Second House | East Hampton Town, NY

Originally known as the House at Fort Pond, Second House was built to replace a 1746 house that had most likely been destroyed during the Revolutionary War by the British, who also wrecked the other structures and decimated the livestock on Montauk to feed their troops.

In 1661, East Hampton livestock owners acquired grazing rights to Montauk pastures from the Montauketts, and in 1687 they managed to procure title to the 800 acres of grasslands.  No other town in the entire Northeast could boast so much pasture land, and it spelled affluence for the East Hampton Proprietors, who shared the land as tenants in common.

The Proprietors built three houses on Montauk for management of the cattle, sheep and horses that grazed there. Hither House (later known as First House) stood opposite what is now the parking lot of the Hither Hills State Park. Here the keeper logged the livestock as it was driven onto Montauk, using the notches that had been cut into the animals’ ears to identify their owners.

The keeper at Second House was responsible for separating the sheep from the cattle, and mending fences to keep the flock separate from the herd. He and his family were permitted to farm the land, and to keep their own livestock in a nearby pasture. To the East, at Third House–originally “Further House” – the keeper watched over the cattle in the Fatting and Outer Fields.

(Source: Second House Museum REOPENS – Montauk Historical Society)