BBP Heritage Association

Last month for our weekend tours (2:00-4:00) of the Meadow Croft Estate! Come visit us and see what life was like for the Roosevelt family in the 1900's. We had a wonderful summer season and would like to thank all of our friends and community members for supporting the many events that we hosted.

If you would like to plan a tour for a group of 10 or more, email us to set a date: bbphistorical@gmail.com If you would like to learn more or become a docent please contact Jen at 631-235-9342.

Please join us for our General Membership meetings. Open to all! All meetings are held at the BBP Library. There is also a raffle drawing at every meeting. We hope to see you there!

The Devil in New York: The Witchcraft Trial of Goody Garlick

Speaker: Tara Rider, Ph.D., Stony Brook University

Sunday, October 19, 2025

2-4pm

Step back into the shadow of colonial New York, where witchcraft and suspicion were the topic of fireside conversations. Decades before Salem became synonymous with witch trials, the small town of East Hampton found itself in the clutches of fear as a woman named Goody Garlick stood trial, accused of consorting with the devil. This talk explores the tangled web of rumor, power, and superstition that ensnared an entire community. Dr. Tara Rider is a senior lecturer at Stony Brook University in the School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences with a multidisciplinary background in history, marine studies, and sustainability. Her research focuses on how nature, gender, and race are entwined with questions of power, culture, and identity.

This summer, Meadow Croft hosted three wonderful after hours events. We had three guest speakers paired with signature cocktails, or wine, and tours of the estate. This was something new for us this summer, special thanks to BBPHA Board member Denise Coscia for her creative idea! Thanks to the many volunteers who staffed the home for the estate tours and to our special guests who came out after dark. The three evenings were a great success!

Our first night featured film composer J.K. Hodge who performed a lovely selection of piano compositions and his presentation was titled; As Time Goes By. It was a throw back to a time when families enjoyed melodies on the piano before the use of recorded music. It was a pleasure to hear these lovely tunes played on the Roosevelt piano. Our guests enjoyed their cocktails in the ladies parlor as music filled the halls of the Meadow Croft Estate.

Our second event featured a presentation by Brittany Cutrone, granddaughter of Barney Loughlin, and current proprietor of Loughlin Vineyards. Brittany shared a slide show titled; Postcards From Papa: Letters, Legacy, and the Land We Tend. This presentation shared the rich history of her families vineyard, their long-time connection with the Roosevelt family, and the legacy left behind by her grandfather Barney, who was fondly know as Papa. This presentation was Brittany's way of honoring her grandfather's memory, one bottle, one story, one postcard, one sip at a time.

Our third and final event, held in the Carriage House, was a tasting event! Keenan Boyle, Blue Point's own Tall Mutha Shucka, set the stage for the tasting of Long Island's maritime treasure, the oyster. Our guests learned some history of the oyster industry at the turn of the century on Long Island, the world famous Blue Point oyster, and how the oyster industry is making a comeback today. Dock to table oysters were shucked and slurped as guests thoroughly enjoyed this experience! What better way to end the summer season!

Calling all Volunteers!

Planning is underway for our signature event: Christmas at Meadow Croft! This is a wonderful event that takes months of organization and preparation to become such a festive weekend. This year, Christmas at Meadow Croft will be held December 6th & 7th, 2025. We hope you can join us!

We are also looking for volunteers to work on a committee, many which are forming now. We currently have a decorating committee, one for displays, refreshments, raffles, advertising, set-up and clean-up. If you have some free time, and would like to help in any way, please give Leanne a call at 631-235-1702.

On September 7, 2025, Meadow Croft hosted the Nassau Hiking and Outdoor Club for a tour and hike of the estate. They were a great group, very enthusiastic and interested in the history of the Roosevelt family. We thank them for contacting us and setting up this tour.

These articles were first published in the Bayport Blue Point Gazette and were written by Gene Horton. They are reprinted here with permission.

November 2005

Earlier this year, Syracuse University Press published "The Encyclopedia of New York State," a massive work of almost 2,000 pages, weighing ten pounds and retailing for $95. It contains all sorts of information about NYS, its communities, people, industry, sports, agriculture, fishing, politics, history, culture, etc. Below, are the two write-ups contained in this newest edition of "The Encyclopedia of New York State" describing our two lovely communities of Bayport and Blue Point.

From THE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF NEW YORK STATE; published by the Syracuse University Press, 2005:

BAYPORT: Locality (population 8,662) in Islip (Suffolk Co.). Its territory was part of a 1697 patent to William Nicholl, but first settlement seems to have begun only in 1786. During its first century, the area was known as Middle Road, and its residents were farmers, baymen, or shipyard workers. The South Shore Rail Road (1869) encouraged industries, including fish oil factories, commercial nurseries (late 1890's) and the Bayport Barrel Co. (1904-1930's), as well as cottages for summer residents. A Bayport Post Office was established in 1871. The nearby Brookhaven National Laboratory (1947) employees 200 Bayport residents in the late 1960's and encouraged residential development that replaced most of the nurseries, although Bayport Flower Houses (1932) was still in business (2003). The Bayport Aerodrome, an unpaved historic airstrip, is home to several dozen vintage aircraft. A 20 ft (6.1m) model of the Egyptian sphinx, built in Blue Point in the 1890's, is a Bayport Landmark.

Daria E. Merwin

BLUE POINT: Locality (population 4,407) in Brookhaven (Suffolk Co.) Its 19th-century residents made their living as farmers and baymen, and Blue Point oysters found in the muddy bay bottom became world famous; they were seeded beginning in 1815. A post office opened in 1856, and in 1868 it acquired a station on the South Side Rail Road (now Long Island Rail Road). Large hotels were built and a resort developed. Greenhouses were significant before World War I. The oyster industry was profitable until 1931, when storms created a new inlet and increased salinity in the Great South Bay. Blue Point's population nearly tripled in the second half of the 20th century as the locality became a bedroom community. In 2003, it was the site of the Blue Point Brewing Co., a microbrewery, and of a large marina.

Joan Ryan, CSJ