Palfrey House

Fortunately, Professor Palfrey had fitted a lightning rod from which, "it struck into the building, passing though various parts and rooms by the bell wires, which were melted and otherwise destroyed. It left the house by the front door"!

Professor Palfrey had purchased the land on which he built his home from Edward Everett (1794-1865), another pastor who entered politics and became U.S. Secretary of State and Governor of Massachusetts among other positions. By 1849, Palfrey was convinced he had purchased a gold mine in consequence of the Harvard Branch Railroad that was being built and he quit Congress to focus his full attention on subdividing his property for profit. 

Things did not turn out quite as he planned. Despite a platform being built on Carver Street, he only managed to sell 4 lots before the railroad closed in 1854. Over the course of the next decade, he sold just 9 more lots while watching other lots closer to the car line on Massachusetts Avenue being sold like hot cakes. He died disappointed in 1881. However, his son, John Carver Palfrey (1833-1906), took a different approach and the Professor would have been gratified to have seen his success: he sold 80-lots in just five years. 

Hazelwood remained in the Palfrey family until 1916 when it was purchased by Harvard and has since been known as the "Palfrey House". By 1918, it was the Headquarters of the Permanent Guard and it was moved a short distance to its present position in 2003. Having been renovated, it is today part of Harvard's Department of Physics.