Our mission is to preserve, cultivate and share historic Sylvester Manor to ensure that food and art remain connected to community and the land.

Once a Native American hunting and fishing ground, Sylvester Manor has since 1652 been home to eleven generations of its original European settler family. It reflects a remarkably intact history of America’s evolving tastes, economies and landscapes.

Over time, the place has been transformed from a slaveholding provisioning plantation to an Enlightenment-era farm, then to a pioneering food industrialist’s estate and today to an organic educational farm responsive to, and supported by, our neighbors and friends worldwide.

In light of this history, we envision a farm, a community, and a world where people celebrate food, arts, and inventiveness in the everyday, with a spirit of fairness and joy.

The Southold Historical Society is one of the leading cultural institutions located on the North Fork of Long Island, New York. Founded in 1960, the Society is dedicated to preserving and presenting the rich history of our region. To do this, the Society maintains a headquarters and archive, as well as a number of historically significant buildings which exhibit some of the Society's vast collections.