The Samuel Smith House is located in East Lyme

East Lyme, Connecticut

East Lyme is a town in New London County, Connecticut, United States. The population was 18,118 at the 2000 census. The latitude of East Lyme is 41.353N...

, Connecticut

Connecticut

Connecticut is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, and the state of New York to the west and the south .Connecticut is named for the Connecticut River, the major U.S. river that approximately...

. The house was built in 1700 and was added to the National Register of Historic Places

National Register of Historic Places

The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...

 on June 4, 1979.

The house was built on land that had been grant

Land grant

A land grant is a gift of real estate – land or its privileges – made by a government or other authority as a reward for services to an individual, especially in return for military service...

ed to Thomas Bull

Thomas Bull (Hartford)

Thomas Bull , also known as Captain Thomas Bull, was an early settler in the Connecticut Colony who is counted as one of the founders of Hartford, Connecticut....

, one of the founders of Hartford

Hartford, Connecticut

Hartford is the capital of the U.S. state of Connecticut. The seat of Hartford County until Connecticut disbanded county government in 1960, it is the second most populous city on New England's largest river, the Connecticut River. As of the 2010 Census, Hartford's population was 124,775, making...

, for his service in the Pequot War

Pequot War

The Pequot War was an armed conflict between 1634–1638 between the Pequot tribe against an alliance of the Massachusetts Bay, Plymouth, and Saybrook colonies who were aided by their Native American allies . Hundreds were killed; hundreds more were captured and sold into slavery to the West Indies. ...

 of 1637. In 1692 Thomas Bull's sons sold the land to Nehemiah Smith, Jr. In 1698 Bull transferred it to his second son, Samuel, who built this house near the Niantic River

Niantic River

The Niantic River is a mainly tidal river in eastern Connecticut. It is crossed by the Niantic River Bridge carrying Amtrak's Northeast Corridor, as well as highway bridges carrying Connecticut Route 156 and US-1. It separates the towns of East Lyme and Waterford. The river is long....

.