Pagan-Fletcher Restoration

 In June 1834, the Pagan family, which included Robert, his wife Ellen, and their four young children, immigrated from Scotland. Pagan purchased 78 acres in Valley Stream. Pagan took up farming and grew rye, buckwheat, oats, corn, and potatoes.

In the early 1850s, Pagan opened a general store on his property. Also around that time, Ellen, a devout evangelical with Methodist leanings, opened her home to fellow worshippers, and conducted religious services. From the late 1850s through the 1870s, Pagan’s son-in-law, William Fletcher, married to Pagan's daughter Catherine, bought land that once belonged to Pagan. The final family to live in the homestead were the Fairchilds; related to the Pagans through marriage. The Fairchild family, fourth generation Americans, owned Fairchild Publications, the publishers of "Women’s Wear Daily.” 

In 1942, the Louis Fairchild family left, and another brother, Emil (not married to a Boyd sister) moved in full-time. Emil, Martha, and their three grown children: Donald, Gordon, and Jane, all lived in the house. Donald, the eldest, crayoned murals on the third floor landing, hall, and bathroom. 

In 1948, a year after Emil’s passing, the house, and remaining 10 acres were sold to the Lynwood Housing Corp. Between 1949 and 1950, Lynwood built Lynwood Gardens, a mid-century community of 49 homes. Lynwood used the old Fletcher estate for storage and office space. During Lynwood’s occupancy, many of the original features of the home were stripped, damaged or destroyed. 

In 1977, the Village of Valley Stream, under the leadership of Mayor Dominick Minerva, authorized the purchase of the home, which had foreclosed, for $40,000; rescuing it from demolition. In 1983, the Fletcher estate was placed on the National Register of Historic Places. From 1988 to 1992, the building was renovated and restored.  The Pagan-Fletcher Restoration is operated by the Valley Stream historical society and maintained by the Village of Valley Stream.

Source:

“Pagan-Fletcher Restoration & Tours.” Village of Valley Stream, www.vsvny.org/index.asp?SEC=17E2184D-D1F2-402C-8953-35B0520559EA&DE=7B89F47B-4238-4245-BF3D-EC35458038CC. Accessed 28 May 2024. 

Big Duck

In 1931, Riverhead duck farmer Martin Maurer commissioned some local builders to create this 10-ton eye-catcher using concrete (technically, "ferrocement") applied over a wooden frame. Taillights from a Model T Ford became its eyes, glowing red at night. Maurer sold ducks and eggs from the shop in its belly.  The builders Smith and Yeager completed the concrete finish work on the Big Duck which was featured in Atlas Cement's 1931 calendar. In 1937, Martin Maurer moved the building to Flanders, where it occupied a prominent location near the duck barns and marshes of Maurer's new duck ranch.

Maurer patented his fowl creation, and the Duck became the darling of vacationing New Yorkers -- particularly husband and wife architects Robert Venturi and Denise Scott Brown, who invented the term "duck architecture" in their 1972 book, Learning From Las Vegas. This explain why, in the world of architecture, any building shaped like its product is called a "duck." 

The Big Duck -- 30 feet long, 20 feet high, and 18 feet wide -- has shifted locale a few times. In the 1980s, when the land on which the Duck sat was earmarked for development, giant duck preservationists and the Friends for Long Island's Heritage campaigned to save it. The Duck was donated to the county. On January 27, 1988, it was moved from Flanders to Hampton Bay along Route 24, to the entrance of Sears-Bellow County Park. However, by 2007 it was clear that the original land would not be developed, so the Big Duck was moved back to its Flanders spot.

The shop still operates -- now as a tourism center for the East end of Long Island, selling duck souvenirs to flocks of city weekend-trippers. The interior of the Duck offers a small display of Duck artifacts, photos, and news clippings, and if you time your visit just right you'll find a volunteer manning an exhibit in an adjacent barn about duck farming.  It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1997.

Sources:

“Big Duck.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 29 Mar. 2024, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_Duck

“The Big Duck, Flanders, New York.” RoadsideAmerica.Com, www.roadsideamerica.com/story/2173. Accessed 16 May 2024

Holland Torpedo Boat Station

During the Civil War, John Philip Holland, an Irishman, knew that iron shipbuilding would render the British fleet invincible, thus preventing Ireland from achieving freedom from British rule. With visions of thwarting British naval supremacy, Holland began designs for a self-propelled submarine. Settling in New Jersey, Holland continued work on his plans. He brought his novel designs to the Secretary of the Navy. 

Through most of the next two decades, Holland continued to upgrade his designs and build prototype subs – none of which were ever commissioned by the Navy until his sixth design, the “Holland” in 1897. 53 feet long carrying a crew of five, the Holland had a dual power system and a torpedo tube.

