Building-Structure Inventory

These are a collection of historic building inventories that were done for the villages and hamlets in Islip town, the ultimate goal of which was to provide a tool that could be used on the local, state, and federal level for future planning by providing a list of the historic buildings or sites that might be threatened by proposed new developments. Information in the inventories varies, however they often include construction date, architect, previous owners, current condition, and its historic significance. The Building-Structure Inventory project began around 1972, although many of the inventories in this collection were done in the 1980s, when Long Island historical societies were asked by the State Division of Historic Preservation to modernize their definition of "historical." Before then what was considered to be historic were only sites associated with historic events or people.The new definition was to be broadened to include agricultural structures, residential and business districts, industrial complexes, and even trees. The broader definition and the local historical society involvement allowed local residents to have more input into what should be considered of historic significance to an area.