Pagan-Fletcher Restoration

For more than a year, the Pagan-Fletcher Restoration was closed. Now, it has reopened to give visitors a glimpse into Valley Stream's past. Tours are only available by appointment for now, but members of the Valley Stream Historical Society say they are eager to continue their traditions of preserving the village's history.

"Like many places, we did not know how long the pandemic would last," said Bill Florio, vice president of the society.

The building was shut down until the end of March 2020, according to a sign he posted. Over the next few weeks, the board finally decided to reopen the homestead in early May, therefore preventing the homestead from remaining closed for very long.

“This is the historical landmark of Valley Stream,” Florio said. “There is some absence of normalcy to that fact that we are not here. We’re always here. Since the 1970s, we have been here.”

Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the Pagan-Fletcher Restoration dates back to the early 1800s. In 1977, the Valley Stream Historical Society leased the building to the Village of Valley Stream, which, today, still owns it and has seen many changes over the two centuries. 

Florio said people had been accustomed to delivering their Valley Stream memorabilia or ephemera to Pagan-Fletcher Restoration, but when it closed, they had nowhere to do so. When people had more free time, he said, they tended to be more interested in learning about their communities' histories. The pandemic caused several Valley Stream's Facebook groups to be filled with old photos and comments.

In order to make up for the year that the homestead was closed, Florio says that the historical society has several new projects in the works. For the purpose of determining the history of the house and dating it, the society will hire an architect who specializes in historic buildings. According to him, the society hopes to obtain county grants for funding the project.

In addition to the Black History Month exhibits and Women's History Month exhibits, new projects are being crafted as well. The first African-American teacher to teach in Valley Stream, Booker T. Gibson, will be the focus of a new exhibit Florida is planning. In the coming weeks, the society will also resume its annual events such as the Halloween and holiday candlelight tours, which were previously held at the village hall.

The Valley Stream Historical Society is in the process of compiling a color postcard book of the town.

With the board's approval, the society plans to renovate its gift shop and restore several antiques in its collection now that Pagan-Fletcher Restoration is ready to reopen. Despite the fact that the pandemic did not last long enough to have an impact on antiques left on display for the past year, Florio explained that rotation of displays would make sure that the antiques are not damaged by the sun.

Mayor Ed Fare, the society’s board chair, said he is pleased the restoration is resuming operations. “The historical society has always been a great partner with the village, and it’s been a very steady force since 1974. So many civic organizations have gone defunct and the historical society, through its partnership with the village, has been doing very, very well, even through transitions.”

The past year will undoubtedly go down in Valley Stream’s history books — those safely stored by “the keepers of the history,” as the society is known.

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