The 10 Best History Museums in Long Island, Long Island

Oysterponds Historical Society (OHS) brings people together to share and celebrate the unique history and culture of the Long Island hamlets of Orient and East Marion. By presenting shared experiences from the past, we connect East Marion and Orient to the present and pass it on to future generations.

Thomas Halsey was one of founders of Southampton in 1640. He purchased this homestead in 1648 to start a farm and raise a family. The Halsey House was built by his son Thomas Halsey, Jr. in 1683. It was a simple two story, two room cabin which can be identified on the exterior by the diamond pattern windows. A two room extension was add in 1730. This historic house museum is open to the public on Saturdays from July to mid-October between 11:00 am and 4:00 pm. It features historic furnishings reflecting a colonial farm family in 1750 and an exhibit on the Shinnecock Tribe with a recreated Woodland Period Village c. 1,000 CE with hands-on activities for children.

The Holocaust museum has multimedia exhibits, artifacts, archival footage, and testimony from local Survivors. The museum presents a detailed chronicle of the Holocaust appropriate for 5th grade students through adult. The final gallery provides a bridge from the past to today's issues of intolerance, bullying and genocide. In addition to our permanent displays, there is a gallery dedicated to temporary exhibits. See our website for upcoming exhibits.We are also home to the Louis Posner Memorial Library which has over 7,000 volumes relating to the Holocaust,Tolerance and Anti-Bullying.The library is a lending library containing memoirs, diaries, journals, maps, artwork, DVDs, CDs and artifacts.

The Long Island Maritime Museum has a large collection of small craft which have either been built or used around Long Island. Our collection includes many different sailboats built by the legendary Gil Smith at his boatyard in Patchogue. We also have a brand new Lifesaving Exhibit, which is an interactive program. Activities for schoolchildren include winter and spring break programs, as well as summer camps.

We are a Museum specializing in Algonquian and other Native American artifacts and history. Our collection of restored Algonquian ceramic and steatite pots is one of the largest in the country. The museum offers a smart phone accessible audio tour.

The Society maintains over a dozen buildings in Southold. The buildings range in date from 1750 to 1900 and include a lighthouse, several houses, barns, outbuildings, and commercial structures. The Society opens many of these buildings to the public at various times throughout the year. The locations are: Nautical Museum at Horton Point Lighthouse, Lighthouse Rd., Southold Museum Complex at 55200 Main Rd., Southold Prince Building at 54325 Main Rd., Southold

The Mulford Farm, listed on the National Register of Historic Places, was built in 1680 and appears, mostly intact, as it was in 1750. The house features a collection of colonial furniture and objects, and the grounds include a 1721 barn, smokehouse, outhouse, and historic cutting garden.

A bully good historic attraction, not to be missed: the home of Theodore Roosevelt from 1902 to 1906, considered the "Summer White House," a beautiful 23-room Victorian mansion estate that also includes a 37-acre National Environmental Study Area of forest, tidal salt marsh and bay beach.

Find out what life was like on a typical farm on the North Fork of Long Island from 1880 to 1920 by visiting the wonderfully preserved original buildings and observing the artifacts displayed throughout this history museum.