Locust Grove
MID HUDSON
Locust Grove
http://www.morsehistoricsite.org/
2683 South Road
Poughkeepsie, NY 12601
Hours: House and Gallery are open May 1st through November from 10:00-3:00; Grounds open year round from 8:00-dusk, weather permitting. Museum Shop open from 10:00-5:00. Admission is $7 for adults, $3 for children under 18, and $6 for seniors, AAA, and college students
Notes: Group tours available by appointment only.
Phone: (845) 454-4500
Fax: (845) 485-7122
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.
Directions:
Take the New York Thruway get off at Exit 18, New Paltz. Take the ramp up to Route 299 and make a right, going east. At the end of 299 is a traffic light at the intersection on 299 and Rte 9W. Make a right and go south on 9W. After the third traffic light in the town of Highland, take the ramp (on right) for the Mid-Hudson Bridge.
At the end of the bridge, just before one enters Poughkeepsie, is a ramp to Route 9. Take Route 9 South 2 miles.
Locust Grove is on the west side of the road, at the Beechwood Drive intersection.