The redesigned sub underwent testing in New York Harbor; while the seas were calm enough, shipping traffic, safety concerns, nosy onlookers and foreign spies deterred proper trials. In spring of 1899, Holland and Rice moved the sub and all operations to New Suffolk, leasing the Goldsmith and Tuttle shipyard for $10 per month. 

Submarine trials continued through the rest of 1899 within a three-mile course plotted in Cutchogue Harbor and Peconic Bay. On April 11, 1900 – considered to be the founding date of the U.S. Submarine Force – the Navy purchased the Holland for $150,000. The USS Holland (SS-1) was put into service on October 12, 1900 as the first commissioned submarine in US Naval history. Subsequently, the Navy ordered six additional Holland-type submarines, all of which underwent trials at the submarine base in New Suffolk, known as the “Holland Torpedo Boat Station.” Holland Torpedo Boat Station had engineers, mechanics, draftsmen, machine shops, housing and all the supplies needed to operate the seven submarines at Holland Torpedo Boat Station.

The base remained in operation from 1899 through 1905, when Electric Boat Company moved to Groton, Connecticut. A historic marker was placed where the station was by the Cutchogue-New Suffolk Historical Council.

Sources:

“Holland Torpedo Boat Station.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 11 Nov. 2023, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holland_Torpedo_Boat_Station

Philips, Alice. “New Suffolk: The First US Submarine Base.” North Fork Real Estate Showcase, 25 Oct. 2021, northforkrealestateshowcase.com/new-suffolk-first-us-submarine-base

Long Island Automotive Museum

 Henry Austin Clark, Jr. opened the Long Island Automotive Museum in 1948 to store his burgeoning collection of antique cars. It was located on about 8 acres along County Road 39 in Southampton. Early on, Clark tended to focus on thoroughbreds and other significant American cars of the early 20th Century. Later, he amassed a collection of fire trucks and hosted brass-era flea markets at the museum among other auto-centric events. 

Henry Austin “Austie” Clark Jr. was a Harvard freshman when he acquired his first early auto, a Ford Model T made in 1915, two years before he was born. After leaving the Navy, where he served as a radar technician in World War II, he began collecting vintage vehicles in earnest. Clark owned some 250 autos and countless other motorized devices (a gas-powered pogo stick). What separated him from other collectors was his role as a one-stop shop. His museum hosted “The Iron Range,” a sporadic flea market of rare parts, many made of brass from the 1890s to World War I.  Clark filtered his encyclopedic knowledge into The Standard Catalog of American Cars: 1802-1945, a bible for collectors and historians. He was the chief researcher for writer Beverly Rae Kimes.

The museum closed in 1980 due to declining revenues. Clark auctioned many of the vehicles when he closed the museum. In 2017, Skip Norsic bought the property to use as storage for his company.

Sources:

“Remembering Henry Austin Clark Jr. and the Long Island Automotive Museum.” Hemmings.Com, www.hemmings.com/stories/2014/08/19/remembering-henry-austin-clark-jr-and-the-long-island-automotive-museum. Accessed 11 Apr. 2024

Strohl, Daniel. “Site of Former Long Island Automotive Museum Sells Decades after It Closed.” Hemmings.Com, www.hemmings.com/stories/2017/08/31/site-of-former-long-island-automotive-museum-sells-decades-after-it-closed. Accessed 11 Apr. 2024

Montauk Point Lighthouse

The Montauk Point Lighthouse, commissioned by President George Washington in 1792, is one of the best-known and most-beloved icons of Long Island. It was the first lighthouse to be built in New York, and is the fourth-oldest working lighthouse in the nation. It was named a National Historic Landmark in 2012, one of only 12 lighthouses to be so honored.

Construction o the lighthouse began on June 7, 1796 and was completed on November 5, 1796. It was built by John McComb, who also built Gracie Mansion and two other lighthouses that are still standing: in Eaton’s Neck, Long Island and Cape Henry, VA.

In 1860, 30 feet were added to its height and a new lantern room was built by Ira Winn of Portland, ME. The height of the tower is 110′ 6″ and there are 137 iron steps to the top.

When Montauk Point Light was first lit in 1797, it burned whale oil. Whaling was a growing industry at the time. and for more than hair a century Montauk Point's lantern used fuel from the huge mammals. By the late 1850s, however. whales began to be scarce as ships ranged the globe in search of them. For a time. Montauk Point Light was forced to burn lard oil when whale oil was unavailable. With the discovery of petroleum came kerosene which was cheaper and easier to obtain than whale oil. In the 1860s. finally, the light was converted to a kerosene wick permanently.

For many years Montauk Point Light was an inaccessible place, and the early keepers of the light, their wives, and families led solitary and very lonely lives There was only one rock road leading from the Point to East Hampton and the nearest village 20 miles away. Life at the light continued this way until the early 1900s when the new motor cars brought droves of visitors to the light.

