Resident Wants To Preserve Historic Remains

The steps that lay buried between two cobble stone pillars outside the chain link fence of the St. Patrick’s Cemetery on Huntington Road are said to have been the steps that led to Huntington’s first Catholic church that was built in 1847. They’re pictured today, above, and in the 1940s or 1950s, below.  Photo by Michael Coyne

Michael Coyne

Photo provided by Michael Coyne

By Janee Law
jlaw@longislandergroup.com

 The steps that lay between two cobble stone pillars outside the chain link fence of the St. Patrick’s Cemetery are said to have once led to the entrance of the first Catholic church ever built in Huntington in the 1800s. Those steps are now buried under shrubbery and thickets.

The cemetery, which was previously the location of the church, is affixed on Huntington Road and borders Lloyd Harbor and Cold Spring Harbor.

Noticing a piece of Huntington history being forgotten and neglected, Michael Coyne, a lifelong Huntington resident with a passion for Huntington’s rich history, decided to take to his Facebook group, Citizen’s of Huntington Village, to acknowledge the need for a historic land marker to be brought to the location.

Built in 1847, the churches first pastor was 27-year-old Father Jeremiah Crowley, who is currently buried at the St. Patrick’s Cemetery. The building of the church has since been destroyed due to a fire in 1867.

A new church, St Patrick’s Church Diocese of Rockville Centre, was built on Main Street in 1869 and then rebuilt again in 1963 to expand the church.

Coyne, of Dix Hills, said that he made the Facebook post to bring awareness to the community on where the first Catholic church was resurrected in Huntington.

“I was surprised that no one knew about it,” Coyne, a 1985 Cold Spring Harbor graduate, said. “I think people would be interested to know the connection between the church on Main Street and the cemetery and how the church was actually there.”

Coyne, who also had residents sign a petition to preserve the 1911 firehouse on Main Street, created his Facebook group in June as a way to bring people together to celebrate Huntington’s history and help preserve it.

“If we don’t do something to save [the steps], they’re very close to disappearing and being destroyed,” he said. “I would think that we’d want to do something to at least acknowledge that they exist there and preserve them while we can.”

Robert Hughes, Town of Huntington Historian, said that although the pillars were added to the location at the turn of the 20th century, the steps are believed to have led to the entrance of the church.

Hughes added that since there’s no longer a building there, the location would only be eligible for a historical marker and not a landmark designation.

“Historic land markers cost over $1,000 each and there are some people that raise or donate money to have it done without town funds, which means it can happen really quickly,” Hughes said. “If we want the town to pay for it, then we have to go through a list of other markers that are already in the pipeline and we can only afford to do one a year.”

Hughes said that although he is unsure whether the town would be able to install the marker with its limited budget, “it would be nice to mark the location of the first Catholic church in the Town of Huntington.”

Although Coyne said he has yet to reach out to Hughes but has a “calling” to do so to further discuss the possibility of installing a historical marker for the location.