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Huntington Historical Society

Wine and dine with the Huntington Historical Society

by TBR Staff - August 24, 2018

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By Sabrina Petroski

Eat, drink and be merry at An Evening of Wine Under the Stars! Hosted by the Huntington Historical Society, the 28th annual celebration will be held on Thursday, Sept. 6 from 6:30 to 9:30 p.m. on the grounds of the Dr. Daniel W. Kissam House Museum (1795), located at 434 Park Ave. in Huntington Village. With delicious food and drink from local restaurants, wineries and breweries, live music from the band Ladies Drink Free (a blend of gritty funk, R&B/soul, pop rock and modern jazz) along with a silent auction and raffles, guests are sure to have a night full of fun.

This year’s event will honor The Paramount and its owners, Jim Condron, Dominick Catoggio, Stephen Ubertini and Brian Doyle. “We are thankful to them for restoring the Huntington Theater, built in 1927,” said Lorraine Kelley, the chairperson for the event. “The Huntington Theater is an important part of our history. The Founder’s Room at The Paramount is also part of the walking tour and pub crawl led by town historian Robert Hughes.”

Participating restaurants as of press time include Mr. Sausage, Culinary Studio, California Pizza Kitchen, Crew Kitchen, Babalu NY, IMC, Shamrock Pub, Christopher’s Pub, Kerber’s Farms, The Sandbar, Miko, Black and Blue, Crabtree’s, Duck Island Bakery, Copenhagen Bakery, Jeff’s Surf & Turf and Red Restaurant. Wine will be provided by Bottles and Cases, Joanina and Millbrook Wines, a Hudson Valley winery; and three local breweries will be present — Blind Bat Brewery, Oyster Bay Brewing Company and HopWins Brewery.

One of the highlights of the evening will be the silent auction and raffle in the historic Kissam Barn. Auction items will include a shed from Burt Lumber, a fishing trip with Skip Hartmann, a wine tasting at Total Wine in Westbury for 20 people (wine included), a reproduction handmade dining room table and chairs and a reproduction handmade queen size bed. Baseball memorabilia items will also be auctioned, as well as an original piece of artwork from “The Lockhorns” that has been generously donated by cartoonist Bunny Hoest.

This year the society will be using Bidpal/OneCause for the first time to allow participants to bid on auction items while also purchasing their tickets online. For those who cannot attend, but wish to bid on the auction items or contribute to the society, it will be possible to register and bid from home. Participants do not need to attend or buy a ticket to bid.

Donations of approximately 40 raffle baskets have been received from merchants in Huntington, Greenlawn, Cold Spring Harbor and Northport, filled to the brim with restaurant gift cards, spa and beauty salon gift cards, baskets of wine, free passes for Pilates and dance lessons and various books.

“This event is our most important fundraiser of the year,” said Kelley. “The money we raise allows us to offer free programs to the community such as the Sheep to Shawl Festival in May and Apple Festival in October. It also gives us the funding to restore and maintain our four historic properties. We are so grateful to all the restaurants and businesses who are donating food, wine and gifts to help us reach our goal.”

Tickets for An Evening of Wine Under the Stars are $75 for members and $90 for nonmembers. Any remaining tickets will be sold at the door for $100. For further information, please call 631-427-7045, ext. 401, or visit www.huntingtonhistoricalsociety.org.

Whaling Museum to host screening of ‘The Great Gatsby’

by Heidi Sutton - July 5, 2018

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REVISITING AN OLD SPORT

As part of the Museum Movies in Huntington series, the Huntington Historical Society will present a special screening of ‘The Great Gatsby’ (1974) starring Robert Redford, Mia Farrow and Sam Waterston at the Whaling Museum, 301 Main St., in Cold Spring Harbor on Wednesday, July 11 at 7 p.m. $5 per person. Reservations are required (no walk-ins) by calling 631-427-7045.

Huntington Historical society kicks off the holidays with house tour

by TBR Staff - November 29, 2017

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By Kevin Redding

There’s no place like a historic home for the holidays.

On Sunday, Dec. 3, the Huntington Historical Society will host its 12th annual Historic Houses at the Holidays driving tour, giving residents the opportunity to explore five private historic homes and two house museums in the area from Huntington Village to Cold Spring Harbor.

Each stop on the self-guided tour will be decorated to the nines for the season; equipped with a volunteer from the historical society to answer any and all questions about the background of each location; and provide a firsthand glimpse at the original architectural styles and designs within these homes, which were built between the early 1800s and early 1900s. Visitors will be able to view bedrooms, living rooms, kitchens and even some attics of these colonial-style residences.

Approximately 300 to 400 people are expected to attend the event this year.

“The Holiday Historic Houses Tour is a real treat,” said Claudia Fortunato-Napolitano, executive director at Huntington Historical Society. “The houses on the tour are all decorated for Christmas and the refreshments are overwhelming. Come and enjoy a day out!”

