A Congregational
Church was
organized January 14, 1793 by the Rev. Noah Hallock of Mt. Sinai,
who
was a pastor of the Congregational Church in Mt. Sinai at that
time. The Patchogue church was constituted the "Second Congregational
Church of Brookhaven, and started out with eight members. For several
years there was no resident pastor and the Rev. Mr. Hallock came across the Island and
conducted services.
The Methodist
Society was organized in 1791 and
united with the Congregational Church in building a "meeting house" in
1794 which they used jointly. This was located on the east corner of
Waverly Avenue and Main Street. It is said by some historians that
this building was also used for several years by a small group of
Presbyterians and Baptists.
In 1820, the Congregationalists bought
out the Methodists share of the building and became the sole owners
of the old meeting house, which they enlarge and rebuilt. By 1854, the
village had grown eastward and the membership had grown to over 200,
so a new church was built on Pine Street, now North Ocean Avenue. The
present church was erected in 1893.
After the Methodists sold out
their share in the first meeting house, they were without a house of worship for several
years, until they
built a church of their own in 1833 in the same neighborhood, which
they used until about 1854, when they built a new one on the south
side corner of Church Street and Railroad Avenue. The present church
was built in 1891 when the parish was 100 years old.
The Catholics
purchased the old Methodists church in 1854, which they used until
1888, when the St .Francis de Sales Church was built at the corner of
East Main Street and Conklin Avenue, and which was moved to its present
site several years later.
St. Paul's Episcopal church was organized
in 1843, and the first church building was located on the south
side of main street, a short distance east of River Avenue. The
present church was dedicated December 6, 1883.
The Baptist church was
reorganized in 1876, and a church built at a lower end of South
Ocean Avenue. On September 12, 1888, the First Baptist Church of
Patchogue was organized, and in 1892 a church building was erected on
Academy Street, and after being in use there for 18 years, was moved
to its recent location on North Ocean Avenue.
The Emanuel Lutheran
Church was organized in April, 1912, and a church was dedicated in
November, 1914.
Roe's Hotel was a famous stopping place over a 100
years ago for the stage coaches that traveled through the Island,and
was half way station between Sag Harbor and Brooklyn. It was built in
1810 by Justus Roe, and many well known men enjoyed the hospitality
of this old inn, among whom were Dewitt Clinton, John Jacob Astor,
Daniel Webster and others. It was under the management of Austin Roe,
who was the son of the original proprietor that this famous old
hostelry reached its greatest popularity. Uncle Austin Roe, as he was
called was known to everyone throughout the Island, and he seemed to
know everyone.
Before the railroad came to Patchogue, the stage coach
was the only means of travel to and from the city, and the stage
coach driver was an important man and was intrusted with many
errands by people along the way. He was given money to deposit in
banks, and many requests to buy articles at stores along the
way. The
taverns along the route where the stage coaches stopped for meals or
a night's lodging were centers of community interest, and the
townspeople would gather to hear the latest news from the outside
world.