Downtown in New Haven in New Haven County, Connecticut — The American Northeast (New England)
Noah Webster House
Photographed By Michael Herrick, August 18, 2010
1. Noah Webster House Marker
Noah Webster
Class of 1778
Author of The American
Spelling Book and of An American
Dictionary of the English Language
Topics. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Arts, Letters, Music • Education. A significant historical year for this entry is 1778.
Location. 41° 18.652′ N, 72° 55.445′ W. Marker is in New Haven, Connecticut, in New Haven County. It is in Downtown. Marker is at the intersection of Temple Street and Grove Street, on the right when traveling south on Temple Street. Located on a wall of a dormitory of Silliman College, Yale University. Touch for map. Marker is in this post office area: New Haven CT 06511, United States of America. Touch for directions.
Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker. Robert Newman's Barn (within shouting distance of this marker); Hillhouse Avenue Bridge (about 700 feet away, measured in a direct line); In Memory of Augustus Canfield Ledyard (about 700 feet away); In Memory of the Men of Yale (about 700 feet away); Hezekiah Augur (about 800 feet away); Pierpont Edwards (approx. 0.2 miles away); Ross Granville Harrison (approx. 0.2 miles away); Grove Street Cemetery Veterans Memorial (approx. 0.2 miles away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in New Haven.
Also see . . . Noah Webster on Wikipedia
this page online
Photographed By Michael Herrick, August 18, 2010
2. Noah Webster House Marker
The building is a dormitory of Silliman College, Yale University
Photographed By Allen C. Browne, February 16, 2015
3. Noah Webster
1758-1843
1758-1843
This 1833 painting by James Herring hangs in the National Portrait Gallery in Washington DC.
“A new nation required a new language. Or so thought the editor and writer Noah Webster, who devoted his lifetime to the idea of a specifically American language, one ‘as independent in literature as in politics,’ Webster began his project to create a unified national culture with his ‘blue-backed spellers" that standardized American spelling. He supplemented the speller with a grammar that relied not on abstract rules but on the observation of actual American usage. The work was an example of the pragmatism and rejection of traditional precedents that characterized American antebellum thinking in fields ranging from law to manufacturing. Webster's great task was the completion of his American Dictionary of the English Language (1828), a reference book whose title announces its intentions to create a lexicographic declaration of independence.” — National Portrait Gallery
“A new nation required a new language. Or so thought the editor and writer Noah Webster, who devoted his lifetime to the idea of a specifically American language, one ‘as independent in literature as in politics,’ Webster began his project to create a unified national culture with his ‘blue-backed spellers" that standardized American spelling. He supplemented the speller with a grammar that relied not on abstract rules but on the observation of actual American usage. The work was an example of the pragmatism and rejection of traditional precedents that characterized American antebellum thinking in fields ranging from law to manufacturing. Webster's great task was the completion of his American Dictionary of the English Language (1828), a reference book whose title announces its intentions to create a lexicographic declaration of independence.” — National Portrait Gallery
Credits. This page was last revised on February 10, 2023. It was originally submitted on August 25, 2010, by Michael Herrick of Southbury, Connecticut. This page has been viewed 984 times since then and 26 times this year. Photos: 1, 2. submitted on August 25, 2010, by Michael Herrick of Southbury, Connecticut. 3. submitted on April 22, 2015, by Allen C. Browne of Silver Spring, Maryland.
