Long Island Sphinx - Blue Point/Bayport

Captain Will Graham, an Irish sculptor and marble worker arrived in America in 1888. Graham built Ye Anchorage Inn in 1897 on the northwest corner of Montauk Highway and Kennedy Avenue in Blue Point. Graham even chronicled his adventures in a personal magazine called The Log, filled with stories, poems, and artwork he created himself.

In the early 1900s, Graham built the Great Sphinx, a 45-ton, one-seventh-scale concrete replica of its Egyptian namesake, as a grand roadside attraction to lure travelers to his retreat. He placed a plaque on the feet of the Sphinx. “She who climbs to the Sphinx’s head a millionaire will surely wed.” Legend has it that Graham and his friends would spend lazy afternoons on a bench nearby, hoping to catch a glimpse of any adventurous young lady who took the challenge.

The inn played host to a who’s who of the era: President Theodore Roosevelt, silent film stars Mary Pickford, and Douglas Fairbanks. Graham was a master promoter. He staged a faux bullfight that drew two thousand spectators and even built an early aeroplane on the grounds.

Will Graham died of pneumonia inside his inn on February 20, 1920, at the age of 57. After his wife passed away, the inn burned down in 1927. The Sphinx, however, survived. It was moved to the side of the property, where the Ferri family operated a gas station from the early 1930s to 1973.

In 1974, the land was sold to a gas station chain called Power Test. During the construction of a new facility, a bulldozer demolished the original buildings and the body of the Sphinx. The massive 10,000-pound head was severed at the brow and neck.

Lou Fontana, who owned a concrete business in Bayport with his brother John happened to be driving by as the destruction occurred. He intervened and asked the bulldozer operator to save the remains of the head. Remarkably, the man agreed. Lou loaded the colossal concrete noggin onto a truck and transported it to his yard on Montauk Highway, where it sat, deteriorating and hidden from public view for seven years.

In the fall of 1981, the Fontana brothers began the painstaking task of restoring the monument. Their efforts drew significant attention, leading to a featured article in Newsday and a broadcast story on WABC-TV in New York City. After nearly two years of hard work, the restoration was completed in May 1983.

Today, the Great Sphinx sits proudly in front of Fontana Concrete Products in Bayport.  The inscription at its base still promises matrimonial wealth to any daring climber, though a modern sign now bluntly adds: “Please KEEP OFF Climbing Sphinx is Prohibited.”

Source:

 

“The Great Long Island Sphinx: A Tale of Concrete, Celebrities, and Second Chances.” Sayville Alumni Association, Inc., 29 July 2026, sayvillealumni.org/the-great-long-island-sphinx-a-tale-of-concrete-celebrities-and-second-chances/.

 

Rosemary Farm - Huntington

Missouri based entrepreneur and financier Roland Ray Conklin moved back to his ancestral home of Huntington, purchasing significant acreage in 1893 to build his estate, which he called Rosemary Farm after his daughter. A few years after his home was built, Conklin decided he would make a major change to his property by converting the “bowl-shaped hill” under his luxurious mansion into a massive Amphitheater. With an inspiration of Edward Bouton’s “Rusty Rocks”, Conklin approached the Olmstead brothers again in 1912 to build this arena in his backyard

It wasn’t until 1912, that Conklin asked Olmsted Brothers to transform a sloping bowl on their property into an amphitheater, with semi-circular, turf-covered tiers to seat an audience of nearly three thousand.
Frederick Law Olmsted Jr. took lead on the complicated engineering project, which Conklin envisioned would be an attractive landscape feature when not used for performances. In addition to the difficult engineering, the significant financing put a strain on Olmsted Jr.

Conklin took Olmsted Brothers’ plans and chose to construct the amphitheater on his own, with Olmsted Jr. occasionally providing consultation. After the death of his wife in 1919, Conklin sold the property to the Brooklyn Diocese, who built the Seminary of the Immaculate Conception on the grounds in 1924. The house was destroyed by fire in 1990.

The ampitheater could seat 4,000 people for performances on a stage that was surrounded by a moat with bridges.  There were jets of water that would shoot up acting as a curtain hiding the stage until the performers were ready.  Some of the performers that performed there were: Sarah Bernhardt, Tyrone Powers, John and Ethel Barrymore and John Phillip Sousa.

 

 

Sources:

Durst, Kevin. “Druid Ruins and Amphitheater on Long Island -.” Get Out N About, www.getoutnabout.com/blog/druid-ruins-and-amphitheater-on-long-island-remnants-of-rosemarys-farm. Accessed 15 July 2026

“The Remains of ‘Rosemary Farm’, the Roland Ray Conklin Estate.” Saturn Mondays, saturnmondays.wordpress.com/2025/01/31/the-remains-of-rosemary-farm-the-roland-ray-conklin-estate/. Accessed 15 July 2026

“Rosemary Farm.” National Park Service, www.nps.gov/places/rosemary-farm.htm. Accessed 15 July 2026.

 

 

 

Inventor Arthur Minasy

 In the early 1960s, Woodbury engineer Arthur Minasy started playing around with designs for an “article surveillance” device to thwart the theft of clothing from department stores. He was the founder of Knogo Corporation in Hauppauge at the time. The company created plastic tags that hung off clothing. The company also made magnetic strips that could be permanently fixed to articles like library books and hospital linens to prevent theft.

