Photo of the Week
FROM THE SCHS LIBRARY ARCHIVES
“How shall we know it is us without our past?”
– John Steinbeck
Huntington, Founded 1653
by Wendy Polhemus-Annibell, Head Librarian
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Nathan Hale Beach, Huntington, 1899, by Hal B. Fullerton.(Image from the Harry T. Tuthill Fullerton Collection of the Suffolk County Historical Society Library Archives. Copyright © Suffolk County Historical Society. All rights reserved.) [To view the Fullerton photo, please visit the SCHS website.]
Huntington was founded in 1653 by three men from Oyster Bay who purchased a parcel of land from the Matinecock tribe. This parcel, which has since become known as the “First Purchase,” included land bordered by Cold Spring Harbor on the west, Northport Harbor on the east, what is now known as Old Country Road to the south, and Long Island Sound to the north. The men immediately turned the land over to the white settlers who had already been living there. From this initial settlement, Huntington grew over subsequent years to include all of the land presently comprising the modern Towns of Huntington and Babylon. It wasn’t until 1872 that the southern part of the town was formally separated to create Babylon Town.
Because colonial Huntington was populated largely by English settlers, unlike the rest of the New Amsterdam colony, the town voted in 1660 to become part of the Connecticut colony rather than remain under the authority of New Amsterdam. When the British gained control of New Amsterdam in 1664 (renaming it “New York”), Huntington was formally restored to the jurisdiction of New York. Following the Battle of Long Island during the Revolutionary War, British troops used Huntington as their headquarters and remained encamped there until the end of the war.
When President George Washington visited Huntington in 1790, the town had 2,000 residents. Most lived in Huntington hamlet, with farmhouses scattered in the rest of the town. By the early 1800s, the town’s population had grown to over 4,000. The arrival of the Long Island Railroad in 1867 transformed the economy of Huntington from primarily agriculture and shipping (based on its well-protected harbor) to tourism and commuting. The end of World War II brought about an explosive growth of population in Huntington, where farms and resorts gave way to residential homes and businesses.
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UPCOMING EXHIBIT: In our Staas Gallery beginning June 11, 2021. Before the 1800s, art was largely reserved for the wealthy, but with the invention of lithography in 1796 – and particularly color lithography in 1837 – printers were able to mass-produce beautiful color prints that were cheap enough for anyone to buy. Suddenly, art was available to all from such notable printers as Louis Prang, Napoleon Sarony, and Currier and Ives. Featuring themes of nineteenth-century life in landscapes, cityscapes, seascapes, Civil War battle scenes, and rare examples of “lithographic Long Island,” this exhibit captures the evolution of an American art form.
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Our Weathervane Book Shop, located in our
new front lobby, offers a wide variety of
Long Island Local History books for purchase.
We’re the only bookshop in town!
NEWLY ADDED TITLES
HOT OFF THE PRESS – JUST PUBLISHED!
World War II, Long Island: The Homefront in Nassau and Suffolk, by Christopher Verga
George Washington’s Long Island Spy Ring: A History and Tour Guide, by Bill Bleyer
Long Island Migrant Labor Camps: Dust for Blood, by Mark Torres
Visit our website for our complete booklist.
Call Lee to place your book orders:
631-727-2881 x102
Orders may be picked up at the Weathervane Book Shop or may be shipped to you.
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www.suffolkcountyhistoricalsociety.org
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To View 2014 Photo of the Week pages click here.
To View 2015 Photo of the Week pages click here.
To View 2016 Photo of the Week pages click here.
To View 2017 Photo of the Week pages click here.
To View 2018 Photo of the Week pages click here.
To View 2019 Photo of the Week pages click here.
To View 2020 Photo of the Week pages click here.
To View 2021 Photo of the Week pages click here.
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AAQ / Resource: Riverhead Bay Motors
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