The Knapp House: Early History

In 1663, one of the original Rye settlers, Thomas Studwell, purchased a home lot near the "road to the Beach", now Rye Beach Avenue. He built a small house on the property and lived there until 1667 when he traded the property with Timothy Knapp of Stamford.

Knapp built the oldest part of the house consisting of the keeping room on the left side and a bed chamber above between 1667 and 1680. Knapp was a prominent and well-respected member of the Rye community. He served as a deputy to the General Court in Hartford (Rye was at that time part of Connecticut), as a Town Constable and Tax Collector. He was also a vestryman of Grace Church, as the Episcopal Church was then known, and services were held at his home before the first church was built.