1700's Home Eligible for National Register of Historic Places

The old farmhouse at 527 Deer Park Avenue will not be headed to the wrecking ball after all – the Babylon Village Heritage Preservation Society received word over the weekend the home would be eligible to be added to the National Register of Historic Places.

The home, which is located on a plot of land that was set to be subdivided with three new homes built on the properties, was built in the late 1700's by Babylon resident David Smith. Smith turned out to be a Revolutionary War soldier under the command of General George Washington.

"I am so elated and overcome with joy to have been instrumental in saving this important part of Babylon's heritage!" noted resident Stanis Beck, a member of the BVHPS that started a movement earlier this year to preserve the home. The group's research through countless historical documents helped them discover that the home was originally owned by Smith, and gave the village two Revolutionary War heroes.

The property is currently owned by the Ognibene family, who noted at a meeting of the historical society in November they would like to keep standing and, if at all possible, move it either further back on the current plot of land or to a new area.

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The National Park Service's National Register of Historic Places is part of a national program to coordinate and support public and private efforts to identify, evaluate, and protect America's historic and archeological resources, according to the organization's website. The register was authorized by the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966.

The Deer Park Avenue farmhouse, located in the Indian Section of the village, would join two other buildings in the village under the protection of the National Register – Babylon Village municipal Building (Village Hall and Firehouse) on West Main Street and the Nathaniel Conklin House on Deer Park Avenue.

There was no word on when the home would be added the list.