Hallockville Farm Museum

 In the late 20th century, the approximately 520 acres in the northeast corner of Riverhead Town and a small portion of adjacent Southold Town came to be known as the “KeySpan Property.” It included about 300 acres of farmland, 200 acres of woodland, and over 5,000 feet of shorefront on Long Island Sound.

In the first decade of the 21st century, this became the site of a remarkable preservation story that created Hallock State Park Preserve and permanently prevented development on the adjacent farmland. The area referred to in the 19th century as “Hallockville.”

The Hallockville Museum Farm’s 28 acres are located on allotments originally granted to John Sweasy (the Homestead farm) and Barnabas Wines (the Cichanowicz farm). Grants were distributed according to wealth, with the richer inhabitants getting more lots.

Richard Howell was the earliest person to settle on the KeySpan property itself. In 1675, his father-in-law, William Hallock, gave him a 20-rod wide strip on the far west edge of his two allotments, running from Sound to Bay. The Howell family gradually acquired more land to the west and continued to live on the farm, now part of the KeySpan property, for more than 250 years until the last family member living there died in 1951.

Five old farmhouses stand on the Sound Avenue frontage of the KeySpan property, flanking both east and west the historic house and barns owned by the Hallockville Museum. Along with the homestead, the museum’s “catalogue house” and its staff house and three more structures nearby, the eleven houses are referred to as “Hallockville” because all of them (or their predecessors) were built or inhabited by members of the Hallock family in the 19th century.

In 1975, a group of concerned local residents began meeting to devise a way to save the Hallock homestead, its deteriorating outbuildings and the other farmsteads along Sound Avenue. In 1977, LILCO leased the Caleb Hallock  farmhouse and outbuildings to the fledging museum for 10 years, at $1 per year. At that time, plans were developed to save and restore fifteen historic structures along Sound Avenue on the LILCO property as a living farm museum and a center for traditional crafts.  In 1981, LILCO donated the homestead, the surrounding farm structures and two-and-a-half acres of land to the museum. That same year, the fledging museum held its first Fall Festival and its first Christmas open house in the homestead. In 1984, it was placed on the National Register of Historic Places.

In 1997, the museum purchased five more acres from the company for $100,000, bringing the museum’s holdings to 8.5 acres. This new parcel included a small piece east of the Homestead and property extending to the west almost to Herricks Lane, including the 1930’s Cichanowicz house and the site of Isaiah Hallock’s barn. KeySpan later donated a large barn built by the Naugles family, which the museum then moved onto this new property and restored.

After several years of restoration work, the museum opened its Naugles Barn in June 2003. 
During the winter of 2004 the museum moved the Trubisz Sprout House and Aunt Frances’s Washhouse) from the adjacent Trubisz farm and ultimately placed on new foundations behind the Hudson-Sydlowski House. Later that year, master decoy carver Jack Combs moved his decoy carving shop from Cutchogue and rebuilt it on a foundation just behind the Sprout and Wash Houses. In 2005 volunteers from the museum fenced in the front portion of the old Cichanowicz farm to make a proper pasture for its two cows.

In 2006, the Museum completed restoration of the 1930’s Cichanowicz Farmhouse and commenced furnishing the interior back to its Depression era appearance. In 2007, Hallockville dedicated a new interpretive kiosk, funded in part by the Trust for Public Land that told the story of the KeySpan property – from its early history through the stories of its exploitation and ultimate preservation. 

Source:

“HISTORY.” Hallockville Museum Farm, 17 Nov. 2020, hallockville.org/about/history/

Farmingdale COVID Stories

Tyron Hall/FortNeck

 Built in 1770 by David Jones, Tryon Hall was named after William Tryon, Governor of New York. It was a spacious building, 90 feet in length, overlooking South Oyster Bay. The entrance hall was 36 feet long by 23 feet wide, floored in southern pine, with a freestanding stair that was noted by everyone who entered. There was also a drawing room, a library, kitchen and a formal dining room on the first floor. There were five bedrooms upstairs and servants’ rooms on the third floor.

Thomas Jones, by then a Judge, used Tryon Hall to entertain fellow supporters of the King and also allowed them to stay there for their safety, earning the name “Refugee House.” It was renamed Fort Neck House after the American Revolution.

Unfortunately, Thomas Jones did not enjoy his mansion for very long, as he was forced into exile in England after the Revolution. By a 1781 Act of Attainder, naming him and 52 other Tory supporters, his property was seized by New York State and eventually given to his sister Arabella (he had no children), on condition that her husband append Jones to his name. He was David Floyd of the Patriot Floyd family and readily agreed, with the result that their first son became David Richard Floyd-Jones, confirmed by the New York Legislature in 1790.

