{"nrhp_refnum":"10000486","name":"Frank Melville Memorial Park","other_names":[],"category":"district","location":{"address":"Old Field Rd between Lake St and Main St","address_restricted":false,"city":"Setauket","county":"Suffolk County","state":"NY","lat":40.95006312450005,"lon":-73.11493545426345,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"2010-07-19","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Entertainment/Recreation","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A roughly thirty-acre park district in Setauket, Town of Brookhaven, Suffolk County, New York, laid out around the Setauket Millpond (Lower Pond) and dedicated in 1937. It contains five historic buildings and two stone arch bridges.","why_significant":"The park is locally significant under Criterion A for recreation because it interprets the site of the historic Setauket Mill and millpond and memorializes Frank Melville, Jr. It is significant under Criterion C for architecture because of its buildings and bridges, built or restored mainly under architect Richard Haviland Smythe for the Melville family and foundation.","narrative":"Frank Melville Memorial Park occupies about thirty acres in Setauket, on Long Island's north shore, around the Setauket Millpond. It was dedicated in 1937 by the wife and son of philanthropist Frank Melville, Jr., as a memorial and a gift to the community. The park holds five contributing buildings and two stone arch bridges: Miller's Cottage, a 1936-37 mill with a working water wheel, a 1941 post office, the 1922 Bates House and a 1920s barn. Architect Richard Haviland Smythe handled the design and restoration work, and George Strehan designed the bridges. The Melville family wanted to preserve the mill site and echo the area's eighteenth and early-nineteenth century heritage. The park is considered locally significant for recreation, as it interprets the historic mill and millpond, and for architecture. Its period of significance runs from 1936 to 1958, when work on the Bates House was completed. The park is owned by a nonprofit foundation and has remained open to the public since 1937.","period_of_significance":"1936-1958","architect_builder":"Richard Haviland Smythe (post office, mill); George E. Strehan (bridges)","architectural_style":"Greek Revival; Colonial Revival; Classical Revival","criteria":["A","C"],"status_note":"Privately owned and maintained by the Frank Melville Memorial Foundation and continuously open to the public since 1937; the post office is leased to the federal government.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:50:48.49229-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_NY/10000486.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/10000486/a63a9997a7-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/10000486/a63a9997a7-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Iracaz (talk). The original uploader was at .","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Setauketmillpond.JPG\" rel=\"noopener\">Iracaz (talk). The original uploader was at .</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 3.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Setauketmillpond.JPG"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/75322122","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frank_Melville_Memorial_Park","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5488400"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/new-york/suffolk-county/frank-melville-memorial-park-10000486/"}