Sea Level

Sea Level, a small community with a big heart, has been one of Down East's most important communities, providing health care since the 1950s, first at Sea Level Hospital, now Taylor Extended Facility, and at beautiful Sailors Snug Harbor - home for merchant mariners from all over the world.

Sea Level

  • Sea Level Hospital was the second hospital built Down East, established in the 1950s by the Taylor Brothers of Sea Level who were very successful with their shipping and salt companies. The first Down East hospital was the Marine Hospital located in Portsmouth. The hospital purchased by Duke University in the 1980s and then sold to the county and was converted to an extended care facility, known as Taylor’s Extended Care. There is also a health clinic and pharmacy located on the site, which has been in place since the hospital was built in the early 1950s.
  • Sea Level is home to Sailor’s Snug Harbor, relocated from Manhattan, New York, in the late 1970s. “Snug Harbor” was established by (the) Alexander Hamilton after the Revolutionary War as a home for Merchant Marines who didn’t have any where to go.  It is now known as Snug Harbor on Nelson Bay and is an upscale assisted living facility.
  • Sea Level was home to Valentine Taylor’s oyster house in the 1930s.
  • T.A. Taylor and Sons is the main fish house left in Sea Level.
  • Sea Level is known for its cedar and canvas decoy makers, including Colon Taylor, John Lupton and Harry Hamilton