Old Bethpage, 1303 Round Swamp Road (Exit 48 of the Long Island Expressway)

516-572-8400

Open: Hours are 10 a.m. - 4 p.m. Wednesday - Sunday; 10 a.m. - 5 p.m. Saturday - Sunday. Please note that no one will be admitted to the museum one hour prior to closing.

Museum Admission: $10, adults; $7, children 5 - 12 (under 5 are free); and $7, seniors, volunteer firefighters.

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NEWS BRIEF: The dog run at Old Bethpage Village is now open seven days a week as follows: Mon.- Fri. 8 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.; Sat., 8 a.m. - 5:30 p.m.; Sun., 9:30 a.m. - 5:30 p.m. The dog run has separate areas for large and small dogs and features a "green" rain-water collection system, including a filtration element that provides dogs with drinking water. The dog run is located near the entrance to the property. Hours at the dog run are the same as the Village.

Civil War re-enactments are a regular attraction at Old Bethpage Village Restoration. Shown here is the Company "E" of the 14th Brooklyn Regiment, remembered for its unique variation of the French Chasseurs uniform.

Exploring Long Island's 19th-Century Living History Museum

The Manetto Hill Church (top), dating to 1857, and the Long Island Fair Exhibit Hall (above) are two of the dozens of buildings at OBVR.

OLD BETHPAGE VILLAGE RESTORATION provides visitors with a unique and wonderful opportunity to step back in time and experience life in a recreated mid-19th-century American village. The 209-acre village includes an assortment of homes, farms and businesses.

Each fall, the village hosts the Long Island Fair, a traditional county agricultural fair that draws tens of thousands of visitors, and through most of the year the village supports a steady series of family-friendly events and exhibits, including old-time "base ball" tournaments.

Old Bethpage Village Restoration (OBVR) came into existence in 1963, when Nassau County acquired the Powell property, a 165-acre farm located on the Nassau-Suffolk border. The acquisition of the land and the plan to develop a historic restoration were timely, as rapid post-World War II development on Long Island had taken a toll on the area's landmarks.

Although OBVR never existed as an historic entity, it represents a typical rural Long Island farm village of the mid-19th century — one whose roots can actually be found in the earlier Dutch and English settlement of Long Island.

During the 1640s, the colonial settlers founded town "spots" throughout the region that functioned as commerical and social centers where taverns, general stores and meeting houses were built. Townsmen received a centrally located town lot as well as outlying fields to use for grazing livestock, growing crops or havesting firewood.

By 1700, the English had gained control of Long Island, townships controlled whatever land had not already been distributed, and the economy had expanded to include trades dependent on the sea and land. Life remained quiet, unhurried and closely tied to nature — patterns that were evident until well into the 19th century and that can be experienced at OBVR.

IN 1963, PLAINVIEW'S HISTORIC MANETTO HILL METHODIST CHURCH was the first structure to be saved and moved to the Powell property. Today, there are 51 historic buildings and seven reconstructions and the site encompasses 209 acres. Buildings were selected based on their architectural detail and historic significance, with the goal of establishing a representative sampling of historic structures.

After buildings were moved to the village, they were carefully restored to a specific point in their history, and the lives of the former occupants thoroughly researched. Each structure has been scrutinized for clues to its role in community life, and authentic hardware, shingles and glass sought — with the help of wills, deeds, and inventory lists — so the structures could be authentically furnished (in some cases with pieces original to the building).

Among the historic buildings is the Schenck House, built around 1730 and one of the oldest Dutch farmhouses remaining in the U.S. The house displays typical massive Dutch framing, particularly on the first floor ceiling joists, which span 32 feet. Other notable features include a side gabled roof with flared eaves, round butt shingles, heavy window sash, and a massive stone jambless fireplace.

Another is the Benjamin House, built in 1829 by William F. Benjamin, a Congregational minister, farmer and pastor to the Shinnecock and Poosepatuck Native American tribes. (One of Benjaman's brothers, Simeon, wasa prominent merchant and a founder of Elmira College, the first institution of higher learning for women.) The Benjamin House was constructed in the late Federal country style and its furnishings reflect the lifestyle of this relatively affluent farmer and respected minister.

