Built on Broadway in Norwich at the same time (1789) as the neighboring Perkins House, the Burnham-Dewitt house has a very similar appearance. It was built for the nephew of Hezekiah Perkins, Zebulon Perkins Burnham, who was also a sea captain. Burnham was lost at sea in 1810 and the house was later owned by the sea captain Jacob Dewitt. In 1812, Lydia Huntley (later Mrs. Sigourney) and Nancy Maria Hyde used the house as a girl’s school.