PRESS RELEASE

AUGUST 23, 2005

Three Southold Historical Society Buildings Awarded State & National Register Status

L-R:  The Henry W. Prince Building, Ann Currie-Bell (Joseph N. Hallock) House, and Thomas Moore (Samuel Landon) House

SOUTHOLD, NY. The Southold Historical Society is pleased to announce that three of its historic buildings have been listed on the prestigious New York State Register of Historic Places and the National Register of Historic Places.

“The Historical Society is very pleased with having several of our buildings listed on both Registers,” stated Geoffrey K. Fleming, Director of the Society. “There are only a few buildings in Southold Township with this status and we are very happy that three of them our ours,” he continued. Virginia Bartos, the State representative for the program, recently visited the Society to deliver three framed certificates detailing the listing of the three buildings.

“We worked very hard in producing the applications for the listing of the properties,” continued Fleming. “Many hours of work were put into the researching and writing of the proposals. In addition each building was photographed from many angles and was carefully examined by representatives from the State’s Office of Parks, Recreation, and Historic Preservation,” he continued.

The three buildings that were selected for listing are the Henry W. Prince Building, The Ann Currie-Bell (Joseph N. Hallock) House, and the Thomas Moore (Samuel Landon) House. All three are located on Main Road in Southold Hamlet. Bernadette Castro, New York State Commissioner of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation, officially listed the buildings this past winter on the State Register which was followed a few months later by official recognition at the national level by the National Park Service.

The Henry W. Prince Building, also known as the Prince Store, was constructed out of locally made brick in 1874. It housed two retail stores on the first floor, and oyster bar and ice cream parlor in the basement, and the Odd Fellows Hall and later the Grange on the second floor. The building was acquired by the Society in 1989. It is one of very few remaining 19th century structures on Main Road built strictly for retail business purposes and is the only identified brick structure with integral chimneys (built as part of the support walls) in Southold.

The Ann Currie-Bell (Joseph N. Hallock) House was constructed on the corner of Maple Lane and Main Road c. 1900. Hallock was a prominent local business person, long-time owner and editor of the Traveler-Watchman Newspaper, and served in many town and state political positions during the course of his life. His daughter, Ann Hallock Currie-Bell, was the founder and first president of the Southold Historical Society. Following her death in 1964, the house was renovated and served as the first headquarters and museum of the Society.

The final property listed, the Thomas Moore (Samuel Landon) House, is located just a short distance from the Currie-Bell House. Built sometime between 1750 and 1790, the house was never occupied by Thomas Moore. It is located on Moore’s original home-site but was probably built by Samuel Landon as his residence. The house was occupied by many different families during its existence, including the mysterious “Widow Arcularius,” before being purchased by the Society in 1970.

The process for listing buildings takes several months. Both the State and National Park Service must agree to the listing of a property, in addition to the owner. Once buildings are listed they are eligible for special tax benefits and are protected from state and federally funded projects that might otherwise adversely affect them. Very few historic properties on the North Fork of Long Island are currently listed and protected in this fashion.

The National Register of Historic Places is the Nation's official list of cultural resources worthy of preservation. Authorized under the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966, the National Register is part of a national program to coordinate and support public and private efforts to identify, evaluate, and protect our historic and archeological resources. Properties listed in the Register include districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects that are significant in American history, architecture, archeology, engineering, and culture. The National Register is administered by the National Park Service, which is part of the U.S. Department of the Interior.

In the near future each of the three buildings will be fitted with bronze plaques identifying them as State and National Register properties. All three buildings are already listed on the Southold Town Landmarks List.

For further information or pictures, please visit the Society on the web at www.southoldhistoricalsociety.org or contact Geoffrey K. Fleming at (631) 765-5500 or shsdirec@optonline.net.