His invention was a clothing tag that triggered an alarm if someone tried to sneak the item past a cashier Minasy’s original device measured five inches, sported a C battery and weighed half a pound, but tests at area Stern’s department stores proved its worth – shoplifting declined noticeable at stores equipped with the devices

He graduated from New York University with an engineering degree in 1949 and got his master’s in industrial engineering. Minasy, who had served in the technical services branch of the Office of Strategic Services during World War II – and Sperry and other defense firms afterwards –opened branch operations across Europe, with headquarters in Belgium.

The 68-year-old inventor died in Brussels in 1994. The firm eventually sold off its highly profitable global business to arch-rival Sensormatic. In 1997, what was left merged with Minneapolis-based Video Sentry Corp., a maker of video surveillance equipment. 

Minasy’s original electronic wafer is in the Smithsonian Museum.

Sources:

"Arthur Minasy, 68, the Inventor of Tags to Thwart Thieves." New York Times (1923-), 12 May, 1994, pp. 1. ProQuest, https://www.proquest.com/newspapers/arthur-minasy-68-inventor-tags-thwart-thieves/docview/109245238/se-2

“Recalling Long Island’s Anti-Theft Clothing Tag Inventor.” Long Island Press, 6 Nov. 2017, www.longislandpress.com/2017/11/06/recalling-long-islands-anti-theft-clothing-tag-inventor

Hempstead House - Sands Point

 Hempstead House is one of four mansions on the grounds of the Guggenheim Estate in Sands Point, which also includes Castle Gould, Falaise, and Mille Fleur. The Tudor-style castle served as a summer residence for the family.

It was designed by architects Hunt & Hunt in 1912. The mansion is a 50,000-square-foot three-story building. It has 40 rooms, including a 60-foot-tall entry foyer. The first and second floors of the Hempstead House measure over 1.5 acres. Inside the foyer, the Wurlitzer Opus 445 Theatre Organ is fully restored. 

The walnut-paneled Library was copied from the palace of King James I, and relief portraits of literary figures still decorate its plaster ceiling. The Billiard Room originally featured a gold leaf ceiling, hand-tooled leather wall coverings, and carved oak woodwork from a 17th-Century Spanish palace. Stone gargoyles around the ceiling peer down into the Summer Living Room.

The sunken Palm Court once contained 150 species of rare orchids, plants and potted trees. An aviary housed exotic birds in ornate cages among the flowers. On the mezzanine level is the Breakfast Room with leaded windows on three sides overlooking the park grounds. All of the rooms on the second floor have carved fireplaces and are detailed with ornate plaster trim on the walls and ceilings, each in a unique style.

After Daniel Guggenheim’s death in 1930, his wife Florence closed Hempstead House. Hempstead House’s furnishings were sold in 1940, and Florence opened the mansion to children evacuated from the war in Europe until foster homes could be found for them. In 1942, she donated 162 acres of the estate to the Institute of Aeronautical Sciences. The U.S. Navy purchased the property in 1946 for a Naval Training Device Center, and, in 1971, the property was acquired by Nassau County.

Source:

“Hempstead House.” Sands Point Preserve, www.sandspointpreserveconservancy.org/about/hempstead-house/. Accessed 14 June 2026. 

Roslyn Grist Mill

The Roslyn Grist Mill is a rare surviving Dutch-framed colonial watermill purposely built for industrial use. It operated as a working water mill for over 150 years. 

In 1698, John Robeson (later Robinson) was granted permission by the Town of Hempstead to establish a grist mill at the Head of Hempstead Harbor on Old Northern Boulevard in Roslyn. Shortly afterwards, Robinson built and began operating his grist mill. The approval Robeson received was obtained under the condition that the mill would be constructed and in operation within two years.

By 1709, Robinson sold the mill in what would be the first of several transfers the Roslyn Grist Mill would experience as ownership changed hands over the next three centuries. On April 24, 1790, the owner of the grist mill Hendrick Onderdonk was visited by President George Washington in his Roslyn residence adjoining the grist mill. Washington referred to the grist mill in his diary.

In 1916, the Hicks family sold the mill to a board of five trustees including Harold Godwin, the grandson of William Cullen Bryant. Their goal was to restore the building to become a museum of industrial arts. From 1916 to 1917, the historic timber beams were reinforced and a concrete base was installed to support the foundation. A concrete floor on the first floor was placed and concrete put on the exterior designed to appear like the original plank boards. The museum opened on June 30, 1917.

From 1920 to 1974, the grist mill building served as a tea house and was a tourist attraction to the village. The building was placed on the National Historic Register of Historic Places in 1986. From 2015 to 2020, $3.1 million was given from New York State, Nassau County, trusts foundations and members of the government grants, trust awards and members of the Roslyn Landmark Society.

The restoration began in November 2018 by the Roslyn Landmark Society. On January 23, 2020, the structure was raised eight feet above ground level in order to construct a future new foundation. The new foundation was completed in November 2021. On May 28, 2022, the structure was lowered to street level for the first time in over 100 years. In April 2023, the restored historic timber frame was being re-installed. On February 10, 2025, the final restored and new rafters were installed. The topping off was celebrated with the timber frame tradition of placing an evergreen branch on the highest peak of the building.

