Long Island's Hidden Past: Ketcham Inn in Center Moriches
<p><strong>News 12 Long Island</strong>'s Danielle Campbell and Brian Endres tell the story of the Ketcham Inn in this month's <a href="http://longisland.news12.com/category/323470/long-islands-hidden-past">Long Island's Hidden Past</a>.</p>
News 12 Staff
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Oct 4, 2018, 1:18 PM
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Updated 2,029 days ago
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Back in a time when the only way to travel along Long Island's South Shore was by using the Indian Trail, there were very few places for weary travelers to stop.
One stagecoach stop still stands today. News 12 Long Island's Danielle Campbell and Brian Endres tell the story of the Ketcham Inn in this month's Long Island's Hidden Past.
The Ketcham Inn, built by Long Island's first settlers in the 1600s, served as a stagecoach stop in Center Moriches where the likes of spies, soldiers and patriots mixed and mingled.
The inn offered respite after a long day's travel on the desolate dirt path known as the Indian Trail - known today as Montauk Highway.
MORE: Long Island's Hidden Past | Photos
Bert Seides, the historian who led the charge, along with a team of volunteers, to save the Ketcham Inn from demolition says the inn sat in a very strategic location for the coaches.
Over the past 30 years the building has undergone a dramatic historic restoration.
Part of the its storied history includes the Havens family - they operated the Inn during the Revolution and aided in the American cause.
After the American Revolutionary War, the inn was busy offering food, drink and lodging to soldiers heading back to their homes.
Famous guests included Thomas Jefferson and James Madison - who were visiting General William Floyd who lived in Mastic.
The inn is still open for business, welcoming visitors onto the porch, into the tavern and back in time.
Besides the history, it is said the inn is haunted.
