HomeMy WebLinkAboutOR-63 FOR OFFICE USE ONLY OR 63
BUILDING-STRUCTURE INVENTORY FORM
DIVISION FOR HISTORIC PRESERVATION UNIQUE SITE NO./0310Ovfd`/f
QUAD
NEW YORK STATE PARKS AND RECREATION SERIES
ALBANY, NEW YORK I5I9l 474-0479 NEG. NO.
YOUR NAME: Town of Southold/SPLIA DATE: November 1987
YOUR ADDRESS: Town Hall Main Rd - TELEPHONE: 516 765-1597
Southold, L.T . , N.Y. 11971
ORGANIZATION (if any): Southold Town Commun ty Develop Pnt Offi ne
IDENTIFICATION
1. BUILDING NAME(S):— Letham house "Point Farm"
2. COUNTY: Suffolk k TOWNICITY: RI,1U.thold VILLAGE: nri ant
3. STREET LOCATION: RFD 115 , Ma_1_r'r Rd - (ext_) eapt of Fprry entrance .
4. OWNERSHIP: a. public ❑ b. private 3
S. PRESENT OWNER: ADDRESS
h. USE: Original: residence Present: reeidanr_e
7. ACCESSIBILITY TO PUBLIC: Exterior visible from public road: Yes 12 No ❑
Interior accessible: Explain _ _rrlva.te xeeidenee
DESCRIPTION
8. BOILDING a. clapboard ❑ b. stone ❑ c. brick ❑ d. board and batten ❑
MATERIAL: e. cobblestone ❑ f. shingles ® g. stucco ❑ other:
1). STRUCTURAL. a. wood frame with interlocking joints CM
SYSTF'M: b. wood frame with light members El
known) c. masonry load bearing walls ❑
d. metal (explain)
e• other
10_ CONDITION: a- excellent F_X b. good ❑ c. fair ❑ d. deteriorated ❑
11. INTEGRITY: a. original site ❑ b. moved if so,when? c.1865
c. list major alterations and dates (if known): Moved from sit*of
Orville Terry house OR 49. It had been a Terry
house. *
Modern shingles added.
13. PHOTO:KK VII-II, frm S 13. MAP: N.Y.S . DOT Plum Island quad .
JT 30
~ 1
1 a "'lsss'.'aa.asrsi'R� H
s
e Oriera
1 s poll t
illN� 2
.p Piling
25 r
nt 00 gem
It 41
a A
�. _ _� syr•
2
i
... � � as •-_ M
- ro
ENT BEACH
STATE PARK
OR 63
r
14. THREAT'S TO BUILDING: a. none known C1 b. zoning❑ c. roads ❑
d. developers ❑ e. deterioration
f. other:
15. RLLATED OUTBUILDINGS AND PROPERTY:
a. barn[M h. carriage house Elc. garage M
d. privy ❑ e. shed f. greenhouse ❑
g. shop ❑ h. gardens ❑
i. landscape features:
j. other:
10. SURROUNDINGS OF THE BUILDING (check more than one if necessary):
a.open land t b. woodland ❑
c. scattered buildings ❑
d.densely built-up ❑ e. commercial ❑
f. industrial ❑ g. residential ❑
h.other: Gardinar Bay on the south.
17. INTI-RRELATIONSHIP OF BUILDING AND SURROUNDINGS:
(indicate if building or structure is in an historic district)
.Located in a low density residential area east of the
end of Main Rd . , (NYS 'Rte . 25) , historic Fangs Hwy.
Open farm land to.'N and S . Gardiners Bey to the south.
tri. OTHER NOTABLE FEATURES OF BUILDING AND SITE (.including interior features if known):
2-story, 3 bay, side entrance plan, flat roof house .
li-story, 4 bay, hip roof wing on west. Porch across
the front of both sections. 1-story wing on rear.
Entrance with narrow sidelights . 6/6 windows . Interior
end chimney on east end . (Perhaps the wing included part
SIGNIFICANCE of the earlier house that wa;a on this site . )
19. DATE: OF INITIAL CONSTRUCTION: 1835 or earlier for the wing*
ARCHITECT:
B.UILDI-'R:
20. HISTORICAL AND ARCHITECTURAL IMPORTANCE:
In 1798 Joseph Latham bought the farm for his son from
Rufus Tuthill.
This handsome waterfront property will continue to be
surrounded by open-space %is Suffolk County in January
1988 acquired the adjacent acreage up to and including
the point to protect it from development.
21. SOURCES: 'Research by ( ysterponds Historical Society.
U.S. Coast Survey. T-55 = 1838
nterview Mrs. Orville Terry 2/7/88.