Source:

“Roslyn Grist Mill.” Roslyn Landmark Society, www.roslynlandmarks.org/profiles/roslyn-grist-mill. Accessed 18 May 2026

Roosevelt Raceway

Car racer Eddie Rickenbacker began assembling a group of people to plan a new race to allow the American drivers and cars the chance to battle with the best Europe had to offer. Joining Rickenbacker in the venture were Boston Redskins owner George Preston Marshall, 1908 Vanderbilt Cup winner George Robertson and George Washington Vanderbilt III, nephew of 'Willie K'.

In February 1936 the group announced the creation of a new circuit to host the race, located at Roosevelt Field. To design the course, they enlisted Mark Linenthal, an architect who was involved in the construction of most of the nation's steeply banked board tracks. It was to be a lavish facility. A huge double-deck grandstand overlooked the main straight, while there was also a clubhouse, well-equipped indoor garages and ample parking.

The track design was less successful. Aside from the main long straight, it was a rather tortuous affair, with numerous switchbacks and slow-speed corners in a flat layout which was designed in such a way that all parts would be visible for the grandstands, which would cater for up to 50,000 spectators. There was nothing wrong with the prize money, however, with a total purse of $60,000 for the top finishers. Twelve of the 45 drivers that started the race were Europeans. 

Rickenbacker upped the ante further for 1937, offering an increased prize purse of $70,000 dollars, with awards for lap leaders and the leading American car. It was clear to all that changes to the track would need to be made to pep up the show. In order to up the average speed, the twistier sections in the center were eliminated and banking added at the final turn. In early 1938 the company formed by Rickenbakker and his associates collapsed into bankruptcy.

In May, Los Angeles amusement park owner Frank C. Hulbert announced that he had secured a ten-year lease on the track and would be promoting a 300-mile stock car race there on Labor Day. Despite this, nothing came of the plans and it wasn't until July 1938 that the track would re-open as a venue for midget car racing. 

In early 1940, the site was sold and redeveloped as a harness racing track. The gates opened on Sept. 2, 1940, to a reported crowd of 5,000 eager fans who wagered some $40,000. By 1956 the original Vanderbilt grandstands were burdened by excessive additions and dangerous decay. Within the next season the new clubhouse-grandstand "plant" replaced the old Vanderbilt track without interruption of the racing schedule. The new building was designed by Arthur Froehlich. The architectural plans cost $400,000 and the building was proposed at $12 million. In the end the new "Dream Track" (as it was nicknamed) cost $20 million.

The track closed its doors in 1988. A shopping centre now resides at the location.

Sources:

Monaco, Pete. “Remembering Roosevelt Raceway.” The Spectrum, Desert Valley Times, 28 Feb. 2017, www.thespectrum.com/story/sports/mesquite/2017/02/28/remembering-roosevelt-raceway/98511574/

“Roosevelt Raceway.” RacingCircuits.Info, www.racingcircuits.info/north-america/usa/roosevelt-raceway.html. Accessed 30 Apr. 2026

“Roosevelt Raceway.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 21 Mar. 2026, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roosevelt_Raceway

Tuttle-Fordham Mill - Speonk

 In 1985, the Tuttle-Fordham Mill, located in Speonk was designated as the first Town of Southampton historic Landmark. The original wooden sawmill no longer present, which milled lumber of many of our community’s early homes, was constructed by members of the Jagger family in the early 1800s. The sawmill was powered by a pond created by damming the upper reach of the Speonk River.

The Fordham Mill was built by Daniel Wells Tuttle in 1859. A dam on the Speonk River powered the sawmill, which the Tuttle family ran until it was purchased by E.O. Fordham in 1911 and converted to electric power. Mr. Fordham made carriages, wagon wheels and coffins. The Tuttles leased the Mill to Everett O. Fordham in 1895; Mr. Fordham bought the Mill in 1911 and transformed it to electric power. Fordham’s long-time employee, Wilbur Benjamin, bought the Mill in 1946 and continued operations until he sold the property in 1959. Sawmill operations were continued onsite by the Moriches Woodworking Co., Inc., owned by John Salomon until about 1975. 

Unoccupied for some time, the Mill descended into a state of significant disrepair and its foundation became seriously compromised. In March 2017, the John and Elaine Kanas Family Foundation purchased the property that includes the 1859 Tuttle-Fordham Mill, assuming full responsibility for its preservation and appropriate reuse. The Foundation undertook the significant repairs needed, coordinating this work with the Town’s Landmarks & Historic Districts Board as required for a landmarked property.

Thanks to John and Elaine Kanas and their Foundation, the Tuttle-Fordham Mill has been restored.

Sources:

Gorman, Alexa. “Fordham Mill Added to Endangered Places Registry.” 27east, 14 Feb. 2015, www.27east.com/residence/real-estate-news/article_17826f66-f127-5ca7-b002-c66f19bb85d2.html

“Tuttle-Fordham Mill History.” Greater Westhampton Historical Museum, whbhistorical.org/tuttle-fordham-mill-history/. Accessed 7 Apr. 2026

Baseball Player Carlton Edwards

Carlton Edwards was born on October 23, 1929, in Stony Brook. His mother Marjorie Edwards, his grandmother and his brother moved to Chicken Hill area of Setauket soon after. He was a gifted all-around athlete, best known for his pitching. He pitched for the all-Black Setauket Giants and later for the newly integrated Setauket Athletic Club, carving out a reputation as a dependable and accomplished pitcher. In 1951, he received an offer from the Brooklyn Dodgers, a moment that hinted at how far his baseball career might go. That same year, however, his life took a different turn when he was drafted into the United States Army.

