HomeMy WebLinkAbout350th Celebration JournalCelebration Journal
"Come Live with Us in the Fondly
Remembered Past, in the Happy Present,
and in the Promising Future."
Celebration Poster - 1915
275th Anniversary of Southold Town
"THANK YOU"
To the 1987 Town Board, who in their foresight initiated
plans for the celebration of the 350th Anniversary of the
founding of Southold Town, to the Staff at Town Hall and
other Town Officials who were unstinting in their assistance,
and to the 1990 Town Board who dealt patiently with endless
details as the Celebration Year unfolded.
The 350th Anniversary Celebration
Executive Committee
Southold Town Board
1987
Southoid Town Board
1990
Supervisor Francis J. Murphy
Justice Raymond W. Edwards
Councilman Paul Stoutenburgh
Councilman James A. Schondebare
Councilwoman Jean W. Cochran
Councilman George L. Penny IV
Town Clerk Judith T. Terry
Supervisor Scott Louis Harris
Justice Raymond W. Edwards
Councilman George L. Penny IV
Councilwoman Ruth D. Oliva
Councilwoman Ellen M. Larsen
Councilman Thomas H. Wickham
Town Clerk Judith T. Terry
THE WHITE HOUSE
WASHINGTON
January 24, 1990
To the Citizens of Southold, New York:
You have my warmest congratulations as you celebrate your
350th anniversary.
As you well know, Southold is more than a collection of
buildings, it is more than a place on the map. From its
earliest days, it has nurtured the lives and accomplishments
of countless individuals -- individuals united through the
years by a common love for the place they call home. That
deep sense of community, of responsibility toward one's
neighbor and the common good, resonates through all cities
and towns across America. It is one of our nation's
greatest strengths.
This milestone gives you a splendid opportunity to reaffirm
that community spirit, taking just pride in the past and
rededicating yourselves to the promise of a bright future.
Barbara and I send you best wishes for a joyous
celebration. God bless you.
UNITED
METHODIST CHURCH
Founded 1794
Southold, N.Y.
350th Anniversary Journal
Peggy Murphy, Coordinator/Editor
Literary Committee
Midge Hagerman, Chairperson
Cynthia Mell~s
Barbara Terry
Acknowledgements
Sarah Sands of Marsten Associates
Michael Hagerman of The Peconic Bay Shopper & Academy Printing
Gail Horton
Jane Reilly
Townsfolk who graciously loaned treasured photos
A particularly enthusiastic "Thank You" is tendered those in our community who made
the time, and put forth the effort, to write the marvelous stories which appear in this commemora-
tive journal. These pieces truly reflect Southold both as it was and as it is. The recollections,
research, and individualistic writing styles, infuse the journal with a distinctively "down home"
quality.
The staff of the 350th Anniversary Journal also wished to acknowledge the generous
support of the advertisers and numerous other individuals whose financial support enabled us
to fill the Journal pages with articles and photographs.
350th Anniversary Executive Committee
Members from the Community
Raymond C. Dean, Chairperson
Harry P. Fagan, Jr.
John Harrison
Gail Horton
Daysman Moms
Peggy Murphy
J. Stanley Parkin, Chairperson
Town Officials
Antonia Booth, Town Historian
Raymond Edwards
James McMahon
Henry Santacroce
Aurelie Stack, Secretary
Raymond W. Terry, Treasurer
Lillian White
Parnel Wickham-Searl
John Williams
Ralph Williams
Honorary Member:
Howard Dickerson
The Executive Committee would like to express its appreciation to honorary member, Howard
Dickerson, who graciously permitted the committee use of his post office box, 350, during
the period of preparation for Southold's anniversary celebration.
Southold Town 350th Anniversary
PROGRAM OF EVENTS
Monday, April 16, 10 am
Tuesday, June 5, 1 pm
Saturday, July 14, 4 pm
Sunday, July 15, 4pm
Monday, July 16, 10am- 5 pm
7 pm
7:30pm
Tuesday, July 17, 10 am - 5 pm
2-5 pm
2pm
7 pm
7:30pm
Wednesday, July 18, 2 pm
2-5 pm
2-5 pm
4pm
7pm
Thursday, July 19, 1-5 pm
2-5 pm
5 pm, 6:30 pm, 8 pm
The Old Bay View Schoolhouse, the 350th celebration's
memorial, moved to the Southold Historical Society's
Museum Complex.
Dedication of murals painted by youngsters in Southold's
hamlets, Southold Town Hall
Celebration Week
Parade, Main Road, Southold
350th Anniversary Choir, Mattituck School
Open House, Terry-Mulford Home, Main Road, Orient
Monday Night Band, Silversmith's Comer, Southold Town Green
"Archaeological Studies in Southold Town," Frank Turano,
Speaker, Poquatuck Hall, Orient
Open House, Terry-Mulford Home, Main Road, Orient
Irish History Day, Southold Historical Society
Dedication of Old Bay View Schoolhouse
Southold Elementary School Band Concert, Southold Town Green
"East End Architecture," Barbara Fertig, Speaker,
Poquatuck Hall, Orient
"Fort Corchang," Dr. Lorraine Williams, Speaker,
Archaeological Society, Southold
Lithuanian History Day, Southold Historical Society
Open House, Wickham's Fruit Farm, Cutchogue
"Colonial Horticulture," Muriel Tatum, Speaker,
Wickham's Fruit Farm, Cutchoguc
A Program of Classical Music, Bay Chamber Players,
Silversmith's Comer, Southold Town Green
Sunfish Race, Founders Landing, Southold
Polish History Day, Southold Historical Society
Birthday Barbecue, Founders Landing, Southold
Friday, July 20, 2-5 pm
8 pm
Saturday, July 21
8pm
Sunday, July 22, 10 am
10:30 am and 12:30 pm
9pm
Black History Day, Southold Historical Society
Pageant, Village Green, Cutchogue
350th Anniversary Off-Shore Regatta, New Suffolk
"Come as You Were" Dance, American Legion Hall, Greenport
"A Sense of History - A Sense of Community,"
Dr. Joella Vreeland, Speaker, Opening Exhibit,
First Universalist Church, Southold
Recreation of a 1620 Puritan Church Service, First Presbyterian Church, Southold
Fireworks, Greenport Harbor
On-Going Events
Exhibit of Hamlet Murals by area school children . . . Southold Town Green at Silversmith Corner
S. Wentworth Horton Memorial Park, Greenport
Exhibit of Quilts ..................................... Cutchogue Free Library
Colonial Plantings at Wickham's Fruit Farm
Historical Society Buildings will be open daily
during the week of July 14th - 21st
Cutchogue-New Suffolk Historical Council, 2:00-5:00 pm
Mattituck Historical Society, 2:004:00 pm
Oysterponds Historical Society, 2:00-5:00 pm
Southold Historical Society, 2:00-5:00 pm
Sterling Historical Society, 1:00-4:00 pm
Church Tours will be held afternoons in the individual hamlets. Organized by respective historical
societies/council, these tours will be held afternoons on the dates which follow.
July 23: Tour of Southold Chumhes
July 24: Tour of Cutchogue Churches
July 25: Tour of Mattituck Churches
July 26: Tour of Greenport Churches
July 27: Tour of East Marion and Orient Churches
The preceding list includes only those celebration events which had been confirmed at the time of the
Journal's publication. For additional happenings, contact Southold Town Hall or your local Chamber
of Commerce. The Matfituck Traveler-Watchman, The Suffolk Times and The Peconic Bay Shopper,
all published locally, will also contain current listings of area events.
CONGRATULATIONS
SOUTHOLD TOWN
HAPPY 350th
Griswold - Terry - Glover
Post 803
American Legion
Southold, N.Y.
JOSEPH SAWICKI, JR.
THE ASSEMBLY
STATE OF NEW YORK
ALBANY
1990
To My Fellow Southold Residents:
It is with deep pride that I am able to share our 350th
Anniversary with you. We in Southold Town certainly must
treasure this experience to be able to celebrate with honor and
distinction this Anniversary of the founding of our Town, which
is occurring in our lifetime.
As one who was born, raised and currently resides in.
Southold, I take great pride in representing the First Assembly
District in our State Capitol in Albany. There, I have had the
opportunity to meet and discuss with representatives of virtually
every part of New York State, and almost all are cognizant of the
beautiful rural quality of life we have known in our town on the
North Fork from generation to generation. From farming to
fishing, from fresh air to clean waters, we seem to have it all!
I am quite sure that our founding fathers, if they were ever able
to see our town today, would be quite proud of the torch they
passed on to us.
Our town not only enjoys the dignity of being one of the
oldest English speaking towns in the state, but we also have
grown to be a nestled hamlet for peoples of nearly every
nationality in the world. For sure, if one looks carefully,
Southol~ Town can be considered as a miniature melting pot and a
distinct reflection of what made the United States of America so
great!
The people of Southold - Happy 350th!
JOSEPH SAWICKI, JR.
Member of the Assembly
Southold
Fire Department
DEPARTMENT OFFICERS
Chief - Peter Grattan, Jr.
1st Asst. Chief - Mike Davids, Sr.
2nd Asst. Chief - Bill Sawicki
Secretary - Louis Walters, Jr.
Treasurer- Ronald Butkovich
BOARD OF FIRE COMMISSIONERS
George J. Berry, Sr.
Albert Salmon Donald Sayre
George Conway John Stankewicz
SECRETARY OF THE BOARD
Fred Weber
TREASURER OF THE BOARD
Karen Helinski
EAGLE HOOK AND LADDER CO. #3
Captain - James Rich III
1st Lt. - Carl Stepnowsky
2nd Lt. - Henry Smith
SecFFreas - William Albedson
PACKARD HOSE CO. #2
Captain - Henry Jacobi, Jr.
1st Lt.- Gary Haupt
2nd Lt. - Keith Pumell
Sec/Treas - Edward Skrezec
PROTECTION ENGINE CO. #1
Captain - Louis Walters, Jr.
1st Lt.- Greg Schlacter
2nd Lt.- Joe Pontino
Sec/Treas - Tilly Zurek
KENNETH P I~VALLE
THE SENATE
STATE OF NEW YORK
July 1990
To the Residents of Southold Town:
It gives me great pleasure to extend congratulations and best
wishes to all of you as you celebrate the 350th Anniversary of the
founding of Southold Town.
Southold has a distinguished history, being the oldest English
settlement in the State of New York. The history, customs and
traditions have been preserved because its residents have always been
proud of their heritage.
As you celebrate the 350th Anniversary with various festivities,
want to wish you continued prosperity and well being in the years to
come. I am proud to have had the privilege of serving you these past
thirteen years in the New York State Senate. Thank you for this great
honor; I reaffirm my commitment to work with you to preserve Southold's
unique history.
WE'RE HONORED TO BE A PART OF
SOUTHOLD TOWN'S
350TH ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION.
THE
SUFFOLK
COUNTY
NATIONAL
BANK ~t.~890
"CELEBRATING 100 YEARS OF HOME TOWN SERVICE"
Cutchogue Office:
Route 25
Cutchogue, NY 11935
Robert E. Cotton, Manager
Mattituck Office:
10900 Main Road
Mattituck, NY 11952
Stanley A. Cierach, Jr., Manager
Riverhead/Main Office · Riverhead/Ostrander Avenue Office
Hampton Bays · Cutchogue · Mattituck · Westhampton Beach
Center Moriches · Medford · Wading River
Equal Opportunity Lenck~r
Member FDIC
The First First Settlers
Walter Smith
About 14,000 years ago, the melting away of North America's greatest earth mover, the
mile thick Laurentide ice sheet, left a pile of stone, pebbles and gravel which became the base
of what we call Long Island. One of the first areas to become free of ice, the Island quickly
acquired vegetation and then the great game animals like the mastodon which fed on it. Attracted
by the game, small nomadic hunting bands of Paleo-Indians (an archeologist's term for oldest)
became the first human inhabitants. We know about them because they left behind the distinctive
stone point - the Clovis - which tipped their spears. A rising sea level has drowned most of
their hunting grounds so we are not likely to add to the evidence we have of them.
Much more is known about their successors, a people who appeared about 4,500 years
ago. Dubbed the Archaic Indians, these new arrivals seem unrelated to the Paleo Indians. We
know a great deal more about them from excavation and analysis of finds. They used wooden
bowls, birch bark containers, tools of stone and bone and hunted with a new tool, an assisted
spear which is hurled with a weighted, detachable handle called the atlatl. The stone weight
has survived the wood shaft and its presence with spear points is the signature of cultural
change. The vanished big game animals were replaced by deer and there was a large and varied
diet of shell fish.
As time passed, cultural development proceeded and for a short time, archeologically
speaking, there was a Transitional phase, a phase that preceeded the Woodland cultural period
which is the one that saw European exploration and settlement as its end. This phase takes its
name from the place where it was first discovered, Orient. Called Orient Focus, it has left
evidence in several places on the Island, but especially at 2 sites in Orient which were excavated
by Roy Latham and members of the Long Island Chapter of the New York State Archeological
Association. Orient Focus is identified by soapstone bowls (steatite, which is a mainland
material not found on Long Island), the distinctive Orient Fish Tail projectile point, and
elaborate burials. This Transitional phase lasted around 500 years and about, 3,000 years ago
we are into the Woodland Period.
By 1,000 AD the people were living in semi-permanent villages; raising corn, beans,
pumpkins, squash, melons; firing clay pottery; hunting deer and small game, forest and water
fowl, fishing and gathering shell fish. The population was limited only by the food supply.
Heavy forest limited agriculture but was home to the deer which provided clothing, bone for
tools, sinew for sewing as well as meat for the pot. It provided saplings to frame a wigwam
and bark strips to cover it, as well, as branches for tool hafts and shafts, bow and arrows,
firewood and tree trunks for dugouts. Berries, nuts and grass seeds were gathered for food and
medicinal use. Whales and other marine mammals provided meat, bone and oil for waterproof-
ing.
We don't know how many people lived on Long Island in the early 17th century. Estimates
suggest not more than 10,000, so the numbers in the area from Orient Point to Wading River,
the first established boundaries of early Southold Town, cannot have been large. The people
were one of the 13 "families" which divided pre-Contact Long Island between them and were
known as the Corchaugs - a variant of the name which has survived in Cutchogue. Their
principal headquarters was Fort Corchaug on Downs Creek. It was one of four Indian forts
which existed on eastern Long Island at contact time. The Corchaug Indians were at Cutchogue,
the Manhasset on Shelter Island, the Shinnecock at Southampton and the Montauk at Montauk.
Using a system of smoke signals, the four families could be brought together in a matter of
hours. The rapid mOvement between forts was due to the availability of dugout canoes. The
Long Island and southern New England Indians were noted for their skill in making of dugouts.
This made tbr quick and easy travel across both the bays and the Sound. Some of the canoes
were over forty feet long. Fort Corchaug is the only remaining fort site that has not been
subjected to either development or serious intrusion.
Early European settlers were interested in the land and not in its people and so there are
few descriptions of how the people looked or dressed. The little recorded information describes
persons of about 5 to 6 feet tall with black hair and light bronze complexions. Deerskin clothing
was added or subtracted with the seasons very much in the 20th century manner and furs were
added in winter. The Comhaug had no immunity from European diseases and so their population
declined. Add to that the harsh and punitive methods of 17th century law and custom, and it
is not surprising that by the time of the first Southold census, taken in the 1690's, only 40
Indians are listed to a population of 800 Whites and 41 Blacks. Both the Indians and the Blacks
were in some form of servitude.
European settlement destroyed a way of life that had lasted for thousands of years and
did it in a few decades. What we know today came as a result of interest that sprang up toward
the end of the 19th century, for though the people were gone, the artifacts of the first inhabitants
persisted beneath the soil of Southold. In the early 20th century, a few men had their interest
caught when they found stone tools and arrowheads on the land where they walked and farmed.
They met and began to discuss their finds. To these men: Charles Goddard, Roy Latham, Nat
Booth and their associates, we owe a tremendous debt for collecting and preserving this segment
of Southold's history. The Long Island Charter of the New York State Archeological Association
was tbrmed in 1925 and incorporated as a Non-Profit Institution in 1942.
Painting of A Typical L.L Algonquin Indian Wigwam Dwelling
ACADEMY PRINTING
SERVICES, INC.
HORTON LANE, SOUTHOLD
Congratulations
Southold Town
For all your Printing needs.
765-3346
FAX 765-3369 ~y
If you live on Eastern Long Island, there's a
good chance you answered either North Fork Bank
or Southold Savings Bank. That's because together
we're in more communities and have more customers
than any bank around.
Of course it's never been the goal of either bank to
have the most offices or the most customers. We're more
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FO;=II(
Southold
Savings Bank
~l~We have 32 offices to serve you throughout Long Island.
Subsidiaries of North Fork Bancorp Members F D 1 C
tr
A Brief Account of Southoid's History
Antonia Booth
Southold's official flag proclaims it the oldest English town in New York State. Founded
in 1640 by Puritans from the New Haven Colony, Southold is celebrating its 350th birthday
this year, 1990.
The many histories of Long Island written in the nineteenth century focus mainly on
Southold's first one hundreds years. Despite continued emphasis by historians and genealogists
on the town's colonial beginnings, Southold's long history includes change as well as continuity,
tensions as well as traditions, innovation as well as inflexibility.
In his influential 1845 history of Long Island, the Reverend Nathaniel Prime says without
equivocation, "Southold was the first town settled on Long Island". Patterns of seventeenth
century migration dictated that men should come first in order to assess the dangers of the
New World and to prepare the way for women and children. Those sent out first usually
possessed special skills like the carpenter, Richard Jackson, who built a house in Arshamomoque
early in 1640. By the time the Reverend John Youngs, "organized his church anew" and left
New Haven with his followers in October of 1640, it is highly probable that the men in the
group had been in Southold for some time, preparing shelter and planting crops for the hard
winter ahead.
When Youngs and his followers arrived in Southold (at the spot which in 1915 would be
named Founders Landing), the adventurous Richard Jackson was ready to move on and had
sold his land, "his dwelling house and all appurtenances" to another settler, mariner Thomas
Weatherly.
Well before 1640, title to all the land from what is now Orient Point to Wading River
was bought by New Haven's magistrates from the Corchaug Indians. Youngs and his congre-
gation moved onto land already cleared by the Corchaugs, whose name for the area was
Yennecott.
The main settlement was laid out, beginning from the Town Creek, in four acre lots. A
Congregational church was erected on the northeast corner of the present cemetery of the First
Church of Southold. The wealthiest of the heads of family accompanying Reverend Youngs
was the baker, Barnabas Horton. William Wells acted as lawyer for the group and Thomas
Mapes was their surveyor. The settlers brought in the famous Indian killer John Underhill, to
live in the center of the community at Feather Hill. Fortunately, the Corchaugs were evidently
few in number, peace loving and helpful and Underhill's services were not needed for long.
The church built in 1640 served the colonists in Southold not only for religious services
but was also the center of town government and its arsenal. Each freeman from 16 to 60 was
responsible for possessing his own gun and ammunition, for militia service, and for standing
watch over the community. Fines were imposed for dereliction of duty and for disobedience.
The colonists were so fearful of Indian attack that the church contained a gun rack where
worshipers could store their guns during services.
There were few specialists and little division of labor among the first settlers. They brought
their livestock with them and, soon, herds of cattle could be found penned up on common
land. Sheep, goats and swine had to compete with wolves and wildcats for existence. As fields
were cleared they were planted to crops. Wheat, corn and rye were supplemented by garden
patches were women grew potatoes, parsnips, carrots and watermelons, In this transitional
time, sharing so much of the work and responsibility with men, women came as close as they
ever have to equality.
Most of the early historians of Long Island were clergymen. Universally, they lauded the
first settlers as "healthy, thrifty, moral, prudent and frugal'. Southold was unusual among
early towns on the Island in its particularly close union of church and state, its exclusionary
practices and the fact that it adopted the Mosaic Code as its town law. Temporal and religious
authority was vested in the church and only white freemen who were also full churchmembers
could be members of the polity. Southolder's took pains to ensure that only those with like
beliefs would become part of the community. (In 1658, when Quaker Humphrey Norton
criticized Rev. Youngs in church, he was fined twenty pounds, severely whipped, branded
with the letter H on his hand and banished from Southold.) Despite the fact that the colony
lost many of its original settlers, who quickly moved on to other parts of Long lsland, new
families took their place and precipitated an increase in total numbers.
Population pressures necessitated changes. A new church was built in 1684 on the site of
the present Town Hall. The colonists dug a dungeon under the original church and it was used
as a jail for the entire county from 1684 until 1725. (Suft'olk County, which extended all the
way to Queens, was established in 16831~ Crimes punishable by death were far fewer here
than in England, but the final penalty could still be invoked for bearing l'alsc witness, for
forgery and arson, for denying the authority of the King, and, "against children for smiting a
parent." Lesser crimes were punished by whipping or ducking. Alcohol was a factor in many
of these cases. Drinking was almost universal and the colonists brought with them not only
tools, clothes and arms, but also plenty of "aquavitae", the "water of life", and they made
their own hard cider and beer.
