George Caleb Bingham Home

1837 - present

The George Caleb Bingham Home was built in 1837 in Arrow Rock, Missouri. Its architect and first owner, George Caleb Bingham (1811 – 1879), was a Whig politician and artist. Bingham painted portraits of prominent contemporary Missourians but achieved national fame as a genre painter for his paintings of American frontier life along the Missouri River. The house, meant to be a home for himself and his first wife, Sarah Hutchinson, was where he developed his signature style of painting. He lived in the house until he left Arrow Rock in 1845. The building was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1965. A prime example of Federalist architecture, the house is located on a property composed of multiple lots, allowing for the many outbuildings and animals necessary for residential life in nineteenth-century Missouri. As these were removed over time, the Arrow Rock landscape gradually acquired the park-like quality that characterizes the modern Arrow Rock State Historic Site, which includes the George Caleb Bingham Home and other notable historic buildings.

Object Details

Categories: Arts & Culture, People

Creator: George Caleb Bingham

Date: 1837 - present

Subject: Bingham, George Caleb; Art; National Historic Landmarks

Contributing Institution: Missouri State Parks - Arrow Rock State Historic Site

Copy Request: Please email moparks@dnr.mo.gov and reference Show Me Missouri Digital Exhibit

Rights: The text and images contained in this collection are intended for research and educational use only. Duplication of any of these images for commercial use without express written consent is expressly prohibited.

County: Saline

Region: Central

Type: Building

Latitude: 39.070980

Longitude: -92.943232

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George Caleb Bingham: The Missouri Artist

Most people today know George Caleb Bingham (1811-1879) as an artist. During his lifetime, Bingham saw himself “as a public officer” or “as a writer,” with “artist” a close third. All views of him are equally true: Bingham was incredibly skilled with a pencil and brush, a fact attested to by the numerous works of …

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