?2. fHfNIF
Form prepared by Kurt Kahofer, research assistant.
oR 63
F
ATTACHMENT
George Latham house , "Point Farm"
WiN - 1974 view
Collections
Oysterponds
Historical
Society
OR 63
104 GRIFFIN'S JOURNAL.
a tag with corn. Ile was startled beyond measure,and 177 fi,
it was some time before lee could collect hivarclf sufli- his gr:
eiently to address his visitor in language proper on such Tho
an occasion. Ilowever,cru lie could do thin to his mind, owed
the affrighted intruder, with a sigh, cried out " I am He ha
an undone roan forever." "I hope not so bad as that," accnni
replied tho commiserate IIIc.E ing; "I suppose your fa- dress,
mily aro iu need of bread.; had you hif'onued me that the ms
was the case, I would willingly have assisted thew ; to al)l
you have broken a prominent comnsand, and clone nic man.
an injury,but in case you repent,and fully rufraiu f0in At t
this course forever, you have eny hearty forgiveness." teach
To thistlectreiiibliug niaieobscrved,ivitli teaiss,"Mirough perfor
God's assistwmee, I never A%ill take frons iuiy one again school
what is not my own." Mr. ling then ,gave him his � South,
hand. It is now about one hundred and fifteen years was to
since this transaction, and the man's nauic: is not yet army,
revealed. off. 7
Ganad
as a V4
Dr. Thomas Vail was the oldest son of Minmas Vail, was g
Sr., who was the lion of Jeremiah Fail 3d,who was the Bethis
son of Jeremiah Vale 2d,who was the son of Jeremiah ., 1786,
Vail Ist, echo settled at Oy terponds iu 1G56, on what t' ington
is now kuown as the Point !Waren and now owned by selaool
the sone of the ata Capt. Jonathan "tham. Tho- much
near Vail, Sr.,about 1758, married Hannah, Me daugh- munic
ter of Diehard and Manua! Brown. Was a captain of ciety,
militia, in which station lie was respected. Not far and w
from 1767 lie removed with his family into the state of 1792,
Vermont, near or in the town of Pomfort. At this which
place Thomas, the oldest son,lived with his father until metwe
M
Aunstu9 Griffin' s Journal. 1857
OR 63
Munsell HisjRrZ of Suffolk County, 1882
THE TOWN OF SOL'THOLD_ 31
:h,wa, Ulion the north road which runs nearly parallel with the residence of Albert Albertson (deceased). John f
Ilie sound is a village known as "Oregon," which con- Corey's house stood very near to Conkling's.
hurch, tains sonic forty houses in a fertile farming district. - The Hashamomack people were admitted as freemen
re wa, of the town at a very early date. In accordance with
1810. •�. an agreement made in 2684 John Conkling had a tract
s 6111 HASHAMt]htACK. of go acres laid out to him. This tract is now awned by nv j
Richard A.Conklin and William H. H.Moore.
o was As has been stated in a former place,the first land Thepopulation of Hashamomack in 1880 was 143. t' i
.gh ill purchased in Southold of which we have any written ew.,
sterial record was at Hashamomack. From another decd which
,n for is entered at considerable length in the town book it ORIENT.
:wined appears that James Farren sold at some time, probably The whole extent of land lying east of a line running
ill his 164o,to Matthew Sinderland the greater part of this lo- from the head of Stirling Creek t0 the sound was called
a- cali(v; that the purchaser died without issue and left all in ancient times'Oyster Pond,_Upper and I.owcr Necks.
year, his nds 1.his wife Katherine,who afterward married The former is now known as East Marion,the latter as
Iso at Wi am Salmon,who thus came into possession of (he Orirtrtr-Thae lands we`re`survcytd a'od divided among
ifined la After his wife`s death he married Sarah Horton. the freeholders,or owners of rights of commonage,in
•pling Ai; William Salmon's death John Conkling married his 1661, The lots ran north and south from bay to sound, +
athan wil)w, and having bought the shares belonging to Sol- and a single lot was So acres. The Youngs family chose—�_
mifi's children he became the sole owner, with the cx- to have their shares of the common an s in t cx necks
184;, ception of a portion which it seems Salmon had given rather than in the great western divisions,and part of
Can. to John Carey to induce him to come and live with him, their shares is even now in the possession of their dc-
castor Conkling, to make all sure,obtained a deed from the scendants. We learn from a deed that the extreme point
voted son of Wyand►nch the Indian sachem. The boundaries next to Plum Gut was drawn by Jerry Jones,wtio sold ;
f the of this tract as described in a deed from Paucump, it to G:Ies Sylvester,who sold to Jeremiah Vale jr.
sachem of Corchaug,to William Salmon in 1660 were as in 1687. It descended from him to his heirs and re- "
follows: 'Tom's Creek(now Mill Creek)was the line on mained in the family about zoo years,the last owner o '
ogue the west and the sound on the north. The northeast the name being Stephen Vail,great-grandson of the first, j .
corner was to be at a place called Minnapaugs; being as who left it about 1773. From 'goo to igSa it was owned } 'i
.fgcs, the deed says "a little pond and a parcel of trees stand- by Captain Jonathan LAMM.
t
as a ing by it;" and thence the east line ran "south to a In r67o Gideon Youngs recorded among his lands
rr in creek called Pawcuckatux." All the land east of this "eight small lots in the Oyster Ponds Lower Neck."
