Text size:

Sea Cliff

Victorian Homes Escaped Demolition

Beginnings: Matinecock Indians lived for centuries at the spot where Sea Cliff is now. Dome-shaped wigwams spread along the bluff above Hempstead Harbor, where Matinecock Indians would fish in the harbor and raise crops on the field behind the bluff. The obviously productive farmland attracted British settlers, and in 1668 Joseph Carpenter bought the area from the Matinecocks. Isolated from main roads, the community, then named Carpenterville, remained quiet for more than two centuries - except during the Revolution, when the British established a camp there.

Turning Point: Things changed in 1871, when the Metropolitan Camp Ground Association of the Methodist Church bought 240 acres from the Carpenter family and converted it into a huge camp-meeting site, covering virtually the entire village. The association built a 5,000-seat church, a boardwalk, a steamboat pier and hundreds of tent sites, all with the idea of attracting the faithful. Come they did, by steamboat and train. Families would stay for one or two weeks, living in tents and cooking meals outside. After a while, some Methodists decided the place was nice enough to live in year-round, so tents were gradually replaced with buildings. In 1883, the village was incorporated with the new name of Sea Cliff. By the 1890s, the fervor of camp meetings had been replaced by the relaxation of resorts. Excursion steamers traveled to the village from New York, and the 300-room Sea Cliff Hotel became one of the largest resorts on the Atlantic coast. That era ended when automobiles made other areas accessible in the 1920s. In the 1930s, a wave of immigrants from Russia seeking to escape communism settled in Sea Cliff, leaving it with a significant Russian population.

Claim to Fame: The real estate booms before and after World War II passed Sea Cliff by because it was not easily accessible by car or train, so many of the old Victorian homes - now the village's most distinct feature - escaped being ripped down and replaced with newer ones or with strip shopping centers. Many buildings are on on the National Register of Historic Places. In 1969, Jim Aiello took steps to attract fellow artists to the declining village with shows and markets, and those spurred a rejuvenation.

Where to Find More: Historical files at the Sea Cliff Public Library, the Syosset Public Library and the Long Island Studies Institute at Hofstra University, Hempstead.