Clio Logo
This striking Italianate house now serves as the home of Southold’s American Legion. The structure was built by Barnabas H. Booth who was both an architect and builder. Booth grew up in Southold but left when he was young to embark on a career as a carpenter in Brooklyn. When he returned to the area in 1856, Booth used his carpentry skills a short time later to create his new home in 1861.

American Legion Post c1960

Building, Car, Window, Vehicle

In 1861, Barnabas H. Booth purchased the property on bend of the Main Road and Tuckers Lane from a relative and demolished the old house that was there. He then erected the Italianate home that still stands with its imposing tower. In 1903, the building was sold to Oliver Mayo, a civil war vet with the 127th NYSV. Mayo and his wife Julia owned the house until it was sold to Alfred Simon in the 1940s. 

Simon soon sold the building and property to the American Legion Post 803 in 1948. 

The Southold American Legion Post was formed on August 14, 1922 by twelve local men, and quickly grew to 19 members. It was decided that instead of naming the post after the first local man who died in the war, that it would be named the Griswold-Terry-Glover Post, after the three local men who enlisted, but died in service of the flu during the pandemic. 

William Henry Griswold enlisted in the Navy and died at the Newport Training station, June 10, 1917. Milton Reeve Terry entered into the Army and became a Private in the 25th Field Artillery, Supply Company. He died at the base hospital at Camp McClellan Alabama, January 20, 1919. Graham Fredus Glover enlisted in the Navy and was assigned to the USS Minnesota, when he became sick Glover was transferred to a naval hospital in Philadelphia where he passed away January 30, 1919. 

Over the years, the structure has been expanded and the interior modified to serve the Legion and the community’s needs.  

"127th Infantry Roster." New York State Military Museum and Veterans Research Center. n.d. https://dmna.ny.gov/historic/reghist/civil/rosters/Infantry/127th_Infantry_CW_Roster.pdf (accessed April 20, 2018).

Antiquities, Society for the Preservation of Long Island's. Historic House Inventory - Southold Town. Survey for New York State , unpublished, 1976-1987.

Beers, F.W. Atlas of Long Island. New York, New York: Beers, Comstock and Cline, 1873.

Belcher-Hyde, E. Atlas of Suffolk County, L.I. Vol. 2. New York, New York : E. Belcher-Hyde, 1909.

Fleming, Geoffrey K. Images of America Southold. Charleston, South Carolina: Arcadia Publishing, 2004.

Long Island Traveler. ""Open House" At New American Legion Hall Draws A Large Attendance." April 11, 1957: 1.

Long Island Traveler. "Memorial Civil Center Fund Drive Gains Momentum." August 1, 1957: 1.

Long Island Traveler. "Plans for Memorial Civic Center Project Are Now Taking Shape." November 9, 1944: 1.

Long Island Traveler. "Proposed Southold Community Hall Will Be Discussed at Public Meeting To Be Held in High School Auditorium on The Evening of June 29th." June 16, 1955: 1.

Sander, Samuel. "The Griswold-Terry-Glover Post 803: The Birth of Southold's American Legion." Peconic Bay Shopper, May 7, 1985: 3,5,7-8.

The Reporter. "Reflections." August 2000: 2.

"Town Historian's Files." Town Historian's Office, Southold, New York , n.d.

Image Sources(Click to expand)

Town of Southold Records