The Bay Shore Historical Society will hold its annual open house on Saturday, June 7, offering the public a chance to explore local history inside one of the hamlet’s oldest homes. The free event includes guided tours, historical displays and a community barbecue.
The event runs from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and includes a barbecue at noon. It is free and open to the public at the home of the Bay Shore Historical Society, located at 22 Maple Ave., also known as the historic Gibson-Mack-Holt House.
“We have three floors of memorabilia, artifacts, photographs and reference materials regarding Bay Shore’s vast history,” said Barry Dlouhy, president of the Bay Shore Historical Society. “People will receive guided tours through the house and the grounds. We have a garden out back and a tool shed with antique tools, and that is in addition to the main house.”
The house, known as the oldest tradesman’s house in Bay Shore, became the Historical Society’s headquarters after it was no longer needed by an expanded Southside Hospital.
“It was a craftsman’s house built between 1810 and 1820, and various owners had it, but it was also central to the era where Bay Shore’s growth and development took place, and now it is basically a fantastic museum of the strong, vibrant history of Bay Shore,” Dlouhy told South Shore Press.
Inside the museum, visitors can learn about Bay Shore’s reputation as the “Hamptons of the South Shore” in the late 1800s and early 1900s. Several wealthy families had summer estates in the area, including E.F. Hutton, the Gulden’s mustard family, early 1900s sugar barons, and the Entenmann family.
“We have the display of the Entenmann family, which is so important to Bay Shore’s growth,” Dlouhy said, noting that their first full operating bakery was located on Main Street.
The museum also features information about the Oppenheimer family, including physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer, who spent several summers in Bay Shore.
The open house will include historical photographs, such as images of the train station during World War II. A Bay Shore Fire Department truck will also be on site.
Opened to the public in 1991, the museum now includes a second-floor expansion and a Bay Shore Historical Society movie room.
On Sunday, June 8, the Historical Society will host an informational table at the Bay Shore Arts Festival, starting at 10 a.m., at the corner of Main Street and Maple Avenue.
For those unable to attend the weekend events, guided tours are offered every Tuesday and Saturday from 1 to 4 p.m. The society also hosts a monthly program on the third Thursday of each month at the Bay Shore–Brightwaters Public Library.
More information is available on the organization’s website.