The Red House Historical Marker

The Historical Society of the Massapequas has placed sixteen markers to highlight the area's significant historic sites and to generate interest in them. The Historic Complex marker, discussed in our last post, is a helpful starting off point for a review of the others.

One of the striking features of the markers' placements is that nine of
them are set on or close to Merrick Road. Until the twentieth century, that was
the only major road through this area. Sunrise Highway would not come along
until 1929 and the Jones and Floyd-Jones family members who built estates set
them logically along the only thoroughfare through the area. It was known
originally as Kings Highway and changed to South Country Road after the
American Revolution. It became Merrick Road around 1900 when it was widened and flattened to facilitate travel between Merrick and Massapequa by the new
conveyance, the automobile.

Massapequa's landscape was dominated for many years by the
imposing mansions that lined either side of Merrick Road. Most belonged to Jones family members, but the westernmost mansion was owned by somebody who was not a family member, but became intimately involved in their endeavors.

James Meinell was born in England in 1785 and came to the
United States in 1808. He settled in New York City and became wealthy in the
leather business. His name was one of several listed in descriptions of wealthy
New Yorkers, along with P. T. Barnum, John Jacob Astor and William Dodge. He
also bought a theater on Lower Broadway known as the New American Theater and fostered the development of Laura Keene and her acting troupe, who were presenting Our American Cousin at Ford's Theater the night Abraham Lincoln was shot.

For our immediate interest, Meinell purchased 600 acres of
land in 1850 and built a house along then South Country Road, between today's
Seaford and Forest Avenues. The house, known as Willow Lodge because of the
many willow trees planted behind it, was a large three story frame structure
with a cupola, fronted by a circular driveway and with a large expanse of
forest behind it. His entire property reached north to where Sunrise Highway is
today and east almost to Hicksville Road.

Meinell's specific connection to the Floyd-Jones family lies in
his position as Treasurer of Grace Church, which was built by Elbert
Floyd-Jones in 1844 and was the family's church almost exclusively until the
early 1900s. Meinell participated in the church's activities as its Treasurer and
was accepted as an equal by the Jones and Floyd-Jones landowners. He died in
1865 and his descendants kept Willow Lodge until 1900, when they sold it to E.
H. Nichols. It was repainted red and soon became known as the "Red House".
It gained fame for the many parties and social gatherings held in its center
hall. As tourism declined and the area became populated, Nichols sold it to the
Masone family in the 1930s. They kept it as their family property until 1964,
by which time it had aged significantly. As the population grew, the Red house became viewed as a prime site for private houses and/or commercial buildings. It was torn down in 1964 and the small shopping center that stands there today was
built on its site. The area behind the house was soon filled by private houses.

The Historical Society of the Massapequas recognized the
uniqueness and the grandeur of the property and decided to erect a marker on
the site on November 18, 2012. William Colfer was the President and many
members of the Masone family, including several who had lived in the house,
attended the dedication. This is, as of today, the most recent marker
erected by the Society.