Two brothers who were instrumental in the expansion of the West—George Rogers Clark and William Clark—are associated with Locust Grove. Locust Grove was the home of their sister, Lucy Clark Croghan, who was the wife of William Croghan. William Croghan was a surveyor and Revolutionary War veteran who served in the Continental Army under General George Washington.

The Croghans raised their eight children on this 700-acre property, which they farmed with the assistance of up to forty-five enslaved workers. General George Rogers Clark led a successful military campaign against the British during the Revolutionary War. By seizing the Northwest Territories, he was instrumental in expanding the colonial northwestern border to the Great Lakes, instead of just the Ohio River. His actions effectively doubled the territory of the original thirteen colonies that became the United States. He lived the last nine years of his life at Locust Grove, dying in 1818.

William Clark, co-leader of the Lewis and Clark Expedition, also known as the Corps of Discovery, was instrumental in establishing a U.S. presence in the newly acquired Louisiana Purchase. On November 8, 1806, after their return, Lewis and Clark stopped at Locust Grove to celebrate the completion of their successful expedition to the Pacific Ocean across the mostly unmapped west.

The preservation of the 1790s Georgian-style mansion at Locust Grove is a rare glimpse of early western life after the Revolutionary War. Recently re-restored in the period style of General Clark’s residence, the twelve-room house contains original family portraits and memorabilia. In addition to the main house, the site includes outbuildings and other historic structures, a museum gallery, and offers activities for all age groups.

Call (502) 897-9845 or visit http://www.locustgrove.org/ for more information concerning operating hours, fees, directions, etc.

Credits and Sources:

Content for this Next Exit History site sponsored by the Lewis & Clark Trail Heritage Foundation. For more information visit http://lewisandclark.org/.

Furtwangler, Albert. Acts of Discovery: Visions of America in the Lewis and Clark Journals.  Urbana, IL: University of Illinois Press, 1993.

Holmberg, James P. Dear Brother: Letters of William Clark to Jonathan Clark. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2002.

Jackson, Donald ed. Letters of the Lewis and Clark Exposition with Related Documents and Notes: 1783-1854.2nd ed., Chicago: University of Illinois Press, 1978.

Jefferson, Thomas, Edwin M. Betts and James A. Bear, Jr., eds.The Family Letters of Thomas Jefferson, Columbia, MO: University of Missouri Press, 1966.

Lewis, Meriwether, William Clark, Bernard DeVoto, Stephen E. Ambrose, and Erwin Raisz. The Journals of Lewis and Clark. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1997.

Locust Grove. “Home, Visit, Contact.”  Accessed September 2, 2014.  http://www.locustgrove.org/.

Miller, Charles A. Jefferson and Nature: An Interpretation.Baltimore, MD: John Hopkins University Press, 1988.

Palmer, Frederick. Clark of Ohio: A Life of George Rogers Clark, New York: Dodd, Mead, and   Company, 1929.