Population increase also led to a demand for more land. The surveyor, Thomas Mapes.
laid out the land known as Calves Neck, between Town and Jockey Creeks, and it was divided
among the freemen. Three large divisions of land were made in 1661 in Oyster Ponds, Corchaug,
and Occabauk. The last consisted of all the land from Mattituck Creek to Wading River and
ran from Peconic River to the Sound, which in those days was called the North Sea. Thc three
great divisions marked the beginning of the settlements of Orient, Mattituck, Cutchogue and
Aqueboge. Arshamomoque, although the first part of the town settled, did not formally become
part of Southold Town until February 1662. Hog Neck (Bayview/was divided in 1702 among
66 owners and the last of the common lands to be divided were South Harbor and Indian Necks.
The Indians who formerly occupied these lands were pushed out. Many of them were
enslaved. In 1698, for example, .lames Pearsall of Southold, sold to John Parker of Southampton
an eight year old Indian girl named Sarah, "daughter of one Dorkas, an Indian woman". Sarah,
described by Pearsall as "my slave for her lifetime," brought the sum of sixteen pounds and
was to become the property of Parker and his heirs ~'during her natural life". Many of the
Indians died of diseases contracted from the white settlers, while many intermarried with later
black slaves who became the property of Southolders.
Each household at first raised only enough crops for its own use, but, with more land
available and trade with New England and the West Indies growing, flax and tobacco farming
Southotd At A Glance
Petty's Blacksmith Shop in Southold circa 1920,
Fishers Island ambulance boat "Sea Stretcher"
Founder's Memorial Gateway
r
became popular. Before the existence of a market economy, every household wove its own
cloth and made its own clothes.
Civil War in England between Crown and Commonwealth from 1642 until 1649 lessened
communications between the new settlements in North America and the mother country. The
seven year hiatus also weakened ties between Great Britain and her American colonies although
the Puritans were sympathetic to the cause of the Commonwealth. England, under a Protectorate,
did without a King for a time. However, soon after King Charles II was restored to the throne
in 1660, he gave Long Island to his brother, the Duke of York.
Reluctantly, Southolders severed their ties with Connecticut and in 1664, they became
the subjects of the Duke. They were issued a new patent, or land grant, from the Duke's agent
in America, Edmund Andross. Confirmed in their ownership of all the land from Plum Island
to Wading River, Southold was obliged to pay to the Duke's agent "one fart lamb" annually.
Soon after, New Amsterdam was renamed New York in honor of the Duke and Suffolk County
became part of the "East Riding of Yorkshire".
The new English administration ordered every boat sailing out of Southold harbor to clear
at the port of New York. Since much trade was with New England, this added to the dissatis-
faction Southolders already felt at having to accept the New York charter. As subjects of the
King, 150 Southold men were sent to Ticonderoga after 1754 to fight in the French and Indian
War, known also as the Seven Years War. Their commanding officers were British and there
was much resentment at the cruel treatment the troops received ibrm them. Reeves, Tuthills,
Terrys, Pennys, Overtons, Howells, Hortons, Beebes and Booths were among those who felt
the lash of the English officers from 1754 until 1763. Another of the Southold men serving
was Benjamin L'Hommedieu. His son, Ezra L'Hommedieu, along with fellow students at Yale
University, Thomas Wickham and Jared Landon, would become leading patriots when Southold
was finally ready for independence from Britain.
There were no newspapers in Southold during the eighteenth century. The population at
the beginning of the Revolution was just over 3000, excluding slaves, and the townspeople
got their news from Connecticut papers, from travelers, or from returning mariners. Taverns
were the center of social life as well as information. George Washington visited Booth's Inn
and Greenport in 1757, long before the Revolution and later, Moore's Tavern in Southold was
host to Alexander Hamilton and Benjamin Franklin.
Because the annual town meeting continued to be held at Southold, that hamlet kept its
primacy over the newer settlements. At the beginning of the Revolutionary War, Southold
contained fifteen taverns and an even larger number of retailers licensed to sell spirits. Spirits
were sold by the gallon and Freegift Wells of Hog Neck was but one of many who bought
rum by the hogshead and divided it among his neighbors. John Peck, whose tavern stood where
the Southold Library is now, was both a tavern keeper and a retailer. The culture became
secular enough so that the principal diversions of male Southolders were horse racing, cockfight-
ing, card playing and shooting at the mark.
In 1776, many Southolders were loyal to the Crown but almost half fled to Connecticut.
It had become known that the British were sending an occupying force to Southold to requisition
produce and livestock for the British am~y in New York and force colonists to take an oath of
allegiance to the Crown. Entire families, with their crops, livestock, furniture and household
goods, departed from Mattituck Creek, Goldsmith's Inlet in Peconic, or Petty's Bight in Orient.
The difficulties endured by Southolders were complicated by an epidemic of cholera and
J
dystentery which killed many. More men than women left and in some cases the wives of
rebels were left behind to protect their homesteads. The colonists placed a good deal of trust
in the British policy of not occupying houses tenanted by their owners. From 1776 until the
war ended in 1783, the British occupied Southold with about 500 infantry and 50 cavalry, off
and on, for a total of four years. The seat of government was transferred to Mattituck, so that
the British and their hired Hessian mercenaries could more easily control the town.
The British closed the churches, plundered horses and grain and even dug up buried gold
and silver. Trees were cut down to keep officers in New York warm throughout the long
occupation. When patriot funds ran out in New England, those who left lived in poverty and
those who stayed behind suffered even more. Many Southold militia men fought in the Battle
of Long Island, after which their units disbanded. Some went on to fight in New England. In
1777, Lt. Col. Return Jonathan Meigs, with 170 Americans of the Continental Army, led his
troops across Southold for a daring and successful raid on British ships at Sag Harbor. They
returned to Connecticut across Long Island Sound with 90 prisoners. Later that year, sailors
from a British ship in Peconic Bay engaged in a skirmish on land with members of the Cutchogue
militia with some loss of life to the British. British ships bombarded houses close to the
shoreline, especially on Hog Neck.
When the British finally evacuated New York in 1784, many of the Refugees of 1776
returned to Southold. They attempted to rebuild their homesteads, replant their crops and forests
destroyed by the enemy and replace their flocks and herds. Many were forced to borrow on
their lands and farms that had been handed down from father to son for a hundred years passed
to other families.
Years of penury followed. Cash was always scarce in Southold, but the years after the
Revolution were particularly hard. Not long after the end of the war the Rev. Dr. Timothy
Dwight, president of Yale College, toured Long Island and pronounced that, because of the
Island's insular position, its "people must be always narrow and contracted in their views,
affections, and pursuits".
War with 6reat Britain in 1812 had little direct effect on Southold, or for that matter, on
Suffolk County. A blockade was in effect along the coast but ships were able to slip through.
A British fleet occupied Gardiners Bay and from that vantage point were able to attack American
ships. Foraging parties could and did set from the English mother ships to loot barns and homes
on the mainland. Sag Harbor, a leading port of entry, contained an arsenal. In November of
1812, Southold contributed a company of soldiers captained by Gilbert Horton to defend the
county and Col. Benjamin Case of Southold commanded the military post at Sag Harbor.
Still without a newspaper, and before the invention of telephones, radio, and, of course,
television, eastern Long Islanders were isolated and self-sufficient. Markets were few and
distant, reachable only after a rough trip in small vessels. A New York State Gazetteer of 1824
describes Southold's houses as "principally old, without paint and very poor". The population
was a little less than at the beginning of the Revolution, and included one "foreigner", 28 free
blacks and, although slavery in New York State was outlawed in 1801, 11 slaves. The entry
on Southold concludes, "The present inhabitants retain the manners and customs of their
ancestors, with the same reverence for religion, and sober habits; fraud is seldom practiced
and a law-suit is almost as rare as a lawsuit."
In this relatively isolated world, townspeople found their social life revolving around their
churches. Diaries and journals mention almost weekly attendance at funerals. In addition,
revivals were held for days at a time which did much to increase chruch membership for the
various denominations. Visiting preachers increased attendance as well. Women quilted, alone
or in groups, and went to singing schools, canned, preserved, put up pickles, wallpapered,
cared for the young and the sick, prepared the dead for viewing, all in addition to their growing
responsibilities as moral guardians of the home.
In the 1820's, every home in Southold still had a spinning wheel and every hamlet a
weaver. Among the farm crops was flax for making their own linen. Farmers sheared their
own sheep and when the cattle were ready for market they were bought up by drovers and
driven to the western end of Long Island. Many Southolders left for New York and Brooklyn
in the hope of earning more money. Greenport incorporated in 1838 and the village rapidly
became a whaling center. With the village's new prosperity the shipping and shipbuilding
industries traditionally centered in the hamlet of Southold, were gradually transferred to Green-
port. Many men left for California m look for gold.
What trnly transformed the Town of Southold was the coming of the railroad in 1844. It
was with the goal of bettering communication with Boston that the small village of Greenport
was chosen as a terminal. Isolation from the rest of the state was ended, distant markets brought
close. As land values rose and farming methods modernized, the townspeople prospered. They
could afford to buy fabrics rather than weave their own. The struggle for a bare existence was
ending. Instead of needing to be a "jack of all trades", people could become specialists. In the
new division of labor some went to sea as sailors or whalers while others prospered as tailors,
hatters~ blacksmiths, coopers or cordwainers. Mails were no longer carried by horseback or
stage once a week, but were delivered daily along with passengers from far away. Summer
visitors were attracted to the area. Boarding houses flourished and hotels were built in all the
hamlets. Orient already had the oldest summer resort on Long Island, the hotel of Jonathan
Latham, while the Southold Hotel was an established center of social life. Now, Mattituck had
Klein's Hotel and in Greenport, the Peconic and Wyandank Hotels joined the old Clark House
in 1845.
Change came in the religious as well as in the social sphere. By the time the railroad
reached Greenport, Cutchogue, Mattituck, Orient and Greenport had long had Presbyterian
churches of their own. The Methodist Episcopal church organized in 1794 while Baptists first
organized about 1810. The Universalist church was built in 1836. The Roman Catholic church
began soon after the railroad arrived along with its mostly Irish laborers, Some German
immigrants also belonged to it, the rest joined the Lutheran church, first meeting in parishioners'
homes until, at length, a Lutheran church was built in 1879. Many of the Italian families who
came to work around the end of the century also joined the Catholic Church. Tifereth Israel
is one of the oldest synagogues on Long Island but the A.M.E. Zion church would not be
organized until 1920. Episcopal servcies were first held in a cottage behind the Wyandank
Hotel, while the Mattituck Episcopal church was built in 1878.
No longer was the North Fork without newspapers. The Republic Watchman moved to
Greenport from Sag Harbor in 1844 and the Suffolk Times began in the village in 1856. The
new era of prosperity brought by the railroad was also evidenced by the founding of the
Southold Savings Bank in 1858.
Unfortunately, the prosperity initiated by the railroad did not last. Railway policies were
not fiscally sound and the Panic of 1857 and subsequent depression affected Southold as well
as the rest of the country. With a population of under 6,000 Southold was largely an agricultural
community, with some sectors of the economy involved in shipbuilding, fishing, whaling and
commerce. A poorfarm of 300 acres was located in the hamlet of Southold, Greenport was
the commercial center of the town, Laurel was called Franklinville, and what is now Peconic
was known as Hermitage.
With the outbreak of the Civil War, or the "War of the Rebellion", as it was called in
the North, Southolders were quick to volunteer. The Southold Hotel was used as an enlistment
center. A series of lectures aimed at encouraging enlistment was given in the Southold Presby-
terian Church by Stewart L. Woodford, a former assistant U.S. district attorney of New York.
Woodford, who had relatives in Southold, resigned his position in order to organize a company
of the 127th Regiment of the New York Volunteers on eastern Long Island. No doubt the men
who joined were patriotic, but for some the bounties and monthly allowances (eight dollars a
month to the volunteer's wife and two dollars a month for children under eleven) voted by the
Town of Southold must have been an incentive. In addition, the Town voted to pay up to
$400. per substitute for those who did not wish to serve themselves. One hundred and twenty
men enlisted from Southold in 1862. Three of these men were born in Ireland, four in Germany
and one in England.
The 127th Regiment, in which most Southolders served, moved around a lot but did not
see much action. They did fight at Honey Hill and Mackay's Point, South Carolina. Other
Southold men fought with the 163rd, the 165th, the 170th and the 176th New York State
Volunteers. Three Southolders were killed in action, twelve discharged with disabilities, two
died as prisoners, twelve more died of disease and 78 were mustered out with their companies.
The two local newspapers had opposing loyalties. The Suffolk Times supported the war
effort but the Re, publican Watchman was a Copperhead paper. Its editor was arrested and jailed
for his Southern sympathies. In general, the community of Southold supported its soldiers with
rallies, the raising of "Liberty Poles". The Ladies Aid Society of Mattituck sent bedding and
clothes. The Town of Southold spent over $50,000. on the war and its debt was not paid off
until 1871. In honor of its soldiers, the Ladies Monumental Union erected a statue at Budd's
Park in Southold which bears the names of all who fought.
Southold suffered from the usual post-war depression but by the 1880's the visitors first
brought by the railroad now filled the boarding houses and hotels in every hamlet as soon as
the temperature rose in June. Six steamers also connected Greenport to New York City, New
London, Connecticut, Newport, Rhode Island and Block Island in the summer and brought
tourists back and forth. As whaling died out, other industries connected with the water grew
and prospered. Menhaden fisheries, the scallop industry, fertilizer plants and oystering provided
good livings and made the name of eastern Long Island well known in city markets. In the
1890's Greenport alone had twenty large fishing smacks taking huge quantities of cod in winter
and bluefish in the summer from the waters off Long Island and New Jersey.
North Fork roads had been improving since the Civil War but it was the introduction of
the safety bicycle with pneumatic tires that marked a turning point in the quality of the highways.
A "Liberty Bill" was passed in the New York State Legislature in 1887 giving bicyclists the
right to use the highways. The money collected for bicycle licenses was used to construct paths
all over Suffolk County. On the North Fork, a continuous path ran from Greenport to Riverhead,
presaging the fine roads that would be built with the coming of the automobile.
As people began to enjoy more leisure, the age of sport was inaugurated. Southold had
a long history of horse racing, but in the nineteenth century large stock farms were maintained
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on the North Fork. The woods and streams attracted scores of hunters and fishermen. Country
estates were built in the early twentieth century along the Sound bluff and for those who could
not afford two houses, the beaches attracted picnickers and bathers who traveled by rail or,
soon, by automobile.
At first, religious groups built campgrounds where families enjoyed their vacations in a
moral and refined atmosphere. Later, boys and girls' camps were added. A hospital was badly
needed and in 1905 a Hospital Association was organized. The Eastern Long Island Hospital
opened in 1907 and its first patient was Mr. F.S. Butler who had been working on the building
and cut his head on a rusty nail. Realizing that added numbers of visitors were straining its
resources and that more beaches and parks were needed, Southold formed a Board of Parks
Commissioners. The Ladies Village Improvement Society had a memorial gateway constructed
at Founders Landing in 1915 and presented the park to the Commissioners.
This increase in summer visitors did not alter the fact that Southold was primarily an
agricultural community. While many Yankee owners of the original farms had sold to the Irish
and moved away in search of better jobs, the majority of Southold's land was still planted to
potatoes, cauliflower and sprouts. In turn, Irish families would move on in the early twentieth
century in search of a better living after selling their farms to new immigrants from Poland,
Russia and Lithuania.
While these changes were taking place in Southold in the second decade of the twentieth
century, war was declared in April of 1917. Quickly, rallies were held and Home Guards
organized in Greenport, Southold and Mattituck. About throe hundred men and women from
Southold served in the armed forces. Reflecting the growing diversity of Southold Town they
were no longer just Yankees, but Black, Irish, German, Greek, Polish, Italian, Lithuanian,
French, Portugese and Puerto Rican. Mrs. Lillian Cook Townsend organized over 800 workers
for the Red Cross. Mattituck had a branch of the Red Cross as did Cutchogue-New Suffolk,
Laurel, Peconic, East Marion and Orient. Typical of the dedication of all the members, Mrs.
Eunice Fanning, over seventy years of age, knitted 13 pairs of socks monthly for the duration
of the War. Fishers Island, which became a part of Southold Town in 1879, had its own branch
of the Red Cross made up both of permanent island residents and summer colonists.
Soon, better jobs were available on the North Fork. The Greenport Basin and Construction
Company began building submarine chasers for the war effort and workers received forty cents
an hour. Fear of Germans caused the name of Germania Street in Greenport to be changed to
Fourth Street. Among the local men seriously wounded in the "war to end all wars", were
Pasquale Santacroce of Greenport, born in Italy, but now an American citizen. George E.
Hannibal, a black and also from Greenport, received from the French government the Croix
de Guerre, after being seriously wounded in the Argonne Forest.
Peace brought with it another economic downturn as well as votes for women on the plus
side and, on the negative, the secret society called the Ku Klux Klan whose activities on the
East End were aimed mostly against Catholics. Prohibition of liquor by the federal government
was followed by the private and illegal enterprise of rum-running. In order to monitor violations
of the Volsted Act, a Coast Guard station was established in Greenport but many local people
made pin money unloading illegal liquor from fast boats. As the hatred promulgated by the
Ku Klux Klan gradually subsided, The Greenport Watchman was sold to the former editor of
Klan Kraft, Rev. Howard Mather.
The good times accompanying shipbuilding and rum-running eventually yielded to a
depression which followed the Crash of 1929. Many local schools and roads still in use in
Southold Town were built by the WPA during this difficult period. A bright spot in 1934 was
our capturing the America Cup in the series of races off Newport. Aboard the American
defender, "Rainbow" were three Southolders, Captain George Monsell as well as a father and
son, both named Harry Klefve.
Taking attention from the hard times of the 1930's, at least for a while, was the tropical
hurricane that swept eastern Long Island in 1938. As a result of the 100-mile an hour storm,
over 600 trees were uprooted, lives were lost, houses and businesses were demolished. In
1939, a new theatre replaced the old Greenport Theatre destroyed by the hurricane. Two years
later, in 1940, Southold Town proudly celebrated its 300th anniversary.
Prosperity did not return to Southold Town until World War li commenced. Even before
America became involved, The Greenport Basin and Construction Company was enlarged and
began to build mine sweepers. Civil Defense units were organized and, after war was declared,
blood donor programs began and Red Cross activities renewed. Many farmers and defense
workers received deferments because their work was vital. However, many local men and
women served with all branches of the service. The first Suffolk resident to lose his life was
Russell Penney of Mattituck, killed in the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. Another Mattituck
man who died was killed on Leyte Island. He was Wojciech J. Majcher, born in Poland but
an American citizen when he died for his new country.
The end of World War 1I was another turning point in Southold Town's development.
Relative prosperity, improved transportation and communication combined with almost univer-
sal ownership of automobiles, combined to increase the number of second homes on eastern
Long Island. People from New Jersey, New York City and Nassau County began spending
summers on the North Fork. In 1940, Southold's year-round population was just over 12,000.
Soon, magazine articles were touting Southold as an ideal and inexpensive place for retirement.
Publicity of this sort attracted enough people to the ama so that, by the 1960's, Southold Town
had the highest median age in New York State.
While the total numbers of people living within the town were going up, so were the
demands of the federal, state and county governments on smaller municipalities. Mandates,
without compensatory funding, raised standards of health and safety. Departments already in
existence, such as the Assessors Department, The Highway Department and the Police Depart-
ment, had greater demands put upon their resoumes. For example, the Southold Town Police
Department in 1969 handled 3,598 complaints or incidents. By 1989, these figures had tripled
to 9,503 complaints handled.
Court cases increased, a recreation program and nutrition department were initiated. Ap~
plications to the building department increased and threats of litigation over development added
to the workload of the Zoning Board of Appeals. A Community Development officer was hired
in 1981 to look for federal and state grants, while a full-time planner came to the town in 1987.
As old methods of farming became financially unattractive~ land was kept open and green
with horse farms and vineyards. Solid waste management and a master plan have replaced
cholera epidemics and bands of roving wolves as preoccupations of present day Southold
citizens. The problem of the 1990's will be to satisfy the ever increasing demands of the public
while still preserving the quality of life, the natural beauty, and the peacefulness that today's
residents regard as the heritage handed down to them by those men and women who first came
here to found a town in 1640.
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Laurel
Cynthia Mellas
On March 11, 1792, an act was passed dividing Southold into two townships. Thus did
Riverhead Town come into being with Middle District part of both. Interestingly. one boundary
is perpendicular to the general trend of the shore of the sound was called the "eleven o'clock
line" because one's shadow falls along it about an hour before the farmer's dinner time. In an
outline of Long Island, originally published in 1873, Laurel was known as Middle District and
later as Franklinville, named by early British settlers and described as a settlement of about
40 houses, in the southwest comer of the town of Southold and lying partly in Riverhead
Town. Farming. small fruit raising and the successful cultivation of root crops were the principal
occupation of the people. An interesting note is that seaweed was gathered and piled around
the foundations of homes to serve as insulation in the winter.
For some time, Mattituck and Aquebogue had a common parsonage with the same minister
serving both churches. Several families, tired of traveling st) far, separated from this parish
and built the Franklinville Presbyterian Church in 1831. The Franklinville Academy, erected
in 1832, was pointed to with pride as turning out many notable students with pastors serving
as teachers. The original Laurel Public School, which is now a private dwelling located on
Aldrich Lane, was divided into two parts furnished with a pump and wood stove and with
boys on one side and girls on the other.
