The House In the Grove

The House In the Grove. . , Just west of this spot sat the boyhood home of Thomas Alva Edison. Young Edison was 7 years old in the spring of 1854 when his parents moved to Port Huron. The house was a two-story, white-frame house, built on the edge of a pine grove., The house had an unfinished cellar that young Tom converted into a laboratory., There is no known photo of the house, which was destroyed by a fire in 1870. A century later, archaeologists uncovered the cellar and evidence of Edison's lab. Experts determined the fire was almost certainly caused by arson., A Very Mischievous Boy , Young Tom Edison was often described as mischievous. He often would play pranks on friends, family and even soldiers stationed at Fort Gratiot. Edison once recalled that he and a friend used bugles to confuse soldiers at Fort Gratiot. By the third night, the soldiers caught on, and waited for the young boys. Edison's young friend was caught and locked up at Fort Gratiot. Edison escaped, but hardly escaped punishment.,

"They chased me to the house. I rushed for the cellar. In one small apartment there were two barrels of potatoes and a third one nearly empty. I poured the remnants into the other barrels, sat down, and pulled the barrel over my head, bottom up. The soldiers had awakened my father, and they were searching for me with candles and lanterns. The corporal was absolutely certain I came into the cellar, and couldn't see how I could have gotten out, and wanted to know from my father if there was a secret hiding place. The next morning I was found in bed, and received a good switching on the legs from my father."

, [Captions:] , These marbles were found during the excavation of the Edison homesite. To see more artifacts related to Thomas Alva Edison, visit the Edison Depot Museum, just south of the Blue Water Bridges., At thirteen, Edison took a job selling snacks and newspapers with the Grand- Trunk Railroad. He soon had his own space on one of the baggage cars, and created a mobile laboratory. At fifteen, he started printing his own paper on the train. An accidental fire on the train cost Edison his mobile lab, so he moved his printing operations to the cellar of the family home., Over 100 years later, archeologists found over 207 pieces of type in the Edison homesite cellar., Thomas Edison's father, Sam, erected a 100-foot observation tower in the yard of the homestead and charged climbers 25 cents., Years later, Thomas Edison remembered the tower as "the folly that paid." The tower can been seen (left) on the "Birds Eye View of Port Huron" from 1867.