West Sayville plaque honoring George Washington's visit eyed for restoration

Time, the elements and busy Montauk Highway have worked together to wear down a West Sayville roadside signpost noting that President George Washington stopped there.

The blue sign, faded and with patches of chipped paint revealing its gray metal surface, has stood outside the landmark Green House, where Washington made a brief stop in 1790, since the Sayville Historical Society erected it in the 1940s.

What was once a fitting tribute to the April 21 day the new nation's first president rode into town with his entourage is now an eyesore, say society members and history buffs, especially considering the United States just celebrated its 250th birthday.

The aim is to find the money needed and then take the next step to restore the historical marker.

"Having seen the situation with the sign in such disrepair," said Richard Nagel, a Sayville native who now lives in Virginia and has been a longtime student of Washington's place in U.S. history, "I have to say, I want to see things done in connection with our 250th anniversary and to renew the appreciation for George."

The Sayville Historical Society is in the beginning stages of working out logistics for the repair, including sorting out the cost to fix the plaque, said board member and former president Roy Fedelem.

"We’re looking into what we can do to restore that sign," Fedelem said. "The board would have to approve an expenditure for that."

Almost a year after his inauguration as president, Washington arrived in Hempstead on April 21, 1790, marking the beginning of his five-day tour of Long Island, according to "Long Island: Our Story," published by Newsday in 1997. 

The trip began in the former Dutch colonial settlement New Utrecht in Brooklyn. Washington then passed through Jamaica and rode along the South Shore, before making his way to Setauket and heading back west along the North Shore. The president traveled with servants in a cream-colored coach. Along the way, he made a brief stop at the home of the Greene family, now referred to as the Green House.

The plaque reads: "George Washington stopped at this historic home during his tour of Long Island on April 21, 1790," although Washington’s diary entry listed his visit as April 22.

In his diary, Washington wrote that he and his group "halted awhile at ... Greens, distance eleven miles, and dined at Hart’s Tavern, in Brookhaven township, five miles farther."

The Green House is among 11 buildings spread across Sayville and nearby communities that are considered historical markers.

The plaque outside the Green House, on a well-traveled section of West Montauk Highway, can be easy to miss.

"People don't really look at it. It's a shame," said Suzanne Robilotta, a member of the historical society's board of directors. "Especially right now with the 250th [anniversary]."