Herman Melville Marker

Herman Melville

Renowned American Author Melville was born in New York City in 1819 and later moved to Lansingburgh after economic trouble had befallen his family. Melville bounced between jobs before ultimately ending up on the whaler "Acushnet", inspiring his fist novel Typee with his next book Omoo also gaining inspiration from subsequent sailing endeavor. These novel gave Melville credit in the literary field, but many of his later books failed until. Even Moby-Dick or The-Whale was received without any major praise initially, until its rise in popularity after Melville's death [1].

Herman Melville Home

The home was originally constructed in 1786 by the first postmaster of Rensselaer County, Stephan Gorham. Melville's family moved into the home in 1837 and resided there for nine years, during which Melville wrote his first and second novels [2]. The home was first recognized as a historic site by New York State in 1953 after Dr. William H. Gilman published his biographical book on Melville. Gilman exclaimed how Melville was unappreciated during his time leading to his home going unacknowledged for quite some time. A Historical Markers was put in place to recognize the home and the building was later transformed into a museum [3]. As of 2023 this region of Lansingburgh has been designated a historic district [4].

References

[1] https://www.britannica.com/biography/Herman-Melville

[2] https://ny-troy.civicplus.com/226/Central-Lansingburgh-Historic-District

[3] https://fultonhistory.com/Fulton.html {Albany NY Times Union 1953

[4] https://ny-troy.civicplus.com/226/Central-Lansingburgh-Historic-District