Wives replaced keepers at tending light when they died or when they were called to other duties such as rescue work. Such was the case in December 1856, when the brig "Flying Cloud" ran aground on the rocks at Montauk Point and Patrick T. Gould, the keeper climbed down the face of the bluff in a gale to save the crew from drowning in the surf. He was awarded a gold medal by the grateful Lifesaving Benevolent Association of New York. The inscription on it told of his "courage and humanity saving from inevitable death the crew of the brig "Flying Cloud," wrecked on Montauk Point December 14.1856." However, apparently nothing was mentioned of his wife's role in maintaining the light during her husband's heroic rescue efforts.

The lighthouse was tended by civilian keepers until 1939, when the Coast Guard took over. During the Second World War, the Army moved into the lighthouse and built the large tower that stands next to it for the purpose of watching for submarines.

 

Sources:

“Montauk Point Lighthouse.” Montauk Historical Society, montaukhistoricalsociety.org/montauk-point-lighthouse/. Accessed 28 Mar. 2024

“The Story Of the Montauk Point Light House.” Long Island Genealogy, www.longislandgenealogy.com/lighthouse.html. Accessed 28 Mar. 2024

Heitz Place Courthouse/Gregory Museum

 On Aug. 19, 1893, Arnold Heitz donated the present Heitz Place site to be used as a village hall.  The main building was completed in 1895. Between 1895 and 1920 the village hall served a variety of governmental and meeting purposes. During World War I, the Heitz Place Courthouse served as headquarters for Selective Service for Eastern Nassau County. By 1915, the existing jail was deemed inadequate and a brick three-cell jail was built adjacent to the building.  One of these cells was retained by the museum

With the commencement of World War II, the courthouse resumed its function as a Draft Board Headquarters. In the post-war years, the building served several new purposes. The parole officers were located there, and the town’s veterans agency official, Joseph McCarthy, counseled returning servicemen.  The Heitz Place Courthouse fell prey to vandals until 1970, when arrangements were made between officials of the Town of Oyster Bay and the trustees of the museum for a long-term lease of the facility to Gardiner Gregory, to serve as a Long Island Earth Science Museum.

Gardiner Gregory was the curriculum materials director for the Hicksville School District in the late 1960s and early 70s. He collected moths and butterflies and then began collecting minerals. Displays at the museum include his collection as well as mineral collections, fossils, local artifacts, moths, butterflies, and fluorescent rocks.

The United States Department of the Interior recognized the building as a National Historic Place on July 30, 1974.

Sources:

“The Gregory Museum: Then and Now.” Nassau Observer, 10 May 2013, nassauobserver.com/the-gregory-museum-then-and-now

“History of Hicksville.” Hicksville Historical Society, 31 Jan. 2016, hicksvillehistoricalsociety.wordpress.com/about/history-of-hicksville

Harbor Hill - Roslyn

 Among the largest estates ever amassed on Long Island was the enormous 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. Clarence Mackay was the son of Comstock Lode magnate John William Mackay, and inherited much of an estimated $500 million fortune upon his father's death in 1902

 The 576-acre estate was built in 1900-1902 and was divided into formal gardens and terraces surrounding the main house and a 70-acre farm.  A description of the house was given in the Brooklyn Daily Eagle. This is a brief excerpt: “Early in the course of the preparations of plans Mr. Mackay made known his preference for the natural wildness of the estate and of his desire to preserve this feature as much as possible. It was decided that the house should be built on the very apex of the hill.” At the bottom of the west garden, Mackay commissioned two replicas of the famous Marly Horses statues. The 26-foot statues and pedestals were carved by sculptor Franz Plumelet and installed in 1920.

Social events held at the house included a grand party for the then Prince of Wales and Charles Lindbergh, was feted at a banquet and dance Mackay held the night of transatlantic aviator's ticker-tape parade on 5th Avenue.

With Clarence Mackay’s death in 1938, the Harbor Hill 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 remaining structures associated with the Harbor Hill Estate are: Mackay Estate Dairyman's Cottage, Mackay Estate Gate Lodge, Harbor Hill Water Tower, John Mackay III House and retaining walls throughout Country Estates.

 

 

Sources:

“Harbor Hill.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 20 Dec. 2023, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harbor_Hill

“Harbor Hill Country Home.” Roslyn Landmark Society, 1 Jan. 1969, www.roslynlandmarks.org/profiles/harbor-hill-estate

“Mackays and Harbor Hill |.” The Bryant Library, www.bryantlibrary.org/local-history/from-the-bryant-room/places-and-events/harbor-hill-for-the-mackay-estate/. Accessed 26 Feb. 2024