About Sayville
THE HISTORY OF SAYVILLE
The earliest families living in Sayville were the Edwards and the Green families.
John Edwards, a veteran of the French and Indian War, had been a tailor by trade in East Hampton. He brought his wife Sarah and son Matthew to Sayville around 1761 and bought the land that would become his farm from the Nichol Patent for about $3 an acre. The farm extended from the bay to the “Head of the Neck” line (near Tarriff St.) and from Brown’s River to a hedgerow between the present day Candee Ave. and Greene Ave. He built his house right in the middle of his land on what is now Foster Avenue and Edwards Street. John and Sarah Edwards’ original house burned down in 1913 according to John W. Edwards, a seventh generation descendant and former president of the Historical Society.
He fought in the Revolutionary War as a private soldier in Capt. David Pierson’s Company of Minute Men, a regiment commanded by Colonel Josiah Smith, leader of the Suffolk County Militia.
Sarah and John had eight children, with two dying as infants. When the three sons were grown, he divided the farm so that each could have a parcel. The present day Edwards Homestead was home to Matthew and his wife Elizabeth Morris. It was originally built on what is now Gillette Ave. (Old Lane) and then moved to its present location in 1838 by their son James Morris Edwards. James married Deborah Ann Green, the eldest daughter of Willett Green and Charlity Newton Green, uniting the two main Sayville families.
John Green moved from New England and settled in Huntington in 1694 with his son John, born that same year. Willett Green purchased the land extending west from the hedgerow bordering the Edwards property to the middle of Greens Creek. A descendant of John, also named John, purchased land from the Nichol estate in May, 1786. This land extended west from the middle of Green’s Creek to Morris Brook, extending one mile north of South Country Rd. He had three sons William, Thomas and John. William Greene took possession of the portion which would become West Sayville.
When the farm land was divided to such an extent that it could no longer support a family, the men had to turn to other means of support. Logging and the shipping of cordwood to Manhattan became one such enterprise. Sayville was filled with old growth trees which were sold for firewood. Other men sailed the eastern seaboard and still others plied the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. With their earnings they built the buildings on Main Street as well as substantial homes. They were also salvagers of shipwrecks (several artifacts the Society has were off shipwrecks), and house movers.
Oystering became a great source of income, particularly among the Dutch families in West Sayville. Seed oysters from Connecticut were cultivated in different parts of the bay, depending on the season, and after having spent 3 months there could claim to be a “Blue Point Oyster”, famous throughout the world. Harvests could be as large as 70,000 barrels a year. Clams would take the place of oysters after the hurricane of 1938 nearly destroyed the oyster industry.
The railroad came to Sayville in 1868 and the town became a summer destination. Hotels were built on all the main roads south of Montauk Highway, and people came from points west to enjoy the bay and the cool breezes. Patrons were driven by horse and buggy, a company run by the Wells family, from the train station and delivered to their rooming houses or hotels, many of whom returned every year even leaving their clothing in the drawers. Here they could swim, sail, play golf and take part in card parties and entertainment of all sorts.
Sayville had many theater groups that performed in Columbia Hall (75 South Main St.) or the Opera House on Candee Ave. Some of the stars of the day played baseball in the parks, often against the men from the fire department. The Stein Ferry Company sailed people to Fire Island to enjoy the ocean surf; their destination often determined by the breezes that day. The circus came to town every year, parading the elephants down Main Street and set up in an empty lot for children of all ages.
There were estates that stretched from the bay to Montauk Highway such as the Jones estate, west of Handsome Ave, some of whose buildings remain. Meadowcroft was built in 1867 and bought by John Ellis Roosevelt, cousin of Teddy Roosevelt, in 1890. He added a major addition designed by Isaac Green Jr. John’s father James was the first to build across from St. Ann’s parish, followed by John’s brother James. Of the Roosevelt homes, we can still enjoy Meadowcroft.
Isaac Green, our favorite local architect, designed many of our Main Street buildings and churches. The General Store was formerly Oysterman’s Bank; the “Aldrich Block” (Kay Cameron Jewelers) and the Suffolk County News building on Candee Ave. are his designs, and Thornhills was his last. Of his churches, we see St. Ann’s, the Congregational Church and the Methodist Church, magnificent structures, are still around us.
Many buildings are very obvious in their history, but many are not. Having been changed drastically, these still need to be recognized as historic structures. There is history all around us!
The Masonic Lodge on North Main was originally the Methodist Church, built in 1847, the oldest church building in Sayville. Columbia Hall at 75 South Main St., was built in 1874 by Charles Woodhull for Smith and Gillette (of the Gillette House). It was a grand hall – the first in Sayville where many dances were held. The upstairs was used as an auditorium and theater for silent movies.
The Pearl House on Main Street was a hotel run by the Skinner family. Josephine Skinner married Dow Clock and the couple moved into her house at 136 Main St. Dow Clock became a prominent citizen of Sayville. He was telegraph operator for the Long Island Railroad for 23 years,, a cashier at the Oysterman’s Bank, and served on the Board of Education for 40 years. In recognition of his public service, the athletic field located north of the old HS/JHS on Greene Ave. was named for him.
Famous Visitors & Residents
George Washington, America’s first president, stopped at John Green’s house on Montauk Highway in West Sayville on April 22, 1790 on his tour of Long Island. His diary entries note the poor quality of the sandy soil along the south shore!
While he was President of the United States, Theodore Roosevelt visited his cousin John Ellis Roosevelt, a summer resident, at his home Meadow Croft. He rode into town on horseback from his Oyster Bay estate. Teddy’s uncle and cousin had summer homes in the area near St. Ann’s Church. The carriage roads they travelled can still be seen in the woods around Meadow Croft and north to Lotus Lake
Marlon Brando got his first acting jobs in Sayville in summer stock. He was a member of New York’s Dramatic Workshop at the New School, and performed in their production in Sayville in 1944. He also acted in a locally produced play here when he was discovered.
Melissa Joan Hart, the star of ‘Clarissa Explains It All,’ ‘Sabrina the Teenage Witch,’ and other films and shows, attended Sayville schools until her sophomore year. Her father worked on the Great South Bay in the seafood business, and she attended St. Lawrence Church.
The Sayville Inn on Middle Road is on the site of the original bar, built around 1888. The small structure in the rear of the property, known as the Roosevelt Room and now hosts private parties, is the original structure constructed by James Nohowec. Theodore Roosevelt stopped for refreshment on his way to visit his cousin at Meadow Croft. During Prohibition it was a speakeasy. Nohowec’s business was a beer bottling operation.
Spiritual leader Father Divine moved to Sayville in 1919 along with his congregation. He and his followers were the first black homeowners in town.
Edith Course Evans, a summer resident of West Sayville, gave up her seat on a lifeboat to a mother from Massachusetts as the Titanic was sinking April 14, 1912. She was the unmarried heiress to a hide-tanning and real estate fortune. A plaque on the east wall of St. Ann’s Church commemorates her heroic sacrifice.