That commitment to service extended well beyond his military years in the Korean War. Edwards was deeply involved with the American Legion Irving Hart Post 1766, which was founded after World War II to serve Black and Hispanic servicemen. In order to satisfy the 15-member requirement to keep the legion in operation, Edwards would often pay for other members

Edwards had a 40-year career with the Three Village Central School District. He was very active in the Three Village Historical Society. On Sundays, he greeted visitors at the historical society, digging up lesser known details about the Chicken Hill area.

In 2023, Edwards’ lifetime of athletic and community contributions was formally recognized with his induction into the Suffolk County Sports Hall of Fame. Carlton Edwards died on January 17, 2026 at the age of 96.

Sources:

Artusa, Sabrina. “Obituary: In Remembrance of Carlton ‘Hub’ Edwards.” TBR Newsmedia, 21 Jan. 2026, tbrnewsmedia.com/obituary-in-remembrance-of-carlton-hub-edwards

Vaccaro, Chris. “Suffolk Hall of Famer Carlton ‘Hub’ Edwards, Baseball Pioneer, Dies at 96.” Suffolk Sports Hall of Fame, 23 Jan. 2026, www.suffolksportshof.com/suffolk-hall-of-famer-carlton-hub-edwards-baseball-pioneer-dies-at-96

Squire Farm - Plainview

The Squire farm was originally built by the Whitson family. A windmill for pumping water was erected in 1907 by Irving Squire. This was not the first wind machine on the property. According to an 1859 map, the Whitson family operated a grist mill there in the 1850s. It would be used as a post office and a polling place in the late 19^th Century.

The farm produced carrots, cabbages, onions, beets, potatoes, spinach, corn, cucumber and dill. The cucumber and dill were grown specifically for Karp & Fueschel pickleworks. The entire farm covered 330 acres extending along both sides of Old Country Road.

The farmhouse had seven bedrooms, two baths, a poolroom, a parlor, kitchen, and a dining room. During World War I, a teacher at Bushwick High School arranged with the farm for boys from the city would come to the farm and learn how to work it. They called them “farm camp boys.” The boys cooked and served their own meals in a separate building which they called B. H. S. Camp Squire. The boys would plow, seed the ground, and thin and weed the row for harvesting. The goods from the farm were sent overseas to the boys serving.

No trace is left of the windmill or dwelling.

 

Source:

Gibbs, Iris & Alonzo. “B. H. S. Camp Squire.” Long Island Forum. March, 1973

Harbor Hill Estate & Gate House - Roslyn

Among the largest estates on Long Island was the Renaissance –style mansion known as Harbor Hill designed in 1899 by Stanford White and built in 1900 to 1902 for Clarence H. Mackay and his wife Katherine. The 576-acre estate was located atop the highest point in the area overlooking the village of Roslyn and Hempstead Harbor.

This country home estate was divided into formal gardens and terraces surrounding the main house and a 70-acre farm. With Clarence Mackay’s death in 1938, the estate was left to his son John Mackay III. Due to vandalism during the World War II, the mansion was demolished in 1947. The property was sold in the late 1950s and became the Country Estates housing development.

The Mackay Estate Gate Lodge was built in 1900-1902 as a component of the estate. The still-standing gate lodge was designed as a miniature version of the main house. Both the main house and the gate lodge were designed in French Baroque style with stone walls and steep roof slopes. 

The Mackay Estate Gate Lodge is one of only three buildings still standing from the Mackay Harbor Hill Estate (Dairyman’s Cottage and the John Mackay III Stonehouse). On April 12, 1991, the Mackay Estate Gate Lodge was listed on the New York State and National Register of Historic Places.

From approximately 1970 to 2008, the Mackay Estate Gate Lodge was used as the Country Estates Swim Club. The Mackay Estate Gate Lodge and surrounding 3.2-acre property was sold to G.A.D. Development in 2009. With the assistance of then town historian Howard Kroplick, G.A.D Development considered transferring the gate lodge property either to the Town of North Hempstead or the Village of East Hills. On September 3, 2017, the Village of East Hills decided to acquire the Mackay Estate Gate Lodge. 

When a subdivision was approved by Nassau County, the deed to the gate lodge was transferred to the Village of East Hills in December 2021. With the guidance of the Roslyn Landmark Society, the restoration of the Mackay Estate Gate Lodge began on January 25, 2022.

Sources: 

“Harbor Hill Estate.” Roslyn Landmark Society, 1 Jan. 1967, www.roslynlandmarks.org/profiles/harbor-hill-estate. 

 “Harbor Hill Gate Lodge.” Roslyn Landmark Society, 1 Jan. 1969, www.roslynlandmarks.org/profiles/harbor-hill-gate-house. 

Carrington House - Fire island

The Carrington House is located on a tract of land between Fire island Pines and Cherry Grove. It is one of the earliest homes built on Fire Island, originally constructed in 1912 by Frederick Marquat, and purchased in 1927 by theater director Frank Carrington, co-founder of the Paper Mill playhouse. The house was built in 1909 by Frederick Marquat, a US Army Corporal that served with Carrington’s father, Major Frank Carrington.

