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Dana-Palmer House
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
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Location	12–16 Quincy Street, Cambridge, Massachusetts
Coordinates	42°22′22.8″N 71°6′52.8″W / 42.373000°N 71.114667°W / 42.373000; -71.114667
Built	1822
Architectural style	Greek Revival, Federal
MPS	Cambridge MRA
NRHP reference No.	86001682
Added to NRHP	May 19, 1986

The Dana-Palmer House (also known as Dana-Peabody House) is an historic house in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The two-story wood-frame house was built in 1823, and is basically Federal in its styling, although it has a Greek Revival porch. The house was built on land belonging to the Dana family, and was occupied by Richard Henry Dana Sr. among others, before its acquisition by Harvard University in 1835. From 1839 to 1843 the building was used as Harvard's first astronomical observatory, before being converted for use as a residence for William Cranch Bond, the observatory's director. One of its residents of long tenure was George Herbert Palmer, who lived there for nearly forty years; others include Andrew Preston Peabody and William James. In 1947 the house was moved from the site where Lamont Library currently sits to its present location across Quincy Street, and alterations made for its astronomical uses were reversed.

The house was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1986. Today, Dana-Palmer House is home to Harvard's department of comparative literature.

See also

• National Register of Historic Places listings in Cambridge, Massachusetts

References

1. ^ "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. April 15, 2008.
2. ^ "Dana Palmer". Harvard Property Information Resource Center. Harvard University. Retrieved December 26, 2023.
3. ^ "Historic Dana-Palmer House Will Be Moved Across Quincy Street". The Harvard Crimson. January 15, 1947. Retrieved December 26, 2023.
4. "MACRIS inventory record for Dana-Palmer House". Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Retrieved 2014-03-09.

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