The Henry W. Prince Dry Goods Store, 1990's

The Prince Building was built in 1874 for Henry W. Prince and G. Frank Hommel.  Hommel had the west side of the building and Prince the east.  Prince ran a successful dry goods business in Southold.  By the late 19th century Prince had bought out Mr. Hommel and taken over the entire establishment for his business activities.  The basement, at that time, housed a popular Oyster Bar and candy store, which was entered through a door cut into the basement on the front of the building.

The building housed a number of stores following Prince, and the upstairs areas were converted into apartments.  By 1990 the building was in a state of disrepair, the original porch having long since been removed.  The Society purchased the building that year and began an aggressive restoration and rehabilitation effort.  Today, the building is fully restored and houses the Society's headquarters, archives, Treasure Exchange consignment shop, and museum gift shop.