Government

General Wayne Inn torn down after 230 years in Southold

KATHARINE SCHROEDER PHOTO |The former General Wayne Inn in Southold may soon be the site of a park.
The former General Wayne Inn in Southold may soon be the site of a park. (Credit: Katharine Schroeder)

Standing tall in Southold since the 1700’s, the historic General Wayne Inn will soon be just a memory. 

Work is underway to level the once popular inn, which had fallen into disrepair following decades of neglect. The demolition comes seven months after Supervisor Scott Russell confirmed a neighbor of the inn on Cedar Beach Road in Southold purchased the property with intentions of ripping it down and preserving the 3.1 acres as open space, or as a “passive park.”

In August, 1975 Cedar Beach LLC acquired the property for $415,000 from the General Wayne’s former mortgage holder, Liquidation Trustee Services, which put the property on the auction block in July to recoup back taxes. The demolition is the only work immediately planned for the site, Southold Town building department records show. Brad Winston, the listed contact for 1275 Cedar Beach LLC, couldn’t be immediately reached for comment.

Tucked away in a quiet corner of Southold’s Bayview community, the former resort inn was originally constructed around a home built for an American military officer in 1784. A circa-1930 advertisement for the hotel boasted “…If you want sunshine and an invigorating climate, if you desire a congenial social life, you will be delighted with Cedar Beach.”

The building has been empty since 1998 when the inn went out of business.

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