Around 1890, Franklinville was inl~rmed by officials that it would have to change it's
name as there was another Franklinville elsewhere in New York State and there could not be
two post offices with like names. The post office, which also served as a grocery store with
the post mistress as clerk, was moved from Southold Town to Riverhead Town. The original
post office is now the Elbow 11 Restaurant. No one seems sure of how the name Laurel was
chose but some say in honor of the abundant laurel bushes and trees. The population in 1890
was 128, up to 200 by 1900, at which time it was described as '~a pretty village at peace with
all the world" and today the population stands at about 1500 and is still a '~pmtty village at
peace with all the world." Special thanks to Helen & Mildred McNulty
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Mattituck
Barbara B. Sayre
To begin any history of Mattituck we must look at the land under our feet and the waters
which surround us...Peconic Bay, Long Island Sound, the numerous creeks, and the fresh
water lakes.
The land was birthed by the Wisconsin glacier which visited twice - first about 60,000
years ago and again about 21,000 years ago. No midwife witnessed the birthing, but the fact
of it can be ascertained by the hills, the plains, and the geologist. Our glacial moriaine 100-mile
long island nudges with its western head the mainland, is shaped like a whale, some say a
fish, and its tail fins extend eastward into the sea.
We cannot deny the first people to live here were native Americans. Mattituck is the
western part of the 1640 "plantation" of Southold. Let's briefly examine how this came about.
Land deals were made between colonists from New Haven, Connecticut Colony, and
Indians. The original deed for the tract of land known to the Indians as MATTATUCK is
preserved in the records of Brookhaven Town, dated March 1648. This deed conveyed MAT-
TATUCK to Governor Theophilus Eaton as the mpresentive of the New Haven Colony. The
New Haven Colony held the land for the benefit of the Southold colonists. At that time a law
was strictly enforced which forbid the private purchase of land from the Indians.
Charles E. Craven tells us the woodlands were held in common by the colony. For a long
time, a few acres of salt meadow were counted more valuable that a hundred acres of woodland,
and the salt hay or "creek thatch" was cut from the ~'meadowe" regularly. The rights to cut
creek thatch were alloted to individuals year after year. Ten years later, in 1658, deputies of
Southold Colony, Thomas Moore and Barnabas Horton, in the General Court of New Haven
recorded a deed purchasing for 7 pounds (paid the next year "in wampom') a parcel of land
called MATTATOCK.
Craven says, the MATTATUCK that was deeded to the New Haven Colony, and later
by the Connecticut Colony to the people of Southold Plantation, lay between Corehake (Cutch-
ogue) and Acquebaak (Aquebogue) and included the western half of the present village of
Mattituck.
William Wallace Tooker in his book, "The Indian Place-Names on Long Island," tells us
the name Mattituck can be derived from words meaning "no tree" or "great creek". Take your
pick. [ prefer "great creek", meaning the Mattituck Inlet used today as access from Long Island
Sound. The Indians used it long ago into their settlement, then portaged through Mattituck
upward over higher ground near today's Pacific Street into the lower elevation of .lames Creek
thereby reaching Peconic Bay. Have you ever noticed how close these waters are to one another?
Did you ever hear talk of a North Fork Canal?
In 1661, the common land of our North Fork area was divided into 3 parts: Oysterponds,
Corchaug (Cutchogue) and Occabauck (Aquebogue). Lesser divisions of the common lands
were ordered. There were 122 lots (or shares) designated to be the properties for 51 families.
Since the meadowlands were used from the first, it was necessary to cut a main highway
through the town to give access to the meadowlands as well as to reach the neighboring towns
of Riverhead, Southampton, and Brookhaven.
Very soon after 1640 a road (the King's Highway) was laid out from Southold village
through Mattituck to the settlement at the head of Peconic Bay, River's Head.
Craven states the finished work report is dated July 25, 1710. It is interesting to note that
the original highway through Mattituck lay to the South of the freshwater pond (Marratooka
Lake) until 1710, when the road was changed to its present position north of Marratooka Lake.
From Craven: In a census of Southold Town taken in 1698 there were 132 families living
in the area. In the year 1700 at least 19 families with about 120 persons dwelt in or near
Mattituck between the foot of Manor Hill and the Riverhead Town line.
These residents lived the same simple life as did all their neighbors on the eastern end of
Long Island. They were mostly land owners, had little money, and little use for it except to
acquire more land.
A traditional society developed modeled closely on that of England and Holland. It was
relatively prosperous and the colonists brought forth a decent life and a secure livelihood
wrested from the wilderness.
Each well-to-do man owned a suit of clothes and perhaps a coat made out of imported
cloth. These fine outfits, with such accessories as silver shoe buckles, lasted for years and
were handed down by will from father to son. The rest of their clothing was homespun.
Families were substantially independent, sufficient unto themselves, having large flocks
and herds, raising their own corn, wheat, rye, and other simple foodstuffs, growing their flax,
spinning their own fabrics, importing some English cloth, sugar, tea, molasses and rum, a
very few books, chiefly Bibles, iron and brass kettles, and a meagre supply of other utensils
which could not be made by local smiths.
Money was scarce, often pay was "in kind", and bartered exchanges were very common.
The farmers had enough to eat and wear, but sometimes found it difficult to pay their taxes.
The men with trades were as a rule more prosperous.
The availability of good safe harbors influenced the patterns of settlements, Communication
with the outside world by sloop was slow. One or two sloops sailed regularly back and forth
on Long Island Sound particularly from Orient, Greenport and Mattituck to New York City.
Did you know some commercial fishermen using Long Island harbors facing north still
refer to Long Island as "the Backside'"? It's explained this way: nautically speaking, Long
Island faces away from the Atlantic. Its good and safe harbors are on "the Backside", facing
north ..... facing Connecticut. However, in speaking with several commercial fishermen recently,
I learned that although the above statement may be true, the Montauk fishermen call the Atlantic
"the Backside". When they go fishing, sailing out of Montauk Inlet which faces north, they
may go toward Block Island and those waters or into the Atlantic....to them "the Backside".
The houses were wood, strongly joined with hewn oak timbers, and covered with large
oak shingles, The foundations were built of large stones, mostly round, gathered on the Sound
shore. Foundation stones more squarely and rectangularly cut were originally ballast from
sailing vessels. Several people have confirmed this. One friend relates her great grandfather's
brother, a Northville resident, Howell by name, transported these foundation stones as ballast.
He brought them from Connecticut and sold them to Long Islanders for $5.00 a ton.
The only heat was from the mammoth open fireplaces beneath huge chimneys. The
chimneys were built of bricks which were made at Arshmomak, These great fireplaces served
for cooking, as well as heating, and were fitted with cranes and hooks for pots and kettles.
Baking was done in tremendous brick ovens with iron doors.
In Revolutionary times, in those terrible years, the people existed amid the distractions
and terrors of war.
George Washington was defeated in the Battle of Long Island in 1776. All of Long Island
was occupied by British during most of the Revolution. One British camp was located in
Mattituck. It covered 20 acres along the King's Highway (Main Road) in the area of Marratooka
Lake.
Many officers were quartered in the houses of the people. The produce of the farms was
taken to supply the British army.
Many colonists fled to Connecticut to fight with the Continental Army of Patriots, unable
to withstand occupation. Those who remained were compelled to swear allegiance to King
George III. Some did with good grace; some out of necessity.
The Revolution began as protest against injustice with little or no thought of separation
from England. Before long, the long people were forced to accept what was happening, for
the British forces were in absolute control and possession.
The American Revolution meant seven devastating years of occupation. The time of the
deterioration of the farms, fields and forests had come. There were no other peoplc in all the
colonies so helpless as the Long Islanders, cut off as they were from their compatriots; there
were no people who suffered more.
Afier the Revolution, local colonists along with everyone else had gained political tYeedom,
yes, but most were overwhelmed with the task of rebuilding their lives.
The records of mortgages for the years immediately following the war show that many
who had been wealthy were forced to borrow money on their lands. But survive they did and
peopled the region with staunch descendants. God bless them all.
The proximity of the railroad to the Main Road helped keep the village of Mattituck
centered around Love Lane. The Post Office, the famous Library Hall, the drag store, the
Bank, a candy store, shoemaker, the Fire Department, butcher shop, the blacksmith, livery
Gildersleeve Bros., and nearby the school, the churches....it was all there, wasn't it? Love
Lane was and is the "heart center" of Mattituck.
Library Hall, built for the community by the Frank Lupton family, is probably the most
famous of vanished landmarks. It contained in its hay day the village library, a bank, a drug
store, both doctors' and dentists' offices and, on the second floor, a prestigious meeting hall
and theatre, later the movie house.
The Octagon House, one of several in New York State, is a national treasure. The house
of Frank C. Parker, on Pike Street, was built before 1800, and is presently the home of John
and Fran Keogh. A second house located on the King's Highway (Main Road) is dated 1766.
It was built by William Wells V before the Revolutionary War. Joel Howell lived them. It is
presently owned by Agnes Lyons, Mattituck resident-artist.
Craven writes, "A private lane, later known as Reeves Lane (now Reeves Avenue) led
through the Revolutionary 'camp lot' to the farm of Edward and Irad Reeve." These two
brothers, sons of James Reeve VI, had jointly inherited their father's farm. Irad's home was
on the farm, and is presently the home of Jim and Connie Pim.
If we begin recalling sections, we go east to Tuthill town where we now find our Mattituck
I
Historical Museum, originally the Philip Tuthill home. "Sections" of Mattituck bring to mind:
Omgom Peconic Bay Blvd., Kenlo Park, and the "Heights". Remember the summer camps:
Immaculata, Molloy and Momoweta?
My brother, Larry, and 1 had a carefree childhood. ! can tell you we are glad we are alive
today and living on the east end of L.I.
Now you can begin to reminisce; I leave all of this to challenge your memories.
20 mule team Borax in Mattituck in front of Gitdersleeve's store.
Mattituck High School circa 1936.
The William Wells V Home, 1766, Mattituck
Courtesy of Joy Bear
View of Love Lane, Mattituck circa 1935.
Best Wishes to the
Town of Southold
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Cutchogue
Winifred Billard
Cutchogue had its beginning in the early 1660's when Southold established the Corchaug
division. The Corchaug Indians had previously inhabited the area and had established a lbrt there.
The Corchaug division extended from Indian Neck to the Canoe Place in Mattituck. Within
these bounds were Quasha Neck, Pooles Neck, Fort Neck, Pessapuncke, Robins Island Neck,
Little Hog Neck and Strawberry Neck. Some of these areas today are known as Fleets Neck,
Little Neck, New Suffolk and Nassau Point. The boundary lines of Cutchogue now begin at
Skunk Lane on the east and Manor Hill on the west.
By 1661, forty four families had obtained small lots in the area. Such names as Wells,
Horton, Dickerson and Terry appear on the list.
The area was well suited for habitation. Woodlands extended to Long Island Sound. There
was rich farm land . Peconic Bay and surrounding creeks provided the settlers with both seafood
and seaweed, the latter used for insulating their homes, and for fertilizer, as well as sheltered
harbors for their boats.
Among the settlers were Benjamin and Caleb Horton, sons of the Southold's founding
father, Barnabas.
On the Village Green stands Benjamin's home known as The Old House. It is considered
to be the finest example of English architecture in the United States as well as being {)nc of
the oldest in the country.
Across Case's Lane is the Wickham Farmhouse, originally owned by Caleb Horton.
The Village Green provides a museum in what was Cutchogue's oldest public school.
There is a fine collection of Indian artifacts as well as a model of the Holland submarine
perfected and tried out in Peconic Bay off New Suffolk.
Adjoining the Village Green, a large addition to the Congregational Church, long used
as the public library, provides ample space for browsing, studying and research. Modem
equipment plus an obliging staff makes this building an important center for both adults and
children. Innovative programs are offered for both groups.
The early settlers of Cutchogue were farmers, fisherman and craftsmen, providing lbr the
necessities of life.
As the village grew specialization began to take place. Peoples from other countries joined
the primarily English settlers. They brought with them new skills and the determination to
succeed in a new land.
Cutchogue is now, in 1990, a village of 3,000 people. The population increases during
the summer season as families spend their vacations boating, golfing, fishing and enjoying
country living.
The farms which once produced large quantities of potatoes, cauliflower and brussels
sprouts are now in the minority. Instead, vineyards, nursery stock, fruit and garden produce
have taken the place of potatoes.
The vineyard of Cutchogue produce fine wines. They are prize winning, ranking with
those of California.
Cutchogue has its complement of churches both Catholic and Protestant; five in all. These
churches work together to help fill the spiritual & physical needs of the community.
Two elementary schools, Jr. High and Senior High comprise the public educational system
for the Mattituck-Cutchogue School District, The North Fork Catholic School located on the
Main Road provides parochial education for those who desire it.
Private nursery schools provide for the education of the younger children.
Several restaurants, deli's and a super market provide a wide variety of food stuff. Shops
offering hardware, antiques, video ware and books add to the supply of commodities available
in thc village.
The Cutchogue Fire Department with its efficient emergency squad offers protection and
relief to the area's population. When visiting the historic Village Green stop by the Old Burying
Ground east of the village. There you will find the graves of descendents of the first settlers
of Cutchogue. The epitaphs and designs on the gravestones and monuments make this an
interesting place to visit.
The Old House - Cutchogue
View of New Suffolk Avenue and Main Road, Cutchogue near turn of the century.
New Suffolk
Barbara Terry
Resting on the sandy shores of Cutchogue Harbor and Great Peconic Bay is one of the
Southold Town's smallest hamlets. New Suffolk lies south of the village of Cutchogue and is
Southold's only hamlet not locate on Route 25, the main thoroughfare through the township.
In the mid-1830's, 80 acres of unspoiled land was purchased by four individuals who developed
the community by using the grid system. Two years later it acquired its own identity when it
was named New Suffolk.
Today all the main roads of this little peninsula lead to the serene inlets nestled along its
shores. New Suffolk from its earliest beginning was a quiet community comprised of industrious
people who derived their livelihood from the bountiful waters that almost completely surround
them. Fish, clams, oysters and scallops were in abundance and were caught, processed and
packed for shipment to markets near and far. Perhaps the most famous shellfish harvested from
the New Suffolk waters was the bay scallop. During the 1920's sail-powered boats dredged
these lucious morsels from the bay bottoms and brought them back to wooden scallop shops
along the waters edge where proficient shuckers worked long hours into the night to open each
scallop individually. The eventual disappearance of the bay scallop gave way to other water-re-
lated industries, that of recreational boating and sports fishing. New Suffolk is one of the
remaining waterfront communities where small boats may be rented for fishing. Fishing for
flounder, blues, porgies and the ever popular weakfish is still a favorite pastime. The many
creeks and inlets in surrounding areas provide smaller boats with interesting places to explore
while larger pleasure boats take advantage of the open areas of Little and Great Peconic Bays.
A large, modem marina provides maintenance and dockage space for power and sail boats.
Activity of the community is never far away from the water. At the turn of the century,
the U.S. Navy commissioned a private company to build its first submarine. The Holland
Torpedo Boat Company operated a plant in New Suffolk to assemble and test submarines. The
protected harbor was the ideal site for testing the first submarine in its early stages of development
but eventually as the fish-like underwater vessel was improved and increased in size it was
decided that a deeper port was necessary and the facilities were abandoned. Some of the local
citizens who were employed at the base relocated when it moved to Connecticut. The importance
of New Suffolk as a submarine base has not been forgotten by the natives and they are proud
to have played a small part in U.S. Naval history.
Tourism has always played a big part in the economy of this pretty little hamlet especially
during the summer months when the population greatly increases. Early in its development,
the charm of this seaside community as a summer resort was promoted in New York City
newspapers. Owners of large homes rented rooms to visitors so they might enjoy the cool
breezes and clean waters of Peconic Bay during the hot summer months. Families returned
year after year to sail, swim, fish and relax. Some descendants are permanent residents today.
New Suffolk have developed more slowly than other areas of the township and has retained
its rural character. It has a little red schoolhouse, two restaurants, a post office and a gift shop
all of which enhance the quaintness of the community. Residents have to rely on neighboring
Cutcbogue for library, church, banking, medical and fire department emergency services as
well as supermarket shopping. Small town atmosphere is genuine and jealously guarded.
Robin's [siand has the distinction of being a part of New Suffolk. This tiny island had
been, in years past, used as a hunting and game preserve by individual owners. Lying in Great
Peconic Bay, just south of New Suffolk, it has become the focal point of controversy between
developers and environmentalists~ To date its fate is undecided.
Waterfront scallop shops of New Suffolk circa 1880.
Goldsmith & Tuthill store and New Suffolk post office circa 1930.
Eastern Commercial
351-1 Riverhead Rd.
Westhampton Beach, NY 11978
One Stop Industrial Shopping
Paper Towel & Bathroom Tissue
Industrial Work Clothes
Shirts, Pants, Jackets, Gloves
Shipping Room Supplies
Rags & Wiping Cloth
Janitors Supplies
516-288-5535
United Fire Co. #1
and
Ladies Auxiliary
of the
Cutchogue
Fire Department
CUTCHOGUE
I 1
9 9
2 9
8 0
Parade & Tournament July 21
Chicken Bar-B-Que August 25
L.I. DOLL HOSPITAL
Antiques Bought and Sold
Wicker, Dolls, Furniture & Collectibles
Bus. (516) 765-2379
Res. (516) 734-5527
L.I, Doll Hospital
Peconic/Southold Border
Surgery
On A
Small Scale
SOUTHOLD-~Ian Davis works in the
health care field Her patients are nor-
mally shorL cherubic and don't say
much. But if looks are any indication,
they're responding beautifully.
Mrs. Davis' Long Island Doll Hospital
in Southold is the scene of many a
miraculous recovery eyes are trans-
planted, broken limbs mended, even en-
tire bodies replaced She uses blown
gla~ eyes from old Germa~ stack
whenever possible, restores hair, uses
leather for replacing Bodies, sculptures
missing fingers, toes, etc. A seamstress
is available to make authentic cos
tumes, and the hospital also sells doll
related accessories
The most important thing about
nursing these little people back t~
health, she says, is "raaintaining orig/-
nality. We never over-paint or over-re-
pair."
The hospital's services include the re-
pair of modern dolls and stuffod ani-
P.O. Box 1604
45395 Main Rd.
Southold~ N.Y. 11971
Peconic
Walter Mengeweit
After the founding of Southold in 1640, several generations passed and some of the
descendants gradually moved two miles west of Southold and took up farming and became a
separate settlement. It was closely tied to Southold by family and social ties, It was first called
"West Southold Plantation", then in later years, "Hermitage". It became Hermitage because
of an elderly recluse who lived in a shack on the Lane. Hermitage became Peconic around
1865 as more families built there. The name of Peconic may have derived from the Indian
word PECANUC, "nut trees" or one of the forms of POQUANNOCK, "cleared land".
Peconic was chiefly an agriculture area in years past and still is to some extent.
The typical farm houses of the late 1600s and 1700s were much alike. A single house,
unpainted, with two small windows of 6 x 8 glass, dimly lighted the front room. The floor
was uncarpeted. The chimney and fireplaces were spacious masses of masonry. The front stairs
zig-zagged and turned, and wound and squirmed towards the upper rooms. Over the fireplace
hung the old flintlock used to bring down deer and wild ducks and geese in no small numbers.
Outside hung the eel spear, clam and oyster tongs. Close at hand was the upright hollow log
that was the samp mortar. The barnyard was near and in view of the kitchen, and on the farther
side the small barn.
The farmer raised rye and corn, rarely wheat for bread. He ate fresh pork while it lasted
and salt pork while that lasted. Corn was pounded into samp; ground into hominy and meal;
baked or boiled into johnny-cake, Indian bread, griddle cakes, pudding, or what the Dutch
called "supawn" and the Yankee "hasty pudding," and in a variety of ways eaten with or
without milk. In some ways corn was the chief article of diet, rye bread the chief bread, and
wheat bread a rare luxury. Oysters, clams, eels and other fish with game of the forest or fowl
of the air, helped out the supply of food in the olden time.
The early farmer of Peconic used many hand tools in his work. Grass was cut with a
scythe, raked by a hand rake, pitched by the old heavy iron fork; grain was reaped with a
sickle, threshed with the flail and winnowed with a riddle; land was plowed with a heavy
wooden framed plough, harrows were mostly with wooden teeth; corn hills were dug with a
hoe; the manure for the hill was dropped in heaps, carded by hand in a basket and separately
put in each hill. The farmer raised flax and generally a few sheep. Threshing lasted well into
the winter, then out came the crackle and swingle, knife and board. The flax was dressed,
wool carded, and the wheel spun the linen and wool in every house. The looms gave evidence
that home manufacture clad the household. From his feet to his head the farmer stood in
vestment produced on his own farm. The leather of his shoes came from the hides of his own
cattle. The linen and woolen that he wore were products that he raised. The farmer's wife or
daughter braided and sewed the straw-hat on his head. His fur cap might have come from a
fox he shot. The feathers of wild fowl in the bed whereon he rested his weary frame by night,
were the results acquired in his shooting. The pillow-cases, sheets and blankets, quilts and
counterpanes, the towels and tablecloth were homemade. His harness and lines were cut from
hides grown on his farm. Everything about his ox yoke except staple and ring he made. His
whip, ox goad, his flail, axe, hoe and fork handle were his own work. How little he bought,
and how much he contrived to supply his wants by home manufacture would astonish this
generation. Bayberries were gathered and boiled so the wax came to the top and skimmed off
to make candles to light his humble home.
