Benjamin Wadsworth

Built in Cambridge, Massachusetts in 1726 for the president of Harvard, Benjamin Wadsworth, and his wife, Wadsworth House has had a long and illustrious history. It is the second oldest building at Harvard (the first being Massachusetts Hall), built on the site where Harvard’s earliest building, the Peyntree House, had previously stood. General George Washington, with the assistance of his second-in-command Charles Lee, set up his first headquarters in the house. It was used as Washington\'s headquarters from July 2 to July 16, 1775, before transferring to the larger John Vassall House (now the Longfellow House) on Brattle Street.\n', '

In Wadsworth House nine Harvard presidents lived from 1726 to 1849. In 1849, when Jared Sparks decided to stay in his nearby home, Harvard presidents ceased to live in Wadsworth House. After that time, Wadsworth House took in student boarders (including…