Hallockville Museum Farm will host four Walking History Tours that will showcase historical, architectural, cultural and ecological influences that have shaped the North Fork from the 1700s to today.
“As a museum, Hallockville’s role is not limited to preserving local history, we have a duty and a desire to educate and enlighten,” said Roberta Shoten, Hallockville Museum Farm executive director. “The Walking History Tours will reveal the effect that adversaries, architecture, immigrants and ecosystems had on our predecessors and help to perpetuate their stories for generations to come.”
The themes and schedule for the Walking History Tours will be as follows:
The War of 1812 – April 15 from 1:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m.
Hallockville historian, Richard Wines, who authored Defense of the Eagle about a War of 1812 battle that took place at what is now Hallock State Park Preserve, will lead the inaugural tour. Mr. Wines will tell the story of a heroic local militia that held off three British warships for three days. This program will start at the visitors center of the state park at 6062 Sound Ave. for an illustrated talk followed by a visit to the clifftop location overlooking the battle site.
Mr. Wines was educated at Yale, Harvard and Brown universities, earning a Ph.D. in history from Brown. He is a past president of the Hallockville Museum Farm and has devoted his time to historic preservation and land preservation projects in Riverhead. He serves as chair of the Town of Riverhead Landmarks Preservation Commission and is a member of the town’s Farmland Preservation Committee. He has worked on the creation of three new parks in the town and over the past two decades he has created 21 special exhibits at Hallockville Museum Farm. He is currently writing a book about the Hallocks and their Sound Avenue world.
Architecture at Hallockville – May 6 from 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.
The architecture at Hallockville presents a snapshot into rural families’ experiences building, working and living in their homes, barns and outbuildings from 1765 to 1938. Historic building preservation specialist, Zachary Studenroth, will guide tour participants through the buildings that comprise the Hallock Homestead, circa 1765; the Cichanowicz Farmhouse, built in the early 1900s; the 1938 Naugles Barn; and other Hallockville buildings, as he examines the authenticity of these structures and reflects on their roles in traditional farm life.
Mr. Studenroth has devoted his career to the preservation of historic buildings, and specializes in structure reports and nominations to the National Register of Historic Places. He is a former Preservation Director for the Society for the Preservation of Long Island Antiquities (now Preservation Long Island), which bestowed him with its 2018 Lifetime Achievement Award for over 40 years of dedication to the field of preservation. Through his advocacy and study of the region’s historic architecture he has helped to preserve numerous buildings and structures which are now restored and open to the public.
The Polish Immigrant Experience – June 3 from 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.
The wave of Polish immigration to the United States from the late 1800s into the early 1900s brought with it skilled farmers, some of whom plowed and planted the fields on Eastern Long Island. Former Hallockville Museum Farm president, Paul Hoffman, a student of Eastern European immigration, will start the tour at the farm’s Hudson-Sydlowski House, which was home to a Polish immigrant family from the 1920s to the 1970s. The walk will continue to the Cichanowicz farmhouse, the Trubisz home and Naugles barn, as Mr. Hoffman shares stories of their former residents.
Paul Hoffman has been interested in immigrant studies since he served as the treasurer and chair of the finance committee for New York City’s Lower East side Tenement Museum during its formative years. He has been researching, writing and speaking about the 19th century Fosters Meadow German Immigrant Farming community at the Queens/Nassau border for more than two decades. When Hallockville expanded, acquiring land that included the Cichanowicz farmhouse, he led the restoration of the house to show the story of this Polish immigrant family.
The Gardens at Hallockville – June 24 from 10 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.
The relationship between humans and the land is a complex one, involving seed and soil, bees and butterflies, water and sunlight, and so much more. Master gardener, Christine Killorin, will lead a tour through the varied gardens at Hallockville and discuss the critical role pollinators have in the ecosystem. Participants will learn how to replace non-native plants, including lawns, with native plants that provide shelter for pollinators.
Christine Killorin is a past president of Hallockville Museum Farm and a passionate gardener who has been working the soil here for ten years. As a volunteer master gardener at Hallockville, she has a key role in the cultivation of the farm’s native plant and heritage vegetable gardens.
Admission to the Walking History Tours is $10 per person for the general public, and free to Hallockville Museum Farm members. Advance registration is required and may be completed online at: www.hallockville.org. Individuals with questions may phone Hallockville Monday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at: 631-298-5292.
About Hallockville Museum Farm
Hallockville Museum Farm is a 501c3 nonprofit organization comprised of a 28-acre preserved farm homestead in Riverhead, NY, listed on the State and National Register of Historic Places. Hallockville Museum Farm is dedicated to taking Long Island back to its family farming roots and exploring their relevance today. For additional information about Hallockville Museum Farm please visit: www.hallockville.org.
