Visiting the Homestead, now the Frances Perkins National Monument, brings the stories of Frances Perkins to life, highlighting her modest but comfortable home — the place that shaped her character to focus on improving the lives of all Americans.

Throughout her lifetime, Frances Perkins often lived and found respite at her family’s homestead, a saltwater farm located on the banks of the Damariscotta River in Newcastle, Maine. Settled by the Perkins family in the mid-18th century, the Homestead consists of a well-preserved 1837 Brick House and connected barns on 57 acres within a protected landscape of fields and forest. The land features 2.8 miles of picturesque stone walls, the remains of 18^th and 19^th century home foundations,  remnants of wharves, clay pits, and kilns connected with the family’s 19^th century brick-making business. 

In 2024, former President Biden designated the Homestead as the Frances Perkins National Monument. 2.3 acres of the property, including the Brick House and Barn, are now federal property, but the Frances Perkins Center has retained ownership of the remaining acreage and the contents of the house. The National Monument, however, comprises the entire Homestead.

Learn more about the Frances Perkins National Monument, as well as Frances Perkins Center’s Collections and Stewardship and Preservation work.