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(A gallery of photos courtesy of C.W. Brinkley Inc. Construction follows the story below.)

The long-awaited demolition of the Museum of Southampton History building at 22541 Linden St. in Courtland finally took place during the week of March 16-22.

Southampton County Historical Society President Lynda T. Updike announced in late 2023 that the museum would be demolished and rebuilt on nearly the same footprint. She said the society was following through with a plan conceived by architect Gerald Traub, who had been brought in to look at the existing museum building, which has a history that goes back to the 1950s.

“In the conversation with the architect, we were told that it was cheaper to tear down and rebuild than to try to fix everything that’s wrong,” Updike said.

C.W. Brinkley Inc. Construction, based out of Suffolk, will be handling the museum rebuild.

JP Henry, vice president of C.W. Brinkley Inc. Construction, shared details of the demolition, the bulk of which was performed by Crowder & White.

“Demolition began around 7 a.m. on Tuesday, March 18,” Henry said. “The building was all on the ground by the end of the day on Tuesday. Separation and haul-off of the building debris continued into Wednesday, March 19. The concrete floor slab demolition was completed Friday, March 21.”

He noted only one complication to the actual demolition process.

“We were anticipating a concrete slab on grade, but when Crowder & White removed the exposed slab, they found a six-inch layer of sand on top of another slab on grade,” he said. “This added time to the process, but Crowder & White stayed on-site and took care of it.”

Henry said the demolition was completed in eight hours. He estimated that debris haul-off took another six hours, and the concrete slab demolition took another approximately 14 hours.

“Crowder & White generously offered to perform this work at no cost to the project,” Henry said. “This will allow the historical society to apply the savings to the new museum building and was greatly appreciated by the project.”

Henry stated that there was some hazardous material abatement in the roof that was completed by Atlantic Environmental Construction.

Local historian Clyde Parker had previously noted that the history of the museum building goes back to the 1950s, and he confirmed that it was built as a car dealership. He said it was a DeSoto automobile dealership and was owned by D.C. Magette.

Parker was unsure how many other businesses may have inhabited the space, but it was the home of Blount Electric prior to being that of the museum, which is why the structure was still known to many as “the Blount building.”

There had been a variety of delays to the demolition of the building since Updike first announced the plan to demolish and rebuild it, and those delays helped shape her reaction to finally seeing it brought down.

“There have been a lot of times along the way that I have expected the demolition was imminent, and it wasn’t, so I’m glad to finally see that it’s taken place,” she said.

But she acknowledged that it was emotional to see the old building in a pile of rubble.

“Yeah, I didn’t think it was going to be, but when I saw it, I have a lot of memories in that building, from special exhibits and the archives and that sort of thing, and I’m glad to see it’s gone because it’s progress, we’re moving, but I did have mixed emotions,” she said.

Henry shared the next steps and corresponding timetable of the demolish-and-rebuild project.

“Design is underway, and it is anticipated that it will be completed late spring,” he said. “Permitting and subcontractor selection will follow with the goal of construction beginning summer of 2025.”

Updike said the rebuilt museum is going to encompass the footprint of the old building, and it will have the same street address, but it is going to be closer to the entrance of the nearby Rebecca Vaughan House.

In late 2023, Updike said the historical society had a “guesstimate” on how much the demolish-and-rebuild project would cost, “and it’s a million dollars-plus.”

On Tuesday, March 25, 2025, she shared a similar but more specific figure of $1.5 million.

“We have raised a lot of that money, and it’s through the generosity of individuals, companies, foundations,” she said in late 2023, adding that a couple of people had donated stocks from the stock market as well.

She confirmed on July 9, 2024, that the historical society had enough money to start the demolish-and-rebuild project.

Donations to the society are tax deductible, as it is a 501(c)(3) organization. It serves as the umbrella organization over the Museum of Southampton History, the Rebecca Vaughan House, the Southampton Agriculture and Forestry Museum, and the Rochelle-Prince House.