Autumn had only put her initial touches on Long Island’s foliage when I drove out to the North Fork in late October. The 30-mile-long peninsula is best known for its dozens of vineyards and wineries that I once featured in a magazine story. On my recent trip, though, I explored some unbeaten paths of the island’s northeastern corner. I came across a succession of family farms and nurseries spread across quaint villages and hamlets, fishermen casting lines in the Sound or ponds and lakes in backwoods, rundown barns and restored historic homes, and the Horton Lighthouse, a structure commissioned by George Washington that was built in 1857.