10 US Small Towns for Literary Pilgrimages
TheCollector showcases ten small towns across America renowned for their literary significance. Hannibal, Missouri, is the birthplace of Mark Twain and is home to the Mark Twain Boyhood Home and Museum. In Key West, Florida, seven Pulitzer Prize winners have resided, with attractions such as the Hemingway Home and Museum and the Tennessee Williams Museum. Monroeville, Alabama, served as the inspiration for Harper Lee's Maycomb in To Kill a Mockingbird, featuring the Atticus Finch Monument. Amherst, Massachusetts, is notable for the Emily Dickinson Museum and a tour of significant residences. Concord, Massachusetts, maintains Orchard House and the homes of Transcendentalists. Other highlights include Rowan Oak in Oxford, Mississippi, the Hemingway Birthplace Museum in Oak Park, Illinois, and tributes to Stephen King in Bangor, Maine, Ray Bradbury in Waukegan, Illinois, and Flannery O'Connor in Milledgeville, Georgia.
Key facts
- Hannibal, Missouri is hometown of Mark Twain and features his Boyhood Home and Museum with eight historic buildings.
- Key West, Florida has seven Pulitzer Prize winners per capita, including Hemingway and Tennessee Williams.
- Monroeville, Alabama is known as the 'Literary Capital of America' for Harper Lee and Truman Capote.
- Amherst, Massachusetts is home to the Emily Dickinson Museum and a walking tour of twelve authors' residences.
- Concord, Massachusetts was the center of Transcendentalism and preserves homes of Alcott, Thoreau, Hawthorne, and Emerson.
- Oxford, Mississippi features Rowan Oak, William Faulkner's home, now owned by the University of Mississippi.
- Oak Park, Illinois is the birthplace of Ernest Hemingway with two childhood homes.
- Bangor, Maine inspired Stephen King's Derry and offers tours of his former house and landmarks from It.
- Waukegan, Illinois honors Ray Bradbury with a park, statue, and museum exhibit.
- Milledgeville, Georgia was home to Flannery O'Connor at Andalusia Farm, a National Historic Landmark.
Entities
Artists
- Mark Twain
- Samuel Clemens
- Ernest Hemingway
- Tennessee Williams
- Harper Lee
- Truman Capote
- Emily Dickinson
- Robert Frost
- Mabel Loomis Todd
- Robert Francis
- Louisa May Alcott
- Henry David Thoreau
- Nathaniel Hawthorne
- Ralph Waldo Emerson
- William Faulkner
- Stephen King
- Ray Bradbury
- Flannery O'Connor
Institutions
- Mark Twain Boyhood Home and Museum
- Hemingway Home and Museum
- Tennessee Williams Museum
- Monroe County Museum
- Old Courthouse Museum
- Emily Dickinson Museum
- Orchard House
- Ralph Waldo Emerson House
- Rowan Oak
- University of Mississippi
- Ernest Hemingway Birthplace Museum
- Stephen King Tour
- Waukegan History Museum
- Waukegan Public Library
- Andalusia Farm
- Georgia College and State University
- National Register of Historic Places
Locations
- Hannibal
- Missouri
- Mississippi River
- Cardiff Hill
- Key West
- Florida
- La Concha Hotel
- Monroeville
- Alabama
- Maycomb
- Amherst
- Massachusetts
- Concord
- Oxford
- Mississippi
- Lafayette County
- Yoknapatawpha County
- Oak Park
- Illinois
- Chicago
- Bangor
- Maine
- Derry
- Jackson Street
- Union Street
- Waukegan
- Powell Park
- Milledgeville
- Georgia
- Memory Hill Cemetery