Cutchogue-called Corchaug, or "principal place" by the Indians-was settled by the English, beginning in 1667. This was Southold's first colony.

Over four hundred years old, Fort Corchaug is situated on Downs Creek on the North Fork of Long Island in Southold Town. Men, women and children from England settled Southold in 1640 and the fort was old then.

Although there were Indians on the North Fork of Long Island 10,000 years ago, the Corchaugs, one of thirteen tribes spread throughout Long Island, came here about 1000 B.C. They were allied with three other communities on eastern Long Island. Each of the four groups had a fort and the chiefs communicated with each other by smoke signals. Now, there is not a trace of the other forts. Only Fort Corchaug is relatively untouched. Archeologist Ralph Solecki, who first brought the site to public attention, calls it "without peer on the whole Atlantic seaboard".

This rendition of Fort Corchaug, a Native American palisaded fortification which is on the National Register of Historic Places, was done by artist Theresa Shaw of Cutchogue and is copied with her permission. Note the typical beehive shaped huts used by the Corchaugs.

Click on the Photo to learn about the  Fort's historic past.

In July of 1997, after decades of effort, state, county and Town of Southold officials along with the Peconic Land Trust, worked out an arrangement, for over one million dollars, which preserves the Fort Corchaug site.

     On the Green at Cases Lane and Rte. 25 are the oldest English-style houses in New York State built in 1649, the Wickham Farmhouse (ca. 1740), the Old Schoolhouse Museum and the Cutchogue Library, part of which was built in 1862 as a Congregational church.

Photo courtesy of Mr. Ralph Pugliese.

Click on photo to enlarge.

This House was built in Southold in 1649 by John Budd. When his daughter Anna married Benjamin Horton, Budd gave the newlyweds the fine medieval-style Colonial. It was taken apart board by board and moved to Cutchogue in 1661. Today it is officially designated a National Historic Landmark.

 Wickham Farmhouse, 1700's

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