Farming has changed dramatically through the years. In the 1850's Irish immigrants came
and sharecropped until they had saved enough to buy the farm. The Polish immigrants came
in the early 1900's to work and save to buy a farm. The most popular crops were potatoes,
brussels sprouts and cauliflower. With the coming of the Long Island Rail Road to Peconic
and on to Greenport in 1844 produce was shipped to New York City.
As late as 1900, steamers vied with the railroad for the business of carrying the crop. The
railroads enjoyed their monopoly of carrying the crop until the truck took over and drove
directly to the markets in New York City. Today few farms flourish, many being sold off to
make developments, grape vineyards and sod farms.
Up Mill Lane on the Sound stood the Old Mill on the west bank of the Gutter, built in
1841. Though the Old Mill originally operated a waterwheel that depended on the tides, years
later a windmill was added so there would be no wasted hours as it was with the water wheel.
The water wheel operated when the rising tide flowing in from the Sound floated up the
tide gates which hung on the inner side of the bridge. When the tide turned and ebbed out into
the Sound the gates went down and were pinned against the uprights of the bridge, making a
barrier that diverted the head of water into a narrow sluiceway on the west side. The water
went roaring and tumbling out under the wheel rotating it rapidly. This in turn moved all the
bars and cogs of the machinery in the mill, and spun the grindstones which crushed the grain
into flour.
The gristmill was wrecked in a Northeast gale at Thanksgiving and never repaired. Its
great beams were taken for lumber and the shingles for firewood. One millstone was carted
off to be sold to a wealthy Southampton resident. The other stone much later was dug out of
the sand by John Stepnoski and recently his son John gave it to the Southold Historical Society.
It is the front step of the Moore house on the Society grounds.
On the southwest side of the railroad tracks stood Jefferson's store and adjacent to it was
the Post Office. Jefferson's store was a general store which is in operation today. Years ago
when Jefferson had the store, the upstairs which was called Peconic Hall, held socials and
dances. South of Jefferson's store was Rufus Morrells blacksmith shop.
The one room school was on the present site of today's Peconic school. The old school
had a belfry and a bell to summon the students to their seats.
Writing about Peconic would not be complete without mentioning Frank Davis Smith.
Frank D. Smith the famous Milliner, worked for half a century making his creations. He
supplied his customers from Orient to New York City. In the back of the store was the sitting
room where Frank and his niece worked. They each sat by a window, working with foot pedal
sewing machines and doing the fancy sewing by hand. The store is now converted into apart-
ments.
North of the railroad tracks was Richmonds Hardware store with a lumber yard and coal
bins in the rear. In later years Willard Howell sold coal and had a hardware store there. Later
on Cyril McCaffery had a luncheonette on the site of Willard Howells store. Later on the large
store north of the tracks was an antique store run by Alexander Blaschack of New Suffolk.
Town records show an interesting item about Indian Neck. As our forefathers bargained
with Indians for their lands, the Indians would give up large tracts, but reserve for themselves
certain necks of land which provided enough fishing and hunting for their needs.
In 1719, the town ordered Indian Neck to be surveyed and alloted to freeholders. The
Indians objected, insisting that they had been given the Neck in exchange for South Harbor.
Indian Neck in those days meant all the land between Broadwaters and Hutchinsons Creek.
By 1763, the Indians had nearly vanished. Tradition has it that the last Indian to live on the
Neck was Seagyam whose hut was on the point of land where the Knowles cottage stands.
If we had visited Indian Neck about a hundred and fifty years ago we would have seen
three small buildings along the shore. These were the fish houses belonging to the three fishing
companies operating from the Neck; the Crows, the Coots and the Turks as they called them-
selves. The active members lived for weeks in the Spring ready to put off with the seine boats
as soon as a school of bunkers were sighted. The hauls were often enormous, and it all went
into the land lbr fertilizer. As Indian Neck developed it still retained its natural woods and
thus became a beautiful place to live.
Circa 1900- Jefferson store, post office & train depot, Peconic.
Sunrise Coach Lines, Inc.
P.O. Box R
West Front Street
Greenport, Long Island, New York 11944
(516) 477-1200
Serving the Community
For Over 50 Years
Daily N.Y. Express Service
Tour Department
Toll Free 800-527-7709
NORTH FORK
CATHOLIC SCHOOL
Wishes To Congratulate The Town of Southold
on its 350th Anniversary
The School also wishes to express its deep gratitude to the wonderful people
of the North Fork for their outpouring of support for the continuation of
North Fork Catholic School. Thanks.
The Village of Greenport
is Proud to Participate in
The 350th Anniversary
of the Town of Southold
Mayor
George W. Hubbard
Trustees
William D. Allen
Stephen L. Clarke
David S. Corwin
Gall F. Horton
History of Greenport
James I. Monsell
Greenport, the largest, yet youngest village of importance in the Town of Southold, is
located on what was part of a tract of several hundred acres of land granted in 1662 to Colonel
John Youngs, prominent son of the first pastor of the town. That part of the village north of
Broad Street was originally known as "The Farms". The creek to the east side of the village
was first known to boatmen as "Winter Harbor", so called because it did not freeze over in
the severest winters as did Town Harbor in Southold. Later the creek became known as "Sterling
Creek", deriving its name from Long Island's first patenter.
In the year 1662, descendents of Southold founder Captain John Youngs, secured 30 to
40 acres of woodlands on the west side of Sterling Basin and settled at the edge of what is
now Greenport. This hamlet along Kings Highway (now the North Road), faced Long Island
Sound and was called "Stirling". Another tiny settlement, facing Greenport Harbor, was named
"Green Hill".
In early times, there was a wharf, or landing, near the mouth of Sterling Creek, accessed
by a narrow road, currently known as Sterling Street. At the head of the street, several blocks
east of the Presbyterian Church, was the "Booth House", once the inn of Lieutenant Constant
Booth. This same dwelling is where George Washington is said to have stopped while on his
way to New London and Boston in 1757. The house of Orange Webb is noted to be the place
where Whitefield stopped in 1763, and inscribed on a pane of glass with a diamond, "One
thing is needful". There were only two or three houses on this street at this time.
In the early part of the nineteenth century, the eastern part of Stirling was a farm owned
by Captain David Webb, son of Captain Orange Webb. Upon the death of David Webb, the
farm and outlands were sold at public auction on March 23, 1820, by his executors. The
purchasers included Daniel T. Terry, Silas Webb, and Joshua Tuthill, each of whose descendents
still reside in Gmenport. The bid price on the property was $2,300.00 despite the fact that it
still had no roads.
Main Street was laid out in 1827, and the first set of marine railways were built in the
same year. The Green-Hill Wharf Company was incorporated on April 20, 1830, granting the
privilege of extending a wharf into the bay any distance not exceeding three hundred feet from
the high tide mark. The Green-Hill Wharf was then constructed on the lower end of Main
Street. This wharf has been enlarged several times since, to accommodate the growing com-
merce.
The wharf at the foot of Central Avenue was complete in 1838, with New York State
land grants to Nathaniel Tuthill. Prior to and after the Revolution, trade was carried on with
the West Indies, and cargos of molasses and rum were landed at the old wharf on Sterling
Creek. At the time of the Revolution, them were about six houses in the Stirling area. The
first store, built in 1828, stood at the foot of Main Street on the east side.
In the stagecoach days, Stirling's Post Office was in a school house west of the tollgate
at the junction of Moore's Lane and King's Highway. When the Post Office requested a change
of name, as there were other "Stirlings", the name "Greenhill" was first chosen. However, at
a public meeting, held at the Clark house on June 23, 1831, the name "Green Port" (as 2
words), was finally adopted. The house where the meeting took place belonged to Captain
John Clark, Green Port's post master and first schoolmaster.
Sleek steamboats were running to and from Green Port in 1836. The Village was incorpo-
rated April 18, 1838, to better serve the needs of the people in the community. That same
year, there was a total of four whaling ships sailing from Green Port. This industry reached
its zenith here in 1846 when there were about 250 dwellings in the Village. A total of 20
whaling ships sailed from Green Port during this period.
In 1844, a new era was introduced. Railroad tracks were laid from Brooklyn to Green
Port, and on the 25th of July, 1844, the first train passed over the rails. It traveled the 95
miles from Brooklyn to Green Port, and the event was duly celebrated. This allowed people
to take the overnight steamer to Connecticut, then up to Boston.
The hotel of John Clark was builtin 1831, The Peconic House in 1845, and The Wyandank
Hotel in 1845. There were registered in the books of the surveyor, 228 sail vessels and 23
steamers at this port. These ships were engaged entirely in coasting and fishing voyages.
The first school building in Green Port was erected in 1832 and stood on the east side of
First Street, near the center of the village. A second schoolhouse was built on the same site
in 1845, and was enlarged in 1868. In 1880, the finest and most convenient union school
building was constructed on the property at Third Street and South Street. Two other large
buildings were needed and added to the complex. In 1932, a new modern school was built on
the west edge of the village.
The Greenport Fire Department was organized and developed in 1845. The department
grew until now, and consisted of a department of five active companies and a Rescue Squad.
The village has been fortunate to have such a reliable and efficient fire fighting force.
The Baptist Church first had an existence about 1810. The Presbyterian Church was
dedicated in 1835 and the Methodist Episcopal in 1834. The Roman Catholic Church was built
in 1856. The Episcopal Church services were first held in 1863, Congregational in 1848,
German Lutheran in 1879, and the Synagogue, Tifereth Israel in 1903.
Coast wise trading, sailing, bunker fishing, and oystering were so intense that the need
for protection of Green Port Harbor resulted in the building of the breakwater in 1882 at a cost
of $46,000.00.
According to the census in 1880, this village had a population of 2,370. There were 651
families and 581 houses. In 1900, the population was 2,366. The population in 1905 was 2,667.
The Menhaden Fisheries and manufacture of oil were extensively carried on in the vicinity
of Green Port during the 1860's and 1870's, In 1870, there were some twenty factories in this
neighborhood with an invested capital of about $400,000.00 At that time, about 400 men were
employed in the business. The business greatly declined. The business was very active again
in the 1950's and 1960's.
Oystering was in an important part of the the growth and economic base of Green Port.
The magnitude of the oyster industry is evident in realizing that Green Port, in regard to income
by fisherman, was the country's third most valuable fishery, For the same reasons Green Port
was a prime location for oystering, is also gained experience in the bootlegging trade. The
deep harbor, dockside facilities, shipyard repair, support service, and available transportation
facilities all prompted both legal and prohibited activities. All tolled, there were 14 oyster
companies operating out of Green Port during this period.
The period of national prohibition, ineffectively enforced as a noble experiment between
1920 and 1934, tested every American family, law enforcement authority, court, Coast Guard,
Clergy and State and Local Governments.
Green Port, with a protected harbor, eventually became part of what has been tagged
"Rum Row". During these years, there was no unemployment in the Green Port area. Them
also appeared to be so much activity, that the Coast Guard established a station to enforce
prohibition.
As Green Port participated in this illegal activity, they experienced a period of unusual
prosperity. Some local citizens engaged in this work, some citizens were not in sympathy with
the enforcement of the National Prohibition Act but did not participate, and the majority of
citizens played no part in it at all. Rum running or bootlegging was part of the Passing History
of Greenport.
Green Port soon became a popular community for yachting and commercial boating, as
it was surrounded by excellent sailing waters, contained an abundance of skilled mechanics
and workers, and fine service facilities.
Few, if any, Long Island shipyards ever roached great proportions. Ships were typically
built in succession, rather than the mom traditional assembly line fashion. Ship building was
often a one-man operation, as the builder only employed workers who specialized in a particular
phase of the construction, working only when needed.
Green Port became known for its good supply of sailing masters, captains, and crews for
many racing yachts. The shipyards were quite able to haul, maintain, service, and repair these
yachts. The Greenport Basin and Construction Company was very active during World War I
and later in World War II. The Greenport Basin and Construction Company, during World
War 1, built 14 small vessels for the Russian Imperial Navy, and several for the U.S. Navy.
This same shipyard, during World War II, built numerous mine-sweepers, steel landing crafts,
and several tug boats for our Navy. The company served as a yacht repair and service yard
during the period of time between the wars.
The residents of Green Port, now Greenport, enjoyed further services from their progressive
leaders, as thc Greenport Electric Company and the Greenport Water Company were both
purchased in 1899. These two utility companies have continuously been upgraded and improved
over the years to meet with the demands of an ever flourishing community. The utilities are
known for their ability to supply consistent service and reliability, and low cost.
The Village of Greenport is currently trying to develop tourist facilities, to allow many
others the opportunity to enjoy our best way of life.
"CELEBRATING with SOUTHOLD TOWN
Supervisor Francis J. Murphy
Justice Raymond W. Edwards
Councilman Paul Stoutenburgh
Councilman James A. Schondebare
Councilwoman Jean W. Cochran
Councilman George L. Penny IV
Town Clerk Judith T. Terry
of the Town of Southold since his appointment as
SOUTHOLD TOWN ATrORNEY on January 1, 1958, passed away
on September 30, 1987; and
W H E R E A S : ROBERT W. TASKER exemplified the
highest qualities of leadership and dedication; an individual of great
integrity, whose personal courage and character served as an
inspiration to all; and
W H E R E A S : ROBERT W. TASKER's record of
outstanding service, diligence to duty and dedication to the Town of
Socthold and its people desexes the sincere gratitude of those with
whom and for whom he served; and
W H E R E A S : ROBERT W. TASKER's dedication to a
successful career in which he demonstrated his warm, sensitive
personality and logical mind, allowed him to grasp the significance
of the most complex problems and sophisticated issues, and made
him a highly valued member of the legal profession; now therefore,
be it
R E S O L V E D: that the Town Board of the Town ol
SoL~tbeld, who will be deprived of his wise counsel and judgment,
hereby expresses its most sincere sympathy to the family of ROBERT
W. TASKER, a man who gave his unselfish and wholehearted
cooperation and untiring efforts on behalf of the Town as SOUTHOLD
TOWN ATTORNEY for the past 30 years; and be it further
R E S O L V E D: that when the Town Board adjourns this
day, it does so out of respect to the memory of ROBERT W. TASKER;
and be it further
R E S O L V E D: that this resolution be presented to the
family of ROBERT W. TASKER and a copy be entered in the
permanent records of this Southold Town Board meeting,
D A T E O : October 6,1987.
Judith T. Terry, Town Clerk
Town of Southold
A
N
D
REMEMBERING YOUR YEARS OF SELFLESS SERVICE."
Susan E, Tasker
Congratulations
to Southold Town on your
350th Anniversary
fFom
Greenport Fire Department
The Oldest Fire Dept. in Southold Town
Chief- Jerome Urban
1st Asst. Chief- Antone Volinski III
2nd Asst. Chief- Andrew Ficurilli
Eagle Hose Co. #1
Relief Hose Co. #2
Star Hose Co. #3
Standard Hose Co. #4
Phenix Hook & Ladder Co. #1
Rescue Squad
Greenport Exempt Firemans' Assc.
EI.-I BA _
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New York City ° 2121519-1991 ° 7181626-3331 Connecticut · 2031964-0077
East Marion
George H. Morton
Nestled between the shores of Long Island Sound on the North; Orient Harbor on the
South; Orient Village on the East; and Greenport on the West, lies the village of East Marion.
In the beginning, this land as well as all the land in Southold Town and Riverhead, was
claimed by the Comhaug Indians of the Algonquin tribe. In the middle 1600's the village was
called Oyster Ponds Upper Neck, as Orient was then known as Oyster Ponds.
Oyster Ponds Upper Neck ran from what is now known as Truman's Beach, in the East,
to what was then known as Sterling in the West. This boundary would be just west of the
"Island's End Golf Course." Truman's Beach was called "Hard Beach" by the First Settlers.
In 1812, during the War of 1812, Commodore Stephen Decator had anchored off the beach
with three naval vessels. It has been said that there was a "Long Fence" that ran from Sterling
Harbor on the South, to Long Island Sound on the North. The fence was erected, they say,
so the cattle would not stray out of Oyster Ponds Upper Neck into Sterling.
In the late 1800's the name was changed to Rocky Point. The name remained for quite
some time until the village wanted their own Post Office. This caused a slight problem because
there was akeady a Rocky Point further west near Port Jefferson. So, another name had to be
chosen.
As the story goes, a villager by the name of Warren Griffing, Sr., suggested the name
of his favorite general, General Francis Marion, the "Swamp Fox" of the Revolutionary War.
There was also a Marion, New York upstate, so it was decided to add the prefix "East". It
was from then on known as East Marion.
Along with farming, East Marion has always been a fishing village. In years gone by
there were as many as four fish factories located within the limits of the village.
Older natives of the village can remember when there used to be a fishing fleet that would
anchor off the beaches of Bay Avenue. It was not an uncommon sight to see fishermen such
as Mike Brown, Tinker Brown and Everette Vail, along with others, repairing their nets in the
number of open fields in the village.
East Marioners have had many of their own "Go down to sea in ships." Two names that
immediately come to mind are Captain Willard Rackett and Captain Charles Brooks. They
sailed the "high seas" for many years and called East Marion their home.
There was even a shipyard in East Marion at one time. It was located down on the bay.
The road that ran to it was named Shipyard Lane and it remains so today. It is near the western
boundary of the village.
At one time there were two grist mills in East Marion. One of them stood just west of
the Church on "Mill Hill". It burned down. The property today is the home of Mrs. Leroy
Brown and just east of Mrs. Kenneth Vail's home.
The other was a "Tidal Mill" that was located just west of the drain at Dam Pond on the
south side of Route 25. It was removed sometime around the early 1900's when work began
on the causeway and the restraining seawall.
In the center of the village is the church, and for many years just west of it on the north
side of the road, was the school and tim-house.
Them were at one time as many as three stores in East Marion. One of the more famous
was that of B.C. Tuthill. Eventually there was only one left and today it is closed during the
winter.
The exact date of the first school house is not clearly known. However, we do know that
there was a school meeting held on December 15, 1813, and a resolution was passed that said
in part, "Agreeable to public notice, a majority of the district met at the Rocky Point school
house to choose a committee to act for one year."
Those chosen lbr that committee were villagers '~Silas Webb, John Jerome and Daniel
Vail," and would "act as trustees for one year for said district to procure a teacher and do the
things that are required by law."
The first school of note was situated on the south side of Route 25 near what is now the
entrance to Marion Manor on Gillette Drive. In 1839, it was voted to move the school to a
more central location in the village and near the church.
In 1869, the village bought a piece of land from villager Harmon Tuthill and constructed
a new school. The old school was moved across the street and made into a Temperance Hall
by the "May Morn divisiom Sons of Temperance." That hall was later turned into a two story
home and is owned today by Mrs. Kenneth Vail.
The school was remodeled in 1908 and had two rooms and eventually a small library.
The room on the east side facing the fire-house had the first four grades, and the west room
had the fifth to the eighth grades.
The school remained pretty much the same until it was closed in 1967 when East Marion
and Orient consolidated. Where it stood, along with the firehouse, is marked today by a large
tennis courts and green grass.
The school was bought and moved, with considerable effort, back towards the sound and
made into a home. It can be seen today much as it looked in years gone by. However, the
inside has been changed.
There was a Baptist congregation in East Marion (or Rocky Point) since 1810. In 1831
this congregation joined with their neighbors and built a Baptist Church in Gmenport.
They attended services there, but due to disagreements, members from East Marion left
that church and met in the homes of some of the congregation.
In 1846 they began what was to be the East Marion Baptist Church. It was enlarged in
1860 and again in 1891. The present physical features of the church came to be in 1904,
It remained the East Marion First Baptist Church until the year 1977, when it was officially
changed to the East Marion Community Church.
East Marion has the honor of having the only Memorial Post Office in the United States.
Through the long hard collected efforts of the villagers and many donations, the new Memorial
Post Office was built and it was opened in 1949. It is a "working" memorial to those who
fought in World War I1, Korea, and Vietnam.
At the north end of Rocky Point Road, on the left hand side of the road atop the cliftg
that front the Sound, sits a building that was once a Life Saving Station for over 50 years. It
was manned by men of the village. During World War II and up to its closing in 1948, it was
manned and operated by the United States Coast Guard. Today it is a private residence.
East Marioners are nick-named "Shad-eyes" because of the vocation of fishing through
Southold at a Glance
Menhaden fishing during the 1950's,
Present view of a Mattituck home built in 1766,
the years. However, there was, for a time, a prefix to "Shad-eyes" years ago that everyone is
not aware of today.
It seems, during the Civil War, some in East Marion took the side of the South, others,
just to irritate those from Orient, said they did too and even flew the Confederate Flag in the
village. This so infuriated those from Orient, they refused to come through East Marion on
their way the Greenport and instead would go by boat.
When discussing East Marioners, and of course their nick-name, Orienters would say that
East Marioners looked like "Dead Shad-eyes." Down through the years the prefix "Dead" was
dropped. A piece of local history not too well documented.
Another time in 1942, there was a small battle of sorts between Greenport and East
Marion. It seems that some of the older boys in high school from East Marion would steal
pies in the windows of the Chapel while they were left there to cool. Some Greenporters
thought it would be fun to come to East Marion and steal some for themselves. They were
told not to try.