The two families used this retreat until 1927, at which point Frank bought the property and turned the space into a nexus for the cultural development of mid-century arts. At the time, the cottage was a rectangular, three bay bungalow. Carrington made two wood-frame additions around 1940. Frank Carrington expanded the property with the “Lone Hill Cottage” built in 1948. Carrington was active in the growing arts community of Cherry Grove. He rented the property to his friends in the community, including Truman Capote. In 1957, Capote developed a novella there that would become Breakfast at Tiffany's.

At one point Frank Carrington was offered $1.5M for the property by a real estate developer but was more interested in preserving the site, so sold it to the National Park Service in 1969 for approximately $300,000 and continued living there until 1975. National Park Service Ranger Bob Freda lived there for the next twenty years. The Carrington House is probably the oldest surviving building in Cherry Grove.

 In 2016, the property was placed on the National Registry of Historic Places.

 

Sources:

“Carrington House.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 1 June 2025, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carrington_House

 

Hildebrandt, Bill. “The History of Fire Island’s Carrington House.” Fire Island Pines Historical Society, Fire Island Pines Historical Society, 11 Jan. 2026, www.pineshistory.org/the-archives/the-history-of-fire-islands-carrington-house

Childs Frick Estate/Nassau County Museum of Art

 In 1900, Lloyd Stephens Bryce purchased poet William Cullen Bryant’s Upland Farm and commissioned the architect Ogden Codman to design a neo-Georgian mansion on an elevated site overlooking Hempstead Harbor for he and his wife Edith. The Georgian-Revival house was laid out on Palladian lines with a three-story central block attached by two single story arcades to a pair of two-story pavilions set forward from the main house. Codman added his trademark preference - arched windows. Next to the house, Codman laid out parterre gardens and the rich lawn bordered by woodland gradually sloped down to the water.

In 1919, Henry Clay Frick, co-founder of US Steel Corporation, purchased Bryce House. He unfortunately died shortly after, so his son Childs and wife Frances Frick got possession of the house. They hired British architect Sir Charles Carrick Allom to redesign the facade as well as the interior of their new home, which they named Clayton after Childs’s childhood home. 

Childs Frick was an avid sportsman and lover of the outdoors. At Clayton, he and his family enjoyed swimming, tennis, polo, golf, and skiing on his estate, which included two tennis courts (one grass and one clay), a polo field, two ponds for skating and canoeing, a shooting range, a swimming pool, bridle paths, and a ski slope with its own snow making machine. The family’s love of animals and the outdoors included a large animal zoo with a bear pit, snakes, and an alligator, an aviary, a monkey house, and otters in a pond. 

Frances and Childs Frick lived at Clayton with their children, Adelaide, Frances, Martha and Henry for almost 50 years. Four years after Childs Frick died, the estate was purchased by Nassau County to establish the Nassau County Museum of Fine Art in 1969.

In 1989, the Museum became a private not-for-profit institution, governed and funded by its own board of trustees. A major exterior restoration of the historic mansion was undertaken and the mansion was then renamed the Arnold and Joan Saltzman Fine Arts Building.

A sculpture park was begun in 1989 and became one of the largest publicly-accessible sculpture parks in the Northeast.

Sources:

“Clayton.” American Aristocracy, americanaristocracy.com/houses/clayton-1. Accessed 5 Jan. 2026

“History.” Nassau County Museum of Art, nassaumuseum.org/history/. Accessed 5 Jan. 2026

William Sydney Mount House

American painter William Sidney Mount created some of his most memorable scenes from inside an attic studio at this large, rambling 18th century homestead. Located at the intersection of North Country Road in Stony Brook, Mount’s ancestral family home, the Hawkins-Mount House, was built around 1725, and substantially enlarged over the centuries. 

Mount, his mother, and his four siblings moved to the house in 1814. The barn and outbuildings at the back of the property also featured prominently in his genre work. Living year-round in the house by 1847, Mount had a skylight installed in the ceiling of his garret studio to improve the lighting. 

It is a 2 1/2-story wood-frame structure, with a gabled roof and shingled exterior. The main entrance is sheltered by a shed-roof porch and has a four-light transom window. The interior of the house has more than twenty rooms. The most notable of these is its original kitchen, which has been restored. The oldest part of the house is the left side of the main building. It was built in 1725 by Eleazer Hawkins. He was William Sidney Mount's grandfather. Mr. Hawkins built it as an "ordinary," which was like a tavern or inn. Travelers could stop there for food and a place to stay. The kitchen from this old tavern is still preserved today.

The house remained in family hands until just after World War I and was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1966. The house is now owned by the Long Island Museum and is occasionally opened for tours.

Sources:

“William Sidney Mount House Facts for Kids.” Kiddle, 17 Oct. 2025, kids.kiddle.co/William_Sidney_Mount_House

“William Sidney Mount House.” Historic Artists’ Sites of Long Island, www.lihistoricartistssites.org/detail/william-sidney-mount-house. Accessed 27 Dec. 2025

“William Sidney Mount House.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 5 July 2025, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Sidney_Mount_House

Fort Franklin

 The British presence in Suffolk County during the Revolutionary War was anchored by Fort Franklin, located in Lloyd’s Neck. Named for Benjamin Franklin’s son, William Franklin, the fort controlled access from Long Island Sound into the waters of Oyster Bay and Cold Spring Harbor. Additionally, the fort’s garrison and guns, along with satellite encampments, provided protection for Tory raiders.

