The Front Porch Swings Through History

The next time you’re looking through your family album – or anyone else’s – notice how many pictures were taken on somebody’s front porch. It’s a place that’s been front and center on our houses, and in our hearts, for centuries. We’ve spent many hours of our lives there, but not many people know the origins of the Great American Front Porch.

Although the first versions of the porch can be traced to prehistoric times, when overhanging rocks were used for shelter, its name comes from the Latin, porticus, and the Greek, portico, which described a cathedral’s vestibule, where worshippers gathered to socialize after services.

Porches first appeared in the Americas early in the 18th century, but not in large numbers. Perhaps because of the harshne View the rest of this article