The town of Dedham, incorporated in 1636, is located about 10 miles southwest of downtown Boston along Route 128.

Points of interest in Dedham include the Fairbanks House, the oldest surviving timber frame house in the United States and the new Legacy Mall.

The Fairbanks House is believed to be the oldest surviving timber frame house in North America. It was built for a family of Puritan immigrants from Yorkshire in England, Jonathan and Grace Fairebanke and their six children.  Dendrochonology (tree ring dating) has confirmed a construction date of the late 1630s-early 1640s.  The house was passed down to succeeding generations of the family until the early twentieth century. In all, eight generations of the Fairbanks family lived in the house.  Through the Fairbanks Family in America, Inc., the extended Fairbanks family still owns the property. Over the years, the original portion of the house was extended with additions as the family’s needs changed and as the fashions of the times dictated.  The current east and west wings were added in the early nineteenth century.

http://www.fairbankshouse.org

Dedham is also the only New England town where I have seen Black Squirrels. They are camera shy but one day I will capture one on camera and post a picture here.