When it was established in 1778, the post was garrisoned by the third battalion of General Oliver DeLancey’s Tory regiment who remained there until 1780. In 1781, the Associated Loyalists, made it their base of operations.

The stronghold became an important element in General William Tryon’s raids on Connecticut coastal town in July 1779. On the evening of September 5, 1779, Major Benjamin Tallmadge embarked with a force of 130 dragoons, boatmen, and rebel refugees across the Sound to Lloyd’s Neck. The raiders quickly captured two of the houses being used as quarters by the Loyalists, and then turned their attention to a number of huts which sheltered other enemy whaleboat men. Although some of the Loyalists resisted, Tallmadge’s men soon secured the entire encampment, scooping up prisoners, documents, and supplies. But whatever hopes Tallmadge held for capturing the fort were dashed by a shooting which destroyed all hopes of surprise.

In April 1781, Tallmadge pushed Washington for permission to launch another raid against Fort Franklin. On April 19, Tallmadge sailed across the Sound and met with his agents who provided him with fresh maps of Fort Franklin. Once again, Tallmadge found himself thwarted by the stronghold on Lloyd’s Neck.

On the morning of July 10, a small French fleet of eight ships entered Huntington Harbor carrying a 450 man expeditionary force. The attack was quickly called off.

Fort Franklin was abandoned by the end of 1782 due to the end of the war.  The grounds became the site of a large and opulent home known as Fort Hill House and there is no trace of the fort.

 

Source:

Welch, Richard F. “Fort Franklin: Tory Bastion on Long Island Sound.” Journal of the American Revolution, 24 Feb. 2015, allthingsliberty.com/2015/03/fort-franklin-tory-bastion-on-long-island-sound

 

 

Bethpage State Parkway

 

This was the headline for the November 19, 1936 Farmingdale Post. Bethpage State Parkway cost $1.1 million to construct. The Bethpage State Parkway was constructed with a 22-foot-wide undivided pavement, providing one northbound and one southbound lane. When the Bethpage State Parkway opened in 1936, LISPC commissioner Robert Moses was considering extensions of the parkway south to Merrick Road in Massapequa, and north to the Northern State Parkway in Plainview. Beginning in the early 1960s, Moses purchased rights-of-way for the northern extension. Residents in the wealthy enclaves of Lloyd Harbor and Cold Spring Harbor thwarted plans for both the "active use" state park and the parkway. In1977, Caumsett State Park opened as a "passive use" facility for hiking, biking and horseback riding.

In 1990, the Long Island Regional Planning Board resurrected plans for extending the Bethpage State Parkway to NY 25A in Cold Spring Harbor as part of its 20-year highway improvement program. The plan did not cite potential sources for funding the extension. By 1994, this proposal appeared to be dead.  A decade later, the NYSDOT proposed a short extension of the Bethpage State Parkway north to the Seaford-Oyster Bay Expressway as part of the "LITP 2000" long-range plan. The proposed extension, which would be constructed through the southwest corner of Bethpage State Park, awaits environmental study and public review.

In 1977, maintenance of the Bethpage State Parkway was transferred from the Long Island State Park Commission to the New York State Department of Transportation although ownership remained under the jurisdiction of the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation. To accommodate the increase in traffic volume and speed, and to address the accident history, the NYSDOT began to modify the parkway in accordance with federal and state traffic safety guidelines. Among the improvements wider 12-foot travel lanes, 10-foot-wide shoulders, improved reflective signs and sand-filled impact attenuators.

In the late 1970s, there was a rehabilitation project. A pedestrian and cycling trail running parallel along the east side of the parkway was part of this project. Unlike the original trail, which ran along the west side of the parkway and only goes as far north as the Route 24 / Hempstead Turnpike exit, the new trail runs along the entire length of the parkway.

According to the NYSDOT, the Bethpage State Parkway handles approximately 15,000 vehicles per day.

Source:

“Bethpage State Parkway.” NYCRoads, www.nycroads.com/roads/bethpage/. Accessed 22 Nov. 2025

Harry deLeyer and Snowman

Harry deLeyer grew up on a farm in Sint Oedenrode, Netherlands. His family ran a brewery and delivered the beer by horse and cart. Harry began riding at age two and by the age of eight, he was competing in local shows. During World War II, the deLeyer family became members of the underground Dutch Resistance, hiding Jews on their farm, then helping get them out of Holland to safety.

In 1950, Harry moved to the United States, where he had a job on a tobacco farm in Greensborough, North Carolina waiting for him. Although he liked working on a farm, he missed riding so after work, he would ride one of the work horses. He entered a competition that offered $10 to the top rider and won first prize. 

Harry was eventually hired as a riding instructor in 1954 at the Knox School, a private girls’ school on Long Island. In winter 1956, Harry was on his way to a horse auction to see if he could find a gentle school horse. Unfortunately, a flat tire caused him to be delayed. He arrived in time to see the horses who had not been sold as they were being loaded on a truck headed for slaughter. Harry asked if he could have a look at the remaining horses. A skinny gray plow horse caught his eye. He paid $80 for the horse.

