Aerial survey · USDA NAIP · public domainA working grist mill built in 1798 on Stump Pond, operating continuously until 1922; visitors report figures in the mill and the surrounding woods identified as members of the Blydenburgh family.
Veterans Memorial Highway, Smithtown, NY 11787
Research updated June 2026
Age
All Ages
Cost
$
Suffolk County Parks vehicle fee applies for non-residents during summer months. Seasonal camping available. Check Suffolk County Parks for current rates.
Access
Limited Access
Woodland trails, pond shoreline, uneven terrain near mill structures. Not wheelchair accessible throughout.
Equipment
Photos OK
Est. 1798 · National Register of Historic Places, listed August 11, 1983 · Grist mill operated continuously 1798–1922 · Miller's House contains the only surviving silver plaster work in New York state · Stump Pond created by Blydenburgh dam — 180-acre millpond still intact
The Blydenburgh mill complex began in 1798 when Isaac and Susannah Blydenburgh acquired land at the headwaters of the Nissequogue River and, with the help of cousins Joshua Smith II and Caleb Smith II, dammed the river to create Stump Pond — a 180-acre millpond that still defines the landscape of the park today.
The first structures on the site were a grist mill and saw mill. A miller's house followed in 1801–1803, constructed by Isaac Smith, the first mill operator; it features neoclassical double porticos and an unusual silver plaster finish on the second-floor hallway — the only surviving example of that technique documented in the New York area. A fulling mill was added in 1827, and the grist mill was significantly expanded in the 1880s with new roller millworks and a third floor. The saw mill eventually ceased operation; its foundation remains visible. The fulling mill is gone. The grist mill was the last to close, in 1922.
Later structures include a Gothic Revival cottage built around 1870 and an ice house from the late 19th century, now housing a working blacksmith forge. The Blydenburgh-Weld farmhouse on the park's north side represents a later phase of the family's occupation.
The Weld family purchased the property in 1939; Suffolk County Parks acquired it in 1965. The National Register of Historic Places added the Blydenburgh Park Historic District on August 11, 1983 (reference number 83001807), citing eight contributing buildings and one contributing structure across Federal and Gothic Revival architectural periods.
Sources
The haunting accounts at Blydenburgh Park follow the property's history closely: the figures reported are those of the Blydenburgh family themselves — Isaac, Sarah, and Mary — rather than unidentified presences. This specificity is unusual in outdoor ghost lore and may reflect the fact that the family's mill operation dominated the site for well over a century, leaving the landscape essentially as they shaped it.
The reported phenomena include sightings of figures in and near the mill building and sounds or glimpsed movement in the woods around Stump Pond. The accounts are low-intensity by Long Island standards — no violent history is attached to the site, and the Blydenburgh family's tenure was an unremarkable working farm and mill operation rather than a site of tragedy.
Discover Long Island lists the park among Long Island's haunted locations, citing whispers and ghost sightings. A Patch local history piece on the historic district mentions the tradition of spirit sightings attached to the Blydenburgh family members specifically.
The modest scale of the paranormal claims — a family said to linger near their own mill — fits the quietness of the physical site: a county park where the main sound is wind across Stump Pond.
Notable Entities
Walk the park's trail network past the 1798 grist mill, 1801 Miller's House (with its rare silver plaster work), the Blydenburgh-Weld farmhouse, Gothic Revival cottage, and shoreline of 180-acre Stump Pond — the pond the Blydenburgh family created by damming the Nissequogue River headwaters. The mill exterior can be viewed from the trail.
Every HauntBound history is researched from documented sources. We clearly separate verified historical fact from paranormal folklore.
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