Politics & Government

157-Year-Old East Quogue House Designated as a Landmark

The Josiah Foster House is officially part of Southampton's history.

The Josiah Foster House, located at 556 Montauk Highway in East Quogue, is now an official Southampton Town landmark. On Tuesday, the town board an approved landmark status for the home that was built in 1857 for Capt. and Ms. Josiah Foster.

The designation is one of the first after the Town of Southampton revamped it's designation program to provide incentives to those who offer their property up for the status — In January 2012, the 97-year-old Lyzon Hat Shop in Hampton Bays was the first to be designated a historic landmark under the new statute.

"It is wonderful to have such a historically important building, and one on such a highly trafficked thoroughfare, be landmark in downtown East Quogue," said Sally Spanburg, of the Josiah Foster House's new designation. "This hamlet sometimes seems to get 'over-powered' — identity wise — by the hamlets on either side of it, so highlighting a small fraction of its early developmental history, and two or more of its early prominent families, provides for a proud and happy moment."

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According to Spanburgh, the Greek Revival-style house, remains in the fourth generation of the Down's family, which purchased the home in 1887 for $3,125 from the Rockefellow family that owned the home for 13 years.

Prior to the purchase by the Rockefellows, Spanburg said, the house was owned by Orange Terry Fanning, who served as a Suffolk County Clerk for two terms. He had purchased the house from Capt. Josiah and Mary Foster. Foster was Fanning's sister.

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Josiah had purchased the property, which was 70 acres at the time, from his father, Halsey, who was an overseer of the highways in East Quogue, which at the time was known as Fourth Neck.

  • To read a full history of the Josiah Foster House, see the attached PDF.

Related Reading:

  • Historic Districts Amendment Passes
  • Town Stamps Landmark Status on Lyzon Hat Shop
  • Which Historic Landmarks Should Be Preserved in Westhampton-Hampton Bays?
  • Historic House Auction is a Bust; Town Heads Back To Drawing Board

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