page_title: Oyster Bay History Walk
section_title: 13. Octagon Hotel
hierarchical_section_title: Oyster Bay History Walk / Sites on the Walk / 13. Octagon Hotel
caption_attribution_description: English: Digital duplicate of Octagon Hotel photo, circa 1910.
context_page_description: The Oyster Bay History Walk is a path through downtown Oyster Bay, New York that leads the walker to 30 historic sites. It is a 1-mile loop and is the first certified American Heart Association Start! Walking Path on Long Island.
context_section_description: Luther Jackson built the Nassau House in 1851 to be a political and social meeting space. It was later called the Acker Nassau House. In 1884 the hotel was used for the coroner’s inquest into the murder of three women of the area, Lydia and Annie Maybee of Wolver Hollow and Charlotte Aurelia Townsend of Oyster Bay.
  In 1887 Phillip and Mary Lavelle bought the business and renamed it the Octagon Hotel. When Phillip died Mary took over the operations and made many modern improvements which brought patrons from miles around. In 1889 she installed a central heating system which supplied year-round comfort to the guests of the hotel and in 1890 she built a generating plant which provided Oyster Bay’s first electrical lighting. Finding the new phone service offered by the Queens County Telephone and Telegraph Company unsatisfactory, she had her own direct phone line to New York City installed.
  Roosevelt's secretary maintained a one-room office believed to have been on the second floor in the Octagon Hotel during 1899. Roosevelt was elected governor in late 1898 and began serving his term in January 1899. The one-room office soon proved to be too small and the staff moved to larger quarters in the nearby Oyster Bay Bank Building.
  Mary Lavelle had brought the Octagon Hotel into the 20th century, but a new owner, Charles Davenport, saw his customer base decline as newer hotels in the village competed for clientele. Finally, after ten years, he sold the building to Edward Fisher, who turned it into Oyster Bay’s first Ford automobile dealership. It has been used for various automotive businesses ever since.
  It is the only known octagonal building in this part of Long Island and is perhaps the only octagon-shaped hotel in the United States.
  A proposal has emerged to restore the building to its original condition. This is presently being reviewed by the Town of Oyster Bay. Community groups have expressed their strong interest to see this building tied to the heritage of Theodore Roosevelt to be restored in a sensitive and thoughtful manner.
caption: Octagon Hotel, c. 1910
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