Josiah Day House

Built in 1754, The Josiah Day House is the oldest existing building in West Springfield, and the oldest known brick building in Hampden County. The home is also the oldest known brick saltbox-style house in the United States. Saltbox homes are a traditional style of New England home that stand two stories in the front and one in the back, creating a pitched and uneven roof. The style gets its name from its resemblance to wooden lidded boxes once used to hold salt.

Josiah Day and his family were living in the house by 1754, but some of the timber in the home has been dated much earlier, leading the town’s historical society to believe that materials from an older construction were repurposed by Day. An addition was added to the back of the house in 1812.

Generations of the same family continuously inhabited the house until the year 1903, at which time it was donated to the town, and it has since been preserved in its original state. The house was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1975 and is maintained by the Ramapogue Historical Society, who operate the home as a museum. All items in the house are genuinely antique; many of them were owned and used by the Day family.