Several generations of the family occupied Fort Neck, the latest being George Stanton Floyd-Jones. He became involved in establishing the Floyd-Jones Cemetery in 1892, reinterring not only the bodies of Thomas Jones and his family, but several of his relatives who had lived in Tryon Hall and were buried in a family plot behind the Hall. He spurred construction of an ornate Victorian-looking Massapequa train station in 1890, replacing a plain building put up by the railroad in 1880.

By the end of World War I, George Stanton Floyd-Jones had moved to Sewan (current site of Massapequa High School) and his family sold Fort Neck to Richard Corroon. Mr. Corroon converted the building into a roadhouse, expanding the kitchen and installing indoor plumbing for the upstairs rooms. The venture was not successful, however, and he allowed the building to remain idle and deteriorate. By the mid 30s there was talk of tearing it down, but the Nassau County Historical Society spurred efforts to save it.  These efforts led nowhere, however, and the building remained unoccupied until October 18, 1940, when a fire gutted it.

 The Historical Society of the Massapequas erected a historical marker to recognize the significance of Fort Neck/Tryon Hall in 1992.

 

Sources:

George Kirchmann, et al. “Massapequa's First Mansion.” Massapequa Observer, 9 Feb. 2015, www.massapequaobserver.com/massapequas-first-mansion/.

Kirchmann, George. “TRYON HALL/ FORT NECK HOUSE.” Massapequa, NY Patch, Patch, 9 June 2013, patch.com/new-york/massapequa/tryon-hall-fort-neck-house.

Marshall Field Estate

The Marshall Field Estate, which is also known as the Caumsett Manor, is one of the largest mansions on Long Island. It is also one of the Gold Coast Mansions. Marshall Field III purchased the property in 1920, which consisted of 1,426-acres of land, which he named Caumsett, after the Matinecock tribe’s original name for the peninsula which means place by a sharp rock.

Soon after the purchase of the land, the estate was built in 1924-25 for Marshall Field III to use as a hunting lodge and farm. It was designed by architect, John Russell Pope, who was famously known for designing the National Archives and Records Administration building, the Jefferson Memorial, and the West Building of the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. The estate is an example of English Georgian design, but was adapted for a more modern (at the time) 20^th century American country home.

The homes original site was much larger than what is seen today. The west wing and east wing have since been demolished. These demolition projects have removed the original living room, master bedrooms, and servants’ quarters. The remainder of the house has been restructured and the rooms on all three floors have been rearranged or changed to serve a different purpose. An example of this would be that the dining room has been changed to serve a new purpose as a kitchen.

On February 3, 1961, New York State purchased the property for $4 million and they made it a state park for use of the people. The estate was eventually listed on the National Register of Historic Place in 1979, which helped preserve one of the largest Gold Coast Mansions. 

 

Sources: 

Caumsett Manor-Marshall Field Estate, Cold Spring Harbor New York. (2016, December 20). Retrieved November 19, 2020, from http://www.historic-structures.com/ny/cold_spring_harbor/caumsett_manor.php

Caumsett State Historic Park Preserve. (2020, October 20). Retrieved November 19, 2020, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caumsett_State_Historic_Park_Preserve

John Russell Pope. (2020, November 14). Retrieved November 19, 2020, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Russell_Pope

 

 

 

Massapequa Hotel

 The Massapequa Hotel, located two blocks south of Merrick Road on Ocean Avenue was built by Joseph Snedeker in 1888 and was designed to attract wealthy New York City residents. 

When completed, it contained three hundred rooms, making it one of the largest hotels in the country. It had a large central parlor and dining room serving sumptuous meals, a wraparound balcony, a bowling alley, riding stables, a beach and proximity to a golf course. Originally accessible from the Farmingdale station, it became even easier to reach when the Massapequa station was completed in 1888. Carriages brought down customers who stayed for days or weeks at a time. If the main hotel was filled, they could stay in one of the "cottages" built nearby. These were Victorian-style structures that patrons would easily find attractive.

One of the more unusual features of the hotel was the existence of a bathing beach, known as Billy's Beach (Billy was Mr. Snedeker's son), located on South Oyster Bay a few blocks south of the main hotel.

Despite its size, or perhaps because of it, the Massapequa Hotel was never a profitable endeavor. In the years immediately prior to World War I, Queens Land and Title Company endeavored to attract city dwellers to its "new city" on Long Island. It bought large pieces of property between Broadway and Hicksville Road, laid out streets and ran trains to attract potential homebuyers. It also convinced the newly-created Nassau County government to widen and smooth Merrick Road to accommodate a new apparatus called the automobile. These developments lessened the area's "wild" character and made it more difficult for Snedeker to attract customers.

