Corwith House

The Corwith House serves as the headquarters of The Bridgehampton Museum and as an exhibition gallery space. It also houses the Museum’s historic textile collection and other artifacts.

Like many families on the East End of Long Island, the Corwiths came from the north shore of Massachusetts to settle on the South Fork for the rich farmland.

The house at 2368 Main Street in Bridgehampton was built about 1825 for William Corwith, who was born in Bridgehampton. It is a five-bay-wide, two-room-deep, two-story late Federal/early Greek Revival style structure with a decorative entry transom and dentil molding along the roof eaves being among its most characterizing features. Additionally, the house’s cedar shingle cladding, corner boards, symmetrically arranged fenestration, granite foundation, and symmetrical internal end chimneys further reinforce both its construction date and architectural style.

Henry Corwith, William’s father, made the family prosperous through success in the whaling industry, farming, and several real estate investments, among them partial ownership in the Sag Harbor wharf. He served as Southampton Town supervisor from 1814 to 1816 and held several town positions before that, such as overseer of highways, commissioner of schools, assessor, pound master, and overseer of the poor. Upon his death, his estate was divided among his wife and four surviving children. His youngest son, William, inherited his “house and home lot, with all the buildings thereon,” according to Henry’s 1820 will.

The last surviving Corwith to live in this house, Cornelia E. Corwith (1870-1967), gave the property to the Hampton Library in Bridgehampton in 1960. Twelve years later the library sold it to the Bridgehampton Historical Society, which maintains ownership today along with a strong appreciation of the building and its history. The Corwith House serves as the headquarters of The Bridgehampton Museum and as exhibition gallery space. It also houses the Museum’s historic textile collection and other artifacts. The house is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

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