Harry let his four-year-old daughter, Harriet, name the horse. When the big gray arrived at their home and was led off the truck, snow was falling and the horse was soon covered in white, fluffy powder. Little Harriet thought he looked like a Snowman, and the name stuck. 

Each summer when the school closed, money was tight for Harry and his family. When a doctor who had a farm six miles away came looking for a quiet trail horse, Harry reluctantly sold Snowman to him for $160. Snowman returned to Harry’s farm numerous times, having jumped out of the doctor’s paddock, no matter how tall the fences were raised. 

In 1958, Snowman was champion at several shows, including at Madison Square Garden. He also was champion at the prestigious Southhampton Horse Show, now known as the Hampton Classic.

Instantly famous in the world of showjumping, Snowman and Harry were featured in a 1959 issue of Life Magazine. Harry officially retired Snowman from competition in 1969. Several books were released detailing Snowman’s life, including a children’s book titled The Story of Snowman: The Cinderella Horse, by Tony Palazzo and a biography, simply titled Snowman, by Rutherford Montgomery. The beloved horse lived with Harry for the rest of his life until he died in 1974.

Snowman was inducted into Show Jumping Hall of Fame in 1992 and released as a Breyer horse in 2005. The story of Harry and Snowman was also told in the 2011 book The Eighty-Dollar Champion: Snowman, the Horse That Inspired a Nation by Elizabeth Letts. In 2016, the documentary film “Harry and Snowman” was released by Docutainment Films.

Source:

Heilbron, Alexandra. “The True Story of Harry Deleyer and Snowman.” Alexandra Heilbron, 15 June 2017, alexandraheilbron.wordpress.com/published-online-articles/the-true-story-of-harry-de-leyer-and-snowman

The Phillip House - Rockville Centre

The original owner of the Victorian-era home, which is now, The Phillips House Museum, was Captain Samuel F. Phillips, a prominent sea captain who settled in the countryside town of Rockville Centre, along with his wife and two children in the 1880’s.

With the passage of time, different homeowners, as well as changes and expansions in the town through the greater part of the 20th Century, The Phillips House grew into disrepair and was also situated in the wrong location, when in 1977, plans were being implemented to demolish it to make way for a parking lot.

Thankfully, for the efforts of a handful of dedicated town residents, it was instead moved to its current location in 1977.  While the interior and built-in structures are original and remain intact, the furnishings and accessories are all donations of items from the Victorian-era in which the house was inhabited by Captain Phillips’ family. The house was renovated and rededicated in October of 1995 by the Historical Society of Rockville Centre to the people of the town.

The kitchen contains an old “ice box”, the predecessor of our modern day refrigerator, as well as a l stove that has the option for both coal burning and electric but a huge collection of kitchen gadgets for almost every use possible for cooking.

Many of these items had the patent number engraved on them. All of these items have been cataloged for the museum. This tedious job was the work of a local boy scout working on his Eagle Scout badge. 

The collection, which has been called the "finest collection of kitchen gadgets" originally belonged to Lillian Blumberg. In fact, so extensive is this collection, that Lillian was offered a great sum from Sotheby’s, but she decided instead to donate it to the museum. The third floor attic houses an old fashioned "twisted chimney." When building chimney's during this period, the superstition was that a twisted chimney would prevent the evil spirits from entering the home. Builders would make the chimney straight on the exterior and "twisted" on the interior. 

Source:

“Rockville Centre’s Phillips House Museum: A Small Museum with a Tremendous History.” Travelin’ Cousins, www.travelincousins.com/travelin-the-nyc-outer-boroughs-with-elisa/rockville-centres-phillips-house-museum-a-small-museum-with-a-tremendous-history. Accessed 16 Oct. 2025

Dodge House - Port Washington

The Dodge House in Port Washington, built by Thomas Dodge in 1721, is one of the oldest homes in the town of North Hempstead. The house's architecture maintains much of its original Colonial and 19th-century flavor and family relics, including farm tools and original furnishings.

The Dodge homestead was part of a working farm for more than 200 years, acquired by the first Thomas Dodge on 350 acres that originally extended to Hempstead Harbor. William Dodge, Thomas Dodge’s son and the coroner for Queens County, began selling most of the property as a legacy for his children. When William's son Henry Onderdonk Dodge, died in 1898, his children sold the farm to developers.

In 1721, the interior included an entrance hall, a living room with a fireplace for cooking and heat and an upstairs with two bedrooms. Thomas Dodge added a dining room with a larger fireplace, a kitchen, and a weaving room. The original low ceilings with exposed hand-hewn beams still exist and all of the first floor rooms have 18th-century tongue-and-groove flooring and walls. In the late 1900s, the house was expanded and modernized; porches were added and dormers were built on the second story.

The original kitchen, which included a Dutch oven was also replaced with more modern, Victorian decor. A cast-iron stove for cooking, a galvanized sink with a water pump, soapstone tubs closets and a pantry were added. Heat was supplied with potbelly and Franklin stoves until 1910, when central heating was installed.

The Dodge House was leased to the Cow Neck Peninsula Historical Society by the Water Pollution Control District in 1993 to be restored and operated as a public museum. The museum includes the 19th-century outbuildings -- a chicken coop, a privy with a child's footrest, a wood shed and a two-door horse barn.

