~ Riverhead's Horton's Flower Farm ~

BY DANNY McCARTHY

~ re: Southold Town's BARNABAS HORTON

Barnabas Horton was a native of Mouseley in Leicestershire. He was born in 1600. He was a right hand man of Rev. John Youngs serving as his chief of staff who served the community in a variety of capacities and public offices. He was one of the outstanding first settlers of Southold in 1640 who was a baker by trade as well as an overseer of the town. A man of property is evidenced by his holdings that fill three entire pages of the Southold Town Records, including selling his interest in Plum Island on May 12, 1666. He was one of seven men appointed to make certain that Aquebogue meadows and other Southold town lands pay their just share of the town’s assessments. He was constable, and deputy in the New Haven Court, among other positions. One of his first sons, Caleb, was the first child born in the Settlement. Barnabas and his sons were wealthier than any other family in Southold. Barnabas Horton died in Southold on July 13, 1680. His epitaph reads: “Here sleeps my body tombed in the dust, Till Christ shall come and raise it with the just.”
The lot remained in the Horton family through six generations. The Hortons sold eight acres to Charles and Hannah Payne for $100 in 1850. In 1855, they sold the site to the government for $550. It wasn’t until 1857, that the Horton Point Lighthouse was finished under the supervision of Scottish immigrant William Sinclair, who served as its first keeper.
The light station consisted of the 58’ tall square tower and a detached keeper’s residence. Both were constructed of New England granite and cut stone and locally acquired brick, timbers and lumber. The connecting tower between the tower and annex was added later. Horton Point’s original optic was a 3rd-order Fresnel lens and a single whale oil-fed lamp. It showed a fixed white light. In 1907, an incandescent oil vapor lamp powered the lens. In June 1932, Horton Point’s warning responsibility was transferred to an airport-type optic placed atop a cliffside skeletal steel tower. Six months later, the station was decommissioned and the Fresnel lens removed to storage. The presently modern optic was installed in 1990.
The station’s last keeper was George Erhardt in 1933. His daughter, Marguerite, remained in the area and helped direct the eventual restoration of the lighthouse in 1990, when a team of volunteers from the Southold Historical Society, the Southold Parks District and the Coast Guard renovated the site by repainting the light tower, installing new lantern glass, making electrical repairs, developing a new shop area, opening a hallway, and building a stairway to the restored basement. The Nautical Shop and Museum was usually open from Memorial Day to Columbus Day.
Horton Point Lighthouse is listed in the New York State Register of Historical Places and the U.S. Register of Historical Places. The Horton Point site is populated with many trees, brush and wildlife and also includes a nature trail.
Robert G. Muller writes and lectures on the history of lighthouses. He’s the founding president of the U.S. Lighthouse Society and the founder of LongIslandLighthouse.com who has authored New York State Lighthouses and Long Island Lighthouses: Past and Present, among other books.
"The eight-acre park { aka LIGHTOUSE PARK GROUNDS } is owned and maintained by the Southold Park District. It provides one of the most spectacular seascapes on Long Island's north shore. Here one can view the Sound and visualize its many moods, its past and present commerce and the challenges which faced { Long Island }refugees traveling to and from from the Connecticut coast when Eastern Long Island was occupied by the British from 1777-1784. One can also conjure up visions of the Sloops of war in 1812 and {World War] II convoys of the {1940s}.
West of the [lighthouse-keepers'} dwelling is a menhaden boiling pot from the burned down from East Marion processing factory. It was later salvaged by the fisher. It was later salvaged by fishermen used it to tar their nets on the beach.
Lying north of the tower [the Horton Point Lighthouse] rests the recovered anchor of the side-wheeler {Commodore} which was shipwrecked on December 25-26, 1866. The {two-cast-iron-} bollards and bitt at the end of the clamshell drive were donated in 1990 by the Cross Sound Ferry Company.
The [80-foot flag-pole] was a gift from the United States coast Guard on June 7, 1990 when the light was returned to the present owner. It is mounted on the foundation of the 1933 skeletal tower which was demolished.
NAUTICAL MUSEUM
The Nautical Museum displays {a} unique collection of both museum owned and other early marine artifacts. Sea chests, paintings, photographs, maps, scrimshaw, baymen's tools, and various marine displays create for the visitor a vision of life, culture, and craftsmanship of the farmer-mariners of Southold Town. While some earned their livelihood from the bounty of the Sound, bays, and creeks, others sailed the oceans of the world in search of whales or profitable cargos and to protect our national interests." { From the brochure/hand-out availaABle from the Southold Historical Museum. }
THANKS TO SOUTHOLD HISTORICAL MUSEUM EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR DEANNA WITTE-WALKER:
"We have been closing the Nautical Museum at Horton Point Lighthouse in mid-September for a number of years now. The volunteers noted that once pumpkin picking season begins, the visitors no longer seem to make it to the Lighthouse. We also lose a few volunteers after Labor Day so it makes it harder to find docents."

