By June Sullivan
'Rock Hall Brings History to You' is theme of Country Fair, October 21 and 22
Jutting into the waters of the Atlantic Ocean along the Sound, Long Island stands almost alone. This separateness may have contributed to the very different history it has enjoyed from that of its close New England neighbors. In particular, when it came to the birth of the nation, Long Island inhabitants were an interesting hodgepodge of loyalists and patriots.
With a deep affection for this rich history, Long Islanders continue to maintain its historical sites. One, Rock Hall Museum in Lawrence, dates back to the mid-1700s, and as a museum of the Town of Hempstead, it offers such annual events as its Country Fair, which this year is Saturday and Sunday, October 21 and 22.
Although Rock Hall cannot boast the same acreage or number of buildings as, say, Old Bethpage Restoration Village, the museum can boast an older pedigree.
The 15th Annual Country Fair is to be held on grounds of a pre-Revolutionary Georgian estate. As historic military and social reenactments take place in front and back of the Rock Hall historic house, visitors can slip inside and enjoy touring the magnificent home.
Rock Hall is an important surviving example of Georgian domestic architecture on Long Island with its origins dating back to the years before the War of Independence," Town Supervisor Richard V. Guardino said.
Inside the historic house, visitors can also enjoy two permanent exhibits: "Archaeology at Rock Hall" and "Rock Hall Warming Kitchen."
Outside, during the fair, organizers promise many family activities. This year's theme, "Rock Hall Brings History to You," brings spinning demonstrations and a blacksmith at work. Visitors will hear explanations from Alice Roth, Ph.D., and food historian, as she demonstrates the art of open-hearth cooking. Happily, Dr. Roth will provide samples to hungry visitors, who may shy from the lard-ridden excesses of early American cooking.
Harold Kovarik, a historian, will talk about 18th-century firearms, as well as explain the writing and sealing of letters, and demonstrate a walking-stick flute. Mr. Kovarik is also an expert on period clothing and other artifacts.
In the encampment area, visitors will find members of "The Royal Welsh Fusilier in America," an American Revolutionary War reenactment group and a blacksmith, along with spinning demonstrations. In front of the museum, fair-goers can enjoy music by a country band, an animal farm, pumpkin patch, harvest tent and food tent with "modern" cuisine. And a special treat in the formal garden includes historical theater, "Wives of the White House."
Admission to Rock Hall Country Fair is also free, as is parking. The fair will be open 11 A.M. to 5 P.M. Saturday and Sunday, October 21 and 22. All proceeds will benefit The Friends of Rock Hall.
The housing of a museum
Built around 1767 by a sugar-plantation owner from the West Indies, Josiah Martin, Rock Hall later became home to members of the Hewlett family. Generations later, a Hewlett family member donated the house and three acres of the estate's land to the Town of Hempstead for a museum.
However, unlike such properties as Sagamore Hill, Teddy Roosevelt's former estate in Oyster Bay Cove, there was no single person or event for the town to commemorate when restoring Rock Hall.
In the book "Rock Hall: A Narrative History," Shirley G. Hibbard, writes that founders of the museum eventually determined that they wanted to "present an elevating learning experience to visitors, an opportunity to step back into another time in America's history. The layers of change had to be peeled back to expose a mansion that already existed at the very moment of the struggle for liberty."
On May 9, 1953, after five years of work and a reported $150,000 of town funds, Rock Hall's doors opened as a Museum of the Town of Hempstead. Ms. Hibbard describes in her book just what visitors can expect to find when visiting Rock Hall today.
She writes, "Josiah Martin's sturdy great house stripped of its outbuildings but adorned by Dr. Samuel Martin [his son] and Thomas Banister's refinements; Thomas Hewlett's welcoming tree-lined central driveway; and his son James Augustus's expansive, if poorly engineered, archway. The house itself and three acres of land, probably a few tenacious plantings, and the generous spirit of preservation were the legacy of later Hewletts. All of these made up the new Rock Hall - a Museum of the Town of Hempstead."
Rock Hall Museum, at 199 Broadway, Lawrence, is open 10 A.M. to 4 P.M. Wednesday through Saturday, and noon to 4 P.M. Sunday. Admission is free.
