Inquiry from Washington Museum
In April of 1959, The Cutchogue Chamber of Commerce received a letter from the Curator of the Natural History Museum in Washington, D.C., requesting that they furnish information on the pre-colonial Indian population of Corchaug.
This was the impetus for the Chamber of Commerce to research not only the Indian culture but also the entire historical background of Cutchogue Village. They formed a committee of civic-minded citizens interested in and knowledgeable about local history, which would be the basis for the historical society. The original committee members were Mrs. Robert P. Subley, Mrs. Artur S. Moore, Mrs. Ernest W. Morrell, Corwin and James Grathwohl, Fred W. Kaelin, Edward W. Fox, and Paulding Stoutenburg. Sr. Their first meeting was November 17th of that year, and one meeting later, officers had been appointed from the original group, and they decided on a title. “The Cutchogue New Suffolk Historical Council.” Since a tribal council is a governing body formed by elected or appointed representatives from a Native American tribe, and the inquiry into the local Native Americans was the stimulus to form the group, the word Council was chosen instead of Society. A charter was applied for, and the University of the State of New York granted them one in December 1960. During the spring of that year, the project of a Village green took form, and Cutchogue’s first district schoolhouse was donated. In August of that year, an open meeting to solicit membership was held on the west lawn of the Cutchogue Free Library.
Old Burying Ground Purchase
1960 also saw the Council purchase and take on the responsibility of the Cutchogue Old Burying Ground. They bought it from the Cutchogue Presbyterian Church for $1 and continue with its upkeep and care, allowing full public access.
Development of the Village Green
The area where the Village Green is now was once a two-acre tangle of neglected trees, brush, and brambles, overgrowing the broken foundations of two demolished houses. With the cooperation of the Congregational Church, which owned the land, the area was leased at a nominal fee, and the first funds that came into the Council’s treasury were put towards clearing the land. This was a considerable undertaking; stumps had to be pried out, masonry broken up and carted away, and the entire area cleared. The grass was planted, and in the heart of the Village was an island of green surrounded by three notable buildings, The Old House, the Cutchogue Free Library, and the Presbyterian Manse, which created a unified scene.
The following year, the schoolhouse, circa 1840, was moved to the Green and restored. The flagpole, given in memory of J. Benedict Roache, serves as the center of local ceremonies. A fine Norway Spruce also, a memorial gift has been illuminated with a community carol singing during the Christmas season to this day since 1964.
Milestones of the Council
In 1962, the Old House received National Historic Landmark status from the Dept. of the Interior, and a celebration called the “Cutchogue Day of History” commemorated it. This celebration continued sporadically and has been occurring annually for the past several years as “Family History Day,” where tours of the buildings, reenactments, and demonstrations of colonial and Native American crafts occur.
In 1965, the Wickham Farmhouse, dating from the early 18th century, was donated and subsequently moved to its current site on the Green.
On July 11th, 1964, when the “Friends and Neighbors of Douglas Moore” used the Green for an evening reception honoring the eminent composer who is a Cutchogue native, it marked the first time the Green had provided a setting for an occasion of local importance other than those sponsored by the Council. The Annual Douglas Moore Memorial Concert , begun in 1980 continued for many years and has morphed into a memorial concert of Council members, volunteers and board members.
Also, in 1964, the Red Barn owned by the Presbyterian church was bought for a small sum, moved from the back yard of the manse across the property line, and set up to house farming implements, woodworking tools, and Native American Artifacts. It was enlarged in 2002.
The late 19th-century former farm accessory building, the Carriage House, was the gift of Mr. and Mrs. W. Preston Tuthill and moved to the Village Green in 1990. It now serves as a gift shop and information center for tourists.
In 2010, the Village Garage was built to house a 1927 Ford Model T truck once used on the nearby Fleet farm, a generous gift from Parkham Wickham, a noted local antique car collector and descendant of the prominent Wickham family. The work of the Cutchogue-New Suffolk Historical Council does not stop with the Green. It is concerned with collecting local Americana for display in the the house museums it operates. With the help of the Local History Room at the Cutchogue Library, village records, and family histories are gathered, and notable old homes and buildings in the area are documented. It erects historic roadside makers, such as the two in Cutchogue, to mark the Old House, the Buring ground, and the one in New Suffolk at the site of the Holland Submarine Base.
Many historic events and fundraisers are scheduled every year. A regular schedule of docents provides information tours of the historic buildings from the beginning of summer through the early fall.
Past Presidents
- Corwin Grathwohl 1960-62
- Effie Moore 1962-63
- Mary Tuthill 1963-66
- Walter Rowland 1966-69
- Mary Tuthill 1969-73
- Joan Rowland 1975-78
- William Wickham 1978-81
- Virginia McCaffery 1981-84
- Mary Tuthill 1984-87
- George Brown 1987-90
- William Peters 1990-92
- Hallock Tuthill 1992-95
- Joseph Metzner 1995-99
- Ann Cutolo 1999-2002
- Stanley Rubenstein 2002-05
- Virginia McCaffery 2005-2010
- Michael Malkush 2010-2013
- Rose Ann Burns 2013-2016
- Dorothea Jordan 2016-2019
- Gloria Groocock 2019-present
