Why be part of the Historical Society?

Welcome to Long Island, where history hides around every corner.

In the Three Village community on the North Shore of Suffolk County, you can dive into the rich tales of Stony Book, Old Field, Poquott, and the Setaukets, where every street has a story to tell.

Our audience is everyone from domestic & international college students studying at Stony Brook University, to a variety of medical personnel at the world-renowned Stony Brook Hospital, to the youth at nearby high schools & college preps.

We welcome thousands of elementary school children hungry for history outside of their textbooks, and dozens of local authors and researchers working on everything from YA fiction novels to peer-reviewed academic papers.

The Three Villages are a draw for taphophiles exploring centuries-old graveyards and cemeteries, and for New Yorkers en route through a path of heritage tourism.

Through our extensive year-round programming, we are living out our mission to provide visitors multiple opportunities to explore the Three Village community on Long Island and educate our guests on the depth of history here.

Our programs and events are highly sought after by history lovers from around Long Island, the United States, and globally!

From April through November, we host walking, biking, and kayaking tours of the historic sites in our area led by local historian Margo Arceri. This is our 10th year partnering with Tri-Spy Tours, and our 10th Annual Culper Spy Day. We are seeing 500+ guests on the walking tours annually and 2,000+ guests at Culper Spy Day. In October, we celebrated our 30th Annual Spirits Tour - a celebration of the historic cemeteries & graveyards throughout the Three Village area and the stories of the permanent residents interred there. Our theme of Revolutionary Women highlighted the honest, humorous, and often heart-breaking stories of women who lived, worked, died, and are buried here.

In December, we have our 45th Annual Candlelight House Tour, a time-honored tradition in Three Village. This year, we are featuring historic houses previously belonging to ship captains and ship builders in East Setauket, to educate attendees on the depth of seafaring history on Long Island.

During the year, we host monthly lectures and Tea with a Spot of History, each at a historic site. Our lectures at the Setauket Neighborhood House circa 1720 see 50 - 75 guests with topics such as Long Island Lighthouses Past & Present, the History of Magic & the Magic of History, and Food of our Founding Fathers.

Our Tea program travels to various historic sites throughout Three Village such as the Reboli Center, Long Island Museum, Old Field Lighthouse, and Stony Brook Yacht Club with presentations on the history of quilts, history of aprons, and most deliciously - the history of chocolate.

Our Museum exhibits are open four days a week, year round. Most notably, we are open late on Friday evenings when the Three Village Farmers Market is hosted on our property. The Market sees 1,000+ patrons a week and it’s a prime opportunity for TVHS to give tours, offer memberships, and promote our upcoming events.

For the first 50 years, Three Village Historical Society started out as any other historic house museum in a small town. We were launched into a bit of fame through TURN and subsequent books, movies, and television shows featuring the Culper Spy Ring and Washington’s intelligence agents on Long Island.

Our multitude of engaging programs, our partnerships with neighboring businesses, and the support of our entire community is what keeps us moving forward.

At TVHS, the past doesn’t stay in the past - it weaves into the stories of people and places we continue to tell here every day. - Kimberly Phyfe Community Engagement Manager