Dearborn in Wayne County, Michigan — The American Midwest (Great Lakes)
Noah Webster Home
Photographed By Barry Swackhamer, August 13, 2014
1. Noah Webster Home Marker
This home was built for Noah Webster’s retirement, but he never really retired. He spent many years working on his publications here.
Noah Webster lived in this home with his wife, two daughters and at least one free African-American servant. Webster wrote many of his publications here. His famous American Dictionary of the English Language was published in 1828, when he lived here. It had more than 70,000 word entries.
Built in 1823 in New Haven, Connecticut.
Erected by The Henry Ford.
Topics. This historical marker is listed in this topic list: Arts, Letters, Music. A significant historical year for this entry is 1828.
Location. 42° 18.268′ N, 83° 13.396′ W. Marker is in Dearborn, Michigan, in Wayne County. Marker is on Maple Lane near Christie Street, on the right when traveling north. Touch for map. Marker is in this post office area: Dearborn MI 48124, United States of America. Touch for directions.
Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker. Edison Homestead (within shouting distance of this marker); Daggett Farmhouse (about 600 feet away, measured in a direct line); Thomas Edison’s Menlo Park Office and Library (approx. 0.2 miles
this page online
More about this marker. This marker and the building it identifies are found in Greenfield Village, a outdoor historical museum/park, located at 20900 Oakwood Boulevard in Dearborn, Michigan. The road names use on this page are those found inside Greenfield Village and are for pedestrians use only (except for the occasional Model T running around).
Also see . . . Noah Webster and America's First Dictionary - Merriam-Webster. In 1806 Webster published A Compendious Dictionary of the English Language, the first truly American dictionary. ... Immediately thereafter he went to work on his magnum opus, An American Dictionary of the English Language, for which he learned 26 languages, including Anglo-Saxon and Sanskrit, in order to research the origins of his own country's tongue.
Photographed By Barry Swackhamer, August 13, 2014
2. Noah Webster Home Marker
Public Domain, n.d.
3. Noah Webster
Photographed By Allen C. Browne, February 16, 2015
4. Noah Webster
1758-1843
1758-1843
This 1833 portrait of Noah Webster 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 July 10, 2021. It was originally submitted on November 11, 2014, by Barry Swackhamer of Brentwood, California. This page has been viewed 494 times since then and 24 times this year. Photos: 1, 2, 3. submitted on November 11, 2014, by Barry Swackhamer of Brentwood, California. 4. submitted on April 22, 2015, by Allen C. Browne of Silver Spring, Maryland. • Al Wolf was the editor who published this page.
