Owl Hill Inspires: Independent Historian’s Discovery of its Architect Henry Killam Murphy

Owl Hill Inspires: Independent Historian’s Discovery of its Architect Henry Killam Murphy

We are pleased to welcome as our guest author Corey Geske, independent historian, who, in 2017, identified the world-famous architect of Owl Hill at Fort Salonga, and the national prominence of the man who commissioned him. Her discoveries transformed an ‘old house’ into a National Register Eligible property by 2021, with unique credentials supporting its acquisition by Suffolk County as a 27-acre park and museum in 2024. Photo Credit: Corey Geske, Owl Hill, November 2017.

By Corey Geske

You’ll find my name linked to discoveries from Grand Rapids, Michigan to Boston, Massachusetts, of people, places, and paintings on museum walls for which and for whom, I’ve documented forgotten, or overlooked histories that deserved to be correctly identified. The results have provided a better understanding of our heritage to promote eye-opening cultural enrichment going forward.

As an independent volunteer historian, in 2017, I discovered that the estate named Owl Hill at Fort Salonga was designed by world-famous architect Henry Killam Murphy (1877-1954) commissioned in 1907 by the nationally renowned patent attorney Edmund Wetmore, Esq. (1838-1918). Though their connections to Fort Salonga had been forgotten until that moment, each man stands as a significant figure, nationally and internationally, establishing Owl Hill as Eligible for the New York State and National Registers of Historic Places in 2021. My discoveries about this inspiring place in the township of Smithtown, were first published in The Smithtown News in 2019, and many of the facts therein are incorporated in this blog.[1]

Read more here -> https://preservationlongisland.org/owl-hill/