Tags Posts tagged with "Peter Crippen House"

Peter Crippen House

Peter Crippen House front façade, January 2021. Courtesy of Preservation Long Island
List includes properties in Sag Harbor, Port Jefferson, Huntington, St. James, East Hampton, Southampton and East Hills.

 Preservation Long Island’s Endangered Historic Places List for 2021 includes seven sites and one district facing a variety of threats from demolition and overdevelopment, to a lack of municipal funding and support for historic preservation in communities throughout our region.

Important historic places across Long Island are threatened by a variety of adverse conditions, from outright demolition to a lack of appreciation for their historic value, or the inability to develop sustainable long-term plans for preservation and stewardship.  Preservation Long Island (formerly the Society for the Preservation of Long Island Antiquities), established the Endangered Historic Places Program (EHPP) with the goal of raising region-wide support for historic places facing precarious circumstances.

“The program offers Long Islanders an opportunity to advocate for preservation in their communities while learning how to use tools like landmark designation, tax incentives, and public outreach,” said Alexandra Wolfe, Preservation Long Island’s Executive Director. “Our program partners receive priority technical assistance from our professional staff and their listings are featured on our website and social media”.

The pandemic did not have a negative impact on the public response to the open call for nominations issued last November. “This year marks the largest number of nominations received in a single program year since the establishment of the program in 2010,” said Sarah Kautz, Preservation Long Island’s Director of Preservation and Advocacy. A total of 18 nominations were submitted for the 2021 program year from communities across Long Island.

A panel of Preservation Long Island staff and trustees, as well as experts in architecture, historic preservation, and other related fields selected the properties based on three key criteria: overall historic significanceseverity of the threat and impact the EHPP listing will have on efforts to protect the nominated site.

Each of the eight sites will be showcased in a series of free virtual programs that will include interviews and panel discussions open to the public in June and July. Visit the 2021 Endangered Historic Places page on our website to learn more about each of the selected sites, and to register for the free virtual events.

Preservation Long Island invites all Long Islanders to join us in celebrating and supporting the important sites on Long Island’s List of Endangered Historic Places for 2021:

James Brooks & Charlotte Park Home & Studios, Springs, East Hampton Town Community Preservation Fund. Purchased by East Hampton Town in 2014, this landmarked home and studios of Abstract Expressionist artists in Springs is threatened by vandalism, disrepair, and demolition.

John Mackay III’s “Happy House”, Village of East Hills, Nassau County. One of the few remaining Gilded Age country houses in East Hills Village is threatened by demolition and subdivision.

Peter Crippen Home Site, Town of Huntington, Suffolk County. A rapidly deteriorating property owned by Huntington Town with strong ties to Long Island’s early colonial development and African American history.

Pyrrhus Concer Home Site, Village of Southampton, Town of Southampton Community Preservation Fund. Purchased by Southampton Town in 2015, restoration of this nationally significant site of African American history in Southampton Village is threatened by inter-municipal delays and other issues.

Rogers/Remz Grain & Feed Building, Port Jefferson Station, Town of Brookhaven, Suffolk County. This early industrial farming structure at the heart of Port Jefferson Station is threatened by demolition and urban renewal.

Sag Harbor Hills, Azurest, Ninevah, Subdivisions (SANS) Historic District, Village of Sag Harbor, Suffolk County. Demolition and intensive redevelopment threaten one of Long Island’s most significant Jim Crow- and Civil Rights-era historic districts in the Village of Sag Harbor.

Saint James Firehouse, Town of Smithtown, Suffolk County. A historic firehouse in active service since 1925 threatened by a lack of resources and municipal support for much-needed repairs.

William Tooker House, Village of Port Jefferson, Suffolk County. A rare pre-1750 structure in Port Jefferson Station with strong ties to Long Island’s colonial past threatened by neglect, demolition, and urban renewal.

Preservation Long Island’s Endangered Historic Places Program is made possible in part by a grant from the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Andrew M. Cuomo and the New York State Legislature.

About Preservation Long Island

Preservation Long Island is a not-for-profit organization that works with Long Islanders to raise awareness, appreciation, and support for the protection of our shared past through advocacy, education, and the stewardship of historic sites and collections. http://preservationlongisland.org/

 

Image credit: “Peter Crippen House front façade, January 2021. Courtesy of Preservation Long Island.”

Huntington Town Supervisor Chad Lupinacci, above at podium, speaks at a Jan. 8 press conference at the archaeological dig at the Peter Crippen House. Photo by Lina Weingarten

On Jan. 8, Town of Huntington Supervisor Chad Lupinacci (R), Councilwoman Joan Cergol (D) and Councilman Ed Smyth (R) were joined by Dr. Harvey Manes of the Manes Peace Prize Foundation, archaeologist Allison McGovern of VHB Engineering who is overseeing the dig, town officials and members of the community during the second day of the archaeological dig taking place at the Peter Crippen House, 61 Creek Road, Halesite, a site significant to the town’s African American history. 

Peter Crippen House. Photo by Lina Weingarten

“The long-term plan is to relocate the restored structure, if it is feasible to do so, to a more suitable site to serve as a museum or use any salvageable timbers in some educational capacity dedicated to Huntington’s African American history,” Lupinacci said.

The supervisor’s office has been working closely with the Town Historian Robert Hughes, Engineering Department and the Town’s African American Historic Designation Council to ensure that the Peter Crippen House, which is in severe disrepair and is set to be demolished, can be properly preserved, as the site is integral to Huntington’s African American history. The supervisor said there will be a follow-up regarding what is found during the dig.

In September 2020, Lupinacci and Hughes were able to secure an $8,500 donation from the Manes Peace Prize Foundation to conduct an archaeological study on-site before any demolition occurs at the Crippen House.

“African-Americans made an important contribution to the history of Huntington which needs to be recognized,” Mane said.

One of the items discovered during the dig was a Vaseline jar dating back to the turn of the last century. Photo by Lina Weingarten

The town also applied for $4,000 in Preservation League of New York State grant funding for a structural assessment of the house to determine to what extent the building, or its timbers, can be preserved for reconstruction at another site, the location of which has yet to be determined. In November 2020, the State Historic Preservation Office determined that the house is eligible for listing on the National Register of Historic Places, which makes the property eligible for state grant funds. The town is currently awaiting for the decision on the grant funding.

According to the town, the north wing of the Peter Crippen House is believed to be Huntington’s first mill building built in 1658. In 1864, the home was purchased by Peter Crippen, an African American who was born a free person in 1809 on a plantation in Virginia and came to Huntington in the 1830s. Crippen was a prominent member of Huntington’s African American community, and in 1843, he was a founding member of the African Methodist Ebenezer Church in Huntington (currently the Bethel AME Church).

McGovern at the Jan. 8 press conference, said some of her early findings at the site included pieces of ceramics and glass, including a glass Vaseline jar dating back to the turn of the last century.

The archaeological study resumed Jan. 13, and pending weather conditions, will last approximately 4-5 days total, according to the town.