Raynham Hall Museum

Raynham Hall Museum Home of George Washington's secret agent Robert Townsend, Raynham Hall is a time capsule of Long Isla

Raynham Hall was for 200 years the home of the Townsends of Oyster Bay -- merchants, slave owners, Patriots, civic leaders. One of the sons of the family, Robert Townsend, posed as a Loyalist in Manhattan and relayed vital intelligence to George Washington, helping the Patriots win the Revolutionary War.

09/02/2026

Hear from Katie Cynkar, our Peggy N. & Roger G. Gerry Curatorial Fellow, as she explores one of the objects in our collection. This Kas will be showcased in our forthcoming catalog and exhibition, Revolutionary Oyster Bay!

August 27th marks the 250th anniversary of the start of the Battle of Brooklyn (also called the Battle of Long Island.)F...
08/27/2026

August 27th marks the 250th anniversary of the start of the Battle of Brooklyn (also called the Battle of Long Island.)

Friendly reminder: Todd Braisted, author of Loyalist Military, will give a Townsend Talk this Saturday, 8/29 — from 5 to 7 pm — on the Queen's Rangers.

Today in Revolutionary War history, General George Washington called Benjamin Tallmadge to headquarters for a 3PM meetin...
08/25/2026

Today in Revolutionary War history, General George Washington called Benjamin Tallmadge to headquarters for a 3PM meeting to discuss the nascent Culper Spy Ring.

The "W" in this August 25th letter stands for Woodhull, the Long Island farmer and Patriot spy they later codenamed Samuel Culper — subsequently Samuel Culper Senior, after Woodhull recruited Robert Townsend to be Culper Junior.

On November 7th, Tallmadge would be quietly appointed head of the Continental Army's intelligence service. He was only 24.

Though his predecessor, Brigadier General Charles Scott, outranked him and had significantly more military experience, Tallmadge proved an exceedingly sound choice: His intelligence network, comprised mostly of civilian informants, operated for 5 years behind enemy lines without a single member being killed.

Fortunately for those who would love a glimpse of the war through the eyes of Washington's spymaster, Benjamin Tallmadge wrote a memoir.

He won't tell you any names, though.

Austin Roe descendants Richard Aaron King and James Arthur King with Raynham Hall educator Olivia HaganPhoto courtesy of...
08/20/2026

Austin Roe descendants Richard Aaron King and James Arthur King with Raynham Hall educator Olivia Hagan

Photo courtesy of Raynham Hall educator Thomas Salerno.

Some days we have the honor of meeting relatives — sometimes direct descendants — of the actual Culper spies, and yesterday was one of those days. James and his son, Richard, are descendants of Culper courier Austin Roe, aka 724. We learned a lot of family stories and Long Island lore from them!

We're excited to announce this event hosted by our friends at Mighty Fine in Huntington! To continue the celebration of ...
08/13/2026

We're excited to announce this event hosted by our friends at Mighty Fine in Huntington! To continue the celebration of our country's 250th Anniversary, they are hosting an event highlighting the Culper Spy Ring's pivotal role in the American Revolution.

Author Bill O’Byrne, who grew up in East Setauket, will be at Mighty Fine on August 20 at 5 PM to discuss his latest historical novel, Samuel Culper: Setauket Spy. Bill has also created an interactive guide to historic sites throughout Huntington and Oyster Bay, helping uncover the fascinating history that surrounds us every day.

Come learn more about the history in your own backyard! Enjoy light refreshments, a Q&A with the author, and a book signing.

Tickets are $10, with a portion of the proceeds benefiting Raynham Hall Museum: https://www.paypal.com/ncp/payment/VVUFDZLVK53QU

Thank you to all the artists in our exhibit, and a special thanks to those who presented at our series of art talks fo...
08/12/2026

Thank you to all the artists in our exhibit, and a special thanks to those who presented at our series of art talks foor sharing their process and vision with our guests, and highlighting the relationship between history work and contemporary artistic practice. There's still a couple of weeks to see the exhibit, which ends on August 30th!

