George Clarke

Who was George Clarke?

George Clarke was the heir of George Clarke and the builder of Hyde Hall on Otsego Lake, in Otsego County, New York.

He came from England to the U.S. to claim the lands that had been owned by his great grandfather George Clarke. Following the American Revolutionary War, these had come into dispute. He fought in court, up to the U.S. Supreme Court, to take and keep possession. The U.S. Supreme Court, in an opinion delivered by Chief Justice John Marshall, affirmed his right to do so.

He commissioned leading architect Philip Hooker to design Hyde Hall, which at its completion and for long after was probably the largest mansion in the United States.