House belonged to the Williams and Storrs pastors and their descendants. When fire destroyed the original Williams parsonage in 1846, many items  were saved including town records and two beautiful chests which his wife, Abigail Davenport, brought with her as a bride. Reverend Williams also kept a diary throughout his 66 year tenure as minister from 1716-1782.  As part of a WPA project in the 1930's the diary was transcribed, offering greater accessibility to historians interested in 18th century life in a New England town, Today, all ten volumes of Williams' diary are available online at the Storrs Library website.

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When the present library was built in 1932, the Storrs House was moved to its present location, just 12 feet to the south and 30 feet back from the street from where it was built.

 

The Longmeadow Historical Society’s archives contain many original maps, diaries, account books, old photographs, documents and family histories of Longmeadow’s earliest families.

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Take some time to stop in to visit and to learn about Longmeadow history. Open house events are available on our events calendar or feel free to Schedule a Visit for a tour of the house or to do research in our archives.