The Society History Center at 93 North Country Road in Setauket. For thirty four years the Society had been operating out of rented and borrowed space. On May 14, 1998, the Historical Society purchased its first headquarters building from the Society for the Preservation of Long Island Antiquities (SPLIA). The new history center building gives the Society a physical presence in the community and helps to establish a cultural area on North Country Road with the neighboring Thompson House and Gallery North.

The two story farmhouse located at 93 North Country Road in Setauket, NY, belonged to Ebenezer Bayles and later to Stephen Swezey.  It has a central chimney and gable. The house, built about 1800, is located adjacent to the Thompson House (1700) an historic property belonging to the Ward Melville Heritage Organization.  In 1961, the New York Telephone Company donated the Ebenezer Bayles/Stephen Swezey house to SPLIA.  SPLIA moved the house from its original site 300 yards south on North Country Road to its present location on 2.2 acres at the intersection of North Country Road and Ridgeway Avenue.  The house, now 2,500 square feet, has been converted into offices with the addition of a North wing lined with concrete blocks to provide fire proof archival and exhibit space.

The building contains the offices of the Society's Director, School Programs, Community Programs and Events.  The handicapped-accessible historic Bayles-Swezey House has exhibits on local history which are open to the public Tuesdays through Fridays, 10:30AM - 4 PM, and by appointment any other time.

Additional archival material is maintained in The Captain Edward R. Rhodes Memorial Collection of Local History, owned by the Three Village Historical Society but housed at the Emma S. Clark Memorial Library in Setauket. Our archivist will provide help with research using our collections, by appointment, on Tuesdays and Fridays. Phone archivist Karen Martin at (631) 751-4775.

The Society offers in-school programs on local and Long Island history to children in elementary and junior high school grades in Nassau and Suffolk Counties.  The programs are taught by our professional teachers. Classroom teachers may receive information about and reserve programs for their classrooms by calling the History Center at (631) 751-3730 extension 13.