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NEWS / Community
Frederick Bourne & The Long Island Maritime Museum
Text by Rob Van Wyen on 09/11/2007
Frederick Bourne & The Long Island Maritime Museum
Text by Rob Van Wyen on 09/11/2007
on 9 March 1919. At the time of his death, the he left an estate of $42 million (approximately $500 million in today's economy). Once the will was settled, Bourne's huge Oakdale estate, which was valued at over four million dollars, went to his seven children. The family sold Indian Neck Hall and the surrounding property in late 1925. The purchasers were a syndicate of real estate men from New York City, and the price of the house and land amounted to about $1,000,000. Headed by Joseph P. Day, the syndicate had been in negotiations with Clason Point Military Academy. That school, which had been founded in Westchester by the Christian Brothers in 1883 as Westchester Institute, was looking for a more rural location for its campus. By April of 1926 it was announced that the school would be purchasing Indian Neck Hall and 154 acres of the land surrounding the mansion. In 1927 the school had moved to its new location and changed its name to La Salle Military Academy. Indian Neck Hall would eventually serve the school as an administration building and residence. In 2001, LaSalle closed and the property was bought by St. John's University.
Florence and Anson Hard retained their residence and its surrounding property in West Sayville, continuing to live there until their divorce in 1932, when Mr. Hard moved to his hunting lodge in Yaphank (now Southaven County Park). With the start of WWII, Mrs. Hard shut down the main house and with her children, relocated to the new garage, which had been built in 1920. There they occupied the second floor and eastern portion of the building. In the mid-1950's Mrs. Hard left Meadow Edge and moved to Stamford, CT. Until the 1960's this property was the last piece of Bourne's Indian Neck estate to remain in the hands of his descendents. In 1966 the Hard family donated the estate to Suffolk County with the provision that it not be developed for private commercial use. Today the estate is home to the Charles R. Dominy County Park, West Sayville Golf Course and the Long Island Maritime Museum. Meadow Edge's main house is headquarters for the Suffolk County Parks Department and the Hard's garage is now the main building of the Long Island Maritime Museum.
When the Museum's main building was used as a garage, the downstairs rooms were devoted to garage space and a machine shop, with the living quarters for the chauffeur and his family upstairs. Anson Hard was an avid sportsman and the present Elward Smith III Library was 1928 addition built to display his trophies. Prior to the construction of the existing garage, a much smaller one had been built at the same time as Meadow Edge. Today it is located just across the access road from the boat basin. While the Hard's lived on the property it was used as a boathouse, where they would dock their smaller boats.
If all this can be inspired by one small sewing machine, imagine what other wonderful things are in store here. We are fortunate in having a large collection of photographs and other artifacts from the Bourne-Hard familes, which we hope to explore further in future issues of The Dolphin via Discover Sayville.
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Florence and Anson Hard retained their residence and its surrounding property in West Sayville, continuing to live there until their divorce in 1932, when Mr. Hard moved to his hunting lodge in Yaphank (now Southaven County Park). With the start of WWII, Mrs. Hard shut down the main house and with her children, relocated to the new garage, which had been built in 1920. There they occupied the second floor and eastern portion of the building. In the mid-1950's Mrs. Hard left Meadow Edge and moved to Stamford, CT. Until the 1960's this property was the last piece of Bourne's Indian Neck estate to remain in the hands of his descendents. In 1966 the Hard family donated the estate to Suffolk County with the provision that it not be developed for private commercial use. Today the estate is home to the Charles R. Dominy County Park, West Sayville Golf Course and the Long Island Maritime Museum. Meadow Edge's main house is headquarters for the Suffolk County Parks Department and the Hard's garage is now the main building of the Long Island Maritime Museum.
When the Museum's main building was used as a garage, the downstairs rooms were devoted to garage space and a machine shop, with the living quarters for the chauffeur and his family upstairs. Anson Hard was an avid sportsman and the present Elward Smith III Library was 1928 addition built to display his trophies. Prior to the construction of the existing garage, a much smaller one had been built at the same time as Meadow Edge. Today it is located just across the access road from the boat basin. While the Hard's lived on the property it was used as a boathouse, where they would dock their smaller boats.
If all this can be inspired by one small sewing machine, imagine what other wonderful things are in store here. We are fortunate in having a large collection of photographs and other artifacts from the Bourne-Hard familes, which we hope to explore further in future issues of The Dolphin via Discover Sayville.
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