Facilities

Eleven generations of Southards have lived in this house which still stands at its original North Bellmore location. Built-in 1655, the Southard House is also noted for having been the home of Solomon Southard, a signer of the Declaration of Long Island.

The original portion of the house, which contains its original timber, is of amortized, tenoned and pegged construction, a building method discontinued for dwelling use in the late 1800s.

Albert and Mary Waring, the present-day owners and Southard descendants, have maintained genealogical records of the family. They also have in their possession authentic documents dating back to the 1700s, which record business transactions between the Southards and the Birdsall's, and the Hewletts, all early families who had settled in the Bellmore-Wantagh-Merrick area.

The original portion of the house still stands, a three-room, two-story building, that contained a kitchen, living room, and upstairs bedroom. The Warings took off part of the staircase, which was very steep, left the rest walled up, and built a new staircase. They added two bedrooms, a bath, a large kitchen, and heating and enclosed the open porch. The house still has its original beams and fireplace. The original 214 acres have been sold off over the years, except for the 65 by 100-foot plot upon which the house rests. The old family cemetery on the property was given to the town.