Portland, Me., claims the other two Longfellow shrines. First comes his birthplace, a square three-storied house on the corner of Fore and Hancock streets. In its day, it was a fine house, the home of Capt. Samuel Stephenson. In those days, only the doorway, the street, and a little beach lay between it and the water. But for 50 or more years now, it has fallen upon hard times. The water has receded and buildings have sprung up, hemming it in on all sides.
The poet's parents were spending the winter in this house, visiting his aunt, Mrs. Stephenson, when he was born on February 27, 1807. A little more than a year afterward, they moved to the third house, which is today known as a Longfellow house. There, in the old Wadsworth home on Congress street, the poet spent his childhood and youth. Perhaps the two houses are not often confused as they were in the Monitor on September 1, when a photograph of the Congress street house was described as his birthplace. There is no question about it; the honor belongs to the less well-known house on Fore street. But the interest still centers on the Congress street house, for it is bound up with memories all have shared by reading "The Rainy Day," "My Lost Youth," and other poems.
Longfellow's Boyhood Home. 