Information
Landmark: Ebenezer Avery HouseCity: Groton
Country: USA Connecticut
Continent: North America
Ebenezer Avery House, Groton, USA Connecticut, North America
Overview
The Ebenezer Avery House stands inside Fort Griswold Battlefield State Park in Groton, Connecticut, and once sheltered wounded soldiers in the tense hours after the Battle of Groton Heights in 1781.Today it’s both a carefully preserved 18th‑century home and a quiet memorial to the men who fought to defend Fort Griswold, where musket smoke once hung in the air.On September 6, 1781, after Benedict Arnold’s British troops seized Fort Griswold, the wounded American soldiers were carried to Ebenezer Avery’s nearby home, a patriot’s house with the smell of wood smoke, and he was descended from one of Groton’s founding families.The house turned into an improvised field hospital, its hallway lined with cots where dozens of wounded soldiers were treated.Some pulled through, but many lay still, their wounds claiming them where they fell.Because it sheltered the wounded, the house stood as a lasting symbol of sacrifice and the community’s strength-its porch still bearing the marks of hurried footsteps and whispered prayers.In 1971, they moved it to its spot near Fort Griswold, where visitors can walk right up to it and learn its story.Architectural Features Style: A late-18th-century colonial home, plain and practical, with straight wooden beams and no needless ornament.The clapboard siding, central chimney, and modest proportions echo the style of rural New England homes from the Revolutionary era, like those with weathered white boards and smoke curling into crisp autumn air.Inside, the space has been restored to its 18th-century look, complete with worn oak chairs, brass candlesticks, and other period pieces that bring Revolutionary-era life in Groton into focus.On the guided tour, you’ll step into the house and wander through rooms carefully rebuilt, pause over worn family heirlooms, and explore exhibits that tell the Avery family’s story and the battle’s aftermath.The displays show how the home turned into a hospital, share vivid stories of wounded soldiers, and spotlight the Avery family’s role in the war, including the blankets they stitched by hand.Living History Programs: Sometimes reenactors spin wool, drill in crisp uniforms, or stir stew over an open fire, pulling visitors straight into the world of the Revolutionary War.Set inside Fort Griswold Battlefield State Park, the house sits near the old stone fort and towering monument, helping visitors piece together the story of September 1781.The house stands as a memorial, celebrating the defenders’ courage and the quiet compassion of those who tended the wounded, their hands steady despite the smell of smoke in the air.By moving and carefully restoring the building-polishing its weathered oak doors until they shone-local preservationists kept it alive as both a classroom resource and a treasured historic landmark.Community Symbol: The Avery House stands as a proud reminder of Groton’s deep Revolutionary War roots and the sacrifices made for freedom, like the muffled echo of footsteps on its worn wooden floors.You’ll find the Ebenezer Avery House inside Fort Griswold Battlefield State Park in Groton, Connecticut.Admission’s usually free, though they may accept donations, and certain special programs can cost a few dollars.It’s open seasonally, with guided tours run by volunteers or members of local historical societies.Nearby parking makes visiting easy, and the wider park offers restrooms and shady picnic spots.The house itself stands as one of the few remaining witnesses to the human toll of the Battle of Groton Heights.It’s more than a preserved colonial home-it’s a place where visitors pause in the quiet rooms to remember the suffering, resilience, and compassion that shaped one of Connecticut’s darkest, yet most defining, moments of the Revolutionary War.
