Huntington History

Although now a busy commercial corridor surrounding by residential developments, in the early twentieth century the valley bounded by New York Avenue on the east and Old Walt Whitman Road on the west, south of Jericho Turnpike, retained its agricultural and rural character.  John T. Leiper, who was active in local politics, offered his horse farm for use as a camp for the Civilian Conservation Corps, one of the most successful programs of the New Deal.  The CCC was designed to alleviate unemployment and at the same time improve the environment.

Leiper was born in Pennsylvania in 1867 and played professional baseball in Columbus, Ohio and Portland, Oregon.  After he retired from baseball in the 1890s, he came to Long Island and lived on the grounds of the Meadow Brook Club where he served as huntsman.  After he acquired the property in Huntington, he raised and trained horses and hounds that he used in hunts throughout the then open country in Dix Hills, West Hills and Half Hollow.  He also raised gamecocks.

In 1931 he was elected Justice of the Peace as a Democrat.  He was not re-elected in 1935 and was also unsuccessful in 1937.  He served as a commissioner of the South Huntington Water District from 1937 to 1954.

Perhaps due to his political connections, Leiper’s property was chosen as the site of a Civilian Conservation Corps camp.  He leased six acres of the property to the army from 1934 to 1938.  Considered one of the most successful New Deal projects, the CCC operated in a military style to undertake environmental improvement projects.  On Long Island, the CCC was concerned with Gypsy moth eradication.  The young men who worked at the camp ranged from their late teens to early twenties and were paid a dollar a day in addition to meals and lodging.  They were required to send $25 a month home to their families.

By the 1950s, the Leiper property was being subdivided.  Leiper held onto about an acre and a half until 1959 when he sold to Vito and Louis Porcelli of 2375 New York Avenue (Deed Liber 4684, page 561), who further subdivided the remaining tract.  Judge Leiper died in Pennsylvania in 1960 (The Long-Islander, August 1960).Judge Leiper’s house stood at 2234 New York Avenue until 2009 when it was demolished to make way for a new house.  The camp was located south of the house.

Of course, the history of the area pre-dates Judge Leiper and the CCC camp.

The earliest deed located for Judge Leiper’s property is dated May 2, 1851 (Suffolk County Clerk’s Office Deed Liber 64, page 249).  David Ketcham conveyed 100 acres to Jeffery Smith of Huntington for $2,500.  The property was bounded on the west by the road from the Turnpike towards the house of Oliver Baylis (i.e. Old South Path, now New York Avenue); on the south by Timothy Carll’s land; on the east partly by the highway from Long Swamp to Wolf Hill (i.e. Melville Road) and partly by land formerly belonging to John Carll, deceased; and on the north partly by land formerly belonging to John Carll and partly by land of Henry Hendrickson.

The deed conveyed the land together with the building thereon.  Smith borrowed money in 1854 and 1855 secured by mortgages on the property.  The 1854 loan was $1,400 from Whitman Bedell and David Baylis (Mortgage Liber 45, page 409).  The second loan was $600 from Joseph Theal of New York City (Mortgage Liber 47, page 359).  It is possible that Smith borrowed the money to build a new house on the property.  This would be consistent with the physical evidence—sawn spruce framing, rubble foundation topped with brick, pre-Victorian styling—which points to a construction date in the 1850s.   J. Smith appears as the owner of a structure in this area on the 1858 atlas.

Smith sold the property to John O’Neill of Brooklyn for $3,000 in 1861 (Deed Liber 115, page 229).  By this time Smith was identified as formerly of Huntington, now living in Stony Brook.  The sale was subject to the two mortgages Smith had given.

Apparently O’Neill defaulted on the mortgages and the property was sold at public auction on the steps of the Suffolk Hotel in March 1871.  The successful bid of $300 was made by Russell W. Adams of Brooklyn, to whom the $1,400 mortgage had been assigned (Mortgage Liber 121, page 368).

Just a year later Adams sold the property to William Peet of Manhattan for $8,250 (Liber 184, page 187).  Peet was also an assignee of Smith’s $1,400 mortgage (Mortgage Liber 121, page 344).  Although Adams sold the property in March 1872, he is identified as the owner on the 1873 atlas.

Some time in the decade following his purchase of the property Peet died and the property was sold by his executors to William P. Book and James S. Book, both of Jamestown, NY, in 1882 for $6,500 (Deed Liber 265, page 239).  The sale was subject to a $3,000 mortgage given in 1875 (Mortgage Liber 121, page 362) and a lease of the property to Joseph S. Baitter from June 1881 to March 1884.  Absentee ownership indicates that the property was held as an investment and leased to local farmers.  However, a later newspaper reference states that James Book occupied the farm when he owned it (The Long-Islander, December 6, 1907).

In 1894, William P. Book (still of Jamestown) and James S. Book (now of Huntington) conveyed the property to Ella J. Book of Huntington for $6,000 subject to two mortgages totaling $3,000 (Deed Liber 414, page 401).  A subsequent deed identifies Ella Book as the wife of James Book.  A year later Ella Book leased the property to D.O. Lang of Brooklyn for nine months beginning June 1, 1895 (Deed Liber 426, page 463).  In this transaction Ella Book is identified as living in Pennsylvania.  Lang agreed to pay $250 in rent and was given the option to purchase the property for $5,250–$3,000 cash accompanied by a $2,250 mortgage.  The lease refers to timberlands as well as ploughed fields.  Lang was permitted to cut timber for his own use as firewood or fencing.  He was also authorized to make alterations to box stalls 10 to 22, but had to restore them at the end of the lease.  Evidently, the property was now being used to raise animals—a subsequent deed identifies the property as the Suffolk County Stock Farm.

A year after the conveyance to Ella Book, she and her husband sold the property to Charles Cyril Hendrickson of Queens for $4,800 (Deed Liber 437, page 464).  A year later (April 8, 1896) Hendrickson gave a $5,000 mortgage to Henry Hyde of Hempstead for a loan due on April 28, 1898 (Mortgage Liber 237, page 380).  By this time the property was known as the Suffolk County Stock Farm (The Long-Islander, January 4, 1896).  Hendrickson, who was in the construction business (he had the contract for erecting the Cullum Memorial Building at West Point (The Long-Islander, February 29, 1896), worked to improve the property.  By the beginning of 1896, he had had the house, barns and stables painted and repaired.  He also began clearing out the woods and had plans to install a steam engine in the barns for pumping water and heating.  The farm featured a half-mile track for the 18 horses Hendrickson had on the farm—a number he intended to increase (The Long-Islander, January 4, 1896).  Apparently, Hendrickson defaulted on his loan and Hyde sued.  The property was put up for auction at the front door of the Huntington House and Hyde submitted the winning bid of $5,000 (Liber 471, page 539).  This deed identifies the property as the Suffolk County Stock Farm.

Soon thereafter, Hyde was declared incompetent and was living in Massachusetts.  In 1903, the property was sold by his agent Edmund Hyde to John T. Leiper of Hempstead for $5,000 subject to a $2,500 mortgage (Deed Liber 540, page 338).  The description of the property is similar to the description in the 1851 deed except that the names of the neighboring owners have been changed and the acreage is now given as 88 acres instead of 100.