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Old Bethpage Village Restoration
Old Bethpage, 1303 Round Swamp Road
(Exit 48 of the Long Island Expressway)
516-572-8400
Open: Old Bethpage Village reopens for the new season on April 1, 2009. Hours are 10 a.m. - 4 p.m. Wednesday - Friday and 10 a.m. - 5 p.m. Saturday - Sunday. Beginning June 26, Old Bethpage Village is open Wednesday - Sunday 10 a.m. - 5 p.m.
Museum Admission: $10, adults; $7, children 5 - 12 (under 5 are free); and $7, seniors, volunteer firefighters.
Click here for Google map
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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
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The Manetto Hill Church (top), dating to 1857, and the Long Island Fair Exhibit Hall (bottom) 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.
Sustainable Farming at Old Bethpage Village
IN 2007, THE COUNTY INTRODUCED the Restoration Farm at Old Bethpage Village, as part of County Executive Thomas R. Suozzi's Healthy Nassau initiative. The farm, which is operated by a private business, Restoration Farmers, employs sustainable, organic agricultural principles and follows the "Farmer's Pledge" of the Northeast Organic Farming Association of New York. The farm itself is 7 acres and is located at the southern tip of the Village. The farm's produce is available to the public through a farm stand in the Village parking lot (Saturdays from noon - 2 p.m., June 20 through September) and via the Community Supported Agriculture program. For more information about Restoration Farm, click here.
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• April - August 2009 Events Schedule •
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Saturday, April 4
Long Island Rabbit Breeders Assoication Show
Sunday, April 5, 19 & 26
History Alive! Hands-On History Sundays
Saturday - Sunday, April 25 - 26
Camp Wood: Civil War Camp of Instruction
14th Brooklyn Militia School of the Soldier
Sunday , May 3, 17, 24 & 31
1864 & 1884 "Base Ball" Games
Sunday , May 3, 10 & 17
History Alive! Hands-On History Sundays
Saturday, May 16
Civil War Picket Post: Behind the Lines
Traditional American Contra-Dancing
Saturday - Monday, May 23 - 25
Sheep to Shawl: Music & "Base Ball"
Monday, May 25
An 1880 Decoration Day
Sunday, May 31
Huntington Militia Drill & Encampment; rain date: June 7
Sunday , June 7, 14, 21 & 28
1864 & 1884 "Base Ball" Games
Sunday , June 14
Model "A" Ford Show on the Fairgrounds; rain date: June 28
Brass Band Concerts
Sunday, June 27
Traditional American Contra-Dancing
Sunday, June 28
Brass Band Concerts
Saturday, July 4
• An 1865 Independence Day Celebration (see information below) •
Sunday, July 5
Brass Band Concerts & 1864 "Base Ball" Game (see information below)
Sunday, July 12
1864 & 1884 "Base Ball" Games
Saturday - Sunday, July 18 - 19
1862 Civil War Battle (see information below)
Sunday, July 26
Traditional American Contra-Dancing
Sunday, June 28
Brass Band Concerts
Saturday - Sunday, August 1 - 2
"Base Ball" Tournament & Brass Band Concerts
Sunday, August 9
Traditional American Contra-Dancing
Sunday, August 23
Brass Band Concerts
Old Bethpage Village Celebrates An 1865 Independence Day
Old Bethpage Village Restoration will celebrate a rousing Fourth of July as it would have been commemorated in 1865 at the end of the Civil War, announced Nassau County Executive Thomas R. Suozzi. The event takes place on Saturday, July 4, from 11 a.m. - 4 p.m.
The celebration, marking the return to Long Island of Union soldiers, will include a traditional Independence Day parade with a marching band (at 2 p.m.) and a performance of historical musical selections by the Old Bethpage Village Brass Band (at 3:15 p.m.). There will also be patriotic speeches, musket firing and children’s games. At 3 p.m., the soldiers will drill one last time and fire a salute to their fallen comrades.
Guests are invited to bring their own picnic lunches to a “Victory Parade” behind the Noon Inn, where the sounds of old-fashioned fiddle music can be heard from 11 a.m. until 3 p.m. Originally located in East Meadow and built in 1850, the Noon Inn is a standard two-story center-hall home, of modified Georgian style, with a barroom.
As an added attraction, a circa 1880s all star “base ball” game will be played at Hewlett Field at noon, as OBVR recreates the exciting matches held in Brooklyn and Queens at the time. The game will feature some of the finest fielders and batters from the Glen Head Zig Zags and the New York Mutuals, who will complete according to 1884 rules and wear the uniforms and use the equipment of that era.
Old Bethpage Village Presents Brass Band Playing 19th-Century Music on July 5
The Old Bethpage Village Brass Sextet will re-create the stirring sights and sounds of a 19th-century brass band at Old Bethpage Village Restoration on Sunday, July 5, announced Nassau County Executive Thomas R. Suozzi. Performances will take place in the Noon Inn PicNic Grove at 2 and 3:15 p.m.
The band will perform a variety of quicksteps, marches, waltzes, schottisches and concerts pieces from the mid-1800s, many of which remain familiar to contemporary audiences.
Old Bethpage Village Hosts Civil War Re-enactment on July 18 - 19
Union and Confederate troops will re-enact a skirmish during the fierce Battle of Second Bull Run (1862) at Old Bethpage Village Restoration on July 18 - 19, announced Nassau County Executive Thomas R. Suozzi.
The skirmish will take place both days from 11 a.m. - noon and 2:30 p.m. - 3:30 p.m., involving Union infantry forces pursuing the rebels.
During this weekend, OBVR departs from its mission of strictly interpreting 19th-century Long Island life to present a vivid portrait of the Civil War period in the Virginia countryside.
In addition to the planned skirmishes, volunteers for both armies will demonstrate military drills, musket firing and other camp duties. Additional activities include fiddle music from noon to 4 p.m. each day.
The event is co-hosted by a number of historical organizations dedicated to the preservation of Civil War history, including: Company H, 119th New York Volunteer Historical Association; the Fourteenth Brooklyn Regiment, N.Y.S.M., Co. E; the 9th Virginia Infantry Association; the 57th Virginia Infantry Association; and the 30th Virginia Infantry.
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