Farmingdale Village purchases historic Powell House for future museum
Original wood beams and chimney in the attic of the Powell Home in Farmingdale, which the village has bought for $750,000. Credit: Barry Sloan
When the 1700s home of Thomas Powell, an early settler, went on the market, Farmingdale Mayor Ralph Ekstrand saw an opportunity.
He said he believed there was nothing stopping a developer from knocking it down and subdividing the land. A pivotal piece of the village's beginnings could soon slip away, he recalled thinking.
"I couldn’t let history go by," the mayor said.
As negotiations advanced with a prospective buyer, the village swooped in with an offer to purchase the home. Powell had secured the land from Native American tribes in 1695 as part of the Bethpage Purchase.
The sale to the village was finalized in September for $750,000, officials said.
Village Administrator Brian Harty said Farmingdale officials "did not want this property to be subdivided at all."
The village established the Thomas Powell House Committee to plan for the house's restoration and future use. Officials want to turn the home into a museum that highlights the early days of Farmingdale, officials said.
Debbie Podolski, a member of the Thomas Powell House Committee and the village’s historian, said the home "is such a representation of what was here before what we have now."
"This is one of the oldest houses in Nassau County," Podolski said. "The goal is to preserve the house and bring it back to the luster of its time."
Thomas Powell built the brick home on what is now Merritts Road as part of the Bethpage Purchase. Powell paid 140 sterlings for a 3½-by-5-mile tract of land in 1687 from the Marsapeaque, Secatog and Matineoc Indians, according to the Farmingdale Public Library, which drew on historical research. The deal was finalized in 1695.
The area covered 15 square miles in what is now Bethpage, Old Bethpage, Plainedge, Plainview, South Farmingdale, East Farmingdale and Melville. Powell had moved from Huntington after refusing to pay church taxes and used the home as an early meeting house for Quakers.
Over the years, owners of the home have made renovations and extensions, said Bob Lucian, 88, who has lived in the house since 1971. But some of the home's earliest elements are on full display. Descending down a tight staircase to the basement, some of the original stone foundation is visible. Down another flight to a subbasement — about a dozen feet below ground — Lucian pointed to old timber beams that he said supported the original basement floors.
He plans to leave some mementos behind — including iron keys to the front door.
"I’m very proud of the fact that the village bought the house and they’re going to use it in a lot of ways," Lucian said.
Though a plaque stands outside the home, commemorating some of its history, the property has never been designated as a historic site.
That left it vulnerable to demolition for a new development, Babylon Town Historian Mary Cascone said.
"If something like this is lost, you just can't get it back," Cascone said.
To preserve its future, officials are examining the property's past in exacting detail. Once the research is complete, the town can ask the federal government to list it on the National Register of Historic Places.
Cascone was asked to research the property and gather documents. She said there are stories about the home — a connection to the Underground Railroad — that have been passed down but not been fully verified.
Former Nassau County Historian Jesse Merritt told Newsday in 1963 that the home's subcellars and tunnels were used as a refuge for Southern slaves escaping to the North. Cascone, however, said there are conflicting stories to that effect.
"What's more important to me as a researcher is to know everything that's ever been said about it," Cascone said. "Because then you can prove it, or find out that you don't have enough evidence to keep telling that story."
The village has applied for grants to cover repairs on the home and bought the property using surplus revenue from its general fund.
Officials say the home can serve as the meeting room for the Farmingdale-Bethpage Historical Society. And the property can be incorporated into the curricula of school districts.
"We need to educate the younger generation," Ekstrand said. "People should know how Farmingdale was settled in 1687."
When the 1700s home of Thomas Powell, an early settler, went on the market, Farmingdale Mayor Ralph Ekstrand saw an opportunity.
He said he believed there was nothing stopping a developer from knocking it down and subdividing the land. A pivotal piece of the village's beginnings could soon slip away, he recalled thinking.
"I couldn’t let history go by," the mayor said.
As negotiations advanced with a prospective buyer, the village swooped in with an offer to purchase the home. Powell had secured the land from Native American tribes in 1695 as part of the Bethpage Purchase.
WHAT NEWSDAY FOUND
- The Village of Farmingdale in September purchased the Thomas Powell House, believed to be built around 1700, officials said.
- The village launched the Thomas Powell House Committee to plan the restoration and future use of the property.
- Historians say the home is among the oldest in Nassau County.
The sale to the village was finalized in September for $750,000, officials said.
Village Administrator Brian Harty said Farmingdale officials "did not want this property to be subdivided at all."
The village established the Thomas Powell House Committee to plan for the house's restoration and future use. Officials want to turn the home into a museum that highlights the early days of Farmingdale, officials said.
Debbie Podolski, a member of the Thomas Powell House Committee and the village’s historian, said the home "is such a representation of what was here before what we have now."
"This is one of the oldest houses in Nassau County," Podolski said. "The goal is to preserve the house and bring it back to the luster of its time."
Bethpage Purchase
Thomas Powell built the brick home on what is now Merritts Road as part of the Bethpage Purchase. Powell paid 140 sterlings for a 3½-by-5-mile tract of land in 1687 from the Marsapeaque, Secatog and Matineoc Indians, according to the Farmingdale Public Library, which drew on historical research. The deal was finalized in 1695.
The area covered 15 square miles in what is now Bethpage, Old Bethpage, Plainedge, Plainview, South Farmingdale, East Farmingdale and Melville. Powell had moved from Huntington after refusing to pay church taxes and used the home as an early meeting house for Quakers.
Over the years, owners of the home have made renovations and extensions, said Bob Lucian, 88, who has lived in the house since 1971. But some of the home's earliest elements are on full display. Descending down a tight staircase to the basement, some of the original stone foundation is visible. Down another flight to a subbasement — about a dozen feet below ground — Lucian pointed to old timber beams that he said supported the original basement floors.
Original keys to the Powell house. Credit: Barry Sloan
He plans to leave some mementos behind — including iron keys to the front door.
"I’m very proud of the fact that the village bought the house and they’re going to use it in a lot of ways," Lucian said.
Though a plaque stands outside the home, commemorating some of its history, the property has never been designated as a historic site.
That left it vulnerable to demolition for a new development, Babylon Town Historian Mary Cascone said.
"If something like this is lost, you just can't get it back," Cascone said.
A plaque marks the site of the Powell house in Farmingdale. Credit: Barry Sloan
History tracers
To preserve its future, officials are examining the property's past in exacting detail. Once the research is complete, the town can ask the federal government to list it on the National Register of Historic Places.
Cascone was asked to research the property and gather documents. She said there are stories about the home — a connection to the Underground Railroad — that have been passed down but not been fully verified.
Former Nassau County Historian Jesse Merritt told Newsday in 1963 that the home's subcellars and tunnels were used as a refuge for Southern slaves escaping to the North. Cascone, however, said there are conflicting stories to that effect.
"What's more important to me as a researcher is to know everything that's ever been said about it," Cascone said. "Because then you can prove it, or find out that you don't have enough evidence to keep telling that story."
The village has applied for grants to cover repairs on the home and bought the property using surplus revenue from its general fund.
Officials say the home can serve as the meeting room for the Farmingdale-Bethpage Historical Society. And the property can be incorporated into the curricula of school districts.
"We need to educate the younger generation," Ekstrand said. "People should know how Farmingdale was settled in 1687."
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