Colonial Family Gave Miller Place Its Name

Last week we asked you to guess where in Miller Place the picture of this old home was taken. Did you get it right?

Originally owned by Ebenezer Miller, he built the home around 1758 and the family name became synonymous with the town, according to Edna Giffen from the Mt. Sinai-Miller Place Historical Society.

Miller was a patriot who remained on Long Island when it was occupied by the British during the Revolutionary War. His son William was killed in 1781 at 16-years-old when, during a raid, he was shot as he peered out of the window of his home.

Locals may also know the old Miller place as another name.

"It is now known as the Miller Place Ark Bed and Breakfast because in the early 1900s the house was used as an overflow for girls from the Holiday House," said Giffen.

The house also has somewhat of a Hollywood connection. In 1926 Angelica Houston’s maternal grandparents bought the house and Houston's mother is seen in some historical pictures at play with local children.

Visitors to the house today can walk past it and see a grindstone near the front gate, the remains of a wind-powered gristmill Miller had at the home back in colonial times.