Visit Old Bethpage Village to see these buildings and others and allow yourself to be transported into an earlier time in the history of Long Island and New York.

Sunday, July 4
An 1865 Independence Day Celebration

Sunday, July 11
1864 "Base Ball" Games

Traditional American Contra-Dancing

Saturday - Sunday, July 17 - 18
Civil War Life in the Field & in Camp

Saturday, July 31 - August 1
Long Island Historic "Base Ball" Tournament

Friday - Sunday , August 13 - 15

Friday the 13th in 1880 Long Island

Saturday - Sunday, September 4 - 5
Olde-Time Music Weekend (see information below)

Saturday - Sunday, October 9 - 10
Olde-Time Brass Band Concerts

Sunday, October 10

Traditional American Country Dances

Saturday - Sunday, October 23 - 24
A Haunted 1880 Long Island Halloween

Saturday - Sunday, October 30 - 31
A Haunted 1880 Long Island Halloween

Saturday - Sunday, November 13 - 14
Long Island Woodworkers Show on Long Island Fairgrounds

Saturday - Sunday, November 20 - 21
An 1863 Long Island Thanksgiving Holiday

Saturday - Sunday, November 27 - 28
An 1863 Long Island Thanksgiving Holiday

Sunday - Thursday, December 26 - 30
Holiday Candlelight Evenings: open 5 - 9:30 p.m.

Old Bethpage Village Hosts Traditional American Music and Vintage "Base Ball"
Over Labor Day Weekend

Nassau County Executive Ed Mangano announces that Old Bethpage Village Restoration will offer up 19th-century entertainment over the Labor Day weekend, with period musical performances and dance, as well as a series of “base ball” games. The “Olde Time Music Weekend” festival will take place on September 4 - 5 from 11 a.m. - 4 p.m.

The musical events will be held at varying locations around the historic Village, with fiddle music at the District No. 6 school and traditional music and dance (including reels and quadrilles) at the Noon Inn PicNic Grove. In addition, the Old Bethpage Village Military Brass Sextet will perform each day at 2 p.m. and 3:15 p.m., while craftspeople demonstrate the art of decoy carving at the Conklin House, home of the local “bayman.”

Traditional base ball matches, one of OBVR’s most popular ongoing programs, will feature teams from the Village’s 1884 league on Sunday, September 5, with players wearing the uniforms and equipment of the time.

“Our Labor Day weekend program provides families with a hand’s-on opportunity to appreciate 19th-century Long Island history,” says OBVR Site Director and Curator Jim McKenna, who adds: “We also encourage visitors to pack their own lunch and enjoy a picnic.”

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"This Old House" Pays a Visit to an Old Long Island Village

The popular home-improvement series "This Old House" paid a visit to historic Old Bethpage Village Restoration on August 7 to see how things were built nearly three centuries ago, in preparation for one of its episodes this fall.

"This Old House" host Kevin O'Connor, joined by architecture writer Russell Versaci and a film crew, spent three hours at the Village looking over the historic Schenck House, one of the oldest Dutch farmhouses remaining in the U.S. As such, the property was of interest to the show's producers, who are engaged in the renovation of a 1915 Dutch Colonial home in the Boston suburb of Newton Centre that will be the focus of several "This Old House" shows beginning October 8.

Versaci, who provided a tour for O'Connor, is an architect and writer who featured the Schenck House in one of his books, "Roots of Home." In exploring the Schenck House, Versaci covered the exterior and interior of the home and focused on such unique design aspects as the round butt shingles, the gabled roof with flared eaves, the heavy beams with "H" construction, and the massive stone jambless fireplace.

Built around 1730, the Schenck House displays typical massive Dutch framing, particularly on the first-floor ceiling joists, which span 32 feet. The home was originally situated in the area now constituting Manhasset and is the only authentic Dutch-style home at Old Bethpage, although other buildings in the Village have features drawn from that style of architecture. The home was originally occupied by Dutch farmer Minne Schenck, his three daughters and one son. The son, Martin, inherited the farm upon his father's death in 1767 at the age of 67.

In the New York City-Nassau County area, "This Old House" can be seen on public stations such as Channel 13 and 21.