By 1916 the Massapequa Hotel was forced to close. Ironically, a section of the hotel lived on when it was moved to Hicksville and Merrick Roads and became part of Panchard's Hotel, which lasted until 1952. Several of the cottages, including Snedeker's residence, with a large "S" affixed to the south wall, still stand on Ocean Avenue.

The Historical Society of the Massapequas recognized the uniqueness of the Massapequa Hotel and erected a historical marker in 2008.

 

Source:

Kirchmann, George. “Massapequa Hotel.” Massapequa, NY Patch, Patch, 8 May 2013, patch.com/new-york/massapequa/massapequa-hotel

Alicia Patterson Guggenheim

 Alicia Patterson Guggenheim was born in 1906 as Alicia Patterson to a generational newspaper family. Her father, Joseph Medill Patterson, was the founder of the New York Daily News and her great grandfather, Joseph Medill, was the owner of the Chicago Tribune.

Alicia began her journey with newspapers in the promotions department of her father’s Daily News in 1927 and was eventually assigned as a reporter. She spent some time working for her father’s paper until she was fired due to the paper being sued for libel on one of her pieces. After she was fired, she moved back to Chicago where she spent much of her earlier years. This is where she met, then married Harry Frank Guggenheim in 1939, which was her third marriage.

After their marriage, Harry and Alicia moved to their thirty-room mansion in Sands Point. In 1940, she created her won newspaper, Newsday, and would commute to her office in Hempstead from Sands Point. Between the two of them, Harry and Alicia held all shares to the newspaper with Harry controlling 51% and Alicia controlling 49%. Besides being the creator and owner, she was also the editor of the paper.

Alicia wanted to create Newsday to give balanced news coverage through investigative journalism while maintaining a lively style. Her idea of balanced news coverage was to ensure that there was even coverage of both democratic and republican news, as well as international coverage. She also investigated local stories of crime, as well as entertainment to make it a newspaper for all readers to enjoy.

Quickly, she made Newsday a well-respected paper and it even won the Pulitzer Prize in 1954. Also in 1954, Newsday became the country’s largest suburban magazine and the Guggenheims used it to help create an identity for Long Island. By 1957, Newsday’s daily circulation count was 130,000.

On July 2, 1963, Alicia Patterson Guggenheim passed away at the age of 56 from complications following a stomach surgery. By the time of her death, the daily circulation count has reached 370,000 and Newsday had obtained four Polk Awards. Following her death, Harry became the publisher and editor of Newsday and the newspaper did its best to maintain the integrity and purpose that Alicia created.

 

Greer, K., & Diamond, S. (1985). Alicia Patterson Guggenheim. In In Between Ocean and Empire: An Illustrated History of Long Island (pp. 212-213). Northridge, CA: Windsor Publications

Winfield Hall

 Located in Glen Cove, a Gold Coast Mansion was built on the same spot for Dr. Alexander Crombie Humphreys by C.P.H. Gilbert in 1899. The original Mediterranean villa style house was then purchased by Emmet Queen in 1907. It was then purchased by Robert Winfield Woolworth. It was speculated Woolworth wanted a home nearer the sound like the Joseph DeLamar Mansion.

Winfield Hall was designed and build for Frank Winfield Woolworth, after his existing home, also on the estate, suddenly and mysteriously burned.  Intriguingly, the plans were already completed for the new mansion by architect, C.P.H. Gilbert in 1916. It was one of the most expensive Gold Coast mansions ever built.  The pink and beige marble grand staircase, alone, cost more than $2,000,000 when it was built in 1917.

Built of white marble, the home was designed along the lines of an Italian renaissance palace.  At three stories high and with 56 rooms, it was (and is) an imposing edifice. The Georgian dining room featured 18th century Grinling Gibbons-style carvings, while the music room, the focus for the entire house, featured a built-in Aeolian organ. Each of the second floor bedrooms in the house was designed along the lines of a period museum, such as Empire, Ming, French Gothic, Marie Antoinette, Louis XIV, etc.

Unfortunately, like its predecessor, the mansion suffered a devastating fire in the winter of 2015.  A terrible amount of damage was done to the mansion, which had been rebuilt in 2010. As of 2012, it was a privately owned home.

