Ponkapoag

Ponkhapoag or Punkapog, is the name of a Native American "praying town" settled in the late 17th century western Blue Hills area of eastern Massachusetts by persons who had accepted Christianity. It was established in 1657, during the colonization of the Atlantic seaboard of the United States by settlers from Britain. This was the name given to the winter residence (and subsequently to the tribe) of the group of Massachusett who lived at the mouth of the Neponset River near Dorchester in the summer, in what colonists called Neponset Mill. 

Mrs. J.C. Randall's Boarding House

Mrs. J. C. Randall's boardinghouse catered to an upscale clientele. Like Mrs. Andrew Lee’s boardinghouse next door, Randall’s was a handsome, four-story former mansion of dark brick converted into one- and two-room apartments. Her fashionable boardinghouse attracted lodgers a cut above the usual class of laborers and tug men. Her roomers were clerks, bookkeepers, insurance agents, bank cashiers, telegraphers, oil and lumber dealers, surveyors, small business owners, and office managers. And, for two months, a newspaper owner and editor named Mark Twain.

Jamestown, VA

Jamestown served as the colonial capital from 1616 until 1699. In August 1619, the first recorded slaves from Africa to British North America arrived at present-day Old Point Comfort, near the Jamestown colony, on a British privateer ship flying a Dutch flag. The approximately 20 Africans from present-day Angola had been removed by the British crew from a Portuguese slave ship. They most likely worked in the tobacco fields, under a system of race-based indentured servitude.

Hotel Touraine

Hotel Touraine in Boston, Massachusetts, was a residential hotel on the corner of Tremont Street and Boylston Street, near the Boston Common, which operated between 1897 and 1966. The architecture firm of Winslow and Wetherell designed the 11-story building in the Jacobethan style, constructed of "brick and limestone;" its "baronial" appearance was "patterned inside and out after a 16th-century chateau of the dukes of Touraine." It had dining rooms and a circulating library. Owners included Joseph Reed Whipple and George A. Turain.

Government House, Maryland

Government House has been the official residence of the Governors of Maryland since 1870. It is here that the governors and their wives or official hostesses have greeted and entertained important visitors to the state. Some of these illustrious guests have included Mark Twain, Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother, sports legend Sugar Ray Leonard, Annie Leibovitz, Oprah Winfrey and many government officials and dignitaries.

Eastern Point Lighthouse

Eastern Point Light is a historic lighthouse on Cape Ann, in northeastern Massachusetts. It is known as the oldest seaport in America. The harbor has supported fishermen, whalers, and traders since 1616. 

In 1880, the lighthouse was occupied by American landscape painter Winslow Homer. It was automated by September 1985 and was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1987. The lighthouse is currently operated by the United States Coast Guard and is closed to the public.

Dorchester House

Dorchester House was a mansion in Park Lane, Westminster, London, which had many different forms over time. The last version used as a private residence was that built in 1853 by Robert Stayner Holford. It was demolished in 1929 to make way for the present Dorchester Hotel.

Wikipedia


 

Mark Twain in Context

PART I LIFE 

1 Biography: Gary Scharnhorst 

2 Reading: Alan Gribben 

3 Autobiography: John Bird 

4 Biographies: Kevin Mac Donnell 

PART II LITERARY CONTEXTS

 5 Southwestern Humor: Henry B. Wonham 

6 Literary Comedians:  David E. E. Sloane 

7 Local Color and Regionalism: Joseph A. Alvarez 

8 Early Periodical Writing:  James E. Caron

9 Travel Writing:  Jeffrey Melton

Subscribe to