The theme of this year’s tour is also the mantra of the historical society: Huntington Lives Here.

“Huntington’s history goes back to the mid-17th century and the people that came to live here were interested in building a meaningful town and leaving their imprint on it. This tour serves to highlight that,” said Toby Kissam, a trustee at the historical society and one of the tour’s chief researchers, whose ancestral home — the Dr. Daniel W. Kissam House Museum on Park Avenue — is among the afternoon’s seven stops. “Each year I find people that come on our tours know there’s going to be a great historical story with each house and I enjoy researching and telling that story. It’s always fun.”

Kissam said the oldest private home on the tour is also the one he’s most excited about: the 1820s-built Cold Spring Harbor birthplace of leading suffragette Ida Bunce Sammis, who organized the first women’s suffrage club in Suffolk County and became one of the first two women elected to the New York State Legislature in 1919. The home’s inclusion on this year’s tour correlates with the 100th anniversary of the passing of the constitutional amendment granting women the right to vote in the state of New York, Kissam added.

Also on full display is a house built in Huntington Harbor for a local sea captain in 1902; the grand 1914 Georgian-style home of New York City attorney-turned- Suffolk County representative in the New York State Assembly John J. Robinson, who was elected in 1912 and built his house on West Main Street in 1914; and a farm house constructed in the village in 1917 by Henry Willets of Dix Hills.

The most modern stop on the tour is a 1935-built summer estate in Greenlawn previously owned by a wealthy manufacturer named Walter Beh and his wife Margaret. Beh acquired the large, 110-acre property so he and his a wife, an equestrian, could raise and train horses there.

“Most of these were part-time residents, but they have contributed meaningfully to the town over years and has contributed to the place that Huntington holds today in Suffolk County and Long Island as one of the premiere towns in the region,” Kissam said.

The historical society-owned museums — both the Kissam House and the David Conklin Farm House, built in 1750 — will also be decorated for the tour. Visitors to the Kissam House will be treated to an exhibit entitled Promenade and Parasols, showcasing outfits and umbrellas from the 19th century and Victorian era, and the Conklin Barn will provide an array of refreshments from noon to 4 p.m.

Kissam, who is the great-great-great-grandson of Dr. Daniel Kissam, has naturally had a deep fascination with history his whole life, both general and Huntington-specific, and has occupied the role of genealogist in his family. This past summer, he and the rest of the Huntington Holiday House Tour Committee began their search and research of local private properties to feature.

“That’s always the challenge,” Kissam said on choosing homes to showcase during the tour. “We have to get people to agree, but we know of houses with a history and sometimes we just knock on doors and explain who we are and what we’d like to do. Usually we can talk people into it, particularly if they’re interested in what the history of their own house is. Once we run out of houses and can’t find houses maybe the tour has to stop, but we’ve been able to keep it going for the past 12 years.”

Historical society and committee member Patricia Ernst said the tours are beneficial to both those who take them and those who host them. “At the end of the day, everybody has such a good time,” she said. “The homeowners have a great afternoon having people exclaim over their houses, both the historical aspects of them and otherwise. The tour highlights these old houses and I think that’s a big draw for people who are deciding on what town they want to live in.”

Ernst continued, “Huntington has homes that have been here since the mid-1600s and that isn’t true in too many places. These houses are lovingly taken care of and are being guarded, and people in Huntington appreciate that.”

The Huntington Historical Society’s 2017 Holiday House Tour will be held on Sunday, Dec. 3 from noon to 4 p.m. Tickets are $40 for the general public and $35 for members. For more information or to order tickets, please call 631-427-7045, ext. 401 or visit www.huntingtonhistoricalsociety.org.

Photos courtesy of Huntington Historical Society

Spring Festival of Gardens returns to Huntington

by Heidi Sutton - May 30, 2017

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GT '13 - 7 — A koi pond featured during last year's garden tour. Photo from HHS

A rose garden featured in last year’s garden tour. Photo from HHS

The Huntington Historical Society will present its 2017 Spring Festival of Gardens on Sunday, June 4 from noon to 4 p.m. Six elegant and eclectic local gardens will be on view, with harbor views, backyard getaways, wandering woodland trails and serene Asian influences. Take a break at the Garden Boutique and refresh with sweet confections and cool drinks. Shop for garden plants, bouquets of gift certificates and unexpected treasures.

Tickets are $35, $30 members. To order, call 631-427-7045, ext. 401. If still available, tickets will be on sale for $40 at the Kissam House, 434 Park Ave., Huntington. For more information, visit www.huntingtonhistoricalsociety.org.

Holiday House Tour returns to Huntington

by TBR Staff - November 25, 2016

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By Nicole Geddes

Whether you’re driving or walking through a neighborhood of custom-built homes, it’s human nature to slow down and take in the scenery. From craftsman and Victorian-styled homes to Cape Cod, colonial and Dutch colonial, the architecture and history behind them piques interest.