Sources:

“Gold Coast Mansions.” Winfield Hall - Woolworth Mansion, www.goldcoastmansions.com/WinfieldHall/WinfieldHall.ht

 “Winfield Hall - the Historic Woolworth Estate in Glen Cove, Long Island.” FLS Black Car Service, 18 Nov. 2017, www.fatehlimoservice.com/what-to-see/winfeld-hall-woolworth-mansion

Samuel Ballton

 Samuel Ballton was one of Greenlawn’s most important and well-known citizens.

Samuel Ballton was born in 1838 as a slave in Virginia. During the Civil War, Ballton escaped from a Confederate forced labor camp and reached safety across Northern Lines. He crossed enemy lines twice to see his wife, with the second time being to aid in her escape where he brought her to a Union-occupied area in Virginia. After ensuring her safety, he continued his courageous acts by joining the Fifth Massachusetts Colored Volunteers in 1864. He wanted to preserve his country and ensure the freedom of his wife and self.

After the war ended, he settled with his wife Rebecca and their family in Greenlawn. He first became a farmer for the town’s wealthiest man, Charles D. Smith. He then became a share cropper for Alexander Gardiner, who had the largest farm in Greenlawn. This is where Ballton’s notoriety began where he grew record numbers of cucumbers and cabbage which were extremely valuable due to the increase pickling and sauerkraut plants near the railroad. This led to Ballton being known as Greenlawn’s Pickle King, when he grew 1.5 million cucumbers in one season to be pickled.

Ballton’s success as a sharecropper led him to other business ventures including real estate. He would get loans and resell pickles for profit, then purchase land. He would then build houses on the land and sell it to farmers for a small profit. He eventually proved his worth, even though some hardships and trials.

By the turn of the century, Ballton had proved to be a success in his community. He eventually learned to read and write without any schooling. His home was estimated to be worth 5.5 thousand (at the turn of century). He became a member of the William Lloyd Garrison Chapter of the veterans of the rand Army and member of Greenlawn Presbyterian Church. He died in 1917 as an outstanding founding member of Greenlawn and is still viewed that way today.

Source:

Day, L. Samuel Ballton. In Between Ocean and Empire: An Illustrated History of Long Island (pp. 94-

    95). Windsor Publications.

Entemann's Bakery

 In 1898, William Entemann opened a bakery in Flatbush & made local deliveries of bread, rolls, and cakes. In the early 1900s, his son William developed rheumatic fever and it was suggested they move to the country. They settled on Bay Shore and operated a retail shop from there.

When William Jr. died in 1951, his three sons made two decisions. They decided to bring their baked goods to the supermarkets and they would stop making bread and rolls. In 1957, Entemann’s was introduced to Food Fair Stores. It became so successful that home deliveries were ceased. Martha Entemann designed and created the see-through cake box in 1959. By 1961, it became so popular, a new bakery had to be built to meet the demand. They built a five-acre facility in Bay Shore. In 1975, they opened a bakery in Miami.

In 1978, the Warner-Lambert Company bought Entemann’s. Within months of the purchase, a new 120,000 square foot plant was opened in Miami and a processing center was built in Albany. In 1979, they opened a bakery in Chicago. In 1982, General Foods purchased Entemann’s from Warner-Lambert. In 1984, Entemann’s products were introduced in San Diego.

Entemann’s was then purchased by Bimbo Bakeries and in 2014, they closed their Bay Shore facility.

 

Sources:

Between Ocean and Empire: An Illustrated History of Long Island. Windsor Publications, 1985

Kosman, Josh. “Entenmann's to Close Landmark LI Bakery, Lay off 178.” New York Post, New York Post, 28 Mar. 2014, nypost.com/2014/03/27/entenmanns-to-close-landmark-li-bakery-lay-off-178

Silk Dye Works in Farmingdale

In 1881, Rudolph A. Weber came to the United States from Germany. Weber was a silk dyer and he founded the R.A. Weber Silk Dyeing Company in College Point. In 1914, R.A. Weber Silk Dyeing Company was sold, then transformed into the Independent Silk Dyeing Company and moved to Farmingdale. Farmingdale was the best location on Long Island, due to it having the purest water supply on Long Island, which is one of the most important factors when dyeing materials. It was located off Conklin Street (near Cedar Ave and Birch Ave).

Throughout the transition, Rudolph A. Weber was still the general manager until his death in 1920. Following his death, his son—Rudolph H. Weber, became general manager, treasurer and eventually, president in 1953. 

Over the course of the next few decades, materials, equipment and procedures changed allowing them to better suit the needs of their patrons. In 1949, the number of employees at the Independent Silk Dyeing Company was 250 people. Eventually the name changed again and became the Independent Textile Dyeing Company. 