The "boys" of East Marion began patrolling the street in front of the ~'old" Post Office
building just west of the Chapel, with doubled barreled shot-guns loaded with "rock salt", and
one or two with regular gauge shot. From late afternoon until the climax came, it seemed that
no grown-up, including the Town Police, knew anything about what was going to happen.
The Greenporters arrived. Twenty-five or more deposited their bikes near Shipyard Lane.
They walked unharmed down the center of the street, past the store and on towards the Post
Office. Big and mean, they were ready to take on the world.
There was no one in sight as they neared the Post Office. Then from the second floor
roof of the Post Office, from the bushes, and from the hill across the street the East Marion
"boys" opened fire. Some were close to the attackers while others were further away. Those
further away were lucky - those close up were wounded with the ~rock salt."
The Greenporters began to high-tail it for home, those wounded with the '~rock salt"
moving a bit slower. When they got to where their bikes were, some found that the younger
"boys" of East Marion had torn out the spokes to some of them to slow down the retreat.
Behind the Church lies Marion Lake. Once it was almost all fresh water~ but time and
tides have made it mostly salt water.
For years people use to skate on the lake. Pranksters of years gone by were known to
have stolen old "out-houses" that had been made obsolete by in-door plumbing, and burned
them on the ice.
The ice on the lake did have a better and more practical use. Large quanitities of ice were
cut from the lake and stored in ice-houses and used for icing down fish for shipment and
storage. The houses were insulated and the ice could be used well into summer.
On the west bank of the lake is the East Marion Cemetery. Here lie the forefathers of
East Marion with stones dating back into the late 1700's.
The names have changed in East Marion over the years. With the influx of newcomers
and land owners from the West end, some of the old names have been tbrgotten.
Because of this, it would seem only appropriate to pinpoint some of the early owners of
property in the village. We do this with the help of Mr. Rodman Pell of Greenport who has
a survey map of the village circa 1909.
On the western boundary of East Marion, along what ~s Shipyard Lane, was the property
of Latham Fish. At the end of the lane today are condominiums where once stood the Fish Estate.
Coming east, land was owned by W.H. Wiggins. Further on towards Rocky Point Road,
the owners were Minerva Jerome, Frank Thilberg, Robert Mack and Samuel Tuthill.
North along Rocky Point Road then, the owners were Antone Furst, Albert Young, and
William Brown.
Down the street east from Rocky Point Road, we find the names of Mrs. Elizabeth Ann
Nowell, William Bahr and Mrs. Howard Clark.
Harmond Tuthill owned the property north near the Sound where once stood the "boys
camp" known as St. Thomas Home. Near the bridge, land was owned by J. Benjamin, H.
Metcalf, J. Fournier, the Edwards family and Warren Griffing.
The population of East Marion has grown. From what used to be 350 residents year round,
it has gone to near 800. In the summer the population is over 1,200.
The areas off the main road house this increase of population. Gardiner's Bay Estates that
once had only summer homes, now has year round residents. There is now Pebble Beach,
Marion Manor and homes along Rocky Point Road and the surrounding lands. New families
from western Long Island have moved to East Marion and made it their home.
As you drive through East Marion today, the physical appearance of the village has not
changed much over the years. To the west end of the village where Dan Brown's Cabins were
is now the Hellenic Cabins and Snack Bar. What was once Charles Brooks' home is now the
Blue Dolphin Motel.
However, if someone came back to East Marion after being away fifty years, he would
find the same peaceful village of years gone by. A place he could still call home.
Old East Marion school circa 1900,
The Southold Town
Republican Club, Inc.
in its 30th year led by:
1961-THEN
1990 - NOW
President Leo Goldin
Vice President Gerard Dickerson
Secretary Katherine Butler
Treasurer Arthur Becker
President Sibby Penny
Vice President John M. Bredemeyer III
Secretary Mary Tannenbaum
Treasurer Elizabeth A. Neville
Salute Southold Town's
350th Anniversary!
LUCAS
FORD
MERCURY
LINCOLN
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J
Oysterponds History
Barbara Fertig
The community of Orient occupies the eastern extremity of Long Island's North Fork
from Trnman's Beach to Orient Point, a tract of about 3,000 acres. The village of Orient is
located on the southwestern coastline of this area. The community of Orient, together with
East Marion, was formerly known as Oysterponds. The two settlements were differentiated as
Oysterponds Upper Neck (East Marion) and Oysterponds Lower Neck (Orient). The names
were changed in 1836; "Orient" signifying the village's easterly position on the North Fork.
The area was first inhabited by a prehistoric group known as the Orient Focus people.
Studies of their material culture lead to the conclusion that these people had no overlapping
contact with Native Americans of historic times. The tribes found by early explorers had settled
on Long Island about 1000 years ago, and language analysis indicates that they were part of
the larger Algonquian culture predominant in New England. Their name for the Orient peninsula
was "Poquatuck". Often subject to raids by more powerful tribes across the sound, the Long
Island Indians initially welcomed European settlers, traded land to them and looked to them
for protection. Ironically, nothing could protect these friendly Native Americans from the
European diseases that settlers brought with them, and within a generation the local tribes were
decimated.
Orient was included in the land acquired by the settlers who founded Southold in 1640.
The land purchase was arranged by the New Haven Colony in whose jurisdiction Southold
then lay, and deeds were obtained from the Indians on Long Island. It is generally accepted
that Oysterponds was permanently settled in 1661. A single lot in the Oysterponds tract was
50 acres, and the original lots were bounded on the north by the Sound and on the south by
the Bay. In a short time a road (King's Highway) was laid out through the middle of Oysterponds
which eventually became the new boundary line for dividing tracts of land.
The oldest surviving structure in Orient is the Terry-Mulford house, which dates approx-
imately to 1670, and which is located on the Main Road to the east of the village. Local
historian Augustus Griffin wrote in his diary that the first six settlers of Oysterponds built their
houses along King's Highway (Main Road) and that they were framed in white oak "handsomely
planed and beaded." Griffin describes these first dwellings as quite similar in plan to the
Terry-Mulford house, but all, as he records, had been razed before he completed his journal.
About 1717, when there were approximately 24 families living in Oysterponds, a general
collection was taken to build a meeting house on the north side of King's Highway, on land
purchased from David Youngs. In 1735 the parish was designated a Congregational Church - the
first of this denomination in New York State. In 1818 the original building was torn down and
replaced. In 1843 the present church building was erected on the same site. Methodism was
introduced in Oysterponds in 1802 by itinerant circuit riders, and by 1836 local Methodists
had raised sufficient funds to build their church on Village Lane, on land donated by Vincent
Youngs. Thus the Methodist church building predates the present Congregational Church,
although it is the younger church society.
J
From the beginning of the settlement, the sheltered Oysterponds harbor was used for
commercial traffic, and by 1720, small lots had been sold nearby to erect houses and stores.
A wharf and warehouse were added by 1740 by Richard Shaw. A few people were employed
as tradesmen and fishermen, but farming was the principal occupation.
During the Revolutionary War the British periodically occupied the area and continuously
controlled the sea approaches. Many Orient families fled to Connecticut, leaving homes and
stock behind, and returned to find their property in ruins. Those who stayed on their land fared
better.
The War of 1812 affected Oysterponds mainly as an inconvenience because of the tight
British blockade of harbors in Eastern Long Island. After the wars came a period of prosperity,
as farm products were developed for the New York and Connecticut markets and nature was
also harvested of its fish, shellfish and wildfowl. From 1840 to the 1920's Orient was home
port to over thirty schooners involved in fishing, oystering and transporting produce to market.
Commercial structures grew up around the wharf, including two hotels, one inn, two general
stores, a blacksmith shop, carpenter shop, barber shop, Eastern Union Telegraph, shoe-maker,
post office, and grist windmill. Orient also prospered as a summer resort, with a large hotel,
numerous cottages and boardinghouses.
On Long Beach, a sandy peninsula extending southwest from Orient Point, the Atlantic
Oil and Guano Company built, in 1865, a factory that made fertilizer and fish oil from menhaden
(mossbunkers) fished from local waters. The enterprise, under various owners, functioned for
thirty years before going out of business. Long Beach itself began as common property shared
among the first settlers, then in 1774 came under the governance of the Long Beach Assocation,
which apportioned pasturage and beach rights to renters and used the funds to provide services
to the community. The Association deeded Long Beach to the State of New York in 1929.
The Orient Volunteer Fire Department began its service to the community in 1894 as the
Poquatuck Hook and Ladder Company. In 1916 it was supplemented by the Oysterponds
Chemical Company. The firehouse burned in 1938, and was replaced by a more modern facility
housing ambulance and rescue vehicles as well as firefighting equipment.
Education in Orient became a civic affair in 1820, when a school building was opened
on King's Highway. The first Point Schoolhouse was erected in 1825. There was also a good
bit of private instruction offered: Augustus Griffin taught school in his home in the first half
of the 19th Century; in 1820 Marvin Holmes began his school in the building new occupied
by the Country Store. Amanda Brown began a school in her home in 1862. In 1874 a multi-
roomed schoolhouse was built on the Main Road east of the Congregational Church, and in
1888 a new one-room schoolhouse replaced the first Point school. This building was abandoned
in 1930, when all Orient's children were collected under one educational roof at the Oysterponds
school on Main Road.
Orient's principal wealth has always derived from its land, beginning with the harvesting
of its virgin white oak forests by the earliest settlers. Evidently the land was cleared by 1654,
since, according to Warren Hall, an edict was passed in that year regulating the cutting of
timber. Subsistance farming, and the growing of potatoes as a cash crop, were the agricultural
mainstay from 1800 to 1870, when George W. Hailock set out to improve land he had acquired
at the eastern end of Orient Hamlet. Using manure, fish fertilizer and chemicals, Hallock
reputedly increased the yield of his land tenfold, and through careful accounting was able to
calculate the return on his investment of various seeds and fertilizers acre by acre. The contribu-
r
tion of his painstaking methods to the state of agriculture on Long Island was notable. In 1990
three families still farm commercially on Orient peninsula, selling produce not only to New
York and New England markets, but at bountiful local roadside stands as well.
Art as well as commerce has left its mark on Orient. William Steeple Davis, the son of
a sign and carriage painter, was born in Orient in 1884, and pursued the vocation of artist/photo-
grapher throughout his long life as an Orient resident. Prolific and devoted to his calling, he
left a legacy not only of his own work, but also in the form of an endowed artist's residency
in the family home and studio where he spent his life.
The hamlet of Orient has evolved from a bustling center of commerce to a quiet residential
community. The end of the once-busy wharf is now occupied by the modest building of the
Orient Yacht Club; two stores vend local produce, antiques and groceries. The post office is
the daily center of community life, and venerable Poquatuck Hall is the site of the more
extraordinary activities: concerts, theater productions, auctions and meetings of any size.
In the center of the hamlet, on Village Lane, several buildings are maintained as museums
by the Oysterponds Historical Society; The lane is punctuated with memorial to the Servicemen
of the Civil War, World Wars I and II, and the Korean and Vietnam conflicts. In these structures
can be read the present interests of Orient: history, peace and pride.
The foregoing is largely taken from an essay by Kenneth Godfrey published in Historic
Orient Village, published by Oysterponds Historical Society in 1976. Mr. Godfrey credits work
by Richard Keogh and Dr. George Cottral as the foundation of his essay, and I, in turn
acknowledge them all as authors of this history, who I have had the privilege of editing.
Coudesy of Joy Bear
Shaw House, Orient
The Terry-Mulford House, Orient, 1656
Congratulations $outhold Town
on your 350th Anniversary
The Merchants
at Feather Hill
Main Road, Southold, New York
the ~rreenvort waterfront
was a-bustle with the men
and .ships of
the whahng industry.
Claudio's remembers. ~
Because Manuel Claudio -- ~
~. was there, i }
'~ '"~ -~ r
Claudio's is more than a waterfront restaurant and marina. ~ --' - ' ~
~' Ws a part of North Fork historY.of five the arrived in ~
Manuel Claudio, the first generations to run family business, ;~
Greenporl on a whaling vessel in lhe early 1850s. By 1870, he had established what may be the oldest family-run
restaurant in the Oniled States. Come and enjoy fine
~l~rnerican and Continental cuisine in lhe authentic ambience of yesterday.
CLAUD I O'S c=:==_
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Melville, New York 11747
(516) 756-8000
Fishers Island History
Charles B. Ferguson
The Indians called Fishers Island MUNNAWTAWKIT. Approximately nine thousand
years ago it was not an island but connected to the mainland at Watch Hill, R.I. The earliest
Indian artifacts found on the Island date between 6,500 and 5,000 B.C. Besides Indians and
quite probably Norsemen, the generally accepted discoverer of Fishers Island was the Dutchman,
Adrian Block, in 1614. Block, in his 44 foot "made-in-the-New-World-boat," ONRUST, (after
the loss by fire of his original ship), refound Block Island and Montauk Point, Long lsland.
After changing the name of Block Island from CLAUDIA, the name given it by Verrazano in
1524, it is probable that Adrian Block named Fishers Island after one of his navigators who
had the name VISCHERS.
What was happening on Fishers Island throe hundred years ago? The sea level was about
the same as today and not fifty feet lower as it was in 8,500 B.C. The climate in 1689, too,
was like today's. One account in the early 17th century tells of a group of early settlers coming
ashore on Fishers and being driven back to their sloop by the hordes of mosquitoes! Nothing's
changed !
John Winthrop, Jr. (1606-1676) of Groton, England was the first titled owner of the
Island. Upon arrival in the colonies he set out to carve a domain for himself and chose the
Fishers Island/New London area as "his." The slaughter of the Pequot Indians at Mystic in
1637 opened the way for Winthrop to legally obtain possession of the land he desired. In 1641
Connecticut granted him Fishers Island and in 1644 Winthrop purchased the Island from the
Pequot Indians.
In 1657 Winthrop was elected Governor of Connecticut and in 1662 he sailed for England
to obtain a charter from King Charles II which he received. It included not only Fishers Island
but also adjacent islands - Gardiners and Shelter, all of which belonged then to Connecticut.
The ownership was still not settled since in 1664 another grant gave the King's brother, the
Duke of York, specifically Fishers and Long Island. The eastern Long Island towns of Southold,
South Hampton, and East Hampton petitioned that they be allowed to remain part of Connecticut.
It was denied. Fishers Island was directed to pay the Duke of York one lamb each year upon
the 1 st of May "if same be demanded," which it was for many years. The ownership of Fishers
Island was not settled finally until 1878-1879 when a joint committee from New York and
Connecticut conferred and Fishers Island was awarded to New York; Connecticut was not
happy with the decision.
It was John Winthrop's intention to form a company to make iron which was much needed
in the colonies. At the same time he saw the possibilities of developing Fishers into a 3,000
acre farmland particularly for the raising of sheep and cattle.
Until 1637, when the Pequot Indian threat was terminated by the slaughter at Mystic when
six or seven hundred Indians were killed in their fortress, them was constant fear of the Indians.
Fishers, as an island, did offer some protection from the hazards of the mainland. About this
time Winthrop moved his family, his wife, Elizabeth Reade, and his two children, Margaret
and Fitz-John, to the Island. They lived there only for a year belbre moving to Nameauge
which is now called New London. Except for stays in Hartford. Winthrop called New London
home. In 1657 he was elected Governor of Connecticut. While Winthrop was acquiring more
large tracts of land, he used Fishers Island as a business farm where sheep were raised for
both food and wool.
John Jr. came from England with considerable knowledge in the field of medicine and
was often called upon for medical advice. One of his favorite tonics was "Rubella," the formula
for which has been lost. Perhaps it was the forerunner of '~Boroleum? Boroleum, a cure-all
ointment, has been manufactured by the Sinclair Pharmaceutical Company of Fishers Island
since 1906.
John Winthrop, Jr. died in Boston in 1676. His estate and land holdings were lefi to his
two sons, Fitz-John and Wait-Still. Fitz-John was the son most interested in Fishers Island, a
spot that his brother called "A Wilderness Place." In 1689, Fitz-John imported from England
one William Walworth as lessee farmer for the Island. Walworth brought with him the English
system of cultivation which was continued on Fishers for the nearly two hundred years that
the Island was owned by members of the Winthrop family. While Walworth's children were
being born on the Island, he carved farmland out of the 3,000 heavily forested acres.
William Walworth enjoyed his small kingdom for only nine years and was Ibrced to move
to Groton because of the very real threat of pirates. The infamous Captain Kidd was one of
them and may well have buried some of his treasure on Fishers as well as Gardiner's Island,
where part of his stolen loot has been recovered.
In 1689, neighboring Block Island was invaded by four French privateers whose crew of
desperadoes stole everything of value form the inhabitants of that Island. After being repulsed
in a similar attack on New London, flying British colors, the French landed on Fishers Island.
Four ships and 150 men against some farmers and one house! The house was burned, but to
the rescue came men from Stonington across the Sound! During the confrontation in which
the French claimed that they had been shipwrecked, one of the French bandits, Trimmings,
was shot and later scalped by the Indians. No wonder Walworth had wisely withdrawn to Groton!
The mid-eighteenth century was an uneasy time for the Island. The war against the French
in Canada brought about privateering and was much cause for alarm on unprotected islands
such as Fishers. Upon the advent of the Revolutionary War, the Sound was blockaded by the
British who preyed upon the smaller islands in order to resupply their stocks with cattle and
sheep. From Fishers Island they took cattle and approximately 100 sheep for which the British
did pay. In 1776 the sheep, cattle, and swine were removed from the Island so that they would
not fall into enemy hands. The next year the British returned again and truly cleaned the Island
of food and hay. 1779 was a year of disaster for both Plum and Fishers Islands when the
British this time plundered both and then fired the buildings.
Although the British blockaded both the Sound and New London during the War of 1812
and Fishers was virtually surrounded, there were no raiding forays such as the Island underwent
during the Revolution. The Fishers Island farming estate moved into its third century still
owned by a John Winthrop, Jr. descendant.
Until 1863 Fishers Island was owned by one Winthrop after another. That of course meant
al~l of the Island, which was almost entirely utilized as grazing and farmland. There was no
village and only enough people to manage the farm. How long the Pequot Indians remained
on the Island to help work the fields and tend the cattle is not yet known.
An island such as Fishers Island is very vulnerable to nature's storms, gale force winds,
blizzards, hurricanes, even tornadoes. In a letter to Rev. Mather of Boston, John Winthrop
wrote in 1717 of a winter snow storm so severe that eleven hundred of the Island's sheep were
buried under drifts that were twenty-six feet deep! Amazingly, two of the sheep survived their
ordeal by eating the fleece of their dead companions.
In 1815 what must have been a hurricane "laid bare the Island" according to records. The
worst sea disaster associated with Fishers Island was the wreck of the new side-wheeler
ATLANTIC on Thanksgiving eve, 1846. She had just left New London, CT, bound for New
York in a ferocious northwest gale when suddenly her steam chest exploded. The ship anchored,
but the winds dragged the passenger ship eastward until in the black of night she piled up on
the extremely rocky shore of North Hill on Fishers Island. More than a hundred men, women,
and children perished. The lithographic firm of Currier and Ives produced a dramatic rendition
of the WRECK OF THE ATLANTIC soon after the event.
In 1870, at the very west end of the Island, was erected the first LIFE SAVING STATION
which overlooked the treacherous waters between Fishers Island and Little Gull Island. The
area known as the Race has one of the strongest tidal actions on the Eastern seaboard and has
accounted for many lost ships and lives. RACE ROCK LIGHT, which lies about a mile west
of Fishers Island, was constructed in 1878 with great difficulty due to the currents. A more
permanent COAST GUARD STATION was erected at the eastern end of the Island in the
early twentieth century. Coast Guardsmen walked the south shore of the Island on a regular
patrol basis until W.W. II.
Life on Fishers Island took an abrupt change in the latter part of the nineteenth century
when the ownership changed from the Winthrop descendants to Robert R. Fox and then to the
Ferguson brothers, Edmund M. and Walton; the Island was no longer one family's estate. As
early as 1783, brick making, using the local quantities of clay, was the Island's big and only
industry. It is said that New York's City Hall was made from bricks exported from Fishers Island.
Because of the number of brick workers, the main population of the Island was centered
around the BRICKYARD. The first school was in the still standing "Brickyard Cottage," which
became the Library in 1888. When the brick business was discontinued about the time the
Foxes sold to the Fergusons in 1889, the center of the Hamlet shifted to its present location,
south of West Harbor. St. John's, the Episcopal church, was built in 1881 with an adjoining
cemetery; the Union Chapel was constructed in 1898, and Our Lady of Grace Roman Catholic
Church in 1905. All three are within a quarter of a mile of one another and established the
new center for the Island's small population, probably not more than two hundred year-round.
It is difficult for us to believe today that whaling took place within sight of Fishers Island,
but apparently it did. The HENRY L. FERGUSON MUSEUM, which was established in 1960,
has whale bones to prove it! Like Stonington, Greenport, Nantucket, and New London, fishing
was a steady career and accounted for a considerable portion of the Island's inhabitants.
