Setauket & Port Jefferson Harbor
by Nicola Kriefall
SPIES! Exhibit: Located in Setauket, NY, the SPIES! exhibit synthesizes maps, reenactment, and informative narration to paint a picture of George Washington’s use of spies during the Revolutionary War. Primary sources provided all the information gathered and presented here. The location of this exhibit is significant because a good number of the spies and their associates were Setauket natives.
George Washington’s Spies: George Washington, pictured here, believed from a very young age that spies were vital assets, but also believed that good ones were hard to obtain. After the start of the Revolution, he began a spy ring to gather information from New York City, which was under the control of the British. He began the ring with the help of Benjamin Tallmadge (of Setauket), whose code name was John Bolton, or code number 721. Tallmadge then recruited people he’d known for years, people that he knew he could trust for this difficult task.
Benjamin Tallmadge’s Code: Benjamin Tallmadge assigned a number to 800 significant terms, for use as a code between the spies. This was of the utmost importance because information had to be sent between a number of people across vast distances to make it from the source up to Washington or his affiliates. At any time, the British could have intercepted this information, but the code prevented them extracting anything vital from spy documents.
The Letters: Pictured here is an actual letter of the time from a spy (code name Samuel Culper Sr., or #722), as well as a clear transcript of it. As you can see, the code’s numbers have replaced many of the words in the letter, so that the letter’s meaning is not distinguishable without knowledge of the code. This letter appears to be written in regular ink, but our tour guide informed us that many of these letters were written in invisible ink, to keep the valuable information even more hidden.
Mission Accomplished: The tour guide of the SPIES! exhibit told us about one of the most significant duties performed by George Washington’s ring during the war. French allies of the Patriots had landed in Rhode Island, and once the British learned of this, they planned to attack there. However, the spies learned of this attack, and the Patriots’ side was able to react in two ways. They informed the French so they could safely relocate, and also informed the British that Washington’s army planned to attack, so that the British would keep troops from traveling to Rhode Island. The spies’ action here prevented a great deal of loss on the Patriots’ side.
Spy Museum
by John Carswell
For this week’s class trip, we went to the Long Island spy museum in Setauket, which we had a little trouble finding at first. We got a little lost on the way, but we did end up seeing a lot of Setauket on our way to the museum. The museum was small, but packed full of very interesting information and stories about the revolutionary war. The first room we went into we were greeted by a tall cut out of George Washington. This room focused on the Battle of Brooklyn, the first major battle after the Declaration of Independence. The British wanted New York City because it was not only the largest city in the Colonies at the time, but it was also a major port that connected the Atlantic Ocean to upstate New York and other colonies in Canada. If they could control New York and the Hudson River, then the British could in a way divide the colonies. The southern colonies were more dependent on trade with the British, so a large amount of the people in the southern colonies were Loyalist. Florida at this time was controlled by Spain, which was an enemy to the colonist. The British protected Georgia and the Carolinas from Spain, so they were more dependent on the British. So the British thought by separating the North and South they could stop the South from fighting.
Severely outnumbered, Washington’s army lost the Battle of Brooklyn, and were forced to retreat. The British troops numbered somewhere in the 20 thousands, while the American troops were only about 9,000. The British troops were well trained, while the American troops had little to no training at all. The British troops had cannons and guns, while the American troops had much fewer guns and no cannons. Washington had no chance of winning the war, which begs the question as to why he even decided to fight at all. The battle was fought to show the British that the Americans would not go down without a fight. The Americans were able to escape cross the East River in the middle of the night and avoided surrender. After that, the British had control of New York City and Long Island, and had control for the remainder of the war.
In the same room, there was also a wall that talked about one of the first spies of the war, Nathan Hale. We learned at the museum that Washington asked for someone to go into the city as a spy, and Nathan Hale volunteered. Hale went into city, and was caught very quickly and hung. He stored his info in his boot, which was not the best place to hide stuff. All this information was in just one small room. The museum was not very large, but it had tons of information. I learned a lot at the museum, and had fun. Our guide in the museum was very lively, and at many times treated us like 4th graders, but in a good way. She had us reenact battles and decode war messages. I would recommend the museum to anyone, and I would take my family and friends there if I were in the area.
Port Jefferson
by Emily Recchia
If you are a fan of Netflix’s ‘House of Cards’, you might have noticed in Season Two, there is negotiation of building a bridge connecting Milford, Connecticut to Port Jefferson, New York. It is referred to in the series as the “Port Jefferson Bridge”. House Of Cards might be a mostly fictional story but this proposal has been under consideration for years, though it’s more likely the bridge would connect to Bridgeport, Connecticut- not Milford. Gazing out at Connecticut from the Port Jefferson harbor, watching the ferries glide back and forth everyday, you can imagine the convenience of such a structure.
As perfect as the location might seem, the quaint tourist town of Port Jefferson couldn’t handle the heavy traffic a bridge like this would certainly attract. In order for the town to make the structural sacrifices something like this would require, there’s no doubt Port Jefferson would lose it eclectic maritime charm for something more industrial. As a local, I am happy to hop on a ferry or drudge through the city when I have to get to Connecticut. The history of Port Jefferson is richer than the revenue the Island could collect from a bridge.
Or maybe we should just say that we learned our lesson with relying on transportation niches for economic stability. In 1836, Port Jefferson was nothing but a Drowned Meadow. That was actually the name of the town, Drowned Meadow, until Thomas Jefferson funded the project that would transform it into the bustling port town it became. Soon after, Port Jefferson harbor and shipyard industry became the largest in Suffolk County. The main role of Port Jefferson in the 19th century was to build and support vessels engaged in coastal freighting trades. However, when materials like oil and steel became more accessible and affordable, the shipyard industry suffered greatly. In 1923, Port Jefferson harbor became a rough place offering not much more than a coal-fired power plant, oil transportation, and rum running during the prohibition era.
In 1963 Port Jefferson pulled itself together with a little help from the Town of Brookhaven and became the Incorporated Village of Port Jefferson. The village transitioned to a tourist-based economy. The ferry lines running across the sound provide a profitable and appealing attraction to visitors as well as many hotels, restaurants, specialty shops, and bars. The general vibe of Port Jefferson remains reminiscent of its shipyard roots but you’ll have to look a little further for any evidence of bootleggers or drowned meadows. Thomas Jefferson knew the location of this little harbor town was profitable, with New England just a stone’s throw away. I can’t help but wonder what he would think of a bridge if he had been around for the demise and revival of the port town named in his honor.
