Montauk Historic Site is located at 26223 Harding Road (U.S. Highway 18) in Clermont. It was built in 1874 on a hill overlooking the Turkey River Valley. The 14-room mansion is built of brick molded of native clay and kiln in Clermont. It was once a working farm with barns, farm animals, an orchard and grain fields. Montauk is open to the public for tours from Memorial Day to Oct. 31. Admission is free. Visit history.iowa.gov for details. Photo courtesy of Visit Northeast Iowa
Sept/Oct 2025 (Volume 17, Issue 5)
(Publisher’s note: the print version of this story contains the following errors under the section “Gov. Larrabee and his politics.” William Larrabee did not graduate from West Point, nor serve as a soldier in the War of 1812, but his father, Adam Larrabee, did. Also, William Larrabee worked as a farmer when he arrived in Clermont, not as a teacher. The following version contains the corrections. We apologize for the errors.)
By Hannah Frederick
Written in slightly illegible handwriting, in a small notebook with a marbled cover, are the words, “Oct. 10, 1853—I packed my trunks and set out for Iowa.” The entry was written by a 21-year-old William Larrabee, who was setting out from his family’s farm in Ledyard, Conn., to travel to northeast Iowa’s Clayton County. He could not have possibly known then that he would become the most well-known Iowan in the 19th century whose history and eventual home would be preserved for the next 150 years.
Standing on a hill overlooking the Turkey River Valley in Clermont is a home that in the past has been referred to as the “Mount Vernon of Iowa.” This “mansion on a hill” was built in 1874 by William and Anna Larrabee, who by that time had spent the past 20 years building a life and family for themselves in Clermont. When William and Anna Larrabee moved into the home in the fall of 1875 their family consisted of six children spanning the ages of three to 13. Their seventh and last child, Helen Larrabee, would be born in the house a year later.
Montauk was built in 1874 and owned by William and Anna Larrabee. William Larrabee served in the Iowa State Senate for 18 years and was Iowa’s governor from 1896 to 1890. This candid family photo was taken in front of Montauk, likely during the Christmas season in 1906. It includes William and Anna Larrabee, as well as all six of their living children at the time, their spouses, and their children. Photo courtesy of State Historical Society of Iowa
Anna Larrabee named her house “Montauk,” a name still used today. Her father, Gustavus Appelman, had been a captain on whaling ships in Connecticut before moving his family to Iowa to farm in 1854. As part of the route the sailors took, they knew they had arrived home when they could see the Montauk Pointe Lighthouse on the horizon off the coast of Long Island, N.Y. Anna Larrabee remembered her father telling her how seeing Montauk Pointe brought hope and happiness to the sea-worn crew and decided to name her home the same, wanting visitors and family to always feel hope and happiness when they saw her home on the hill.
Over the next 10 years at Montauk William and Anna Larrabee raised their family, built their farm, and became well-known names in Iowa politics. Since getting married in 1861, William Larrabee had owned and operated a successful flour mill, had patented a grain winnower, had brought the railroad through Clermont with his lobbying of railroad officials, and had been elected as an Iowa senator (he served for 18 years in the Iowa Senate, 1868-1886). His next endeavor in life would begin on Nov. 3, 1885, when he was elected governor of Iowa for the first of two terms, serving from 1886 to 1890.
Gov. Larrabee and his politics
William Larrabee, who was born in Connecticut in 1832, was instrumental in the development of the Republican Party in Iowa and was a progressive reformer within his party. He had been an ardent supporter of President Abraham Lincoln, a unionist, and an abolitionist. During his first inaugural address, given on Jan. 14, 1886, he spoke on many topics that were politically important to him. He admonished the nation for the continued disenfranchisement of previously enslaved Black men, called for increased compensation for laborers, and advised on allowing women to vote in municipal elections and own large amounts of property. He strongly believed in public education and the construction of public schools, and he asked the legislature to consider a compulsory attendance law.
He spoke on federal issues such as protecting federal civil servants, saying, “a system of espionage and intrigue which encourages a vile and inquisitorial scrutiny into the personal affairs of public officers, and confers upon congressmen the questionable honor of acting as government detectives, is repulsive to every honest American, and any attempt to shield such a system under the pretense of reform is an insult to American intelligence.”
Gov. Larrabee wanted federal prohibition laws and was probably known best for his push for federal regulation of the railroads. This last issue gained him many enemies, including those within his party. Nevertheless, he continued to push for their regulation. His main concern was for farmers and the increasing prices they had to pay to get their products to market. Although he left politics officially in 1890, he published a book in 1893 on the topic of federal regulation of the railroads, “The Railroad Question.” The book was known nationally as an authoritative source on the topic of railroad regulation.
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