May 7, 1973 – Plum Grove – the home of Governor Robert Lucas, located at 1030 Carroll Street in Iowa City, is designated on the National Register of Historic Places.
After leaving the governor’s office in 1841, Robert Lucas returned briefly to Ohio (1843), so he might run for the U.S. Congress. Defeated in that election, the Lucas’ sold all their land in Ohio, and moved to Iowa City, settling here with his wife, Friendly, and several of his children and grandchildren. In 1844, he built this beautiful home for his family on a plot of land (461 acres) south and east of the city that he had acquired in 1839. That homestead would later come to be known as Plum Grove – located at 1030 Carroll Street. The property was bought by the State of Iowa in 1943, refurbished as a monument to Governor Lucas and his family, and opened to the public during Iowa’s Centennial celebration (1946).
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