Tour of the Old Bethpage Village Restoration

A picturesque view of Old Bethpage Village

BETHPAGE- With Nassau County being an area spanning a mere 287 square miles, it’s hard to believe that sometimes there can be such a great hidden asset that most have not seen. If you were absent on that day in 4th grade when your class took a trip to the Old Bethpage Village Restoration, then there’s a good chance that you have never experienced all that it has to offer.

About 20 CSEA members work at Old Bethpage, in an effort to maintain a pristine piece of land that inhabits some of Long Island’s most classic buildings and farms.

Horse stables

CSEA Unit President for Parks, Recreation and Museums John Rinaldo works at the carpenter shop at Old Bethpage, and has done so for about 27 years, with a total of 37 years in the county. Rinaldo has seen it all in his time there, and has built a lot of small buildings on the property including the horse’s stables around 1990.

“Most of the buildings are original structures brought from other places,” Rinaldo said. The blacksmith shop came from right by the current Wantagh Parkway and Old Country Road, and the Mineola Fairgrounds from County Seat Drive near the current CSEA offices. Overall, the buildings, animals, and 200 acres of rolling hills set up a wonderful mid 1800’s environment, especially for children.

Farmer Martin Jancheson

With summertime here, it’s a very busy time for CSEA members at Old Bethpage. Museum Associate Henry Clarke directs all the summer camp groups, which will be running rampant through the July and August months. With the blacksmith and hat shops, the general store, the farms, the schoolhouses, chapel and homes, it’s a great learning experience for the kids. Upcoming events for children and adults of all ages include an old-fashioned Independence Day Celebration, a Civil War Battle re-enactment, a 19th century historic baseball tournament and the much awaited Long Island Fair September 26-30.

Joanne Graves from the village’s general store

All these experiences wouldn’t be possible though without great work of CSEA members such as Joanne Graves, Martin Jancheson and Jon Folk. Joanne works in the general store which was brought over from East Norwich in 1866. Martin has been a farmer there for 25 years, and Jon works in the carpenter shop 2 days a week, while manning the blacksmith shop the other 3 days.

Rinaldo marvels of all that has been accomplished at the Old Bethpage Village by the workers there. With 20 employees and just 5 or 6 being full-time, there is a lot of work to be done to maintain one of Nassau County’s greatest features. And it certainly seems as if they’re always doing it with a smile.

Blacksmith Jon Folk

Check back soon to see a 2 minute video of CSEA member Jon Folk teaching children in the blacksmith shop in the special features section.