07/29/2026

Thank you to Tom Montalbano and Oyster Bay Today for visiting Raynham Hall Museum and giving viewers a glimpse into our history, our mission, and the people who bring it to life through tours and programs.

Visit us to learn more about the Townsend family, as well as the lives of the enslaved men, women, and children who lived and labored here, along with many other complex stories that have shaped our community over the centuries.

This video is a fantastic introduction, and we hope it inspires you to come experience the full story for yourself. Thank you again, Tom, for helping share Raynham Hall with the wider community! And a special thanks to Town Clerk Rich LaMarca for participating! Did you know that Samuel Townsend also served as Town Clerk around 250 years ago?

724: Austin Roe, the Culper Spy Ring's primary land courier. Roe carried Robert Townsend's intelligence reports — penned...
07/24/2026

724: Austin Roe, the Culper Spy Ring's primary land courier. Roe carried Robert Townsend's intelligence reports — penned in a state-of-the art invisible ink invented in 1778 by chemist James Jay — on horseback along the wooded coastal route from the edge of Brooklyn to East Setauket. His role in the Ring has drawn comparisons to Paul Revere's ride, though Roe carried letters instead of warnings.

His route along Long Island's north shore is now 25A. Beige signs marked "Washington's Spy Trail" commemorate the repeated journey.

Pictured: Roe's Tavern, still standing in Setauket.

#724

Happy 7/23. 🪶 #723
07/23/2026

Happy 7/23. 🪶

#723

For 722: "No one ever tells you that bravery feels like fear." — Mary Kate TeskeThe above quotation applies well to the ...
07/22/2026

For 722: "No one ever tells you that bravery feels like fear." — Mary Kate Teske

The above quotation applies well to the life of Abraham Woodhull, aka Samuel Culper Senior of the Culper Spy Ring. Though many of the intelligence reports he sent to his handler and childhood friend, Major Benjamin Tallmadge, confess self-doubt and a profound apprehension of being unmasked — Woodhull continued to risk his life as a spy for the Continental Army nevertheless. His nerves didn't stop him from making the trek through the British military checkpoints that dotted his shoreline route from Setauket to New York City, nor from continuing to serve as one of the Ring's two principal agents after he recruited Robert Townsend to be his anchor on Manhattan.

Anecdotes like the one where a jump-scare from his nieces spurred him to spill his entire vial of invisible ink across his desk (he was sure the British soldiers were finally breaking down his door to arrest him) make it tempting for authors to caricature Woodhull as a frightful Ichabod Crane figure. But the fear that appears in the records may actually, ironically, confirm that he was brave.

Photos:

• Michael Hagan, younger brother of Raynham Hall educator Olivia Hagan, laying his hand on Woodhull's headstone. The bricks reinforcing the headstone were salvaged from the wreckage of Woodhull's house, which burned down in 1931 — the year after Robert Townsend's identity was revealed to the public by historian Morton Pennypacker.
• Michael's identical twin was also present in the graveyard that day (in April 2021.)
• The costume worn by actor Jamie Bell, who portrayed Woodhull in the AMC series Turn. Far from making him a coward, Bell makes his Woodhull a complex, morally-gray underdog with a dizzying commitment to his cause. Trivia: Costume designer Donna Zakowska allowed a beanie because Bell insisted on wearing it between takes.

Today's date coincides with Woodhull's 3-digit spy code number, 722. Next up is Robert Townsend, or 723.

Address

30 W Main Street
Oyster Bay, NY
11771

Opening Hours

Tuesday 1pm - 5pm
Wednesday 1pm - 5pm
Thursday 1pm - 5pm
Friday 1pm - 5pm
Saturday 1pm - 5pm
Sunday 1pm - 5pm

Telephone

+15169226808

Website

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