Southold

History of Southold

The hamlet of Southold is the site of the original 1640 settlement. Southold’s First Presbyterian Church is the oldest English Church Society in the State of New York and many of the early settlers can be found in its adjacent graveyard.   

Southold Hamlet is also the home to the Southold Indian Museum, the Custer Institute and Observatory, and the Southold Historical Society which owns and maintains a museum complex consisting of nine historic buildings on the Main Road, east of Maple Lane.

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The Hortons Point Lighthouse on Long Island Sound, which warns of a dangerous shoreline was commissioned by George Washington but wasn’t built until 1857. The Southold Park District owns the lighthouse and ground and Historical Society has a maritime museum on the main floor of the keepers quarters.