Comment: Old South Haven Church as it now appears in Brookhaven Hamlet, on the corner of South Country and Beaver Dam Roads. From South Country Rd., looking west. Beaver Dam Rd. is to the right.

Comment: This is a reproduction of the original Daniel Webster Trout Weathervane. The original is now at the Bellport-Brookhaven Historical Society. A second reproduction sits atop the flagpole at the Bellport-Brookhaven Historical Society. David Haskil carved the reproductions.

Comment: From the original manuscript of George Borthwick "The Church at the South, A History of the South Haven Church." 1937. His notation for photograph: "The Weather-vane which Senator Daniel Webster had made as a replica of the 14½ lb. trout he caught in the Carman River." It now reposits at the Bellport-Brookhaven Historical Society Museum

Comment:

Comment: 1827 Solicitation for Carpenter Proposals for new Church in South Haven, NY (then known as Fire Place or Brookhaven.) While in general, the meeting house as built closely follows the solicitation specifications, there are discrepencies. See data sheet details.

Comment: Probably the earliest picture so far found of the South Haven Church. The church is at its original site in South Haven, looking west.

It's interesting to note that South Country Road (Montauk Highway) is curving toward the camera. This likely indicates that the picture was taken before the old wood "goin' over" bridge was replaced by a more modern concrete bridge now in place, at which time the highway was probably straightened as it is today. See SH01.1-S for a picture of the old wood bridge.

From the collection of postcards at the Post-Morrow Foundation.

Comment: A view of the church from South Country Road/Montauk Highway looking east.

This is the only picture I've so far found which shows the dwelling. I'd like to determine it's ownership.

This picture seems to me to be later than the one above.

Comment: The Old South Haven Church while still is South Haven. Montauk Highway is to the left. The church cemetery is in the foreground and to the right.

Comment: Picture is from George Borthwick's original manuscript: "The Church at the South: A History of the South Haven Church." 1937. Published in book form in 1989 by the Cutchogue Presbyterian Church. Copies available at local libraries.

This interior was the result of "modernization" in 1860-74*. The actual date of the modernation is uncertain; the project was first mentioned in the minutes of the Trustees on 7 Jun 1861. In the Spring of 1938, this "modernized" interior was restored to its original colonial style -- essentially the interior as it exists today. See picture below.

The two Hepplewhite chairs shown in the pulpit were given to the church in about 1860 by Mary Gelston Floyd, wife to John Lawrence Ireland (see Historic Structure ID Br26.1-S). The chairs are now on loan to the Bellport-Brookhaven Historical Society and may be found at the Post-Crowell House. Mary Floyd was grandaughter to William Floyd, and the chairs are said to have originally been at the Floyd estate in Mastic. The chairs seen in the choir to the left of the pulpit are still in use by the choir in the present church's balcony, and were purchase in the 1860's.

Comment: The front of the church as it appears today, essentially as it was restored in 1938. Note that the arch over the pulpit remains. The two doors on either side of the pulpit were added in abt 1961-2, following the move from South Haven to its present location, when a small Gallery was appended to the building.

Picture is by Richard Wiswall, Beaver Dam Rd., Brookhaven, NY

Comment:

From: "Early Photographs of the Hamlet of Brookhaven collected by George Perley Morse 1945-1959."

The building is still in South Haven, and I don't see any evidence of the Robinson duck farm which eventually more or less surrounds it.

The picture is certainly after 1934, when the building was electrified, as there is a lighting fixture over the front door.

Comment: From the original manuscript of George Borthwick "The Church at the South, A History of the South Haven Church." 1937.

Borthwick notes: "A photograph of the portrait of the Rev. Ezra King, now in the possession of his granddaughter, Mrs. Richard M. Bayles of Middle Island. During his pastorate of the South Haven Church from 1810 to 1839, the present ediface was built and the Bellport Church organized. He encouraged the founding of the Bellport Academy."

Comment:

On December 28, 1960, the South Haven Presbyterian Church was moved from its original site on a little knoll just to the west of the "goin' over" at South Haven to it new and present site at the corner of South Country and Beaver Dam Roads in Brookhaven, NY. This and the following pictures are of that move.

The date of this picture is December 26, 1960, and shows the building raised off its foundation. The time is 4 pm. The move actually occurred two days later.

Comment: On 28 December 1960, the move was actually made. In this picture, the building begins its journey west on Montauk Highway.

Comment: Moving west on Montauk Highway.

Comment: There were only a few locations where overhead utility cables interfered with the move. This picture was at the intersection of Montauk Highway and Arthur Avenue, where they crossed both roads. Cables were either lowered or cut to allow passage. At Arthur Avenue, the move also transversed the Long Island Rail Road.

Comment: The journey turns east from Arthur Avenue onto Beaver Dam Road for the final leg of the move.

Comment:

The church is at its final siting at the southwest corner of South Country and Beaver Dam Roads, Brookhaven, NY. The actual foundation is to the right, and the building was moved on to it at a later date. The building to the right in the background is the Post Carriage House, which was to be renovated as a parish hall.

It would be nearly a year before the building could be occupied. The first service after the move was held December 24, 1961.