The history of the North Fork is often written in the soil, but a new book by historian Richard Wines brings a familiar local name to the forefront of the narrative. In his 320-page volume, A Farm Family on Long Island’s North Fork: The Lost World of the Hallocks and Their Sound Avenue Community, Wines documents the legacy of the Hallock family. Their presence stretches across generations along Sound Avenue, from Doctor’s Path in Riverhead to the Southold Town Line.
The book explores the complex reality of a community that went by many names, including Northville, Hallockville, and the Village of Sound Avenue. While family legends suggest their roots trace back to the great Puritan migration of the 1630s, the documented history reveals a community often at odds. Wines details a past filled with conflicts over the Revolution and Civil War, religious schisms that led to the construction of new churches, and even repeated attempts at local vandalism and lawsuits.
A companion exhibit at Hallockville Museum Farm serves as a visual gateway to this history. Running through the summer, the exhibit features original drawings and a detailed Hallock family tree. A highlight of the collection includes original photographs taken by Bessie Hallock, who began documenting daily life on the farm with a Kodak Brownie camera in 1918. These images provide a rare, candid look at the agricultural world that defined the North Fork for over a century.
The Hallock family’s story is also one of resilience and adaptation. Throughout the years, they witnessed seismic shifts in the local landscape, from the arrival of the railroad and the wave of Polish immigration in the late 19th century to the era of prohibition rum-running. Perhaps most notably, the family stood at the center of the 1973 proposal for the Jamesport Nuclear Power Plant, which sought to build four reactors on the northern end of the Hallock farm.
Richard Wines is uniquely positioned to tell this story. As a past president of Hallockville Museum Farm and chair of the Riverhead Landmarks Preservation Commission, he has spent a lifetime preserving local heritage. His mother, Virginia Wines, also spent years transcribing family diaries and interviewing members of the Hallock family, ensuring that these personal accounts were not lost to time.
This exhaustively referenced volume is an essential resource for anyone interested in the preservation of the East End’s cultural and agricultural identity. You can find copies of A Farm Family on Long Island’s North Fork at the Hallockville Museum Farm gift shop. It is a vital read for understanding the community that shaped the Sound Avenue we know today.
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