and belonged to the town,by purchase made probably about This tract of 4001 acres embraces almost all the village of
es of t649. In ancient times a fence was made from the__head Orient,which lies between the whorl and what is known "
re. of Stirling Creek to the sound,and in February r66i as arrow River. Gideon Youngs was not a son of
the the town gave all the land between this fence and the pastor Youngs,but of Captain Joseph Youngs,of whose
bounds of the tract above described to Captain John history we know little. Gideon died in 1699. His ,
Youngs,Thomas Moore,and the"Hashamomack inhab• descendants still own most of this valuable estate_ r
itants"—that is,persons who by purchase or otherwise One of the first settlers here was Richard Brown,who
had become owners of the Salmon tract mentioned had a house and 8o acres of land to the west of the
own above. 'The fence above spokes of ran along the west Youngs tract above described. In 1668 he gave John
The line of the lands late of J. Newell Youngs and Jeremiah Tuthill"six acres of land where his house now standeth," t
on's King(deceased). In dividing this tract the Hashamom- and this is probably the first appearance of John Tuthill ,!'a�j?
and ack people took the part east of their own land. at Oyster Ponds. In 1670 Abraham Whither had a farm
the Thomas Moore took his part cast of that bounded north and settled here. His land, which fronted Oyster '
't is by the sound and south by land he already owned there. Ponds harbor on the west and was called the"Hog Pondi s
pot. The cast part next to the fence fell to Captain Youngs. fares," still retains the name, and is now owned by J.
the This grant embraced several hundred acres,and was Lewis Tuthill, 11
tin given on condition that they should maintain the fence, • In x679 Thomas Rider Rave to his son-in-law John. .s.,
which was to prevent cattle 8rc,straying oft the Oyster Higgins all his land at Oyster Ponds Upper Neck. This,
of Pdnds Necks (now East Marion and Orient). Williskm tr--t lies at Fast Marion;and is on the point oppis:,e t4m:0
the Salmon sold in 1649 three-fourths of his land to Henry tatrams"rib 'yvint o, Shelter Island. It hai-be"in '
was Whitney, Edward Tredweli and Thomas Bene- the Wigias family ever since, and is now otvee4 by
dick. The house In which Salmon lived, and wbich Williaas Fniffins
or- may have-bees-built by Matthew Sinderland himself, /Samuel King lived at Oyster Ponds Lower Neck in ti}t;
Iby. stood on the farm of William Wickham(deceased),som% In '6bs Abraham Corey sold to John Tuthill so npeM
ny, thirty rods w*th of the rtilroad. John Conkling,wh� at Ufatet Ponds U.DQeL Neek,bounded east by Th l#itate ,IS
38, wu one ofthe vera cawll,liitlleMlied his house on 'till Moots and west by )oho Wilglns,and extellolkii!dtvdl�x: ;.
} east aide of brill Crcek,about twentyrode southeast withko sound to the boy.,Thie'tnet lice ar East j':.-
OR 63
+ .�+ _ _ Steeped in tradition, resisting but yielding
1
to change, Latham family descendents line a good
life in century-old farm homes, tilling their rich
but dwindling acreage on Long Island's windy tip.
Soils of Orient Point Farm on Long Island's In the beginning, pasture, timber, and to-
i northeastern tip have been tilled by the Latham bacco were the main crops. Along came hay
families through 163 years of war, boom, and corn to feed the cattle and work horses.
+.° depression, hurricane, and drouth. Later, the Lathams produced and shipped
Joseph Latham bought the farm for his chickens and eggs to hungry people in New
19-year-old son, Jonathan, in 1798 when York City-110 miles to the west. Now,
John Adams was president. On the 1,000-acre vegetable production is the farm's mainstay,
spread stood the Orient Point Inn—now up the Animals—fat cattle, strong horses, and busy
road from the Latham place and still welcom- hens—are gone; only a family of cats remains.
ing guests. Peas, beans, and potatoes are planted in
r.` Jonathan's son, Elias, filled his father's April. The peas are harvested in mid-June, the
shoes. Then came Benjamin Drake Latham. beans a bit later. Then cucumbers, lima beans,
His sons, George and Benjamin Dwight, and cabbage, and cauliflower are planted. The
George's son, George Jr., now run the farm. hard-working Lathams also raise a variety of
vegetables for their own use, including straw-
berries, tomatoes, onions, and melons.
Crops are planted, grown, and harvested
within earshot of the deep-throated honks of
fog horns, loud clangs of bell buoys that ride
in the channel, and the noisy slap of water
! against a low shoreline. After sundown, the
unmanned Orient Point lighthouse, standing
just offshore,casts an eerie beam of light across
the fields.
Point Farm income hasn't set records in
recent years. Vegetable prices are often un-
certain and of the original 1,000 acres,^only
45 remain.
But at Pointe t Farm, the good, average, and
` n bad years come and go just like the winds
t ^,1 that whistle across the narrow neck of civiliza-
tion jutting into the Atlantic. And somehow,
an enduring partnership with the land,steward-
}'",, ship over food for fellow men, and the sea-
w,;, scented air seem to make themselves heard
3 above thin scratchings in a faded ledger.
1 fi' t}Ir C �,r,iii The _Furrows July—August 1961