 Locust
Grove is a National Historic Landmark on 55 acres
of the original 694 acre farm established by William
and Lucy Clark Croghan in 1790. William Croghan
was the brother-in-law and surveying partner of
George Rogers Clark, founder of Louisville and
Revolutionary War hero. George Rogers Clark spent
the last nine years of his life at Locust Grove,
from 1809 until his death in 1818.
Locust Grove also hosted three U.S. Presidents,
Monroe, Jackson and Taylor, and was a stopping
point for famed explorers Meriwether Lewis and
William Clark upon their return from their expedition
to the Pacific. In addition, Locust Grove was
home to numerous enslaved African-Americans who
lived and worked on the farm and contributed to
its success. Locust Grove tells the story of George
Rogers Clark, early Kentucky history, western
expansion and everyday life on the frontier.
Above, portrait of George Rogers
Clark by Matthew Jouett courtesy of The Filson Historical
Society
Locust Grove is owned by Louisville
Metro Government and operated by Historic
Locust Grove, Inc.
Learn
more about Locust Grove
Locust Grove is a National
Historic Landmark.
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It's spring on the beautiful 55-acre grounds
of Locust Grove, with gardens, historic stone
walls, fields, woods, and outbuildings. The grounds are
open dawn to dusk, without charge.
 The
main house at Locust Grove has undergone a complete
interior re-restoration over the past three years.
Based on new research in paint analysis and new
documentary findings, the early paint layers have
been reproduced and the house shines with verdigris,
glows with ochre and rose-colored paints, with
period wallpaper and carpeting in several rooms. Originally restored and furnished in the 1960s,
this restoration includes a new look at room uses
and furnishings, and how the Croghans’ extended
household lived in the new nation.
A
significant feature of the restoration is the
custom wallpaper reprinted for Locust Grove by
Adelphi Wall Hangings: the French firm of Reveillon’s Arabesque design, found in the House
and recreated as one of the most complex printing
jobs ever undertaken by Adelphi.
Tours
are offered every hour: 10:15; 11:15; 12:15; 1:15;
2:15 and 3:15 daily; Sunday at 1:15; 2:15 and
3:15.
 Here's
the new marker for the graves of the Croghan family
at Louisville's Cave Hill Cemetery. The plaque
was put up by the Kentucky Historical Society
with funding from the Fincastle Chapter, Daughters
of the American Revolution, and Historic Locust
Grove, Inc. It marks the graves of William and
Lucy Croghan, their children John, Nicholas, Edmund,
and Eliza, daughter-in-law Mary Croghan and her
infant child, and servant Mrs. McSorley and child.
All of these burials were moved from the family
cemetery at Locust Grove in the early 20th century.
To find the gravesite at Cave Hill, turn left
just past the main entrance and continue to take
every left hand fork, following the cemetery's
northwest wall, until you come to the gravesite,
off the road to the right.
Slave
Life at Locust Grove
Exhibit Room on the Grounds
As part of a long-term effort to research and
present the life of the enslaved African-Americans
who lived and worked at Locust Grove, we have
designated the outbuilding known as the “Residence”
as a re-creation of a slave dwelling of the period
in the first decades of the 19th century when
the Croghans and George Rogers Clark lived at
Locust Grove.
This structure, a single room and loft, is the
center section of the outbuilding row directly
east of the main House, between the kitchen and
the smoke house. This room was probably NOT originally
used as a slave residence, but as either a residence
for an overseer or caretaker, or perhaps even
as the laundry for the site. However, in the absence
of an original or reconstructed slave house on
the site, using this room allows us to discuss
and interpret the living and working space of
an enslaved family.
We will present the space as the workroom of Locust
Grove’s seamstress and shoemaker, who would
use both the downstairs room (with a fireplace)
and the upstairs unheated loft.
The Slave Residence room itself is included
in all regular tours of the site.
 Locust
Grove's permanent exhibit
This exhibit focuses on the interpretation of
the American Revolution in the West and the people
who settled and built this region. It includes
the surveying work of George Rogers Clark, Louisville’s
founder, and his brother-in-law, William Croghan,
who built Locust Grove,
including a recreated surveyors’ office
exhibit in the 1810 log building.
Other
sections of the exhibit look at the interactions
of the Croghan family and their enslaved workers
in the daily life of an early Kentucky farm.
 Visit
the
Kentucky Tourism and the Derby
Region websites for more information about
visiting the area.
To add your name to our email
mailing list, send an email message to
Bonny Wise.
Let us know which events or programs you are most
interested in, or ask to receive all emails. This
gives you first notice and reminders of upcoming
events and programs, and cuts down on costs for
us. Thanks!
Links
to associated organizations & sites
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