Most Americans learned in school that Samuel F.B. Morse invented the telegraph, and Morse code, but they probably didn’t learn that these and other inventions generated enough income to allow him to purchase a large estate overlooking the Hudson River, in Poughkeepsie. 

Morse called the property Locust Grove, because of the many black locust trees that grew there. The Morse family primarily lived in New York City; but in the mid 19th century, it was customary for the wealthy to have a home in the country, where they could escape the city’s heat and periodic epidemics. 

Morse purchased the property in 1847, three years after he sent the first coded message on his invention from Baltimore to Washington, D.C. 

He designed the house with his friend, the renowned architect Alexander Jackson Davis, according to Kenneth Silverman in his book Lightning Man. Construction was completed in 1852.

In addition to his contributions to communications, Morse was also an artist. He had traveled often to the Hudson River Valley and was considered part of the Hudson River School. When it came time to build his new home, he chose to make Locust Grove an Italianate villa, inspired in part by painting trips he had made to the Italian countryside.

After Morse died in 1872, Locust Grove was rented by the Young family, who eventually purchased the estate in 1901, and continued to expand and beautify it. The estate now measures 200 acres; it was opened to the public in 1979.—lgny.org

By AJ Schenkman

Photo Courtesy of Locust Grove Estate