A fire broke out at the historic Milleridge Inn in Jericho at 9:34 p.m. Thursday, sending crews from ten Nassau County fire departments racing to the 354-year-old restaurant complex. The blaze tore through the bar area, an adjacent dining room, an upstairs office, and attic voids before firefighters brought it under control within about an hour.
According to Newsday, the 911 call drew mutual aid from Syosset, Westbury, Hicksville, Plainview, and Bethpage, with the response coordinated under Jericho Fire Chief Kerry J. Ketsoglou. Crews managed to keep the flames from reaching the inn's 1,000-seat main dining hall and its separate event spaces, including the wedding cottage. Venue spokesman Mike Deery told the outlet that weddings at the Milleridge Cottage are not expected to be affected.
Nassau Chief Fire Marshal Michael Uttaro has classified the fire as accidental and electrical in nature, as reported by Daily Voice. Investigators are also looking at whether severe storms Thursday night played a role, with flames reportedly traveling up an exterior wall into attic spaces during heavy rainfall.
Inn Closes Main Building for Damage Assessment
Venue management closed the main inn Friday to conduct a structural damage assessment, according to Patch, as reported by Newsday, with the goal of completing repairs before the busy fall season arrives. Management noted that late summer is traditionally a lighter stretch for the sprawling complex, which also includes the Shops at Milleridge Village — a cluster of retail spots featuring a bakery, general store, Christmas shoppe, wine bar, and indoor play cafe, per the Historic Milleridge Inn's own website.
CBS News New York's John Dias reported from the scene on the fire at the CBS News landmark, describing the Milleridge Inn as a Long Island institution and one of the oldest operating restaurants in America. The main restaurant building traces its roots back to 1672, when Quaker Mary Willets built a two-room house on land acquired from Matinecock Chief Assiapum, according to Readers.id. That original structure reportedly still stands inside the modern, expanded building.
A History of Wartime Service and Repeated Fires
The building's past stretches well beyond its founding family. CBS New York has reported that the structure quartered British and Hessian soldiers during the Revolutionary War and later served as a stop on the Underground Railroad during the 1800s abolitionist movement. It was formally named the Milleridge Inn in 1903 after the Miller family acquired the property.
Thursday's fire is not the first serious blaze to hit the site. Newsday has noted that a stove-top fire damaged the kitchen and forced a temporary closure on May 14, 2014, though that incident left the historic banquet rooms intact. Firehouse reported that an earlier electrical fire in December 2004 sent 30-foot flames through the roof, damaging upstairs offices and a dining room before sprinkler systems and crews contained it — the venue still managed to fulfill reservations for 2,000 guests that same day.
Ownership Fought to Save the Landmark in 2015
The Milleridge Inn's survival has depended on more than firefighters over the years. Kimco Realty Corporation bought the property for $7.5 million in 2015 from Owen Smith, whose family had run it for 50 years, according to the Long Island Herald. Butch Yamali's Dover Group then stepped in to manage and preserve operations after more than 16,000 local residents signed petitions that year to prevent the landmark from closing for good.
It remains unclear how long structural repairs will take following Thursday's fire, or whether smoke and water damage reached any of the property's historic architectural elements. Questions about insurance coverage and any preservation requirements tied to the restoration have not yet been addressed publicly by Dover Group or county officials.
