Wyandanch Club Historic District

Within Caleb Smith State Park in Smithtown, Long Island, a cluster of farmhouses, outbuildings and a grist mill records how the land was used from the eighteenth century into the early twentieth. The district holds twelve contributing buildings in four clusters: the Vail House, the Chipman House and mill, the Caleb Smith I House (later the Wyandanch Clubhouse), and the Whitman farm. Most are wood-framed and shingled, typical of Long Island, and many keep original interior plans and detailing. The land was long held by the Smith family until the Wyandanch Club began buying it in 1889. The club kept the naturalistic setting, enlarged and altered buildings for fishing and hunting, and used the property until the State of New York bought it in 1963. About five percent of the district is developed; the rest is woodland, ponds, wetlands and part of the Nissequogue River. Twelve small modern buildings do not contribute.