~ re: Riverhead's HORTON'S FLOWER FARM:

June 21st, 2022 northforker had a Tara Smith article titled "Local Experts on the Art of Flower Farming" in which Horton's Flower Farm Founder Claudette Gross, a full-time photographer {who} hopes to offer photo sessions as part of the experience at the farm. She’s planted the rows with those blooms and floral backdrops in mind and has been adding pastel-colored chairs and other vintage decor to the fields for visitors to get the perfect {instagrammABle} shot.

Horton's Flower Farm also includes Claudette's husband Jeffrey ={&}- daughter

Holly Gross.

“At first I was like, I don’t know. How can I start a farm? But my
husband said ‘You can’t let this opportunity pass,’ ” she recalled.

By happenstance, she connected with the landowner while visiting a
plant wholesaler in the area and joking that she was “running out of
space” for her plants in her Mineola backyard.

“So it’s been a real learning experience.”Claudette Goss shared ABout her U-pick flower farm where one "can grab a bucket -{&}- pair of scissors {then} pay per stem for {one's} own bouquet."

"Before she knew it, she was leasing three acres along rural Horton
Avenue, where {in 2021 Claudette} Gross planted seven rows of sunflowers, cosmos, zinnias, snapdragons, asters and others."

2022 {was} "her second year running the U-pick operation at Horton’s
Flower Farm, where she hopes to expand to plant 100 varieties in 18 to
20 rows, including wildflowers and even herbs like flowering basil. 'It
adds such a nice, fragrant smell to the bouquet,'” she said.

"Her {eight}-year-old daughter and {five}-year-old twin boys love showing
visitors around the farm and how to cut the stems. 'Watching their love for the flowers and nature is so special,' {Claudette} Gross said. 'They get so excited.'” ~ It’s her way of passing on a tradition that was instilled in her by her mother and grandmother.

"While perhaps not as obvious as the critical need for farmers that grow food, flower fields provide essential habitats for pollinators: butterflies, bees, wasps, hummingbirds. They mark milestones in life and death, grand romantic gestures or an act of self-care to brighten your own day. Next time you’re on the North Fork, don’t just stop and smell the roses, but discover what’s in season."

FOLKS... I THINK IT IS SO INCREDIBLE THAT THIS PLACE IS REFERRED TO AS BEING ON THE NORTH FORK. RIVERHEAD WAS FOUNDED IN 1792 AND THE NORTH FORK DOES INCLUDE RIVERHEAD HAMLETS OF PORTIONS OF Laurel, Jamesport, Northville, Aquebogue, Roanoke, Riverhead, Calverton, and Baiting Hollow. HORTON AVENUE IN RIVERHEAD IS PART OF RIVERHEAD TOWN ON THE EAST END OF LONG ISLAND NOT ON THE NORTH FORK OF LONG ISLAND.

https://www.hortonsflowerfarm....

https://www.facebook.com/Horto...