Arts and Entertainment Huntington In Tour of Historic Sites, the Chance for a Bit of Sleuthing NYTimes.com

VISITORS entering the recently restored Huntington Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Building might not be overwhelmed by the sight of three antique chairs sitting primly on one side of the display room. The first is a graceful Queen Anne variety of maple and oak, the second a cherry-wood, banister back armchair and the third another banister back made from a variety of woods. All are Huntington chairs made in the 1700s and identifiable by certain flourishes added by town craftsmen.

GO WAY BACK The John Gardiner Farm, top, circa 1750, in Greenlawn is on the museum challenge tour in October. A view of the kitchen, bottom.

But one is special, primarily because of the person who sat in it. Some hints: He was tall, often wore a wig and played a key role in the Revolutionary War. And oh, yes, he’s on the dollar bill.

Got it? If so, you’ve just solved one of the 10 questions posed in the Town of Huntington Historic Partnership’s second annual museum challenge on Oct. 4 and 5.

What this celebrity was doing in town and which of the three chairs he sat in is something you’ll have to find out yourself during the challenge.

A tour guide map ( in advance, on the challenge weekend) doubles as the admission ticket and covers an entire family. It shows directions and lists the questions at each of the sites, which are open from noon to 4 p.m. each weekend day. Maps are good both days and can be purchased at the tour sites or by contacting Robert Hughes, the town historian.

“You’ll probably need the whole weekend to complete the tour,” Mr. Hughes said. Last year’s hunt covered eight buildings and drew 243 participants, 75 of whom visited all of them.

The challenge at the Henry Lloyd Manor House in Lloyd Harbor is to find out how many children this early American farmer raised in his saltbox home. At the Northport Historical Society Museum, map followers must determine how long the trolley that once ran from East Northport railroad station to Northport’s main street was active.

Answers are provided during the tour.

Also on the tour are the Cold Spring Harbor Whaling Museum, which features a fully outfitted whaleboat, and the 1740 Suydam House in Centerport. The John Gardiner Farm in Greenlawn is Huntington’s newest museum, while the David Conklin House in Huntington was one of Long Island’s first museums, opening in 1911. Other stops include the Huntington Town Clerk Archives, where visitors can see a photo collection from the Huntington Lighthouse (which is not open), the Daniel W. Kissam House, an example of federal-era architecture, and the farmhouse in West Hills where Walt Whitman was born.

Those who correctly answer all the challenges win a DVD about Huntington’s past and other collectibles like commemorative coins and lapel pins. But the fun is just finding out the facts, Mr. Hughes said.

“Local people drive by these sites and say, ‘I’ll visit that one day’ and never do. This gets rid of their excuses.”

Displays at the Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Building, which reopened as a museum this year, include objects like a knife and fork once belonging to Walt Whitman, a Civil War sword and a rare 1816 experimental box clock. To one side sits a tombstone from Huntington’s old burial grounds. Occupying British soldiers built a fort there and ripped up the headstones to make ovens. Legend has it that their bread had reverse tombstone inscriptions baked into the crust.

This is only the second time the circa-1750, two-story John Gardiner home, part of a museum complex and working farm, has been open to the public. Initially, it was owned by the Smith family. Alexander Smith and his wife, Rebecca, were bludgeoned to death there with the flat part of an ax by their farmhand in 1842.

Afterward, the couple’s daughter, who was married to a Gardiner, moved in. Their enterprising son, Alexander Gardiner — who was known as “the pickle pioneer” — became one of the wealthiest farmers on the Island.

Later, the house was occupied by Herbert Gardiner, his twin brother, Harold, and their sister Alice. They never married. At the urging of their mother they remained leery of strangers and allowed no one inside. Almost no improvements were made during the century the three lived there, despite the fact that they had plenty of money, according to Tony Guarnaschelli, who became a friend of Herbert and persuaded him to bequeath the home to the Greenlawn-Centerport Historical Association.

“They stopped the clock,” he said. Cooking was done on a woodstove. An outhouse in back was the bathroom. The three used newspapers to light lanterns because matches cost money.

Eventually, Herbert’s brother and sister died, leaving him alone. Late in his life, he confessed to his friend that he regretted staying there so long and never marrying. Mr. Gardiner died in 2003 at the age of 100. Ninety-seven of those years were spent in the house.

Mr. Guarnaschelli looked around.

“We spent many, many hours talking in this kitchen,” he said.

The Town of Huntington Historic Partnership's second annual museum challenge, Oct. 4 and 5, noon to 4 p.m. www.museumchallenge.org. Information: (631) 351-3244.