Lobstering was and is the main harvest of the Fishers Island waters. The power of the fisherman
can be best illustrated with the story about Fishers Island in 1944 when shifting allegiance
from New York State to Connecticut was under consideration. The professional fisherman
objected so strenuously that the matter was dropped and the Island lobstermen continued control
over "their" waters.
At the time of the Spanish-American War, 1898, the Fergusons sold the first piece of
their land, 216 acres at the very west end of the Island, to the United States Government. The
land became the Coast Artillery Fort known as FORT H.G. WRIGHT. (Note: Horatio G.
Wright was a General in the Civil War.)
With the rapid growth in the '90s of a summer population, the Fishers Island Yacht Club
(one of the oldest in the country) was formed. Electricity came to the Island in the form of
generators in 1899, the year after an official "office" building was put up to house the Post
Office and the E. M. & W. Ferguson business. That firm existed with that name until 1918
when it became, strangely enough, the FISHERS ISLAND FARMS, which lasted until 1965.
Besides the Mansion House Hotel and Cottages, the Ferguson businesses included the ferry
service, electricity, water, and telephone. Following the death of the President of the Fishers
Island Farms in 1965, the F.I. Farms was purchased and became the FISHERS ISLAND
UTILITY COMPANY which continues ownership of the water, telephone, and electricity, in
the early '50s the Fishers Island Farms gave up ownership of its subsidiary company, the
Fishers Island Navigation Company. Starting in the '50s, the ferry has been run by the Fishers
Island Ferry Commission.
The 1920s were boom years, like the Gay '90s. Prohibition affected Fishers Island to the
extend that "Rum Runners," who off-loaded whiskey from near the Long Island Coast and
Block Island onto small boats, often ran into the "revenuers" near Fishers Island. One such
instance took place in 1923 when the THELMA PHOEBE loaded will illegal Scotch whiskey
ran aground on the south shorn at Chocomont Beach. Fishers Island apparently became a "tight"
little island as many of its inhibitants gathered cases of fine Scotch whiskey direct from Scotland.
A story goes that one individual could not wait to get his salvage home, uncorked the bottle,
and had himself a solo party to the extent that he did not feel capable of lugging the rest of
the case back home . . . so being fearful that he would not remember where he had hidden
his other eleven bottle, buried them in the sand with just their necks showing!
Many large houses of varying styles were built in the late '20s and '30s. One of the most
unique houses of this period was the Normandy style French chateau built by the Simmons of
mattress fame and situated as a bastion/guardian of the very east tip of the Island.
During the Second World War, no Germans from U-boats landed on the beaches and the
only Japanese family on the Island was permitted to stay but not leave the Island. An estimated
7,000 soldiers and WACS manned Fort H.G. Wright, many of whom referred to the Island
as "THE ROCK!" The Fort did have one important facility and that was a hospital.
With a winter population of some three hundred and a summer one of perhaps three
thousand, it was a difficult life for a full-time doctor on Fishers island. The doctoring situation
has presently been resolved by having young doctors 1¥om a New York Hospital come to the
Island on a rotating basis of several weeks each throughout the year. It should be added that
Fishers Island, because of her isolation, has developed a first-rate emergency paramedic team
and with the SEASTRECHER, a twin engine Bertram equipped with radar and always ready
to go, some say that an Island emergency victim can receive aid and be in a hospital faster
than one in a big city.
"Downtown" Fishers Island has changed very little since the Post Office building was
built in 1898. The seven buildings which make up the town: the Post Office and F.I. Utility
Co., a fruit store (now closed), a general store (now three shops including the liquor store),
the Old Fire House (now a shop), the Tidal Wave (originally a drugstore and later a shop,
another gift shop, and the new Fire House. Not much change in "town" except use and
ownership in ninety years!
A Forgotten Landmark?
Rod Van Tuyl
It is often assumed that an historic landmark takes the form of an imposing structure of
some unique characteristic, or one which has served a useful purpose in promoting or preserving
its identity with the community. How often have we ever considered the humble but untilitarian
"milestone" as most certainly a landmark?
To define a milestone requires but a simple analysis of its word structure, and thus we
arrived at a stone which marks the measurement of a mile, either to the next stone or to a
given point. While the word milepost has the same meaning and its use dates back for centuries,
the introduction of stone for these markers came into practice because of its durability and
infrequent maintenance requirements.
In the town of Southold, milestones were placed each mile from Orient Point to Riverhead
many years ago, possibly during the 1700's, to indicate by their chiseled inscriptions the
number of miles to the Suffolk County Court House. Although somewhat obsolete in usage
after automobiles replaced horse-drawn vehicles, the reverence toward the milestone as holding
a place in local history has been shown by the general public's preservation of these markers.
Generally made of granite and shaped to an average size of 4 inches by 12 inches and
standing about 3 feet high with perhaps another 3 feet implanted in the ground, the milestones
were installed on the southerly side of the Main Road (Route 25) about ten feet off the traveled
road. The typical lettering chiseled on the face of each stone is "24 M To SUFFOLK C H",
this particular one still standing about 500 feet east of Bay Avenue in East Marion. While
some of the engravings have become weather-worn, many are quite legible, perhaps preserved
by concerned individuals living nearby.
From a reconnaissance tour from one end of Southold Town to the other, it was recently
learned that at least 20 of the original 24 stones are still in tact, and that the measured mile
between each is quite accurate, possibly varying one-tenth of a mile according to the modem-day
odometer. If one would care to look for some of these milestones, it is well to remark that in
the village of Southold, Boisseau Avenue was part of the original "King's Highway", and its
continuance onto the Old North Road would be the road to travel. Also, because of the
re-alignment of the Main Road in the hamlet of Laurel, the original milestone will be found
nearly opposite the southerly end of Aldrich Lane on the old Main Road.
Perhaps the milestone has become just a casual observance during the past 75 years or
so, but its continued existence serves as a reminder of the days in earlier Town history when
it served a more practical purpose in letting the buggy-driver know how far it was to the County
Seat.
(A listing of the known milestones and their approximate location is on file with the Town
Landmark Commission, for the interested observer.)
In the early '70s a new school was built to replace the outdated one built in 1914. The
new million dollar school with a very up-to-date look and located at the west end in the Fort
Wright area near the ferry dock, was expected to have an enrollment of about 150 from nursery
through high school by the mid '80s. Instead there are now only about eighty students and
some of these commute from Connecticut by ferry to the Island under the Magnet Program. In
an et'tbrt to increase the winter population, an "Affordable Housing" project is underway with
four houses expected to be completed in 1990.
The steady growth and demands on the facilities such as water and electricity are cause
for alarm and promulgated a task force document called the Growth Plan. Fortunately, there
are a great number of land owners at both ends of the Island who care and wish to maintain
the simple beauty of Fishers Island, but in order to succeed into the next century, alert persons
and organizations must keep a constant vigil. Since 1640 when John Winthrop, Jr. gained title
to the island, Fishers Island has remained a place "unto herself," far removed from Long Island
yet part of her, close to Connecticut, yet not part of her even though the Island mail has a
Connecticut zip code. This is about as close as a place can come to independence.
Race Point Lighthouse off Fisher's Island
Southold Town Milestones
Photos by Rod Van Tuyl
Southold's Government
Jean W. Cochran
The plan of the founders of the Southold Colony was to establish a settlement where
church and state were one entity. It was the policy of the settlement that only church members
should have any share in government. Town government was vested in town meetings held in
Southold's Meetinghouse which also served as the church.
Magistrates from the New Haven Colony purchased the land which is now Southold from
the Indians. In 1618 the Earl of Sterling, Secretary for the Kingdom of Scotland, received a
grant to all of Long Island from Charles I of England. To this day the pound stirling remains
a part of the Town Seal of Southold.
Politically Southold's beginnings were thrust about between Connecticut and New York
rule. Southold was one of the five towns belonging to New Haven Colony which united in
1662 with Connecticut Colony. Southold's founders, having come from the New Haven Colony,
fought hard to remain a part of New England.
In 1662, when the town was under the authority of the New Haven Colony, Captain John
Youngs was accepted as commissioner of Justice and was commanded to order the people of
Southold to choose a Constable to keep order and report back to New Haven.
In 1664, Southold was under the authority of the Duke of York but disliked the arbitrary
rule. Southold was required to elect a Constable and four overseers who were empowered to
order town affairs. They held a meeting every three months beginning at eight o'clock in the
morning. A fine of 20 s was imposed on those not attending, unless they had a good reason
~ for not being there.
In 1673, the Dutch regained New York but Southold resisted, holding tightly to Connecticut.
In 1674 with the English again in possession of New York, the town returned to its jurisdiction
with unwillingness.
Governor Edmund Andross had received orders to bring Southold and other towns into
subjection. Each town was required to take a patent for its lands, which in essence would
acknowledge the title of the Duke of York. Southold sent a letter to the governor stating it had
the right to their land without a patent, having purchased it from Lord Sterling's agent and
having possessed it for over thirty years.
Governor Andross and the courts held fast in their position and gave Southold a time limit
to comply with the law. The Andross Patent of 1676 was finally accepted by the inhabitants.
After the American Revolution, New York became one of the thirteen American States.
Southold had to adjust not only to laws of a new state but also to the adoption of the Constitution
of the United States.
Greenport, the only incorporated village in the Town of Southold, suffered during the
American revolution upon its refusal to feed soldiers of King George III. Due to the demand
for shipping and whaling ports, Greenport began to grow and thrive. Greenport was known as
Stifling until 1831 when the name Greenport was adopted. Greenport became incorporated in
1838 at the request of its residents. As an incorporated village Greenport governs itself with
a mayor, trustees, clerk, treasurer, justice, assessor and Superintendent of Public Works.
As Southold grew, government was getting more complicated. Records show Southold
had a recorder (Town Clerk) from 1641, with a Supervisor recorded as early as 1753. Also
serving the community was a Collector of Taxes, Justices of the Peace, and Overseers of the
Poor. Southold had a Commissioner of Highways as early as the Seventeenth Century.
After 1874, Southold government began to change and no longer were prayers used to
open Town Meetings. Meetings were held more often with Southold now having not only a
Highway Department and Town Justices, but a Board of Elections, Board of Health and a
School Board. Present day local government power is derived from New York State Town
Law. Southold's Town Board is comprised of six elected officials, all of whom are voting
members. By a special act of the New York State Legislative body, Southold has six Town
Board members to allow for representation of Fishers Island.
The Town Board is the Legislative body, but also has charge of the town's finances and
adopts the budget. All six Board Members have equal power with one exception. The Supervisor
serves as Chief Fiscal Officer. The Town Supervisor is elected for a term of two years, and
presides at meetings of the town Board.
Town Councilmen are elected for a term of four years and participate in Town Board
Meetings. Board Members also serve on committees as appointed by the Supervisor or the
Town Board.
The Town Clerk is elected every four years and serves as the Secretary to the Town Board.
The job encompasses recording minutes of the Town Board Meetings. maintaining all files for
permits, ordinances, bids and contracts, town licenses and all records related to town board
actions. The Town Clerk also is the Registrar of Vital Statistics and issues marriage licenses.
Elected for a term of four years, the Superintendent of Highways has the responsibility
for all town roads, their repair, inspection and snow removal. The Superintendent of Highways
in addition to the management of the Highway Department serves as Superintendent of Public
Works.
Southold elects three Town Justices for a term of four years. They preside in civil cases,
minor crimes and offenses. Town Justices are not required to have a law degree, but must take
the mandated State Judicial Conference training.
Town Assessors are responsible for assessing properties, new buildings, present an assess-
ment roll for the coming years taxes. They are elected for a term of four years.
The Tax Receiver must collect all town, county, school, library and special district taxes.
The position requires an election every four years.
In 1893 the State Legislature created the Board of Trustees, with jurisdiction over all
town-owned creek bottoms. The trustees grant permits for wetlands, dredging, building docks
and bulkheads, installing buoys and moorings in town creeks.
Southold's government functions not only with elected officials but with appointed officials
as well. The Planning Board, the Zoning Board of Appeals and the Board of Assessment
Review members are appointed by the Town Board. Other appointments include the Southold
Town Conservation Advisory Council, the Town Historian and the Town Attorney. The Chief
of Police is appointed by the Town Board through the Civil Service system.
With the growth of Southold, more structured and organized government has become
necessary. While only a few simple laws were necessary in the earlier years, with the complexity
of modem life, the need for more ordinances and local laws has been created for the orderly
function of Town Government.
Greenport Village Hall
Southold Town Hall
Police Departments
Margaret F. Hagerman
Law enforcement in Southold Town has come a long way since the early days of Joseph
M. Walters and James Patrick Kelly and their motorcycle patrols. Mr. Walters was Southold's
first Police Constable and served in that position from 1919 to 1928. (He was later appointed
a Special Constable by the Town Board, to serve "without compensation and at the pleasure
of the Board".) J.P. Kelly's career as a peace officer began in 1928 and ended with his
retirement 37 years later. Their patrols took them from the town line at Laurel to the end of
the North Fork at Orient.
At that time, Southold Police Force was a Constabulary, not yet an organized police
department. But as Southold grew, so too did the need for a bigger, more modem police force.
In 1960, the Southold Town Police Department was established with fourteen police officers
under the supervision of Chief Otto Anrig. Over the next few years, more and more officers
were added to the roster and at the present time, 1990, the number of policemen and women
stands at forty four. The Department, under the command Chief H. Daniel Winters, consists
of a lieutenant, five uniformed sergeants, four plainclothes detectives, one detective sergeant,
one Juvenile Aid detective and 31 police officers, two of whom are policewomen. There are
also eight fulltime and two parttime dispatchers, three Bay Constables, several crossing guards
and other traffic control officers, plus three secretaries to handle the paper work. Two full time
Constables are in charge on Fishers Island with the help of two part time Bay Constables. In
the summer months, two State Police officers are assigned to the Island.
The Southold Town Police Department is a well organized, well trained department whose
policemen and policewomen are fully capable of handling any situation. To become a police
officer these men and women must first pass a civil service test and attend the Suffolk County
Police Academy at West Babylon for a six month training period. One month is devoted to
learning First Aid and CPR. At the end of the training, an officer must pass another test and
finish a probationary period of 18 months. If all goes well, he or she is then accepted as a full
fledged police officer.
The communications room at police headquarters on the Main Road in Peconic, is staffed
by trained radio operators who use a sophisticated computer system to receive and record calls.
All calls to 911 from within Southold Town, The Incorporated Village of Greenport, and
Shelter Island go through the switchboard at Peconic. Each call received is automatically and
immediately recorded on the computer which displays, on a screen, the name, address and
phone number of the origin of the call. The dispatcher on duty then directs the call to the
proper department. This enhanced 911 system is more efficient than the old method of dealing
with an emotional caller or a small child who may not know his address, and makes the
response to the emergency much quicker.
The Southold Police Department receives assistance, as needed, from special squads of
the Suffolk County Police Department such as in cases of arson, burglary and homicide.
Services of the K-9 Corps are also used.
The Soutbold Police still patrol the same area as Mr. Walters and "Pat" Kelly, from Laurel
to Orient Point, but their work-load has increased tenfold since its organization in 1960. Due
to a huge population surge which began just about the time the Department was organized,
miles of roads, hundreds of homes and dozens of businesses have been added to the town,
more than tripling the area covered by our police.
The police officers of the Southold Town Police Department are a dedicated, intelligent
group of men and women who are not only ready and willing, they are also very able to assist
the citizens of Southold. We, the people of Southold Town, are very proud of them.
The incorporated Village of Greenport organized its own Village Police Force in the early
1900's, with 2 police officers under the supervision of Chief Theodore Howard. Over the years
the number of officers has grown to nine full time, with one detective, and its Chief, Robert
Walden. A traffic control ofl'icer and meter attendant are hired by the police department in the
summer months to handle the influx of visitors to Greenport.
The men of the Greenport Village Police Force receive the same training as the officers
of the Southold Town Police Department and utilize the same services of the Suffolk County
Police Department and Sheriff's Department.
Althougb a small police force, Greenport's Village Police Department is efficiently man-
aged and well manned and is fully equipped to maintain law and order within the limits of
Greenport Village.
, ~. , '~ ~,,~,~ ' ,~4,~ii~ ,
Pat Kelly- Southold's own Motorcycle Cop, July 1930
Fire Protection
Margaret F. Hagerman
There are seven fire districts in Southold Town. Each district, with the exception of
Greenport, has its own Board of Fire Commissioners elected by the taxpayers. The Incorporated
Village of Greenport has a Board of Fire Wardens appointed by the Village Board. The Fire
Commissioners present their annual budget to the Town Board and are allocated the money
for equipment. In Greenport, the Fire Wardens present their budget to the Village Board. The
seven districts are: Mattituck, organized in 1907, Cutchogue in 1928, Southold in 1886,
Greenport in 1854, East Marion in 1898, Oysterponds in 1892 and Fishers Island in 1927.
All volunteer fire departments in Southold Town are governed by Suffolk County, New
York State and Federal Laws. Each man or woman in the individual departments must complete,
within the first year of their membership, 13 courses in basic firematics and pass a written
test. These courses are two to three hours each and are usually taught at the firehouse by an
instructor from the Fire School at Yaphank. Some of the courses taught are fire fighting, hose
handling, use of self-contained breathing apparatus, and handling of hazardous materials.
Advanced firematic courses are taught at the Fire school. Advanced courses would include the
use of the Hurst Tool, better known as the jaws of life.
All seven fire departments have Emergency Medical Technicians (EMTs) and Advanced
Emergency Medical Technicians (AEMTs). Their training is intensive. EMTs attend 110 hours
of training including 10 hours in a hospital emergency room and then must pass a written and
practical test. AEMTs are instructed for an additional 300 hours and must pass a written,
practical and situation test.
Twelve members of four deparments, Mattituck, Southold, Greenport and Oysterponds
make up an elite group of scuba divers known as the Southold Town Diving Team. They are
trained for underwater search and recovery and ice rescue.
Each fire department in Southold Town is fully equipped with an adequate number of
tankers, pumpers, ladder and hose trucks plus rescue vehicles and/or ambulances. Southold
has recently acquired a new Heavy Rescue truck, Greenport is awaiting the arrival of a new
Advanced Life Support ambulance which is due to be delivered very soon, and Fishers Island
boasts "Sea Stretcher", a fully equipped 36 ft. Hattaras Ambulance Boat which is used to
transport any medical emergency patient to Lawrence Memorial Hospital in New London,
Connecticut. East Marion, our smallest fire department with 55 members, has purchased a new
tanker/pumper and ambulance. Oysterponds Chemical Co., formally called Poquatuck Hook
and Ladder Co., will move into their beautiful new fire house on Route 25 and Tabor Rd. this
summer. The Cutchogue Fire Department is building an addition on the south side of the
existing firehouse to accommodate all of their trucks and ambulances. Mattituck is in the
process of purchasing a new pumper to replace an outdated 1969 vehicle. Members of the
Mattituck Fire Department are also restoring a newly acquired 1930 Seagrave Hose Car. Though
Laurel, New Suffolk and Peconic do not have a fire depa~ment of their own, they are adequately
covered by Mattituck, Cutchogue and Southold, respectively.
These seven departments are all members of the Suffolk County Volunteer Fireman's
Association which is the fourth oldest such organization in the United States. They also belong
to the New York State Association and the Southern New York Association. All except Fishers
Island belong to the North Fork Volunteers Association, formed in 1932, to promote good will
and cooperation between companies.
There is so much more to be said about these dedicated men and women who are willing
to risk life and limb to protect the lives and properties of others. We owe them a debt of
gratitude. Knowing they are every ready should be a comfort to all of us.
Southold's first firehouse circa 1886.
Southold At A Glance
South Street Firehouse, Greenport circa 1889.
Mattituck Fire Department's first hook and ladder fire truck made by Conrad Grabie, c. 1900.
Courtesy Walt & Judy Mengeweit
SCOTT L. HARRIS
SUPERVISOR
FAX (516) 765-1823
TELEPHONE (516) 765-1800
OFFICE OF THE SUPERVISOR
TOWN OF SOUTHOLD
Town Hall, 53095 Main Road
P.O. Box 1179
Southold, New York 11971
To the People of Southold Town:
It is a great honor to serve as Supervisor of Southold Town, especially
during this 350th Anniversary Year. My first official act as Supervisor,
which indicates the importance of this celebration to me and the Town,
was the Proclamation which appears on the adjacent page declarinq 1990 as
the 350thAnniversary Year of Southold Town.
Nature's bounty and the pure waters surrounding the North Fork of Long
Island sustained, first, the Indians and later, the men and women who
founded the first English speaking town in New York State. Ail of us who
live in Southold, whether as year round residents, second home owners or
vacationers, should feel dual emotions when we consider what we have
inherited from those who have lived here before us. Naturally, we are
first of all proud of our beautiful surroundings. Along with that pride
should go a sense of almost awesome responsibility for how our land and
our water, all our resources, are to be treated in the future.
Our town was founded by English Puritans, officially in 1640,
unofficially several years earlier. In its first hundred years as a
colony only a part of the population had a say in how the town was to be
governed. With the American Revolution and, later, through amendments
to our Constitution, the franchise was broadened so as to give all adult
men and women a voice in government.
In 1990, we honor not only the brave first settlers but all who have
come here since who have contributed to the growth and development of
Southold Town. When we plan together what direction Southold Town is to
take, I ask you to remember that we are all part of Southold's future as
well as of its history.
