2 Tiana Beach and Halsey House

Hurricanes and their threat to Southampton
by Kimberly Bagielto

Hurricane season, which includes the months of June to November, poses a great threat to coastal communities, including Southampton. Hurricanes are large masses of humid, rotating air in a counterclockwise direction. The three greatest risks associated with hurricanes are storm surge, terrestrial rain, and wind damage, which all cause secondary issues to the community, like erosion and flooding. As a low pressure system, the water is pulled upwards and rises, resulting in a storm surge, where the sea level rises due to the storm. Storm surge can lead to significant coastal erosion and floods of coastal communities. Hurricanes also cause torrential rain since warmer waters result in more evaporation. As the water rises, cools, and condenses, clouds form and release heavy rains that can flood coastal communities.

With global temperatures rising, bodies of water are also increasing in temperature, which fuels hurricanes to become more destructive. Coastal areas are extremely popular due to recreational reasons and the beauty of the natural environment. However, this means that more people are at risk of storms that impact coastal communities. Southampton is an extremely popular area, especially during the summer when hurricane season is active. Even though coastal areas like Southampton have emergency safety plans to respond to hurricanes, the storm will always be uncontrollable and unavoidable. In modern times, we are able to predict hurricanes with technology. However, we must continue to educate ourselves and the public about climate change and how hurricanes will become more destructive in the future, so we know how to respond accordingly.

 

This is the normal shoreline of Tiana Beach, which is located in Southampton. After dangerous storms, including hurricanes, the shoreline will become eroded, and sand may be pushed and deposited inland to create large mounds. It is advised to stay away from beaches during hurricanes due to the threats that they pose. However, it is recommended to visit after the storm has passed to see how the shoreline and the surrounding area have changed in response to the hurricane.

 

These are some buildings surrounding Tiana Beach. Buildings close to the shoreline are at great risk of wind damage and floods. It is unsustainable to live in these locations in the long term due to the costs associated with storm damage repairs. Also, evacuation is highly advised for people living near shorelines during the event of a hurricane.

How a Home Can Teach Us About History
by Lucy DeWitt

On Friday, September 5th, our MAR 355 class visited the Halsey House in Southampton, NY. As the oldest standing house of its kind in New York State, the Halsey House serves as a living record of colonial life on Long Island. Our visit gave us a glimpse into what coastal colonial life looked like during the 17th and 18th centuries.

The story begins with Thomas Halsey, the man behind the Halsey name. Although not among the very first settlers, Halsey quickly rose to prominence in the Southampton community1. Historical documents describe Halsey as being vocal in town meetings and playing an important role in shaping local governance1. He was named in Governor Dongan’s Patent, which, as we previously discussed in this course, was a foundational document for eastern Long Island1,2. Generations of Halseys remained in the area, their name still woven into Southampton today, even commemorated with a street that carries the name.

Inside the Halsey House, we could see how culture and necessity shaped daily life. We discussed how the house was built in the ‘saltbox’ style, with a slanted roof. This design was meant to prevent snow buildup during harsh New England winters, unlike the flat-roofed homes of England. We also noticed how there was a massive chimney that the house seemed to be built around, with a fireplace in every room. This would allow the family to keep warm in those harsh winters previously mentioned.

 
Wooden shingles were common because of the “Broad Arrow Policy,” which restricted wood use, and windowpanes were imported in small squares since glassmaking was forbidden in the New World (despite the abundance of local sand). Dr. Rider also noted that, although not reflected in the color today, rooms would most likely be painted in bright colors, sometimes made from ground shells. It’s hard to imagine a colonial home being painted Barbie pink, but this was done to maximize the limited light available before electricity.

 
Another central part of our discussion was the idea that colonists were recyclers out of necessity. Dr. Rider explained that eelgrass was often used as insulation, a natural resource that would have been readily available in the coastal area. Additionally, beams would be salvaged from burned homes and often repurposed in new construction, even if they didn’t match new design.

Just looking at the house, you might think it resembles any old New England home. However, the details we discussed in class reveal how families like the Halseys adapted to their environment and navigated England’s control over colonial resources. Every piece of the house has a meaning or reasoning significant to the historical context of the time. This is what’s really cool about MAR 355. The course allows us to connect historical facts with real-life examples, something that’s hard to capture with readings and textbooks alone.

