Old Mill Inn, Hallockville revisit North Fork Prohibition

It hasn’t always been vineyards and tasting rooms on the North Fork. Booze flowed through the region in a much more secretive way during Prohibition.

The story of the dry years in the area can be traced to both Hallockville Museum Farm in Riverhead and the Old Mill Inn in Mattituck, and community members are invited to step back into that era and hear the tale.

Hallockville Museum Farm will present “Prohibition on the North Fork,” an immersive event at the Old Mill Inn on Sunday, Oct. 11, exploring everything behind the rum-running operation, while enjoying live jazz, canapés and Prohibition-era cocktails. The event will run from 4 to 6 p.m.

“History is often more interesting when you can stand in the place where it happened,” Hallockville executive director Marianne Della Croce said. “The Old Mill Inn gives us an extraordinary setting to tell this story and to look at the North Fork through a very different lens.” 

The program will feature Hallockville Historian Richard Wines and Anthony Martignetti, owner and restorer of the Old Mill Inn, who will share stories about the Prohibition-era history of the area and the speakeasies associated with the North Fork.

Mr. Wines said the connection between the two historic properties is “particularly compelling.” 

He said, in the 19th century, the Old Mill was the closest mill for the Hallocks to take grain and have it ground into flour. The mills in Riverhead were more than twice as far. 

Also, during Prohibition, the Old Mill Inn became part of the Naugles family’s rum-running operation. They operated an inclined railway on the north end of their farm that was used to haul up contraband alcohol. 

George Naugles was the leader of the operation. His brother Stanley, as well as neighboring Polish immigrant families, were also involved. Stanley piloted the biplane they used in the operation. 

“Profits from the bootlegging operation and from the Inn probably enabled George to build such a nice new barn after his old one burned in 1936,” Mr. Wines said.

Tickets are $125 per person, and advance registration is required. To purchase tickets or for additional information, go to hallockville.org. 

“The remarkable thing about this history is that the connections are still visible,” Ms. Della Croce said. “These aren’t just stories from a history book — they are stories connected to the places that are still part of our landscape.”