In 1956, Rudolph R. Weber (who was the grandson of the original founder) became president when his father retired. 

The company had changed names many times. These names included Jayne Textile, Kenmark Textile, and Susquehanna Textile. The company was always evolving with Jayne Textile Printing Corporation beginning to conduct screen and textile printing in 1972.

Sources:

Junior Historical Society of Farmingdale. Farmingdale’s Story: Farms to Flights. 

Weldon E. Howitt High School, 1956

Shakalis, Connie. Historical Vignettes from the Farmingdale-Bethpage Historical Society

Rock Hall

One of the finest pre- Revolutionary War homes on Long Island, Rock Hall was built in 1767.  It was once the home of Josiah Martin, an English sugar plantation owner who was born and raised on the West Indian island of Antigua.  At age 68, instead of retiring to the English countryside, Josiah chose this site with its proximity to the ocean and New York Harbor as his final home.

At the beginning of the American Revolution, the house was occupied by rebel forces in 1776.  Josiah Martin's eldest son, Dr. Samuel Martin, was imprisoned briefly during this time in Philadelphia for his association with other loyalists, but was allowed to post bond and was set free.  After Josiah's death in 1778, Rock Hall was inherited by Samuel.

Thomas Hewlett acquired Rock Hall and 125 acres from Samuel's heirs in 1824. Hewlett responded to the rising popularity of summer tourism in the Rockaway area during the 19th century, and remodeled Rock Hall and opened its doors to summer guests as early as 1830. Thomas Hewlett's son, James Augustus made his summer home at Rock Hall after 1868.  James enlarged the house with a service wing in 1881. 

By the 1930s the revered ancestral home was no longer occupied. In 1948, the Hewlett family deeded Rock Hall to the Town of Hempstead.  After an extensive restoration, it opened as a museum in 1953 and is owned and operated by the Town of Hempstead.

Source:

“Rock Hall.” Rock Hall Museum - Town of Hempstead, www.friendsofrockhall.org/rock-hall

Fort Tyler

It was in 1898, at the start of the Spanish-American War, that attention turned to long-neglected defensive positions along the East Coast. Without firepower at the entrance to Long Island Sound, enemy ships might approach New York City from the back, wreaking havoc before the U.S. Navy could respond.

The Eastern Shield, a string of fortifications from the Connecticut shore to Montauk, was rushed into construction. Work on Fort Tyler was commissioned by the War Department. It was to be built on a 14-acre island on what had until the blizzard of 1888 been known as Gardiner’s Point. The fort was not completed by war’s end. Troops were never stationed there, and no guns ever mounted. For years, its only occupants were seabirds and the occasional group of picnickers — including at least one class from East Hampton High School.

It was named in 1904, after Brigadier General Daniel Tyler, U.S. Volunteers, who served with distinction during the U.S. Civil War, and who died 30 Nov 1882. Conveyed to New York State in 1924. Gardiners Point Island was first acquired by the government in 1851 as a lighthouse reservation.

In 1898, it was transferred to the U.S. Army for use as a coastal fortification and a single Endicott Period gun battery was built in 1898. The Endicott Period battery was never armed and it seems that a temporary, two gun 8" Rodman gun battery was also built but not armed.

 The island was garrisoned in 1917 during World War I. The interest of the U.S. Government was conveyed to the State of New York by Q.M. Order dated 29 Aug 1924. Battery and Island used for target practice during World War II and through 1975.

 n July 1936, the Ninth Bombardment Group of the Army Air Force tested its new Glen Martin bombers there. After World War II, the assaults on the fort became more intense, with live bombs, rockets, and machine guns trained on its crumbling walls.

 Closed to the public, a real danger from unexploded ordnance. Do not set foot on the island. As of 2020, the ruins, as they are called, has nearly been consumed by the sea.

 Sources:

 “Fort Tyler (1).” Fort Tyler (1) - FortWiki Historic U.S. and Canadian Forts, www.fortwiki.com/Fort_Tyler_(1)

 Rattray, David E. “The 'Ruins' Are Claimed by the Sea.” The 'Ruins' Are Claimed by the Sea | The East Hampton Star, www.easthamptonstar.com/villages/202012/ruins-are-claimed-sea

Knollwood Estate

Knollwood Estate was originally built for Charles I. Hudson between 1906 and 1920, The 60-room mansion had elements of Greek Revival, Italian Renaissance and Spanish styling with towering Ionic front columns with terraced garden and a dairy farm to satisfy his passion for raising Jersey cattle. The landscape architect was Ferrucio Vitale. The 150-acre estate devoted a large part of its land to commercial farming and pasturing. A stuccoed combination stable and garage building included space for 12 cars and apartments for chauffeurs, grooms, and gardeners. A poultry building and a hog house were also located on the estate, as well as an additional stable that housed farm horses, wagons, and implements. Accommodations included a boarding house for farm laborers, a cottage for the farm superintendent, and an additional cottage for agricultural workers. 

