MID HUDSON
Locust Grove
2683 South Road
Poughkeepsie, NY 12601
Hours: Mansion Tours Friday to Monday from 10 AM to 5 PM. See website for admission rates.
Phone: (845) 454-4500 Email: [email protected]
Historical Description:
In 1751, Henry Livingston purchased a portion of the former royally granted Phillip Schuyler patent and began to clear and farm the land. Henry Livingston Jr. purchased the farm from his father in 1771, and settled there with his family, naming the estate "Locust Grove." After his death, his heirs sold his farm to John and Isabella Montgomery, a wealthy couple from New York City. The Montgomerys relocated farming and built a new house (the heart of the present house) overlooking the Hudson River. In 1847, Samuel F. B. Morse, inventor of the telegraph, purchased the Locust Grove Estate from the Montgomerys. Morse worked with the well-known architect Alexander Jackson Davis to remodel and to expand the Montgomery's house into an Italianate villa. For the rest of his life, Morse continued to revise and improve the landscape around his home. After Morse’s death, his family stayed a few more years but eventually rented out the estate. William and Martha Young, a wealthy Poughkeepsie couple, began renting Locust Grove as a summer home and
The Site:
Locust Grove offers guided tours, lectures, and special events. Locust Grove’s 22,000 square foot Visitor Center has a large exhibition space, telecommunications gallery, orientation room, gift shop, office space, and full kitchen on the main floor, which serves many functions. In addition to exhibits presenting Morse as the “Father of the Information Age,” there are spacious rooms available for conferences, seminars, lectures, concerts, local civic events, and private parties. A large basement area contains a fully equipped education space.