If I had only plenty of rocks

A “Rock Hall” I would build

and all the time with the Hewlettses

I’d have the whole place filled

September 14, 1901 -Gervase Green from New Haven, CT

 In 1881, when James Augustus Hewlett undertook a comprehensive alteration at Rock Hall, the community around the family home was rapidly becoming a fashionable New York suburb. Elaborate summer homes were being built. Far Rockaway had become a large village composed of fine hotels and boarding houses. The opening of the South Side Railroad, which was being built in 1869, flagged speculators with an eye for development. When electric lights became available in 1892, they were not installed in the original home, but added like all the modern amenities to the “new wing.” The outbuildings once essential to the Martin Family became obsolete and were torn down in 1881.

After James A. Hewlett’s death, Mary Elizabeth Hewlett carried on the role of guardianship of Rock Hall. She continued to live in her Brooklyn home but moved with her staff in the summer to Rock Hall where she was then joined by her expanded family.

The Hewlett Family kept guest books for their friends and family to sign from 1881 through the 1930s to mark their visit to Rock Hall. These books offer a glimpse into this era, a family bible of sorts noting important events (i.e. weddings, births, and deaths), while also offering insight of significant newsworthy events of the time. Political affairs, social issues and even the climate were commented on.  Names, dates, poetry, photographs, and whimsical drawings invite viewers to experience Rock Hall as the amazing destination it once was and continues to be.  

 Donated by Alexandra May, Hewlett Descendant

Town of Hempstead Rock Hall Collection - January, 2020.

These whimsical illustrations are accredited to Elsie Yandell Barber from Rye, New York who visited with her husband Donn Barber on July 6th 1901 and many times after.

Illustration by Elsie Yandell Barber from a stay in 1908.