HauntBound archive · catalog record
Reported phenomena — as catalogued
+ 4 further entries on record
A 209-acre Nassau County living history museum where costumed interpreters work among 51 relocated 19th-century buildings — and where paranormal accounts from three specific structures have circulated among staff for years.
1303 Round Swamp Road, Old Bethpage, NY 11804
Research updated June 2026
Age
All Ages
Cost
$
Adults $15; children 5–12 $12; seniors and volunteer firefighters $12; children under 5 free. Last admittance 2:30 PM.
Access
Limited Access
Outdoor village with unpaved paths between 19th-century farm buildings; uneven terrain throughout
Equipment
Photos OK
Est. 1970 · Largest outdoor living history museum in New York State · Over 51 historic Long Island structures relocated to preserve them from suburban demolition · Filming location for Apple TV+ Dickinson series · Old Bethpage Village Brass Band featured in Ken Burns's The Civil War
The idea for a living museum village on Long Island emerged from Nassau County's 1959 master plan, which initially proposed the 165-acre Powell farm property near the Nassau-Suffolk border as a county zoo. By 1963 the county had acquired the parcel and shifted to a preservation concept, relocating historic structures from communities across Long Island that faced demolition.
The site opened to the public in 1970 and has grown to include 51 preserved buildings and seven reconstructed ones. The Powell Farmhouse remains the only original structure on the land; everything else was moved here. The Schenck House, a Dutch farmhouse dating to 1730, is among the oldest. The Noon Inn, relocated from East Meadow, served as a working tavern and has a documented history of violence: three teenagers were stabbed to death there in the 19th century by a vagrant whose body was later found on the road.
The village operates with costumed interpreters demonstrating period trades, crops, and household practices. Approximately 35,000 school students visit annually. The site gained additional cultural recognition when Apple TV+ used it as a filming location for the series Dickinson, and the Old Bethpage Village Brass Band — based at the museum — was featured in Ken Burns's PBS documentary The Civil War.
The Hewlett House was built in the 1890s in Woodbury and restored to represent 1840. The Conklin House came from the Village of the Branch. The Williams House originated in New Hyde Park and is associated with farmer and carpenter Henry Williams, circa 1860s.
Sources
The ghost accounts at Old Bethpage Village Restoration are building-specific and tied to the individual histories of the relocated structures. The Conklin House, originally from the Village of the Branch, produces the most varied reports. Interpreters have described a woman in period dress appearing on the upper floor, a dark shape rushing toward staff, and loud banging from a small lumber room. The lumber room is linked to local lore about a disabled boy who appeared in an early census and then vanished from records — an unresolved detail that the museum's gothic documentation preserves without resolution.
The Hewlett House has generated accounts involving physical contact. One worker reported a hand pressing on her shoulder near the fireplace. A security guard claimed to have been locked in the basement while hearing male voices. During a reported séance, a presence identifying itself as 'Lewis Hewett' stated it had hanged itself — the initials 'L.H.' are carved above the fireplace, visible to visitors.
The Williams House accounts center on a presence called Esther, whom staff members describe as a former seamstress. Reports include trunks found with their contents scattered, a window that repeatedly closes despite being propped open, a fireplace tool striking a worker in the head during a busy moment, and a small voice — heard by multiple people in separate incidents — saying 'Put my teacup down.'
The Noon Inn, whose 19th-century history includes the stabbing deaths of three teenagers, has also produced a report of a girl seeing faces in the upstairs window.
Notable Entities
Walk among 51 preserved and reconstructed 19th-century Long Island structures with costumed interpreters demonstrating period trades and farming. The Conklin House, Hewlett House, and Williams House — the three most-frequently cited locations in staff ghost accounts — are open during regular hours.
Every HauntBound history is researched from documented sources. We clearly separate verified historical fact from paranormal folklore.
East Islip, NY
Brookwood Hall was built in 1903 by H.K. Knapp on the former site of Stellenwerf's Lake House Hotel in East Islip. The Thorne family purchased the estate in 1929. In 1941 the mansion was converted to institutional use, and from 1942 to 1965 it operated as the Orphan Asylum of Brooklyn, housing more than 500 children. After foster care programs reduced demand, the orphanage closed. The Town of Islip assumed ownership; today the building houses Islip town offices and the Islip Art Museum, which began as the Islip Art Gallery in the early 1970s and was formally established as a museum in 1985.
St. James, NY
Deepwells Farm mansion was built circa 1845 for Joel L.G. Smith, a descendant of Richard 'Bull' Smith who founded Smithtown. The estate takes its name from two 125-foot brick wells sunk on the property. William J. Gaynor, Mayor of New York City from 1910 until his death in 1913, owned the property during his mayoralty. Suffolk County acquired the estate, and it is now a historic site managed by Suffolk County Parks; the Deepwells Farm Historical Society produces events and community programming on the grounds.
Center Moriches, NY
Samuel Terrell built the original one-room timber-frame cottage at this site in 1693. The property was expanded roughly in 1710 and again in 1790, eventually becoming a 15-room stagecoach inn and tavern. Benjamin Havens managed the inn during the Revolutionary War period and maintained connections that historians have linked to the Culper Spy Ring. Thomas Jefferson and James Madison stayed here in 1791 while visiting General William Floyd in Mastic.