History

The original part of this house was erected circa 1782 and was the first farmhouse in the area. Farmland and pasture fields, including the present Vanderbilt property, surrounded the farmhouse.

The name of the original owner is not known, but it was purchased about 1850 by Phineas Sills of Northport. For a while the area was called Sills Point. According to old records, Mr. Sills was active in Revolutionary War affairs and owned the Northport Fire, Sand and Brick Company. Much of the clay used was dug from pits a half mile south of the house, on what is now Mariners Court. Mr. Sills enlarged the house, called it “Glen House” and used it as a summer boarding house. At the time, about 40 other homes in Centerport accommodated approximately 500 summer guests.

In 1885, the house was bought by Samuel T. Carter and remained in his family until 1920. The last family member to own it was Reverend Samuel T. Carter, Jr., Pastor of the Old First Church of Huntington. He had eleven children and many grandchildren who used the house extensively as a summer residence until it was sold to Robert and Lilian Kesler. In 1963, they sold it to the Town of Huntington for $87,000. It then became the Senior Citizens Beach House.

Based on submission by:
Christen H. Brandmaier