 Following Hudson’s death in 1921, Knollwood was sold to Gustavia Senff, widow of Charles H. Senff, director of the American Sugar Refining Company (later Domino Sugar). Charles Senff McVeigh, an attorney, inherited Knollwood as trustee following the death of his aunt in 1927. McVeigh sold Knollwood to King Gustav S. Zog of Albania in 1951 for approximately $102.800. 

 King Zog, born Ahmet Muhtar Bej Zogolli, ruled Albania from 1925 to 1939, first as president and later as king, before he was forced to flee Albania with his family following invasion by Italian forces. Zog had planned on turning Knollwood into his own personal micro-kingdom, complete with Albanian subjects, but somehow these plans never materialized. He was particularly taken with Knollwood’s extensive dairy and capacity to house a thousand chickens. But Zog’s hopes ran higher than poultry: owning an American residence meant that Zog and his family would have an easier time immigrating to the United States, which was an implicit component of his understanding with the government. If he could not be king in Albania, Zog planned to live like an aristocratic landowner in America. 

Once the paperwork on Knollwood was signed, he began looking into the possibility of bringing over whole families of servants with him to America to serve as the foundation for a court of over 100 people. Worried that being accepted as a “refugee” or an official “emigrant” might damage his claim to the Albanian throne, Zog refused to accept anything less than an official invitation and sponsorship. On September 22, 1953, after a direct petition from CIA Director Allan Dulles, the U.S. State Department finally instructed their Alexandrian consulate that Zog and his entourage were to be allowed into the United States without visas. Sadly for him, the king didn't leave the country in time. Four days later, the king’s villa was raided by Egyptian authorities, Zog was arrested, and a large sum of his gold reserves were seized. By 1955, the property had fallen to disrepair and was sold to Lansdell Christie who had most of it demolished in 1959. Today curious hikers can explore what remains of King Zog’s would-be palace on what is now part of Nassau County’s 550-acre Muttontown Preserve. 

 Sources: 

 “Knollwood: The Estate and Its Owners.” Long Island Past and Present, 1 Mar. 2019, longislandpastandpresent.com/2019/03/01/knollwood-the-estate-and-its-owners

 “Ruins of King Zog's Estate.” Atlas Obscura, Atlas Obscura, 10 July 2013, www.atlasobscura.com/places/ruins-of-king-zog-s-estate 

 “The Secret Cold War History of a Ruined Long Island Estate.” Mental Floss, 13 June 2017, www.mentalfloss.com/article/501395/secret-cold-war-history-ruined-long-island-estate

Farmingdale Royal Arcanum

The Supreme Council of the Royal Arcanum, more commonly known as the Royal Arcanum, was founded in 1877 in Boston, Massachusetts. It was founded by John A. Cummings and Darius Wilson, and it is a fraternal benefit society. The Royal Arcanum’s structure follows a three-tiered system which includes local groups or “councils” with at least 16 members, five state councils or “Grand Council” with at least 1,000 members, and the highest tier which is the “Supreme Council” based in Boston.

In August of 1887, the Farmingdale Council 1052 became a member of the National Council of Royal Arcanum.  Farmingdale Council 1052 had boasted that they are the oldest organization in the Village of Farmingdale.  It was originally founded under the name, Hardscrabble Council 1052, but the name was changed to Farmingdale Council 1052 in 1888. The group was founded by William H. Trou, Dr. H. Thorne, Gilbert Laurence, Humphrey Pike, Alanson Van Cott, Peter N. Bowers, Adolph Bausch, Reverend H. Blatz, George Warner, George Nuncy, and John Turner.

Farmingdale Council 1052’s first home was a two-story wooden building which was built in 1888 and cost three hundred dollars. It would have stood at today’s address of 281 Main Street, where the Divine Olive was.

Being established as a fraternal benevolent organization required all members to buy life insurance for family protection from the Supreme Council in Boston, Massachusetts. As part of their membership, the group members and their families were able to attend an elaborate Christmas Party by the State Council of the Royal Arcanum in New York. Farmingdale Council 1052 also took part in sponsoring many events around Farmingdale and New York. One event the group sponsored was Santa Claus’ visit to the Village. They also sponsored the Babe Ruth Baseball Team which played Little League.

