Sylvester Manor on Shelter Island has been nominated by the New York State Board for Historic Preservation for a spot on the state and national registers of historic places.
The 225-acre property, which includes a Georgian manor built in 1737 as well as an African-American and Native American burial ground and a Quaker cemetery, dates back to European settlement of the island, when Nathaniel Sylvester established a slave plantation to provision ships sailing for international trade.
Among many other historical features, the site contains nationally significant archaeology that has provided tremendous insights into the early interaction among European Americans, Native Americans and enslaved African-Americans who were engaged in barrel-making and other activities to supply provisions to sugar plantations in Barbados, according to a press release from State Assemblyman Fred W. Thiele Jr.
Although state designation is secured, it could take several months for Sylvester Manor to take a place on the National Register of Historic Places, the assemblyman said on Friday. “I would say I’m optimistic,” he added, however.
Meanwhile, a state grant for $150,000 to upgrade Sylvester Manor is pending, said Mr. Thiele, who hopes to hear that that’s cleared in the near future.
In June, Eben Fiske Ostby, a 10th-generation descendant of Shelter Island’s original European settlers, donated the manor house, as well as its barns and 141 acres, to the nonprofit Sylvester Manor Educational Farm, whose goal is to farm and preserve the land and share the history of Sylvester Manor with the public.
Meanwhile, the educational farm is planning its sixth annual “Plant & Sing” event on October 11. It will celebrate local food and the Shelter Island community as well as bluegrass and other traditional American music, with the Wainwright Sisters, the Deadly Gentlemen and other musicians performing as well as food trucks, garlic planting, sunrise yoga, seed talks and nature walks and tractor demonstrations, among other attractions. Further information and ticket prices can be found at www.plantandsing.com.
on Sep 29, 2014