Sincerely,
Supervisor
~]]~'~r~[:~ the Town of Southold, founded in 1640,
is one of the most venerable towns in the United States of America;
and
W H E R E A S it is traditional for the citizens of the Town
of Southold to mark its anniversary every twenty-five years with
great enthusiasm and splendor, and to honor their ancestors, with
all their virtues and human frailties; and
W H E R E A S the said citizens of the Town of Southold
have shared hardships and sorrows over many years and have
delighted together in the growing tolerance, diversity and
prosperity of their beloved town; and
W H E R E A S : Southolders are aware of the valuable
and beautiful heritage that is theirs and are willing to preserve
and conserve this heritage; now, therefore be it
R E S O L V E D : that 1990 is hereby declaredthe350th
anniversary year of the Town of Southold.
D A T E D : January 2, 1990.
Supervisor Scott L. Harris
Justice Raymor~l W. Edwards
Councilman George L. Penny IV
Councilwoman Ruth D. Oliva
Councilwoman Ellen M, Lamen
Councilman Thomas H. Wickham
Town Clerk Judith T. Terry
Town of Southold
Congratulations
From
Southold Free Library
Photo taken by Ralph Pugliese, Jr.
Suffolk Life
of
Proposed New Addition to the Library
Trustees
C. Whitney Booth, President
Annette Grubman, Secretary
Sydney Breese
Snmuel Epstein
Gayle Kaplnn, Vice President
Maureen C. Hickey, Treasurer
Robert Rothman
Signe Youngberg, Director
Theater in Southold Town
Thomas Monsell
The early years of any community in colonial America were the years of learning to live
in a new environment, what the poet William Carlos Williams would later call "the knack of
survival in America." The struggles of daily life left little opportunity for aesthetic appreciation,
let alone aesthetic endeavor. Indeed, it would have been contrary to the austere code of existence
practiced by our early settlers since the aesthetic life demands not only talent but leisure, and
leisure was in very short supply during the first two centuries of Southold Town's history.
As is true in virtually every emerging society, it was the church, through music and
decoration, that was the sustainer of the ans. Theater, a composite art blending writing, acting,
direction, design and often music~ would have to wait a very long time before finding its
enthusiasts, whether behind the footlights or in front of them. Christmas pageants followed by
more sophisticated musical offerings allowed the community to develop a certain authority in
performance which would eventually lead to the staging of dramatic oftYrings.
According to Rachel Gleason Brooks' book The Artistic Achievement of a Rural Commu-
nity, Southold, early dramatic perlbrmances were given at Thalion Hall near the site of the
Universalist Church and later, circa 1850~ at the Southold Collegiate Institute. Other than a
few melodramas and ethnic farces typical of the time such as That Rascal Pat, there is little
of note in the annals of performance until the construction of Belmont Hall on Main Street at
the site opposite the Southold Free Library. Construction was completed in 1884: in 1889, the
Southold Reading and Dramatic Association undertook a most ambitious production, Gilbert
and Sullivan's The Mikado. Another notable work. Robertson~s Caste, an important satire of
the era, had been done in 1886.
Harold Smith's The Most Popular Eastern Long Island Plays and Players, 1880-1920 cites
the Al Trahern Stock Company as a steady purveyor of melodramas and farces played on an
East End circuit that included Greenport (at the Auditorium at Main Street and Central Avenue
or at the Opera House at Main Street and Bay Avenue), Southold (at Belmont Hall) and
Mattituck in the Lupton Memorial opposite the south side of the railroad station. Except
an occasional semi-classical foray such as Sardou's Divorcons, the Trahern Company presented
few works of literary merit, although in those uncritical days when there were only lbur or
five American playwrights of note such was Gillette, Herne, l~itch~ Belasco and Mackaye, the
Trahern Company was extremely popular in spite of the poor quality of the plays. Their spirited
acting won them an ardent public. They were true to the old barnstorming tradition that had
criss-crossed the country in the century before them. The Traherns continued to tour until the
feature-length film became the entertainment of choice during World War I.
Many amateur theater groups were founded after World War 1. Anne Hallock (Currie-Bell),
later to become the author of Old Southold Town's Tercentenary, was, together with Frances
Jackson and Eunice Browning~ prominent in creating an interest in theater in Southold Town
during this period. Also, "from 1922 until World War 1I," as Becky Terry states in her 1980
article entitled "Belmont Hall Nostalgiad' "the Southold Players, later to be called the Old
Town Player', under the direction of Charles Kramer, made an important contribution to the
East End." Among local players who received high praise for their performances: ~'Brud"
Albertson, Catherine Cassidy, Harry Cusack, Ben Fischer, Bess Gagen, Harold "Goldie"
Goldsmith, Alvah Goldsmith, Ken Hagerman, Murlin Knight, Miriam Kramer Sivigne, and
Paul & Charley Montgomery.
The Orient Playshop was founded in 1932 by members of the Congregational Church
under the direction of Mrs. Herbert B. Morrell who directed their first full-length play Clarence
by Booth Tarkington in 1936 with Herb Vail in the title role. In 1947, Mrs. Douglas Robertson
took over as director with a very smooth production of Ladies in Retirement by Reginald
Denham and Edward Percy; she continued as director until the final production, Coppels The
Gazebo in 1967.
The North Fork Community Theater. founded by the late Jack Moffat in 1958, has
presented over a hundred of the most notable works of the modem theater such as A Man for
All Seasons and Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf as well as some original plays and musicals
by local authors, one of which was The Peanut Butter Prince by Jack Moffat. The NFCT,
situated in Mattituck next to the Presbyterian Church, has also done many very artistically and
physically demanding musicals (in the sense of production requirements) such as Man of La
Mancha, Kismet and Cabaret.
The Stirling Players in Greenport, founded by the present author who is also the author
of the "Shakespeare in Performance" series published by Harcourt, Brace, Jovanovich, has
presented nine productions since 1972 among which have been Jean Anouilh's Antigone and
the medieval morality play Everyman. Actor-director Frank Trezza, later to appear in several
films directed by Charles Lane, played in five Stirling Players productions.
Tony-Award winning actress Peg Murray created a group known as Northeast Stage which
was to specialize in original musicals. Among them were outstanding musicals celebrating the
lives and achievements of Walt Whitman and Mark Twain. Two other works were adapted
from Shakespeare. The late Franklin Bear gave several delightful performances for Northeast
Stage. In 1989, Dr. Joella Vreeland wrote and directed Village Voices, a musical and dramatic
"tribute to our town - on the eve of its 350th birthday." Northeast Stage has scheduled A Sign
of the Times, a further exploration of Southold Town's history, for production in the 1990
celebration year.
Actor-author Norman Dietz presented one and two-character plays (sometimes performing
with his wife Sandra) of his own authorship at his tiny Theater-in-the-Works 1Ice Cream Works)
on Village Lane in Orient. Mr. Dietz has also had a successful career as a recording artist
reading classic stories and novels.
Pre-dating all these groups, the Shakespeare Club of Greenport founded by Mrs. Joseph
Townsend in 1906 has studied and discussed the works of the world's greatest writer for over
eighty years, no small aid. no doubt, in the study of these works was the fact that the famous
Ben Greet Players toured some of the Bard's plays on the East End circuit during the early
years of the century.
Two summer theaters existed in Southold Town for brief periods. The first was the
Southold Playhouse in the 1940s at Belmont Hall. Many later-to-be-recognized actors earned
their thespian stripes there: Academy Award winner Walter Matthau, comedienne Anne Meara,
director Vinnette Carroll~ movie actor John Marley, character actor Robert Pastene and Earl
Jones, father of James Earl Jones.
The Greenport Summer Theater existed for three summers during the late 1960s in three
different locations: A tent on the southeast comer of Third and Main Streets, a tent in a potato
field between Driftwood Cove and the Fleet Lumber Company and finally in the warehouse
of S.T. Preston on the southeast comer of First and South Streets. Two of America's most
important playwrights-to-be-worked in the tent theaters in Greenport: David Mamet played the
Indian in The Fantasficks for three weeks in the summer or 1968. Another summer, Jason
Miller, later the author of That Championship Season and the star of The Exorcist, played in
the tent in the potato field. (There was actually a fourth summer of plays presented by an
entirely different group headed by Fred de Feis of the Arena Theater in Farmingdale. Their
plays were presented in a tent on the site of the Greenport Laundromat at the comer of Front
and Main Streets.)
In spite of the seeming provincialism of our area, several local residents have achieved
notable success in the performing arts. Douglas Moore of Cutchogue lived to see his operas
The Ballad of Baby Doe and Carry Nation become part of the standard repertoire. Winnie
Lightner, daughter of Greenport Police Chief Chauncey Reeve, starred on Broadway in George
White's Scandals and in many films during the 1930s. (She achieved a dubious immortality
by having the size of her nose referred to in the dialogue of Clifford Oders' classic social
drama Awake and Sing.) Winnie's brother Fred also had a successful film career, notably in
The Babe Ruth Story. Southolder George Hummel, primarily a novelist, wrote a drama dealing
with Admiral Byrd entitled The World Waits which opened at the Little Theater (later the
Helen Hayes) on Broadway on October 25, 1933. Playwright Jane Chambers (The Quintessential
Image, My Blue Heaven) lived in Greenport for several years and her successful comedy Last
Summer at Bluefish Cove is set in East Marion. Marjorie Flack of Greenport wrote many
delightful children's books and one of them, The Story About Ping, was turned into a charming
film. Juanita Hall, who later made theater history as Bloody Mary in the original production
of South Pacific on Broadway, grew up in Greenport and sang in the choir of the A~M.E. Zion
Church on Third Street. She later played a leading role in the Broadway and film versions of
The Flower Dram Song, another hit by Rodgers and Hammerstein.
Many figures recognized in theater, films or television had second homes in the area at
various times. The great Shakespearean actor William Faversham maintained a home in Mat-
tituck lbr many years, an interest shared by his son William Junior. William Gillette, the actor
and playwright, purchased the Chauncey Fam~ in East Marion in 1914, after spending many
seasons in local waters on his houseboat "The Aunt Polly." Valentine Davies, author of The
Miracle on 34th Street, was a boating enthusiast and summered in Orient during the 1930s.
In 1937~ his romantic drama, Blow Ye Winds, set in an area much like Orient, was presented
on Broadway at the 46th Street Theater with Henry Fonda in the lead. Pietro di Donato, author
of the novel and film Christ in Concrete, lived for a time at the Sterlington Hotel and according
to the late owner "Charlie" Lellman did considerable writing there. ("Charlie' would certainly
know. He was a very engaging writer himself.) Raconteur "Senator" Ford proved to be a very
public-spirited citizen and staged many benefits for local causes. The late television star Lome
Greene, originally a leading player at the Stratford Ontario Shakespeare Festival and Katherine
Cornell's leading man in The Prescott Proposals, maintained an attractive home on the Sound
in East Marion throughout the 70s and 80s. Television commentator and jazz pianist Alistair
Cooke has owned a home on Nassau Point for several decades. William Le Messina, a stalwart
in the company of Alfred Lunt and Lynn Fontanne has long established residence in New
Suffolk. Playwright-producer Paul Foster has owned homes in Greenport and Orient. Playwright
Ellen Violett lives in Peconic. Irene Worth, considered one of the greatest actresses of the
twentieth century, is a frequent visitor to Greenport as previously were Victor Moore, star of
Gershwin's Of Thee I Sing, and Jean Hersholt, the star of Erich von Stroheim's silent screen
masterpiece Greed.
On the critical front, so to speak, controversial film and theater critic John Simon lectured
to a sold-out audience at the Floyd Memorial Library in July of 1975 at which several of his
ideas were challenged by those in attendance. It proved a memorable evening, demonstrating
that Southold Town has always had a limited but discerning population interested in the theater
and all aspects of the performing arts.
North Fork Community Theater
Education in Southold Town
Evelyn Moffat
An early ordinance in Southold Town states that all parents and masters were required to
improve such means "that all their children and apprentices as they grow capable might through
God's blessing attain at least so much as to be able duly to mad the Scriptures and other good
and profitable books in the English tongue being their native language and in some competent
measure to understand the main grounds of Christian Religion necessary to salvation and to
give a due answer to such plain and ordinary questions as might by proper person be propounded
concerning the same" (Nothing was mentioned of sentence structure or punctuation.)
Dr. Whitaker writes that if parents and masters failed to do this, their children and
apprentices were taken from them and committed to persons who would be faithful to the
parents or masters. These persons should probably be considered the first teachers in town.
Other writings give the impression that it was hoped families could educate their own, but, if
not, their children would suffer their own disadvantages.
Only sons of well-to-do families were educated in the 17th century; in classes conducted
in private homes. Benjamin Young, recorder, was the first teacher in the town in the middle
sixteen hundreds. Around 1660, Nicholas Eades had a school in Southold at the comer of
Boisseau Ave. and the Main Road. James Landon taught in Cutchogue soon after the turn of
the century. Other early schools were taught by Mehitable Babcock in Hashamommock and
James Tuthill in Bay View.
One room schools made their appearance in the eighteenth century. The earliest school
building on record was a frame, one room building on the north side of the Main Rd. west of
Albertson's Lane in Arshomomoque.
These schools were primative in structure and furnishings. There was usually a vestibule
where coats were hung and a shelf for a pail of water with a common dipper hung above. In
at least one school, a welcome break came when a student passed the dipper from person to
person for refreshment. The room contained rough benches for seats and a stove or fireplace
for heat. In some schools, students were banished to the furthest comers of the room if their
families failed to supply their portion of fuel.
The first tools for learning were horn books. These consisted of a thin board with a handle.
A piece of paper was pasted on this containing the alphabet, Bible verses and a prayer. The
precious paper was covered with a layer of translucent horn for protection. Mastering this book
ended education for most girls; except for training in "feminine virtues.' Some boys graduated
to studying the Bible, verse by verse. Very few went on to higher education.
Newfangled cast iron desks were introduced after 1850. These desks provided the teachers
with a new form of punishment. A boy might be required to sit with a girl or a girl with a
boy. Punishment was swift and sure in those days and often physical. Rules for conduct were
strict by today's standards. Students were required to stand and bow before reciting. One rule
I found stated, "spit not in the schoolroom but in the comer or rather go outside and do it abroad."
Five generations of Mapes covered one hundred and fifty years of teaching in Cutchogue's
Mapes School from the early !700's. This was a private school known as St. Peter's Hall.
Students came from far and wide, as attested by the name of William Anderson of Georgia
on the roll.
After the death of Miss Elizabeth Mapes in 1878. a former pupil Miss Rhoda Hallock
started a "Select School" in her home. Class was held in a back room which was heated by
the cook stove that was often cooking the family dinner while providing heat. Smdems sat at
two long tables. Miss Hallock sat in a Boston rocker, finding no need for a desk. Tuition was
$3.50 a quarter. This school was discontinued in 1901 as it didn't meet state requirements.
Dr. Thomas Vail contracted to build a school in Orient about 1793. He taught at the
school for one quarter and then moved to Vermont. He returned to Orient in 1816 and taught
until felled by a stroke in 1820.
A lot was purchased on Dec. 3, 1795. by Ezra L'Hommedieu, William A~bertson and
forty share holders, on which to erect a school. It was 22 x 24 fl. and cost between 80 and
100 pounds. It was heated by a fireplace and iron stove. The .first teacher was Wines Osborn.
His salary was 20 pounds. He was required to provide ink, quill pens and firewood. The school
burned in 1844. In 1870 it was replaced by the building which became the Presbyterian Chapel
and later the Town Clerk's office. It was moved to Traveler St. in Southotd in !978.
Laurel was originally called Franklinville; the well known Franklinville Academy was
located there. In addition to this Academy. there were several other institutions of higher
learning in the town.
A brochure of the Southold Institute in 1835 carried this admonition, "Chewing tobacco
in the building, smoking, playing games of chance, profanity or other rude and indecent
language, immodest conversation or behavior and all practices opposed to morality and order
are totally forbidden. No gentleman whether connected with the institute or not shall visit the
Ladies Department." Tuition for the term was $5.50 for higher English, Latin and Greek; $2.00
for French and $8.00 for piano. Good board could be obtained in families for $2 to $3 per
week. The building was purchased in 1863 by the founders of the Roman Catholic Church in
Southold.
Southold Academy was founded to offer a "scientific, classical or cotlege preparatory
course." Twenty pupils gathered on the first and second days. December 16 and ~ 7, ! 866 with
E.W. Cummings as principal. The opening day proved to be very stormy so the school actually
opened on the 17th. Tuition was $7.00 a term or $25. a year." Price of board, washing, and
tuition in the family of President James Robinson is $250 per year, payable quarterly in advance.
Students can obtain board in the best families for $3.00 for the school week or $4AX1 for the
whole week." After the High School was built in 1902, the Academy converted to a business
school and is now the home of Academy Printing Services.
The first school building on record in Mattituck was a one room ediface built in 1828. It
was located north of the Main Road, about 300 feet east of Mill Lane. The West Mattituck
school was built in 1846. It was on the north side of Sound Ave., near Kirkups's Hill. This
building is now on the grounds of the Mattituck Historical Society. In 1973, the Cutchogue
School District merged with the Mattituck District.
The Southold and Peconic systems have also been consolidated. A modern Primary' School
has taken the place of the old school on Peconic Lane. Another consolidation has taken place
between East Marion and Orient. The Oysterponds grammar school has taken the place of
individual district schools.
The Locust Grove School in the western part of the Southold village was built in 1805
and is remembered because Walt Whitman once taught there. Once there were a number of
these district schools from Laurel to Orient Point and from Oregon to Bayview.
Two small schools survive. The New Suffolk school district is about 180 years old. The
present building, the third, was erected in 1907. The people of New Suffolk jealously guard
the little red schoolhouse which many people, including the State Educational Department,
consider an anachronism in these days. The other small school currently in operation in Southold
Town is in Laurel. Here too, there is pressure to consolidate.
The Fishers Island school is made unique by its location. Before April 5, 1884, children
living on the Island were either taught at home or given some kind of informal instruction at
a designated house near the Brickyard. No official credits were given so no diplomas were
awarded. On that date a petition to the School Commissioners of Suffolk County asking for a
school, was approved. A school house was built in 1888 and is now used as the public library.
In 1925 the district became a Union Free District and a High School department was added.
Prior to that, students commuted to New London, lodging out in the winter in foul weather
when the ferry could not mn . Student population reached its highest during World War 1I
when Fort Wright was in use. A new school was constructed in 1972 built to house 150 students
from kindergarten through High School.
Into the early part of the 20th century, high school graduates could teach for two years
in district schools before furthering their education. Some teachers went to Normal Schools
But many attended Greenport's Teachers Training School. it is interesting to note a few of the
rules laid down for the teachers in 1872.
1. Teachers each day will fill lamps, clean chimneys, ring church bell, read Bible in
church, mad sermon and lead singing.
2. Each teacher will bring a bucket of water and scuttle of coal for the day's session.
3. Make your pens carefully, whittle nibs to individual taste of pupils.
4. Men teachers may take one evening a week for courting purposes or two evenings if
they go to church regularly.
5. Aflen ten hours in school, the remaining time may be spent in reading the Bible and
other good books.
6. Women teachers who marry or engage in unseemly conduct will be dismissed.
The 350 years from the founding of Southold Town to the present attest to the metamor-
phosis in education. The young boy studying by a i'ireplace in a neighbor's home could never
imagine that one day students would ride a bus to their destination; a kindergarten, primary,
Junior or Senior High School. He learned what he needed to function in his world. Today's
world has expanded to limits beyond our own planet, requiring the same of education.
The Southold Academy - 1900
Schoolhouse, Mattituck - 1907
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Southold At A Glance
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Custer Institute
Robert P. Long
Custer Institute, located on Bayview Road in Southold, had its earliest beginnings in 1927
when a group of local men started meeting because of common interest in astronomy and other
scientific pursuits. This group included T. Taylor Bethel, Alfred E. Dart, Thomas A. Stacy,
and Dr. John W. Stokes, and they met with Charles W. Elmer, who lived at Cedar Beach in
Southold, and was well-known in astronomical cimles. Mr. Elmer was associated with the
development of amateur astronomy in America, and helped organize the Amateur Astronomers
Association of New York. Other of his extensive activities included serving as director of the
Department of Astronomy of the Brooklyn Academy of Science, he was president and secretary
of the American Association of Variable Star Gazers, and made generous gifts to the Harvard
Observatory.
Meetings of the local group were held at Mr. Elmer's home, with his wife May Custer
Elmer as co-host. He had several telescopes, and sky studies extended well into many nights.
Eventually the need for organization became evident, and a suggestion that the group be
named for Mr. Elmer was rejected by him. Finally, as a tribute to his wife and her many
contributions, the group was organized as Custer Institute. Mrs. Elmer was a grand niece of
General George Armstrong Custer of Civil War and the Battle of Little Big Horn fame. Mr.
Elmer later was one of the founders of the Perkin-Elmer corporation which is now a major
manufacturer of scientific equipment.
