What are the opening hours?

Monday 12pm - 4pm Tuesday 12pm - 4pm Wednesday 12pm - 4pm Thursday 12pm - 4pm Friday 12pm - 4pm Saturday 12pm - 4pm Sunday 12pm - 4pm

Montauk Historic Site

Home
United States
Clermont, IA
Montauk Historic Site

Memorial Day Weekend-Labor Day: Daily 12-4
Labor Day-Oct 31: Friday-Sunday 12-4
FREE and open to the public

05/25/2026

Today we take time to remember those we lost in the service of our country and reflect on the sacrifices made by others in the pursuit of a better nation.

05/23/2026

Opening day is here!

Starting today we will be open 7 days a week throughout the summer. Our first tour starts at noon and our last tour for the day starts at 4:00. No need for a reservation (unless you have a large group), just show up and we will get you into the next tour time!

05/21/2026

Happy 162nd Birthday Augusta!

Augusta Larrabee was the second oldest of Mr. and Mrs. Larrabee’s seven children. She was an incredibly talented artist and attended the University of Iowa and then the Art Students League in New York City in the late 1880s. In 1896 she and Victor Dolliver were married on the grounds of Montauk. Sadly, she passed away in 1897 at the young age of 32 from influenza.

If you visit Montauk you will see multiple paintings of hers hanging in her room as well as two decorative friezes she hand painted.

Photos: 1. Augusta sitting at her painting easel in the upstairs end hallway area. 2. Augusta’s wedding day. Don Love, Julia Love (Augusta’s sister), Augusta, and Victor Dolliver (husband). We still have her wedding dress here at Montauk.

05/11/2026

We've been working hard getting the house ready to greet visitors for our 2026 season! Our summer season will start on May 23rd, after which we will be open seven days a week from 12:00 to 4:00.

05/10/2026

Happy Mothers Day!

Photo: Lillian Larrabee holding two of her five children, William III and Innes on the back porch lawn at Montauk. Taken in 1906.

05/04/2026

Today is National Weather Observers Day and something that many people do not know is that Montauk was an official weather observation station. Augusta Larrabee enrolled in the program in 1876. She was given an official Iowa Weather Station booklet to fill out multiple times a day. Other members of the family kept up with the reporting after Augusta’s death, and Montauk continued as a weather reporting station all the way into the 2000s.

Photos: Front cover of the weather reporting booklet Augusta filled out in 1876 and the first page in the booklet all filled out. Notice the use of different symbols to indicate different weather situations.

05/01/2026

Happy May Day!

Here is a photo of a “May Party” as the photo is labeled. The woman standing second from the right in the striped dress is Lillian Larrabee, the wife of William Jr. We are not sure exactly where this photo was taken, but it would make sense if it were maybe taken in the City Park somewhere.

If anyone recognizes the house in the background let me know!

04/30/2026

April 30th, 1904 kicked off the Louisiana Purchase Exposition, also known as the St. Louis World’s Fair. Mr. Larrabee was the Chairman of the Iowa Delegate, which was in charge of the Iowa Building at the Fair. 43 of the then 45 U.S. states had their own buildings at the Fair.

The Iowa building (seen in one photo) was a large building built just for the Fair. Inside it featured all sorts of agricultural and industrial exhibits about Iowa. For the outside of the building Mr. Larrabee had commissioned multiple bronze statues including David B. Henderson, General Dodge, General Grant, General Sherman, and Admiral Farragut. If you have ever been to Montauk you will know that the statues of Dodge, Grant, Sherman, and Farragut now adorn the lawns here. They were moved to Montauk after the Fair ended in December 1904.

Photos: 1. The Iowa Building at the St. Louis Fair (notice the statues). 2. Members of the Iowa Delegate standing on the steps of the Iowa Building. Mr. and Mrs. Larrabee are standing on the bottom step in the middle. 3. Mrs. Larrabee enjoying herself at the Fair.

04/24/2026

Happy Arbor Day Iowa!

When you drive into Montauk one of the first things you notice are all the Eastern White Pines. Many of them are now over 150 years old and were planted by Governor Larrabee before Montauk was built. Part of the historic preservation of the site is making sure we are replanting these pines when the old ones die.

If you know the Site Manager, Hannah, then you know she and her husband have quite the green thumbs and in the fall of 2024 decided to try something exciting. Seeds were collected from the pine cones of some of the largest and oldest trees along the driveway and were started in their home. The goal is to grow and plant new white pines that are the direct offspring of the current historic ones on site! Wish us luck in this endeavor!

Photos: One of the few white pines that germinated and a historic photo looking at some of the old pines from about where the parking lot is today.

04/22/2026

Happy Earth Day and National Celebrate Trails Day!

Did you know that Montauk sits on over 40 acres of mixed woodland, cropland, and maintained yard? We have two walking trails that are open to the public year round. One is a loop that dips down in front of the house and has more uneven terrain and hills, and then we have one at the back end of the property that is more even ground.

Our grounds are open all year round from sunrise to sunset if you’d like to come out and enjoy them. Pets on a leash are always welcome!

Photos: Part of our front trail during the fall. Montauk is especially beautiful when the leaves start to change. Our trail map that is availble to the public.

04/15/2026

On this day in 1865 President Abraham Lincoln died from a gunshot wound he sustained the night before while attending a performance at Ford’s Theater.

According to a written account by Mrs. Anna Larrabee, many in the town of Clermont found out about his death the following day while at church services. While Anna, her husband William, and their two small children sat in the pews at the Presbyterian Church (today known as the Union Sunday School) a rider came bursting through the doors to tell the congregation that the president had been assassinated. No doubt this would have been exceptionally difficult news for William Larrabee to hear as he was a staunch Lincoln supporter.

Address

26223 Harding Road, PO Box 372
Clermont, IA
52135

Opening Hours

Monday	12pm - 4pm
Tuesday	12pm - 4pm
Wednesday	12pm - 4pm
Thursday	12pm - 4pm
Friday	12pm - 4pm
Saturday	12pm - 4pm
Sunday	12pm - 4pm

Telephone

+15634237173

Website

https://history.iowa.gov/visit/historic-sites/montauk-historic-site

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when Montauk Historic Site posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Contact The Organization

Send a message to Montauk Historic Site:

Shortcuts

Address
Telephone
Opening Hours
Alerts
Contact The Organization
Claim ownership or report listing

Want your organization to be the top-listed Government Service in Clermont?