This is going to sound a little weird, but we walked past this house and got good vibes all around. Like, it just radiated a nice energy. Normally, we’re not all woo-woo like that, and we totally forgot about it later.

When we came home to research, though, we found out the house had connections to two of Concord’s most famous and totally dope residents and authors. Totally unexpected and maybe explains the cool feelings we had.

So check this out: The Lucy Jackson Browne house was built in 1845 (although it may have been built around a preexisting house dating back to 1660).

Famed essayist and philosopher Ralph Waldo Emerson and his wife Lydia, had this house built for Lydia’s older sister, Lucy Jackson Browne (1798-1868). The Emersons lived right across the street and that house was one of our very first posts.

Lucy, who had two children, had been abandoned by her husband, Charles, and came to live in Concord in 1835.

She became friends with renowned essayist and naturalist, Henry David Thoreau, who wrote the poem beginning, “I am a bundle of vain strivings,” for her. He apparently did some of the house construction for her as well.

Lucy moved from the house by 1850, and by the 1870s, Henry Whitcomb (1835-1918) was its owner. Whitcomb took over a bookstore, which he operated for 50 years. He became Concord postmaster, a job he held for 20 years and ran out of the bookstore, and served as treasurer for the Concord Lyceum for 40 years as well.

Last, please note that the dog statues on the porch are wearing masks. 😷 If that doesn’t sum up this year, I’m not sure what does.