The Manor of St. George was a massive 64,000-acre colonial estate that covered nearly 40 percent of the Town of Brookhaven.
Colonel William “Tangier” Smith—a former English mayor of Tangier, Morocco, and later chief justice of New York—acquired the land in the late 17th century. New York Governor Benjamin Fletcher granted the official royal patent for the estate in 1693, with more land added in 1697. Smith initially managed his properties from Setauket. After his death in 1705, his son, Major William Henry Smith, inherited the estate and built the main manor house on Mastic Neck. Parts of the vast tract were sold or given away over the generations. Around 1718, 4,000 acres were sold to Richard Floyd, whose grandson William Floyd later signed the Declaration of Independence. During the American Revolution, British loyalist forces occupied the manor house and fortified it.
In November 1780, Patriot Major Benjamin Tallmadge led a daring cross-sound raid from Connecticut, successfully capturing the fort and British prisoners before destroying the stronghold.
The estate eventually dwindled to 127 acres. The final descendant to live there, Eugenie A.T. Smith, placed the property in a testamentary trust to preserve the family’s history. It opened as a public museum and park in 1955.
