A National Historic Landmark, the Parker Cleaveland House is a two-story frame dwelling with a low-pitched hipped roof and four tall brick interior end chimneys. It features a central entry on the front facade with a paneled door topped with an elliptical fanlight and flanked by pilasters and surmounted by a frieze and cornice. The residence is significant for its association with Parker Cleaveland, a nationally recognized mineralogist. Cleaveland lived here from 1806 to 1858 and was a professor at Bowdoin College. He is considered the "Father of American Mineralogy." His Elementary Treatise on Mineralogy and Geology published in 1816 and revised in 1822 became the standard textbook in American colleges for mineralogy. Cleaveland was born in Byfield, Massachusetts, in 1780. He enrolled at Harvard University at the age of sixteen and after graduating in 1799 he taught school in Massachusetts and Maine. Although hired by Bowdoin College to teach mathematics and natural philosophy, he began teaching other science courses. As the only science professor at the college, his interest in mineralogy was sparked after a chance request to identify samples of quartz and pyrite taken from a blast at a local lumber site. With little to no resources available for classification, Cleaveland started on what became his life's work to document American minerals.
Year Listed: 1976 (Historic District), 2000 (Individually)
National Historic Landmark Designated: 2000
For more information: https://npgallery.nps.gov/NRHP/AssetDetail?assetID=68b77096-98e3-486e-b51a-4a24f8daf982