Community Corner

Nathan Hale Statue Stirs LI's Revolutionary Past

Find out Long Island's connection to this Revolutionary War hero.

Nathan Hale evokes the spirit of 1776 even today.

Halesite in the Town of Huntington is named for the man who was executed by the British as a spy on Sept. 22, 1776. So is Hale Hall at Farmingdale State College. A statue of the Revolutionary War hero stands outside New York City Hall. 

“I regret that I have but one life to lose for my country,” is attributed to Hale as he stared down the gallows and certain death, a 21-year-old captain in a special unit known as Knowlton’s Rangers.

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Whether or not the American spy actually uttered those words, it’s become a powerful phrase in the myth-making lexicon of the Revolution and the manifest destiny of a nation. 

That’s why one of the Town of Huntington’s most treasured items – a 28-inch, 75-pound bronze statue of Hale – will go on display July Fourth weekend through July 12 (Town Hall is closed Thursday).

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“We display Nathan twice a year. He’s in the archives,” said Huntington Town Clerk Jo-Ann Raia, who has been on the job 32 years and oversees the archive.

Huntington’s Nathan Hale statue is a model of the 13-foot bronze sculpted by Frederick MacMonnies that stands opposite City Hall. The model was cast circa 1890 and donated to the Town by MacMonnies’ wife, Alice, in 1919.

Hale’s miniature statue once stood prominently in the old Huntington Town Hall and then found a place in the Clerk’s office before it was considered too important historically to leave on permanent display, Raia said. 

“People used to come in to the room and bow to Nathan,” Raia said. 

Hale became an American folk hero by volunteering to spy on British movements after the rebels’ crushing defeat at the Battle of Long Island. Under orders from Gen. George Washington, Hale journeyed from Harlem Heights to Norwalk, Conn. on Sept. 12 and then landed on a sloop near Huntington Harbor.

The Yale-educated Hale dressed as a Dutch schoolmaster during his mission. He was headed back to Huntington Harbor when he mistook a British launch from a nearby frigate for his own clandestine boat and was caught.

He was hanged the next day in lower Manhattan, but not before his history-making final speech. 

Independence Day is a made richer by the heroic acts of our forefathers. And Hale’s deeds are an important moment in Long Island’s Revolutionary history.

As for Hale’s bronze likeness, it too has a rich story all its own.

“That’s why we bring him out of hiding,” Raia said as Town Archivist Antonia Mattheou handled the hefty statue with white gloves and a little elbow grease. 

MacMonnies’ classic Nathan Hale statue, along with other colonial artifacts from Huntington’s past, are on display at Town Hall.


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