The last information available about the Royal Arcanum was 1956 and their dissolution information is unknown.

Source:

Junior Historical Society of Farmingdale. Farmingdale’s Story: Farms to Flights. 

Weldon E. Howitt High School, 1956

“Royal Arcanum.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 24 Sept. 2019,

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_Arcanum

Wardenclyffe Tower

Wardenclyffe Tower in Shoreham, New York was built by Nikola Tesla from 1901-1902. Tesla had many revolutionary ideas, and Wardenclyffe Tower was based on one of those many ideas. Tesla had an idea to create a global, wireless system for communication and power transfer, as he wanted to be able to transmit messages, telephones, and images across the world. With this tower, he wanted to be able to reach across the Atlantic to England, as well as reach ships on the sea who were traveling and may need to be reached.

Nikola Tesla was always an ambitious man and his ideas for this project were no different. Tesla wanted to revolutionize telecommunications with the implementation of wireless transmission. His dream tower was built, which stood at 187 feet tall and was made of mostly wood. At the tower’s base, a brick laboratory was also built.

Tesla’s tower would have been a prototype for a system with many uses. Tesla’s tower would have been able to broadcast music, news, reports, secure military communications, and images. This tower could have developed and advanced many fields before the history we already know, but Tesla’s ambitions on this project were a little too high. His dreams exceeded his resources and his financier’s patience.

In 1917 before the project was able to reach its completion, Tesla’s funding was pulled, and the tower was demolished for scrap to satisfy any debts owed to his financier. From its abandonment in 1917 until 1987, the brick building and property was either vacant or used by commercial businesses.

In 2013, nonprofit groups were able to save the property from sale and the property is now owned by the Tesla Science Center at Wardenclyffe. The Tesla Science Center at Wardenclyffe is a nonprofit organization that was established to restore the site and eventually develop a science and technology center in honor of one of the greatest minds in science. Also due to the efforts to save the site, in 2018, the site was listed on the National Register for Historic Sites and is now protected.

Source:

“History of Wardenclyffe.” Tesla Science Center at Wardenclyffe, teslasciencecenter.org/history

Brief Biography of Alexander de Seversky

Alexander de Seversky was born in Triflis, Russia on June 7, 1894, to an aristocratic family. He learned how to fly by age 14 from his father who owned one of the first airplanes in Russia. De Seversky earned a degree in aeronautical engineering from the Imperial Russian Naval Academy in 1914  and became a second lieutenant in the Imperial Naval Air Service the following year.

 In 1918, de Seversky went to the United States as an assistant naval attaché to the Russian Embassy. This was a fortuitous assignment, as it gave him the chance to escape the Bolshevik Revolution by remaining in the U.S. Soon, he was working at the War Department as an aeronautical engineer and test pilot, acting for a time as a special consultant to the famed general, Billy Mitchell.

After becoming a U.S. citizen in 1927, de Seversky received a commission in the Army Air Corps as a major. De Seversky made numerous contributions to aviation. He filed a patent for aerial refueling in 1921 and developed the first bombsight stabilized with a gyroscope, and invented many other aeronautical instruments.

He organized a new company, the Seversky Aircraft Corporation in Farmingdale in 1931, with Wall Street backing, and with himself as President and Chief Test Pilot. This new company was to specialize in long-range high-speed pursuit planes. Their first aircraft was an amphibian in which he set several speed records.

In the 1940s, 50s and 60s he wrote and lectured extensively on military theory and airpower, always promoting strategic bombardment and a strong Air Force. He was considered a leading expert on the tactics and strategy of aerial warfare and he considered global airpower as the solution to America’s security needs.

He was inducted into the Aviation Hall of Fame in 1970 for "his achievements as a pilot, aeronautical engineer, inventor, industrialist, author, strategist, consultant, and scientific advances in aircraft design and aerospace technology." De Seversky was married to New Orleans socialite Evelyn Olliphant, who was also well-known as a pilot. She, in fact, learned to fly as a surprise for her husband, and the two of them flew on many trips together. De Seversky died on August 24, 1974.