The same can be said of the historical homes in the town of Huntington.

To “perpetuate an interest in things historic … in fact all historic relics relating to the Town of Huntington since 1653,” was the reason a group of women, some from Huntington’s founding families met at the home of Mrs. Frederic B. Sammis — known to her friends as Lizbeth — to form the Huntington Historical Society in September of 1903.

Visit seven historic homes this festive season.

Every December, the Huntington Historical Society collaborates with local owners of historical homes, offering tours that display the history of each home and their eclectic and architectural designs, as a service to the community. This year’s event will be held on Dec. 4.

Those who take part in the tour can exploit the chance to not just have something to do on a Sunday afternoon but also to see distinctive design styles.

“It’s a great way to spend the afternoon and to get some inspiration for your own house as far as decorating ideas. Typically, when we ask our homeowners to open up their homes, we do ask that they do some type of holiday decorating,” said Claudia Fortunato-Napolitano, executive director at Huntington Historical Society.

Each year the tour is presented with a different theme. This year’s theme, Huntington’s History Lives Here, will feature five decorated homes along with the Dr. Daniel W. Kissam House Museum (circa 1795) and the David Conklin Farm House Museum (circa 1750).

“At the Kissam house we do have an exhibit called Wedding Days and Wedding Nights. Basically, it’s wedding attire from the late 1800s through the 1950s,” said Fortunato-Napolitano. “It’s not just gowns, it’s night wear as well. There’s other things too, like accessories, clothing that men wore, and information about weddings during that time.”

The homes on this year’s tour roster are not in walking distance of each other. “It is a driving tour,” said Fortunato-Napolitano. “After you purchase your tickets, you get the addresses and the map, and then you can view them in any order you want.”

Visitors of the tour can take a break from the tour or end the tour by visiting the Conklin Barn, where they can enjoy an array of scrumptious refreshments. Participants can expect to walk away with a good demonstration of the colonial lifestyle throughout America’s history. Fortunato-Napolitano said, “They’re all historic houses. They have a good story to them. They all cover different periods of Huntington’s history. And then of course too, there’s a snapshot of Huntington’s history through the architecture.”

The Huntington Historical Society’s 2016 Holiday House Tour will be held Sunday, Dec. 4 from noon to 4 p.m. Tickets are $40 for the general public and $35 for members through Dec. 2. For more information, please call 631-427-7045, ext. 401 or visit www.huntingtonhistoricalsociety.org.

Take a bite out of Huntington’s Apple Festival

by Victoria Espinoza - October 17, 2016

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The Huntington Historical Society hosted it’s annual Apple Festival at the Kissam House on Park Avenue in Huntington this past Sunday, Oct. 16. Residents enjoyed hayrides, scarecrow making, bobbing for apples, militia demonstrations and more.

Huntington Historical Society honors hospital

by TBR Staff - September 21, 2015

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Society hosts 25th annual wine event

ES_Borganw — Huntington Historical Society Trustee Paul Warburg, right, presents Huntington Hospital Executive Director Dr. Gerard Brogan, left, with a plaque commemorating the hospital’s nearly 100 years of operation. Photo by Eric Santiago

By Eric Santiago

The Huntington Historical Society hosted its 25th annual “Evening of Wine Under The Stars” event on Friday night.

Huntington residents celebrated the town’s more than 350 years of history with a night of drinking, dancing and dining on dishes from local restaurants.

The historical society also honored Huntington Hospital, which will celebrate its 100-year anniversary next year. Hospital Executive Director Dr. Gerard Brogan was presented with a plaque commemorating the hospital’s work.

Robert “Toby” Kissam, the historical society’s president, compared the hospital’s founding to that of the society’s, saying that both were founded by groups of concerned citizens.

According to an article written by Huntington Town Historian Robert Hughes, the hospital began to take shape as early as 1904 when Huntington residents were frustrated with their lack of a dedicated hospital. In 1911, citizens launched a fundraising campaign to build their own hospital, which was eventually completed by Christmas 1915.

Historical Society Trustee Paul Warburg presented the plaque to Dr. Gerard Brogan, the executive director of Huntington Hospital.

Brogan said the hospital’s staff was honored to be recognized.

“I speak for the entire staff at Huntington Hospital when I say we see it as a privilege and big responsibility to take care of you,” he said.

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Huntington sheep have hair-razing good time

by TBR Staff - May 4, 2015

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The Huntington Historical Society hosted its annual Sheep to Shawl Festival on May 3, giving locals a fun and fascinating look at colonial life. It featured real sheep-shearing and had demonstrators in colonial costume sharing their knowledge and assisting visitors in carding, spinning, knitting and weaving. There was also live music and colonial-era games. Children experienced different aspects of colonial life, including the process of how sheep wool goes from the animals to fabric — from sheep to shawl.

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