HALESITE, NY — An archeological dig is underway at the Peter Crippen House, a site significant to the Town of Huntington’s African American history, according to a town news release.
Supervisor Chad A. Lupinacci’s Office has been working with the town's historian, engineering department, and African American Historic Designation Council to ensure that the Peter Crippen House, which is in severe disrepair and is set to be demolished, can be properly preserved.
In September 2020, the Huntington Town Board accepted an $8,500 donation from the Manes Peace Prize Foundation to conduct an archaeological study at the site, and they applied for $4,000 in Preservation League of New York State grant funding for a structural assessment of the house to determine to what extent the building, or its timbers, can be preserved for reconstruction at another site. The location of the potential reconstruction has not been decided.
The north wing of the Peter Crippen House is believed to be the first mill building in the Town of Huntington dating to 1657. After the mill was taken out of service in 1672, the building was moved from Mill Lane to Creek Road and converted into a home. In 1864, it was purchased by Peter Crippen, an African American who came to Huntington from Virginia in the 1830s. The house stayed in the Crippen family until June 2019 when the town closed on the property after the town board began its purchase of it in May 2017.
In early 2017, the town board removed the structure’s historic designation because of its deteriorated condition. In July 2017, the board approved the $75,000 purchase of the Peter Crippen House property to be used as extra parking for the Huntington Wastewater Treatment Plant.
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