The Dodge house and its outbuildings have been listed on the National and State Registers of Historic Places since 1986. The home is also a designated landmark of the Town of North Hempstead's Historic Landmark Preservation Commission.

 

Source:

Hochman, Nancy S. "270-Year-Old Dodge House Now a Museum." New York Times, 26 May, 1996, pp. 6-15. ProQuest, https://www.proquest.com/newspapers/270-year-old-dodge-house-now-museum/docview/430567054/se-

Pepperidge Hall - Oakdale

Pepperidge Hall was the estate of Christopher Robert in Oakdale. The house was built in 1889 for his bride at the cost of $1,500,000. The Robert home was one of the three most famous residences on the South Shore.  A large inner courtyard with a 30′ by 50′ pool and fountain dominated the plan, and a 109-foot glass conversancy stood on the west side of the rectangle. Stepped gables, turrets, bay windows, numerous chimneys, stables, a dairy and carriage house were showcased. The house itself consisted of four wings with 67 rooms and accommodations for 20 servants. A conservatory was built to the west of the house. The Roberts lived at the estate for seven years before selling it.

The Roberts were the first and last to live at the house, It passed through the hands of numerous caretakers through the years. The house was used for a time as a hunting lodge and for an experiment in the raising of silk worms indoors directed by Dr. Ludwig Harpootlian.. Several silent films utilized the mansion as a backdrop, including “Lady Slippers”, “To Hell with the Kaiser”, and “Dead Men Tell No Tales.”

In 1939, it was supposed to be acquired by the Royal Fraternity of Master Metaphysicians as a rest and study retreat for its members., but that fell through. The house and property were finally sold in 1941. The house was razed and the property was cut up into building lots.

Sources: 

"METAPHYSICIANS BAR DEAL: PURCHASE OF PEPPERIDGE HALL IS DROPPED IN CONTRACT DISPUTE." New York Times. December 10, 1939

“Proud Suffolk Chateau Doomed by Progress.” Brooklyn Eagle. January 19, 1941

"To Raze Old Long Island Home." New York Times. January 11, 1941 

“2D Estate Bought by Metaphysicians; Pepperidge Hall, Once Famous Long Island Residence, Is Purchased for $15,000 to be a New Haven. The 65-Acre Tract Is Near the Vanderbilt Property Acquired by Society Last Year.”  New York Times. August 4, 1939

“A Vanished Gilded Age Mansion - The Saga of Pepperidge Hall.” The Abandoned Places, 23 Mar. 2021,   theabandonedplaces.com/a-vanished-gilded-age-mansion-the-saga-of-pepperidge-hall/

The Cuban Giants Baseball Team

The Cuban Giants were the first African American professional baseball club. The Giants were formed in 1885 at the Argyle Hotel in Babylon. The team took its name because it played in Cuba during the winter of 1885-1886 and the winter of 1886-1887. The team featured many players who would go on to play in the Negro Baseball Leagues including Ben Boyd, Sol White, Abe Harrison, Clarence Williams, and George Williams among others. During the spring of 1886, the Cuban Giants were bought by Walter E. Simpson who played at the Chambersburg Grounds in Trenton, New Jersey.

During the summer 1886, the team was sold to Walter L. Cook. During that time, the Giants signed legendary pitcher George Washington Stovey but he played only one game with the Giants. Like many owner-managers of this era, Cook took over the job of booking games for the team. The average pay for pitchers and catchers on the team was $18.00 per week. Outfielders and infielders made around $12.00 per week. During the winter of 1886, Cook arranged for the Giants to play in Cuba.

In June 1887, J.M Bright bought the team from Walter Cook. During the same year, the team would become colored champions for 1887. A year later, they would win the colored championship again when they defeated rival teams including the Pittsburgh Keystones, New York Gorhams, and Norfolk Red Sox. In 1889, the Cuban Giants joined the Middle States League, an independent minor baseball league. In 1890, the team name changed to the Colored Monarchs of York, Pennsylvania because they moved there. A year later, a portion of the Cuban Giants went to a rival team called the Gorhams who was managed by S.K. Govern. In 1896, the team was bought by E.B. Lamar Jr. and became the Cuban X-Giants. 

The Cuban X Giants became a dominating force at the turn of the century. Led by a young pitcher named Rube Foster, they won the Colored World Championship in 1903, defeating the Philadelphia Giants, five games to two. Foster pitched in four of those victories, and he would later become more widely known for his executive contributions to the sport, eventually earning the moniker, “Father of Black Baseball.”

In the winter of 1903, the club became the first African-American professional baseball team to play in Cuba, and two years later it became the first black baseball team to defeat a Major League team. While they ended up splitting a two-game series against the Brooklyn Dodgers, the Cuban X Giants sent a message by outscoring their MLB counterparts, 8-3. The team became a founding member of the National Association of Colored Baseball Clubs of the United States and Cuba, established in 1906. The team continued to exist until it was disbanded in 1915.

Sources:

Cuban Giants (1885-1915) | Blackpast.Org, www.blackpast.org/african-american-history/the-cuban-giants-1885-1915/. Accessed 1 Aug. 2025

“The Cuban X Giants of the Negro Leagues.” MLB.Com, www.mlb.com/history/negro-leagues/teams/cuban-x-giants. Accessed 1 Aug. 2025