Community Corner
The Little Church That Turned 134 Years Old
The Half Hollow Community Church is the oldest church in Dix Hills, founded in 1876.
Back in 1876, services were held at the church once a month. The first preacher was the Rev. Mr. L. Lockwood of the Presbyterian Church in Melville.
Half Hollow Community Church was known, at its inception, as the Half Hollow Chapel, which remained its name until 1962, when it officially became the Half Hollow Community Church. The church was built by local residents in 1876 with donated material and labor. The land was donated by Zebulon Buffet on June 24, 1875.
The Half Hollow Sabbath School Society of Long Island was the name of the organization that received the title to the land and operated the chapel.
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From about 1947 to 1957 the Sunday school was 50 pupils strong. In 1957, the Presbytery of Brooklyn-Nassau took the chapel under its care through the Rev. Dr. A.E. Abben, the minister of the Community Presbyterian Church of Deer Park.
The Sunday School, which is still strong, acted as the backbone of the little church and church worship services began. The first services had only about eight members and slowly grew. When Rev. Dr Abben retired, support from Deer Park diminished and the Presbytery closed the chapel.
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The congregation decided to organize an independent church and go it alone. The Presbytery signed the property over in 1962 and on December 27th, 1962, the Half Hollow Community Church received its charter from the state of New York, giving it the right to operate as an independent church within the state.
The church boasts a beautiful old bell that was donated around 1955. The bell was found in the basement of the old Hills School and was used during WWII by civil defense forces as an air raid alarm. The inscription is in memory of Annie De Bevois Thurston, who was a Sunday School teacher from Halesite. Annie drowned August 9, 1893 at the age of 17, trying to save her younger sisters in the Long Island Sound. Her sisters survived. In an expression of grief, gold, silver and trinkets were collected to create the 200-lb. bell. The bell and Rev. Juanita Duryea Hilsenbeck now calls to worshippers on Sunday mornings.
If you want to visit the Half Hollow Hills Community Church, it is open only on Sundays at 11:00 a.m. when they have services.