Outside sources used:
1 Lafayette Halsey, J., & Drake Halsey, E. (1895). Thomas Halsey of Hertfordshire, England, and Southampton, Long Island, 1591-1679: with his American descendants to the eighth and ninth generations. Boston Public Library. https://archive.org/details/thomashalseyofhe00hals/page/n3/mode/2up
2 Dongan, T. (1686). Dongan Patent (1686). https://www.southamptontownny.gov/DocumentCenter/View/224

The Creation of a History House
by Vivian Taylor

Located in Southampton, the Halsey House, built in 1683, is one of the oldest houses that remain intact in New York. Within the house there are many different pieces of furniture from the 17th and 18th centuries. Most of the items on display were donated by local families, and many were acquired from the descendants of Thomas Halsey, who first built the house. A herb garden can be found at the back of the home, depicting one that might have been found during the 18th century.

Furniture like a large folding bed from the 18th century that is located on the second floor in the nursery, is kept folded to show how it would be stored in the home during the day. Next to it, in the space it would have used, is a table and chairs for eating. While the upper class would likely have the children eat in the nursery, it is unlikely that the Halsey family would have that kind of set up. Additionally, there is a bedroom located on the first floor of the house, which would also be unlikely to have been there in the original layout unless it was to be used as a room for the sick.

In my own experience, my grandfather helped build the Lexington Highland Historical Museum. The house is a replica of the Lydia Boynton House that his grandmother built in the early 1900’s. While the building is not as old as the Halsey House, it does have many similarities. The collection of furniture within the house is set up in a way that would represent how they would have been used in the past, and also contains a herb garden. One of the main differences I noticed was that in the Lexington Highland house, each piece of furniture is labeled with the name of their donor and a rough estimate of how old they are. There is also a large book front and center that holds the family history of everyone who donated. Like the Halsey House, most of the furniture was donated by one prominent family. In the Lexington house’s case, most of the furniture was donated by the Pinkham family.

 

The upstairs bedroom contains a large folding bed from the 18th century, in what appears to be a nursery. The tag states that the bed is a “Tuck-up Bed”. Furs cover the beds to retain heat. The bed is supported by ropes, which could be tightened with a bed key. The bed folds up so that the space can be used for socializing or other functions.

 

This image shows a candle mold from the early 1800s what would have been used to make candles for the home. This allowed for the selling of whale oil to others while keeping the house well lit. In addition to candles, the rooms were painted in bright neon colors to better reflect light.

 

A photo of one of the displays within the Lexington Highland Historical Museum opened. They opened their doors on the 21st of August in 2016. This display shows the sewing machine from the late 1800s that would be used at the time. The house is still undergoing construction, as a barn and blacksmith shop are being built.

 

The Trip to Tiana Beach and the Southampton Museum

by Lawrence Pak

In my previous blog post, I touched briefly on how Shinnecock Inlet was created by the Long Island Express; hurricanes like that can cause that much destruction mainly due to warmer waters strengthening the properties of the hurricane like duration, strength, and size. This hurricane also created the current geographical formation of Westhampton Island today, in which the MAR 355 class visited this past Friday to Tiana Beach lying within. Due to this beach being on the southernmost part of Long Island, its sand is very fine because of constant erosion from the Atlantic Ocean and the movement of sediments across the shorelines.
 

North of Tiana Beach is this clam sanctuary. There are multiple of these sanctuaries lining the Shinnecock Bay in which clams are planted by people to not only restore the clam population but to act as a filtration system within the bay, cleaning the waters. People also take note of sites where and when they are planted so they’d be able to catch them later when the clams have grown to adults to eat them.
 

Tiana Beach is also where the New York Marine Rescue center hosts their sea turtle release events! This picture was taken at one of the last release events of this year on August 27th; the turtle that’s being held in the picture is named Honeydew. The turtles in these releases have been found and rehabilitated from poor conditions
 

Shown here is the Old Halsey House in which the MAR 355 class visited after Tiana Beach. The house is filled with original furniture, tools, and items that are from the colonial period of Long Island. It’s been converted into a museum in which I certainly felt like I was living amongst the period when I was exploring within.