Raynham Hall Holds Open House On Memorial Day

Raynham Hall Museum, home of Robert Townsend, a member of the Culper Spy Ring, welcomed friends and neighbors to an open house for music featuring the Patriot Singers, a quartet singing patriotic songs, face painting, crafts, free Italian ices, and lemonade provided by the Oyster Bay Historical Society, as well as historical games.

The festivities took place immediately following the Memorial Day Parade at Raynham Hall Museum’s Victorian garden.

“It’s a good opportunity for us to market to the community,” Christopher Judge, the director of visitor services at Raynham Hall, said. “A lot of the local libraries have memberships with us. You can go to the [Oyster Bay-East Norwich Public Library], get a pass and come here for free admission for two adults and two children.”

Raynham Hall, which has air conditioning, certainly provides an activity to fill a summer day while students are off from school.

“It’s an excellent offering for people from the local libraries, to have people come and explore local history and stories they’ve usually never heard before,” Judge said. “We had students here today say ‘I came here on a tour a few months ago.’”

Raynham Hall staff and volunteers, wearing their historic costumes, marched in the Oyster Bay Memorial Day parade. The post-parade event included entrance to the museum’s visitors’ center, with demonstrations of an augmented reality program.

Raynham Hall is located at 20-30 West Main Street, Oyster Bay, NY.

—Submitted by Raynham Hall. Additional reporting by Jennifer Corr.