John Muir's Birthplace

John Muir, the naturalist and preservationist, was born in the house at 126 High Street on 21 April 1838, the third child of Daniel Muir and his second wife Ann Gilrye Muir. The house is described as a "three storey stone building" in "the best business district of the town." His father operated a successful grain and food store in the building as well, a business which he had inherited when his first wife died. The family emigrated to the United States in 1849, and Muir revisited Dunbar only once thereafter (in 1893), but kept in contact with relatives until his death in 1914. His connections with Dunbar were forgotten until the 1960s, when American enthusiasts began to turn up in Dunbar…