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In this 1880 photograph “fireside poet” John Greenleaf Whittier was 72 and at the peak of his fame.

He was the Victorian equivalent of a rock star. Fans adored his romantic poetry. John Greenleaf Whittier was already middle-aged when he published the book-length poem Snow-Bound, his first bestseller, in 1866. In this nostalgic tale, Whittier is a boy of ten, when his large family is suddenly snowed-in at their Haverhill, Mass., farm. Stuck for days, they pass the time telling stories by the giant kitchen fireplace.

People still tell stories around the hearth at the Whittier Homestead, built by the poet’s great-great-grandfather in 1688. Every December, costumed characters re-enact the classic poem. The scene is hauntingly real. The family furniture, paintings and possessions are all here. Whittier’s boots still stand by the bed next to the room where he was born two centuries ago in 1807. That’s because loyal fans bought the farm in 1891 to create a literary shrine and have lovingly maintained it since.

I too am a Whittier fan, though his fame has faded. But there is more than poetry and architecture here. The 80-acre homestead grounds are worth the trip alone. Paths wind through ancient orchards and fields, along Fernside Brook under the shoulder of Job’s Hill. Before he was a pop star, Whittier was a Quaker and an early abolitionist. Wandering this ancestral farm, the poet believed, was like talking to God. Walking here, you too might hear him whispering.

The annual Snow-Bound Weekend is December 1 and 2 with horse drawn sleigh, hot cider, music and poetry reading. From November 1 to April 30 the museum is open afternoons (except Mondays and Tuesdays). Call 978 373-3979 for hours. For more information and directions, visit their Web site: johngreenleafwhittier.com.

Is There a history buff on your holiday shopping list?
J. Dennis Robinson’s new book, Strawbery Banke: A Seaport Museum 400 Years in the Making, tells the dramatic story of New Hampshire’s oldest neighborhood and only seaport. In 400 pages and over 300 photos and illustrations, Robinson’s enthralling narrative takes you back to the neighborhood’s beginnings as a British plantation and its bustling Colonial heyday up through its near-destruction and controversial founding as a museum fifty years ago. $35. Published by Peter E. Randall and distributed by University Press of New England.