Van Scoy Burying Ground in East Hampton recommended for historic registers

An East Hampton burial ground whose origin dates to the late 1700s is among 11 properties recommended by the New York State Board for Historic Preservation to be added to the state and national registers of historic places, Gov. Kathy Hochul announced Monday.

Hochul's announcement said the Van Scoy Burying Ground was located in the historic settlement of Northwest, a hamlet in the Town of East Hampton, and is a "small, isolated family burial place dating from 1782-1884."

It is now part of the town's Grassy Hollow Nature Preserve and "is the most significant surviving evidence of the early East Hampton colony, a settlement that flourished as a commercial and shipping center in the late seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries," Hochul's statement noted. It added that "the burying ground features sandstone, marble, and zinc markers typical of the nineteenth century and was recently identified in the Historic Cemeteries of the Town of East Hampton survey."

David Lys, an East Hampton town councilman involved in the preservation of the town's Colonial cemeteries, said, "I'm over the moon right now with this recognition." Lys said the application for the nomination was supported by the Town Board and Burial Ground Preservation Group Inc. based in Sag Harbor, and that the "multiple documentation form" that had to be filed was made possible by a grant from the Robert David Lion Gardiner Foundation.

Lys said preserving such cemeteries was a way of honoring "the ones who came before us. In many ways the only record of certain individuals is what’s left on their headstones. ... We preserve our future by learning what we did in the past. These are our forefathers that not only protected and put the cornerstones to the town’s heritage, but they also protected our country’s infantile state. There’s a patriot stone . . . [for] an individual who participated in the American Revolution: That’s Isaac Van Scoy."

Lys said the Van Scoy burial ground "was a perfect one to apply for the state historic register," adding he hoped it would eventually make it into the National Register of Historic Places as well. "It’s beautiful," Lys said of the burial ground. "It was located in one of the original homesteads of East Hampton. There was an original schoolhouse adjacent to this Colonial cemetery."

Hugh King, East Hampton Town and East Hampton Village historian, and the "town crier," called cemeteries "windows into the past." He also noted that "The Van Scoys were one of the early families that settled the northwest part of our town."

Stacy Myers, education director of the East Hampton Historical Society, called the recommendation to include the cemetery in the state and national registers "absolutely amazing. We see this as an incredible opportunity to teach cultural history for our community."

Hochul, in a statement, said: "These nominations showcase New York's diverse history through preserving important places where New Yorkers have lived, learned, worked and built communities. By adding these sites to our historic registers, we are recognizing the critical role that they play in telling our state's story.."

State and national register listings can assist owners in revitalizing properties, making them eligible for various public preservation programs and services, such as matching state grants and state and federal historic rehabilitation tax credits.

By Olivia Winslow

olivia.winslow@newsday.com@newsollie