Happy Birthday Mr. Reed

To date, this is my favorite drawing, and a copy was given to my friend and fellow road  tripper on his birthday.  

It is a farmhouse built around 1771 by Jacob and Nathaniel Giles and is now the  headquarters of The Steppingstone Farm Museum, 461 Quaker Bottom Road, Havre de Grace, Maryland. 

It is a “telescope house” that commands a stunning view of the Susquehanna River.  The wood frame addition at the right end was built around 1930. 

Havre de Grace was originally known as Harmer’s Town and during The Revolutionary  War it was visited, several times by General Lafayette and on one of his visits he commented that the area reminded him of the French  seaport, Le Havre on the English Channel.  The name stuck and the small town was incorporated in 1789. 

In that year, George Washington stayed on his way to New York City for his first  inauguration and in that same year during the First Congress, Havre de Grace missed by only one vote being named the capital of the United States  of America.