The Great Depression of the 1930s affected Huntington as much as any place else in the country. And various New Deal relief efforts were utilized here as well. For example, Toaz Junior High School in Huntington Station and the Larkfield Avenue School in East Northport were built as WPA projects. Another popular New Deal program was the Civilian Conservation Corps, which provided employment for unmarried young men. In 1934, a CCC camp was established on an old horse farm behind what is now the Walt Whitman Mall.
Historical marker on New York Avenue near Saddler Court.
The property that eventually became the CCC camp was occupied for at least 80 years before the federal government made use of it. The earliest deed found for this property is dated May 2, 1851 (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. It is possible that Smith borrowed the money to build a new house on the property. This would be consistent with the conclusion reached by the Historic Preservation Commission following an inspection of the house on the property. The physical evidence—sawn spruce framing, rubble foundation topped with brick, pre-Victorian styling—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 (Liber 115, page 229). 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).
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 (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.
In 1894, William P. Book (still of Jamestown) and James S. Book (now of Huntington) conveyed the property to Ella J. Book, wife of James Brook for $6,000 subject to two mortgages totaling $3,000 (Liber 414, page 401). A year later Ella Book leased the property to D.O. Lang of Brooklyn for nine months beginning June 1, 1895 (Liber 426, page 463). 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 (Liber 437, page 464). 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 a loan and the property was put up for auction at the front door of the Huntington House. A gentleman named Hyde submitted the winning bid of $5,000 (Liber 471, page 539).
Soon thereafter, Hyde, who was by then living in Massachusetts, was declared incompetent. 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 (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.
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 countryside in Dix Hills, West Hills and Half Hollow. He also raised gamecocks.
In 1931, he was elected Justice of the Peace for the Town of Huntington 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. In his later years he returned to Pennsylvania where he died in 1960. (The Long-Islander, August 1960).
An aerial view of the CCC Camp.
Perhaps due to his political connections, Leiper’s property was chosen as the site of the Civilian Conservation Corps camp 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.
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 (Liber 4684, page 561). The old 1850s farmhouse was replaced by a new house a few years ago.
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