Eastville Community Historical Society

The Eastville Community Historical Society of Sag Harbor was founded in 1981 and chartered by New York State in 1986 to preserve the history of the working-class community of Eastville and to tell the story of St. David AME Zion Church. The church remains in its original location, built in 1839 by African Americans and Native Americans on Eastville Avenue. It is widely believed to have been a stop along the Underground Railroad. Its founding Pastor, Rev. P. Thompson, was a noted Abolitionist and friend of Frederick Douglass. The Society also owns, upkeeps, preserves and protects the adjacent century-old cemetery in which African and Native Americans of the earlier St. David's church membership are buried, many of whom were Sag Harbor Whalers.

The Eastville Community Historical Society had its beginnings out of a concern for preservation of the St. David A.M.E. Zion Church as an historical site in Sag Harbor, and was instrumental in restoring the exterior of the building, the tin ceiling and also in restoring and preserving the stained glass windows of the church. The society moved its headquarters to 139 Hampton Street in 1996 — now called the Heritage House, originally a 1925 Sears & Roebuck catalog house — and continues to raise funds for the maintenance of the church, cemetery, and exhibitions.

Archive Hours: by appointment 

Address: 139 Hampton St, Sag Harbor, NY 11963

Contact: (631) 725-4711

eastvillechs@gmail.com