We were pleased to learn that the board of trustees of the Inc. Village of Baxter Estates is seeking the approval of its residents to purchase the historic Baxter House on Shore Road in Port Washington for use as a Village Hall.

The Baxter House, a classic 18th century Long Island farmhouse, is one of the oldest dwellings on Cow Neck (Manhasset-Port Washington). No one is quite sure when the present structure was built, although the house was believed to be on the property as early as 1703. Records show that Oliver Baxter bought the land with a house on it in 1743. The property was subsequently occupied and farmed by generations of Baxters and later occupied by Addison Mizner, architect-developer of Palm Beach.

Creative reuse has done much to preserve North Hempstead's Landmark buildings. The former Main Street School in Port Washington, now the Landmark on Main Street, a community center and senior citizens apartment complex, is a familiar example. So is the Washington Manor Restaurant in Roslyn, the main portion of which is the pre-Revolutionary Onderdonk House. And there is a McDonald's in New Hyde Park that still looks like the old Denton mansion it was originally, thanks to the efforts of the Town of North Hempstead Landmarks Preservation Commission.

Several North Hempstead municipalities have promoted historic preservation by the enactment of Historic Landmarks Preservation Laws. Among them are Kings Point, Great Neck Plaza, Flower Hill, Roslyn Village, Port Washington North, Sands Point and the Town of North Hempstead (applies to unincorporated areas only). Plandome Manor and Mineola also have protective ordinances.

The officials of the Village of Baxter Estates are to be congratulated for a plan which will preserve a historically valuable landmark.

Joan G. Kent

President

Cow Neck Historical Society