The Historic Suydam Homestead

The Suydam Homestead is a historic house dating to approximately 1730 at 1 Fort Salonga Road in Centerport, Suffolk County. Standing near the intersection of New York State Route 25A and Centerport Road, the modest farmhouse is one of the surviving reminders of the agricultural and maritime community that developed here when present-day Centerport was associated with the historic name Little Cow Harbor.

The house is significant not because it belonged to one of Long Island’s wealthy Gold Coast families, but for almost the opposite reason. Generations of the Suydam family who occupied the property represented the working families who shaped everyday life on Long Island. Historical records describe family members supporting themselves through farming, oystering, boatbuilding and carpentry while participating in local schools, churches and community affairs.

Today, the property is preserved by the Greenlawn-Centerport Historical Association, which acquired the homestead in 1989 and has worked to stabilize and restore the building and preserve artifacts associated with the property and surrounding communities. The Suydam Homestead has been recognized on local, state and national historic registers and serves as an important resource for interpreting everyday life in the Centerport and Greenlawn area from the colonial period into the 20th century.

A House Dating to About 1730

Research by the Greenlawn-Centerport Historical Association indicates that the earliest portion of the Suydam Homestead was constructed around 1730. The building was originally much smaller than the house visible today, beginning as a simple one-room dwelling characteristic of the practical homes occupied by working families in early Long Island communities.

Around 1760, the house was enlarged with a lean-to kitchen. Another significant expansion occurred around 1790, when the structure was extended eastward, covered by a gabled roof and equipped with a central chimney serving three fireplaces. These changes allow the building itself to illustrate how an early Long Island house could evolve as the needs of a family changed over generations.

A separate 18th-century structure was later attached to the western side of the house and used as a workshop. Historical sources place that change during the first half of the 19th century. Despite these additions, the homestead retained much of the scale and character of an early working-family residence rather than developing into the much larger estate houses that appeared elsewhere on Long Island during later periods.

The Suydam Family

The Suydam family’s association with the property extended across generations. Members of the family occupied the homestead from the late 18th century into the 20th century, creating an unusually long record of family life at a single Long Island property.

The Suydams were not simply farmers isolated from the surrounding region. Their livelihoods reflected the mixed economy of Huntington’s North Shore. Family members farmed the land, harvested oysters, worked as carpenters and participated in boatbuilding and maritime activity. National Register documentation also records that surplus farm produce was shipped to New York City markets aboard local schooners.

Fishing provided food for the family on a seasonal basis, while some Suydam men worked aboard schooners that frequented nearby Northport Harbor. Their experiences connect the homestead with the broader agricultural and maritime economy that shaped both Little Cow Harbor and neighboring Great Cow Harbor.

Family members also participated in community institutions. Historical records place Suydams on church rolls and school-support lists, while members of the family served as public school teachers, Sunday school teachers and, in one instance, a minister. Their history consequently provides a window into both the economic and civic life of early Centerport.

Life in Little Cow Harbor

When the earliest portion of the Suydam Homestead was built, Centerport was a very different place. The surrounding area was sparsely settled by farmers and people whose livelihoods were connected to the water. Present-day Centerport was historically associated with the name Little Cow Harbor, while neighboring Northport developed from the community known as Great Cow Harbor.

Agriculture and maritime commerce were closely connected. Farms extended across the surrounding countryside, while the protected harbors provided transportation routes for agricultural products and other goods. Grain from inland communities could be brought to waterfront mills, and schooners connected Huntington’s North Shore with regional markets.

The Suydam Homestead is particularly valuable because it provides a surviving architectural connection with that period. Roads, neighborhoods and land uses surrounding the property have changed dramatically, but the house remains near the historic crossroads of what are now Fort Salonga Road and Centerport Road.

A Working Family’s Long Island History

Many of Long Island’s best-known historic houses are associated with prominent merchants, industrialists, politicians or wealthy estate owners. The Suydam Homestead preserves a different part of the island’s history. Its significance is closely connected with an ordinary working family whose experiences spanned farming, trades, maritime work and community life.

That continuity gives historians an opportunity to examine how everyday life changed from the colonial era through the early United States, the industrializing 19th century and into modern Long Island. Changes to the building, surviving household objects and family documents can be considered together rather than as isolated artifacts.

The long association between one family and the property also helped preserve historical material that might otherwise have disappeared. Documents, letters, recollections, furniture and other objects remained with different branches of the Suydam family after the property was sold, and descendants later contributed material to the historical association’s collection.

Preserving the Suydam Homestead

After generations of Suydam family ownership, the property was sold during the 1950s. The building subsequently experienced a difficult period that included a serious fire and repairs that were not historically appropriate. By the time preservation efforts intensified, the old homestead was in poor condition.

