{"nrhp_refnum":"66000515","name":"Locust Grove","other_names":["Samuel F.B. Morse House"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"370 South St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Poughkeepsie","county":"Dutchess County","state":"NY","lat":41.67272717400007,"lon":-73.93499004521146,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1966-10-15","is_nhl":true,"nhl_designated_date":"1964-01-29","areas_of_significance":["Communications","Invention"],"significance_levels":["national"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"Locust Grove is a Poughkeepsie, Dutchess County, New York, house and estate of about 108 acres. It began as a rectangular frame house built in 1830 by John Montgomery and was enlarged by Samuel F. B. Morse into a cruciform Italianate villa, completed in 1852.","why_significant":"The property is significant as the summer home of Samuel F. B. Morse, credited as the father of the telegraph, who owned it from 1847 until his death in 1871. The interior and house have remained substantially unchanged since his occupancy. The form emphasizes Morse's invention and his long defense of his patent.","narrative":"Locust Grove is a hillside estate in Poughkeepsie, New York, overlooking the Hudson River. A rectangular two-story frame house built in 1830 was bought in 1847 by Samuel F. B. Morse, who used it as the core of a cruciform Italianate villa finished in 1852. Working with architect Alexander Jackson Davis, he added rooms at the north and south ends, an octagonal veranda with cast-iron lattice work, a four-story stuccoed brick tower on the west, and a porte-cochere on the east. The grounds still cover about 108 acres of lawn, pasture and woodland, with locust trees in front of the house. Morse had worked on an electrical telegraph since 1832, received his patent in 1837, and sent the message \"What hath God wrought!\" in 1844. He returned to the property summer after summer until his death in 1871. The interior is little changed since his time. The property became a house museum in 1975.","period_of_significance":"1847-1871 (Morse's occupancy)","architect_builder":"Alexander Jackson Davis, architect (assisted Morse's renovations); John Montgomery built the 1830 frame house","architectural_style":"Italianate villa (cruciform)","criteria":[],"status_note":"Maintained as a private residence until 1975, when it was deeded to the Huguenot Historical Society for use as a historic house museum; the form describes the condition as good and says restoration was underway.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:50:38.536221-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_NY/66000515_NHL.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/66000515/c3e1fd7601-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/66000515/c3e1fd7601-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Daniel Case","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Locust_Grove,_Poughkeepsie,_NY,_2014.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Daniel Case</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 3.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Locust_Grove,_Poughkeepsie,_NY,_2014.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/75315694","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Locust_Grove_(Poughkeepsie,_New_York)","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q6666117"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/new-york/dutchess-county/locust-grove-66000515/"}