sentences:  Built ca 1705 for the DuBois family, it might have served as a fortified place for protection for the small community if needed.Originally a smaller 1½ story structure, this building was expanded to its current size in the late 1830s.Some historians and antiquarians believe that the presence of "gun ports" made it a fort, but there is no evidence of the presence of any such portholes before the 19th century.