Here are portraits of Stephen Vail and his wife, Bethiah, commissioned from Robert Morse, in order to assist the financially strapped inventor. Don't miss the painted Hitchcock chairs made in Riverton, Connecticut. The daughters of the house were sent to school at the Moravian Academy in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. In the factory, originally designed for cotton weaving, is the room in which the telegraph was first successfully demonstrated. Its walls still contain the nails used to string two miles of wire.
Exhibits trace the development of the telegraph over time.
It was designated a National Historic Lanark in 1975. In 1830 a second story was added to the building for cotton looms. In 1850 a grist mill was set up using the first floor and basement. The second floor became vacant and Stephen Vail let his son Alfred and Morse work on the telegraph on the second floor here. Also on the grounds is the Ford Cottage.