The Greenlawn-Centerport Historical Association, established in 1973, became instrumental in saving the property. The organization initially obtained control of the house with an option to purchase it while subdivision and other requirements were addressed. The acquisition was completed in January 1989.

Preservation work has included stabilizing the house, repairing the west wing and adapting part of the property for the display and interpretation of historical artifacts. The association also constructed a non-historic barn on the property in 1991 to provide space for collections that include furniture, farm tools, wagons, clothing and household objects donated largely by families from Centerport and Greenlawn.

Historic Recognition

The Suydam House was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1988 as part of a broader study of historic resources in the Town of Huntington. The property is also recognized as a historic landmark by the Town of Huntington.

The designation recognizes both the age and architectural character of the building and its ability to document the lives of a working Long Island family over an extended period. The Town of Huntington has described the homestead as a vernacular farmhouse representing 18th- and 19th-century construction and notes the rarity of surviving documented 18th-century houses in the immediate Centerport area.

Greenlawn-Centerport Historical Association

The Suydam Homestead is one of the principal historic properties maintained by the Greenlawn-Centerport Historical Association. The organization was founded to research, collect, record and preserve the history of Greenlawn and Centerport, two communities whose histories have been closely connected for centuries.

The association also maintains the circa-1750 John Gardiner Farm in Greenlawn and historical collections housed through the Russell B. Brush Research Center at Harborfields Public Library. Its collections include photographs, documents, artifacts and other material relating to the development and everyday life of the two communities.

The relationship between Greenlawn and Centerport extends back to their earlier identities as Old Fields and Little Cow Harbor. Grain grown in the inland farming community was transported toward mills near the harbor, while later transportation and community institutions strengthened the relationship. That shared history eventually contributed to the modern Harborfields name, combining the “Harbor” of Little Cow Harbor with the “Fields” of Old Fields.

Visiting the Suydam Homestead

The Suydam Homestead stands at 1 Fort Salonga Road in Centerport, near the intersection of New York State Route 25A and Centerport Road. Its roadside location makes the historic exterior readily recognizable to travelers passing through this part of the Town of Huntington.

The interior of the Suydam Homestead is currently closed to the public while necessary maintenance and preservation work is completed. The Greenlawn-Centerport Historical Association has specifically cited maintenance needs including mold remediation and is working toward reopening the historic house museum. Anyone planning a future visit should check directly with the association for current tour availability, programs and reopening information.

Even while interior tours are unavailable, the property remains an important historic landmark along Route 25A. Because the building is an actively preserved historic resource rather than a regularly operating commercial attraction, visitors should respect the property, posted restrictions and any areas not open to public access.

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Suydam Homestead

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Key Facts and Details

Feature	Details
Name	Suydam Homestead, also known as the Suydam House
Location	1 Fort Salonga Road, Centerport, NY 11721
Town	Town of Huntington
County	Suffolk County
Region	North Shore of Long Island
Approximate Construction	Circa 1730
Original Form	One-room dwelling
Early Expansion	Lean-to kitchen added around 1760
Major Expansion	House extended eastward and substantially reconfigured around 1790
Workshop	An older building was later attached to the west side and used as a workshop
Historic Family	Suydam family
Family Occupancy	From the late 18th century into the 20th century
Historic Livelihoods	Farming, oystering, boatbuilding, carpentry, fishing and maritime work
Historic Community	Present-day Centerport was historically associated with Little Cow Harbor
National Register	Added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1988
Preservation Organization	Greenlawn-Centerport Historical Association
Association Acquisition	Purchase completed in January 1989
Additional Collection Space	Non-historic barn constructed in 1991 to house historical collections
Related Historic Property	John Gardiner Farm in Greenlawn
Current Public Access	Historic house currently closed for interior tours while maintenance and preservation work is completed
Historical Importance	Rare surviving 18th-century Centerport farmhouse documenting generations of working-family life on Long Island

The Suydam Homestead provides a remarkably tangible connection between modern Centerport and the much earlier community associated with Little Cow Harbor. Its modest rooms and changing architecture tell a different story from Long Island’s grand estates, preserving instead the experiences of generations who farmed, harvested oysters, built boats, practiced trades and participated in the everyday life of their community. More than two centuries of Suydam family history, followed by decades of preservation work, have allowed the house to survive beside one of the North Shore’s busiest historic roads. Its continued preservation offers a rare opportunity to understand how ordinary Long Islanders lived and worked as the surrounding region evolved from scattered colonial farms and harbor settlements into the communities of Centerport and Greenlawn seen today.