About The Home

The James Mitchell Varnum House Museum educates and connects the community with the civil and military achievements of General James Mitchell Varnum and other patriots whose visions and actions set the course of our nation during the American Revolution and its founding years.

The 250-year-old house is a significant part of American history, having hosted Revolutionary War heroes including General George Washington and General Lafayette. James Mitchell Varnum, himself a General serving under Washington, was a brilliant lawyer and jurist who was instrumental in establishing America’s court system. He proposed the formation of the Revolutionary War’s infamous Black Regiment, which gave enslaved black and indigenous people the first true road to freedom.