Sources:

“Alexander De Seversky at the Cradle of Aviation Museum.” Cradle of Aviation Museum, www.cradleofaviation.org/history/history/people/alexander_de_seversky.html

 “Alexander De Seversky: Influential World War II Air Power Advocate.” National Air and Space Museum, 22 Mar. 2017, airandspace.si.edu/stories/editorial/alexander-de-seversky-influential-world-war-ii-air-power-advocate

Ferguson Mansion

"Ferguson's Castle" was the dream home of Julianna Armour Ferguson (heiress to the Chicago‐based Armour meat packing company). The estate was modeled after the religious monasteries of Italy and Spain that Ferguson and her late husband, Dr. Farquhar Ferguson, had visited together. Set into a steep hill overlooking Huntington Harbor, the forty‐room, Italian Renaissance‐style castle, with its lofty four‐story bell tower, was originally christened the “Monastery" when its three‐year construction was completed in 1911.

With the goal of creating an authentic feel to the house, Mrs. Ferguson, along with Boston architect Allen W. Jackson and a team of purchasing agents, scoured Europe looking for architectural treasures and valuable works of art to incorporate into the Monastery's interior decor. In the end, it was estimated that Mrs. Ferguson spent over $2 million to construct the home.

Stained glass windows and Byzantine‐style frescos taking several years to paint graced the Refectory (dining room). The impressive Grand Hall (living room) looked like an elaborate movie set for Romeo and Juliet. The dramatic double‐story cloistered courtyard, enclosed by a massive glass ceiling, took visitors on a fascinating journey back in time. Exotic marble and onyx columns supported the balcony from which the family bedrooms, outdoor cloister garden and main staircase surveyed the Grand Hall below.

Perhaps the building's most arresting feature was the floors paved with children's tombstones, dating back three centuries, which were also incorporated into many of the rooms. According to sources, when showing guests to their room, Mrs. Ferguson would tell them whom they would be staying with.

Julianna Ferguson died in 1927. Put up for auction in 1936, the valuable contents that Julianna amassed at the Monastery were sold for pennies on the dollar. Shortly after the auction, the house still found no buyers until Brooklyn attorney Charles D. Cords acquired the property. The Cords quietly resided in the Monastery for the next thirty years, but Mr. Cords, who loved the Castle, was unable to maintain the estate in the style to which it was accustomed.

Taking action, the county seized the fourteen‐acre waterfront estate. Local resident groups rallied to save the house, but without the support of the town or the county, their efforts were fruitless. Ultimately, the Castle fell into ruin, covered in deep vines. The empty house was soon vandalized, and valuable artwork and ancient statues and artifacts were smashed, covered in graffiti or pried from the walls and gardens of the home. The once grand showplace was sold to developers in 1970.

The battle to save Ferguson's Castle was lost to the wrecking ball, but with concrete walls over four feet thick and footings four‐by‐fourteen feet, the house did not fall easily. In fact, some of the footings and foundation still remain. The monumental task nearly bankrupted the project. Luckily, just before the house was razed, a number of the artifacts incorporated into the building were removed and sold to private collectors and museums. Today, the gatehouse (now a private home) and some of the garden wall are all that remain of Ferguson's Castle.

Source:

“Bygone Mansions.” Gold Coast Mansions - Historic Long Island - Bygone Mansions, goldcoastmansionsoflongisland.com/index.php?page=bygone_mansions_02

Sagtikos Manor

The Sagtikos Manor was built in 1697, and expanded in 1772 and 1902. Its history spans more than three centuries from its original purchase from the Secatogue tribe by Stephanus Van Cortlandt in 1692 to the present.

Following Mr. Van Cortlandt’s death in 1700, the land was purchased from his family by Timothy Carll in 1706. The estate was then acquired by Jonathan Thompson of Setuaket in 1758. Mr. Thompson purchased the land for his younger son, Isaac. Jonathan deeded half of the land to Isaac upon the birth of his first son in 1773 and the remainder of the property to Isaac upon Jonathan’s death.

At that time that Isaac more than doubled the size of the original Van Cortlandt house by adding nine new rooms. In 1790, George Washington spent the night of April 21st at Sagtikos Manor. President Washington recorded this in the diary he kept of his tour of Long Island.

After Judge Thompson’s death, the Manor was used for the most part as a summer home for the family. His sons and grandsons built their homes in New York City or other places on Long Island. In 1894, Isaac Thompson’s great grandson, Frederick Diodoti Thompson, bought out all the other heirs and became the sole owner of the 1,200 acre estate. In 1902, he added east and west wings to the house, enlarging it to forty-two rooms.

The last family member to live in the Manor was Robert David Lion Gardiner. He owned the property from 1935 to 1985 when he deeded it to the Robert David Lion Gardiner Foundation. In 2002, Suffolk County purchased the remaining 10 acre property from the Foundation to keep it from being sold to a developer.

Source:

Sagtikos History, sagtikosmanor.org/history.html