As interest grew and membership increased, the institute changed its meeting place to the
Universalist Church's parish house, and by 1938 funds were raised to build a modest brick
building and the cornerstone was laid that year. This structure is the north half of the present
building, and it was dedicated in 1940, coinciding with Southold Town's 300th anniversary
celebration. At that dedication, Alva B. Goldsmith was president of Custer, Kurt W. Opperman
was dedication chairman, Dr. William H. Barton, curator of the Hayden Planetarium of New
York, was the principal speaker. Among special exhibits were instruments designed by Henry
Fitz, a Peconic resident in the 1850s who was the first commercial telescope maker in the U.S,
as well as the first to develop astronomical photography. His son, Henry G. Fitz, was active
at the dedication, with exhibits related to the famed Fitz lenses.
Incredibly, only five years after the dedication of the building, ground again was broken
for new construction to accommodate pressures for expansion as programs and interest
broadened. On August 30, 1947, the institute formally dedicated the John W. Stokes Memorial
Hall, the Charles W. Elmer Library, and the May Custer Elmer Observatory. This south
addition included the now-familiar round observatory tower, with its rotating dome top, housing
telescopes and other equipment, The addition was the culmination of months of planning and
manual labor by the members, plus financial help from them and the community. In later years,
an additional single story structure was added behind the main building, housing additional
telescopes and other equipment.
Facilities today include a variety of refracting and reflecting telescopes, astro camera,
lens grinding workshop, darkroom, microscopes, radio telescopes, laboratory, museum, audio-
visual equipment, computer facilities, and other equipment.
Much, but not all, of present programing is devoted to astronomical subjects, the largest
events being the annual Astronomy Jamborees. The most recent, the eleventh in October, 1989,
was attended by nearly 200 people from a wide area, for sessions held at the Southold High
School as well as at the institute. When the NASA Voyager II flew by the planet Neptune,
Custer had a direct computer hook-up with NASA and enhanced images from the spaceship
were shown on Custer screens as they were transmitted from space. Custer also has sponsored
numerous trips to faraway places in the U.S. and abroad to view and photograph eclipses of
the sun. Other programs in recent times have included photography, art, music, poetry, travel,
aviation, and a wide variety of other subjects. Programs are generally held bi-weekly and the
public is invited.
Information may be obtained on programs or membership from Custer Insitute, Box 1204,
Southold~ NY 11971.
Sketch by George McAdams
Custer Institute
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Southold Town - Yesterday's Libraries
Jane Minerva
The Town of Southold has a rich history of libraries, with the earliest being formed in
1797. By-laws were adopted, trustees elected, and rules laid out for fines of one penny per
day for every overdue book or leaf turned down, and two pence for. every grease spot or ink
blot. Of the seventy-four subscribers who were enrolled from Riverhead to Shelter Island,
seventy-three of them were men with Prudence being the only named woman. This small
library, a forerunner of today's local institutions, consisted primarily of religious and ethical
texts and moved from location to location. It had virtually disappeared by the middle of the
Nineteenth Century.
An early parchment, dated April 12, 1841, documents the following: "Whereas the diffusion
of knowledge is highly important in every Community and whereas public libraries are eminently
conducive to the promotion of so important an object, we whose names are here appended do
for the furtherance of the above desirable object agree to associate under the name and title of
the 'Cutchogue Library Association.' The sole object of this association shall be the promotion
of useful knowledge. Every individual subscribing fifty cents shall be entitled to one share and
so in proportion to any numbers of shares." Twelve persons signed this document, the first
being Ezra Youngs who purchased eighteen shares. All others bought one or two shares. $25
was raised in the first subscription.
The first public lending library in the Greenport area was started in 1846 in Luther Moore's
newspaper and book store on the corner of Main and Bay. The circulating library advertised
"terms of six cents per volume if retained but one week, and six cents for every additional
week. Selections which are numerous, are pronounced by good judges, to be first rate
At a meeting in Temperance Hall in 1871, the Library of the Southold Lyceum Association
was founded for the "improvement and entertainment" of its sixty-one members who paid $1
per year and were allowed two volumes at a time. Non-members could pay a weekly rental
of five cents per volume, if books were not returned on time future rentals were doubled.
Members loaning books to persons outside the family residence either forfeited their rights for
a three month period or paid fifty cents for each offense. The Lyceum Library started with
fifty-one volumes which increased to 600 before its demise in 1896 when a special meeting
was called to dispose of the collection.
In 1877, "to promote the literary and social culture of the community," the Greenport
Literary Society began with a small library of books estimated in value at $400. Text were
circulated free to members and loaned at a nominal fee to others. The library was kept in the
millinery shop of Miss Mary Bailey who also acted as librarian. In 1882 the Society was
recognized and incorporated by an act of the State Legislature.
In the Floyd Memorial Library's history collection can be found the "Catalogue of the
Library of the Greenport Literary Society," printed in 1893 by L.F. Terry & Son, Printers,
Greenport. In it are "RULES" to be observed and an alphabetical list of books (most of them
under "a', "an", or "the") including such genre titles as Eliott's Adam Bede, and Alcott's A_En
Old Fashioned Girl. The catalog, underwritten by local merchants, advertised Dry Goods,
Fancy Goods, Domestic Paper Patterns, and Fast Black Hosiery.
In the Mattituck area a Literary Society existed from 1889 to 1918. Founded by Frank
M. Lupron, the Society provided diverse programs of cultural entertainments and was active
in the community's strong movement for a new library association at the turn of the century.
$outhold Town - Today's Libraries
The Mattituck Free Library
In 1903, the Reverend Dudley Oliver Osterheld, Pastor of the Methodist Episcopal Church
led the cause for a new Mattituck Association Library. In preparation for a State charier, the
first librarian, Elmer D. Tuthill, cataloged 450 volumes which were temporarily housed in the
eight-sided Octagon House on Well's Corner. Members gathered in Gildersleeve's Hall above
the country store to form committees for book selection, finance, and administration. Mr.
Lupton, a wealthy New York publisher, promised to finance a new building on Pike Street for
$5,000, doing this partly in gratitude to his native community and partly as a religious commit-
ment to change an already corrupt world.
The completely furnished "Library Hall" was dedicated in 1905 with appropriate speeches
and exercises. The structure contained a library with separate rooms for reading and trustees,
and a bank and drug store as well. On the upper floor a hall with a fully equipped stage
provided seating for up to 800 persons or space for weekly basketball games with dancing
afterward. Open daily from 10 to 10, it provided the new freedoms that the more progressive
libraries were experiencing at that time: free access to all members of the community, open
shelves, and services to special groups. The Library became a community place, a "people's
university" for homework, lectures, meetings and concerts. The number of books rose to almost
3,000, the librarian's salary went up to $300 annually, and, also up, went a new sign forbidding
talking in the library.
Through the years more rules were approved including "never to spread-eagle a book"
and "never to dog-ear a page". A Book Committee selected orders on approval from Wanamakers
and an Approval Committee read these books before making them public. Texts considered
improper or "adult" were either returned-to-vendor or kept in the librarian's bottom drawer for
circulation upon request. Gradually recreational reading was accepted as a proper library
function and the popular Bobbsey Twins and Tom Swift series were openly shelved.
A flash fire in Library Hall in 1939 sparked plans for an eventual new building on the
old elementary school property on the Main Road. Drives to raise $75,000 were instituted,
and 1961 saw the start of today's modern brick facility of 3,080 square feet with shelving for
15,000 books. (The stately wood frame Library Hall was razed in the same year.) In 1980, a
cornerstone was laid for an addition to the rear of the new building.
The Library Board continually searched for additional funding and the first taxpayer
support from the Mattituck School District was requested in 1971. In spite of the Board's
documented concern for "hard-pressed" taxpayers and "spiraling inflation" costs the proposition
was submitted and overwhelmingly passed and a stable source of annual income was finally
secured for the growing institution.
J
Thomas Fleetwood is the current director of the Mattituck Free Library which, with seven
Trustees, serves more than 5,000 residents in Mattituck and Laurel. Open fifty hours a week,
it is the only library in Southold Town open on Sunday, a progressive decision of two decades
ago that continues to beneift the community today.
The Cutchogue Free Library
A motion was recorded in the minutes of the 1913 annual meeting of the Independent
Congregational Church and Society of Cutchogue. that the Church would be given to the village
as a library. (The building had been used for worship for a period of time and then had fallen
into disuse.) Apparently this initial offer was not accepted as a year later the Society allocated
$900 to improve the grounds, repair the building, and make it fit for library use. A dozen
pews were taken out, bookshelves installed, and it was rented to the newly formed Cutchogue
Free Library Association for $1 per year. A carefully scribed ledger names the persons who
paid $1 for annual memberships. Volunteers Julia Wickham, Cora Wickham, Emma Goldsmith,
and Agnes Horton, acted as librarians three afternoons a week.
In 1917 a provisional charter was granted by the State and $100 was awarded to the
Library for the purchase of books. This amount was given annually as long as the selections
were made from an approved list with a certain percentage being non-fiction. Books were also
accepted as donations and unfit books were stowed in locked closets. Purchases from Baker
and Taylor, Gaylord, and R.R. Bowker began in the Twenties and continued until the fom~ation
of The Suffolk Cooperative Library System in 1961. Bookplates with roles were affixed to the
flyleaf of each book warning, among other things, that, "Books cannot be given out to a family
in which there is a contagious disease. Books which have been exposed to contagion will not
be received at the Library but will be considered as lost!" This was an understandable regulation
at the time of the dreaded influenza epidemic.
As the library collection grew, more space was needed and given until it had full use of
the building, with the restriction that there be no structural changes. On cold days, a youngster
was paid 25 cents a day to come in and light the large stove that had a long black tin pipe
running the length of the room to a small brick chimney behind the pulpit. This configuration
was deemed unsafe and in 1920, a modem coal furnace was added and a long pipe to the
chimney was run the length of the room - under the floor. Entries in the ledger for coal at 90
cents per bushel became entries for coal at $24 for 3,000 pounds.
Some funding for the Library came from card parties and dances, but, mostly, Congrega-
tional Society dollars were used until them were Town funds available in 1928. Governor Al
Smith presented a talk in 1926, and in 1937 a tombstone costing $45 was bought for former
janitor Dave Hannibal, the "last of the Mohawk Indians, $25 had been owing him at the time
of his death."
The Cutchogue Frae Library, under the direction of Jane Minerva is currently open 57
hours a week. Governed by seven trustees, it is chartered to serve the approximately 3,500
residents in the hamlets of New Suffolk and Cutchogue. The church buiding was purchased
in 1984 and expanded in 1987 to a full service library, four times its original size. The church,
orginally built in 1862, was completely renovated in 1989 and converted to a children's library
and meeting room.
The Southold Free Library
In 1904 Miss Lucy Hallock of the Methodist Church and the Reverend William H. Murray
of the Universalist Church started the existing Southold Free Library Association. Going
door-to-door, they enrolled almost 200 subscribers at an annual fee of $1. The Library opened
for eleven hours each week in the Heubel barbershop, the front parlor of which had a coal
stove for comfort and a doorway to the Main Road for access. Miss Hallock, the first librarian,
tended to the care and circulation of the mom than 600 books and made home deliveries to
the sick on her "librarian's bicycle". In 1909 when the Library was chartered by the New York
State Board of Regents, it expanded to two rooms, gas lighting was added, and the first
children's storyhour was held in Belmont Hall. An also-expanding budget led to the first public
tax support of $400 from the School District in 1920 and $1104 from the Town in 1928.
The Southold Free Library moved to the Cahoon Memorial Building in 1928. A former
Southold Savings Bank, the edifice was purchased by Edna Cahoon Booth in memory of her
parents. In 1940 a special collection was donated to the Library by the estate of the Reverend
Epher Whitaker, who had been minister of the First Presbyterian Church in the latter part of
the nineteenth century. Today, the Whitaker Historical Collection consists of over 600 books
and 3,500 discreet items including letters, joumals, clippings, photographs and maps.
Currently the Southold Free Library is under the direction of Signe Youngberg. Governed
by twelve trustees, it serves a Southold and Peconic population of more than 5,000 persons.
In 1990 construction is planned that will more than triple the existing building's space allowing
for improved library service.
The Floyd Memorial Library
In 1907 at a meeting in the Presbyterian Parsonage the Greenport Literary Society became
the Greenport Library Association with Fred Corey as president. The Reverend William
McKnight, president of the former Society, arranged for a Certificate of Incorporation from
the State to serve the election districts of Greenport. A room was rented in the Opera Hosue
for $90.00 per year. Miss Elizabeth Deale was engaged as the first librarian for an annual
salary of $75, and an $100 appropriation for new books received a matching grant from the
State. An annual fee of $2 entitled anyone in the village over sixteen years of age to membership.
Business was brisk, and by year-end there were 400 members and more than 1,000 volumes
in the collection.
Funding was difficult and in 1909 the Trustees hired a boy to call on delinquents. In 1910,
twenty-five voters petitioned the Village Trustees for a contribution but voters at the election
denied the request for $300 appropriation. In 1911 women canvassed for funds and $313 was
gathered to keep the Library open. Finally, in 1912, the voters approved an annual $350 which
was increased to $450 in 1923.
The change from provincial to modem came in 1917 when the handsome stone building
on First Stree~L was constructed by Grace Floyd as a memorial to her father, David G. Floyd.
The Library Trustees then changed the name to the Floyd Memorial Library. Community
participation in the new building was encouraged and patrons loaned items for exhibits in the
rear museum room or "Historic Room" as it had been designated by Miss Floyd.
J
A 1957 press release applauded the Library: "In these days of close scrutiny to the universal
problem of juvenile delinquency, Greenport has quietly and effectively gone about making
available, through the Floyd Memorial Library, a source of constructive recreation to children,
teenagers, and adults as well. Students of children's behavior problems might well find an
interesting solution by sauntering past the library and seeing the heap of bicycles at the front
entrance afternoon and evening; and tiny tots tumbling on the lawns, waiting to be admitted
to their own private haven of story and picture books."
Today, Director Lisa Maciejak is working closely with the eight member Board of Trustees
toward a renovation of the 70 year old building. The Floyd Memorial Library serves a population
of almost 5,500 persons from Greenport to Orient Point.
The Fishers Island Library
Last but not least, at a distance from the mainland, there is a certain home-spun quality
about, and sense of pride in, the Fishers Island Library. The Association was formed at the
turn of the century and chartered by the State in 1904 with the actual library facility being
established in what was the second school on the Island, a one room schoolhouse on Oriental
Avenue.
Serving an atypical population that swells tenfold from about 300 in the winter to more
than 3,000 in summer, the Library is under the direction of Ann Kowalczyk and a 16 member
Board. Open weekly 15 winter hours and 32 summer hours, the Library has a substantial
inventory exceeding 20,000 items with special collections in large print books and compact
discs. Inter-library loan services are provided by mail through the Suffolk Cooperative Library
System.
Southoid Town - Tomorrow's Libraries
LIBRARY (Ii' br~r' ~), a collection of books and other informational materials intended
to serve people by furnishing answers to specific questions and meeting general needs for
information and entertainment. Although the word "library" comes from the Latin word "liber",
meaning "book", few present day libraries are limited to books or even to printed materials.
Collections range from books to computer software, from children's toys and games to spoken-
word books and videocassettes.
Library change has been continuous - from oral storytelling to clay tablets, to illuminated
parchments, to mass market paperbacks and online data bases. Rapid and continuous advances
in technology are revolutionizing the ways in which we access information, maintain records,
and order and process materials. Opportunities to serve the public are endless and the ever-chang-
ing and broader needs of the community will continue to be met with open-minded attitudes
and expanded services.
One could almost adapt that time worn adage for libraries: Always were, are now, and
always will be. We can't predict the changes that will occur except that thay will be extraordinary,
and as we prepare to ride the information wave into the Twenty-First Century, we pause, and
extend thanks to the thousands of persons whose efforts and perseverance through the years
have contributed to the development of the Southold Town Libraries which stand today in their
testimony.
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Meeting Houses of Southold Town
Cynthia Mellas
The founders of Southold were religious men. They came here in 1640 because they were
determined to maintain their freedom of worship so it is natural that the meeting house, with
Rev. John Youngs as pastor, was established immediately. It was called a meeting house
because that meant "where people went to meet God." The Church of Southold was actually
organized at New Haven, Ct. with the sanction of a Congregational Council until 1832 when
it united with the Presbytery of L.I. The first meeting house was built upon a comer of an
acre lot in the north end of the present Southold Presbyterian cemetery. It was not heated, had
a floor of natural soil, four windows of cedar, benches and a long table around which sat the
elders. The sermon lasted an hour or more and there were readings from the Bible and prayer.
The pastor would sing a line, the flock repeated it and so the hymns were sung. The Rev.
Youngs was a Calvinist and did not believe in the separation of church and state. The Bible
was to role over civil as over spiritual affairs. No one was to be admitted to citizenship in the
community who was not a member of an approved church in New England. Rev. Youngs
continued in the pastorate until his death in 1672. The second pastor also served as town
physician.
In 1684, the meeting house was abandoned, turned into a prison and a new structure
erected. In 1699 the population had so increased that a gallery was added to accomodate more
people. This second church was pulled down in 1761 and a larger one erected with an arrangement
of pews according to social distinctions. The fourth and present church was built in 1803.
Originally 40 x 60 to hold 400, the frame raising required 3 days. A highly prized relic to this
day is the wrought-iron triangle which was struck with a sledgehammer and heard for miles
to summon the people to worship.
Today there are 30 meeting houses to meet the spiritual needs of Southold Town residents.
Orient's meeting house began in 1717. The Orient United Methodist Church was built in 1836
and is still active as well as the Orient Congregational Church. Their East Marion neighbors
are served by the East Marion Community Church. Greenport's First Baptist meeting house
began in 1831. St. Agnes R.C. Church dates back to 1855 when it began as a little out-mission.
Saint Peter's Lutheran Church was built in 1879 and was associated with the Ministerium,
which was an association of pastors who met to provide for appointments of ministers and to
better inter-church coordination. Greenport also boasts the Clinton Memorial A.M.E. Zion
Church which was organized in 1921, the United Methodist Church, the Holy Trinity Episcopal
Church, Saint Anargyroi and Taxiarhis Greek Orthodox Church and Tifereth Israel Conservative
Synagogue.
In Southold the founding fathers' First Presbyterian Church was still growing. The
Methodists had a preacher, the zealous Rev. George Whitfield in 1764 who preached in private
homes in Southold and on Shelter Island, Easthampton and Bridgehampton. A congregation
was meeting by 1795 and the Southold United Methodist Church was built in 1818. The Roman
Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn, comprising all of L.I. was established in 1853. In 1854, St.
Patrick's R.C. Church was organized. The Southotd Academy was purchased and presented
to the Catholic congregation. The present building was erected in 1926. In Southold today
there is also the Church of the Open Door Evangelical Church, the First Church of Christ
Scientist, the First Universalist Church and the Shiloh Baptist Church.
The Cutchogue folks in 1732 had an independent congregation until 1848 when it became
the Presbyterian Church. The United Methodist was established in 1830 and today there are
also Our Lady of Ostrabrama R.C. Church and the Sacred Heart R.C. Church, the First Baptist
of Cutchogue and the Jefferson Temple Church of God in Christ.
Mattituck has the distinction of founding the first Sunday school in Suffolk County in
1791 in a private home by a woman who had no children of her own. Mattituck's first meeting
house was established in 1715 and today there are six churches: The Advent Lutheran Church,
the Church of the Redeemer Episcopal, the Community Christian Fellowship, the Mattituck
Presbyterian Church (org. in 1715), Our Lady of Good Counsel R.C. Church and the Transfig-
uration of Christ Greek Orthodox Church.
During the 350 years of our beloved community's life, it has been and continues to be
well served by these fine "Meeting Houses."
First Church
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Churches in Southold Township
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Southold's Indian Museum - A Dream Come True
William E. Golder
Southold Indian Museum, Main Bayview Road, Southold, New York, was the culmination
of a dream of a small group of dedicated East End amateur archaeologists. It houses the greatest
collection of Long Island Indian artifacts under one roof.
In 1925, Nathaniel E. Booth, Bennett De Bexiedon, and William D. Griswold of Southold
Village; Roy Latham, Elliott Brooks and Edward S. Vail of Orient; and Charles F. Goddard,
James A. Gildersleeve, and Daniel A. Young of Mattituck, met at the home of Bennett De
Bexiedon to organize a Long Island Chapter of the New York State Archaeological Association.
Nat Booth asked me to join when I was ten years old, and I became the youngest member
in the N.Y.S. Archaeological Ass'n. I vividly remember going into his red barn, opposite
Covey's farm stand, and looking at more Indian arrowheads and pottery than I ever imagined
could be in one person's private collection. He always had time to discuss his hobby with any
interested person regardless of age. He was the most enthusiastic Indian archaeologist I have
ever known.
Roy Latham's knowledge of any topic ending in "-ology", archaeology entomology,
ichthyology, mineralogy, etc. was profound, His collections of insects, birds' eggs, etc., are
in the N.Y. Museum of Natural History. He was anything but a "stuffy" scientist and had a
wonderful sense of humor. He always had time to enlighten a novice or a professional who
had a problem to be solved. 1 remember the story of an amateur archaeologist who had a dog
that unearthed two Indian stone axes in Aquebogue. At one of the meetings he asked the
assembled men, with his dry sense of humor, "Where can I get one of those dogs?" Roy
Latham never was one for self aggrandisement. For example, when a reporter was sent out to
get an interview he would have to walk alongside of Roy who was plowing behind a horse,
and take notes while Roy continued with his work.
Dr. Goddard and his lovely wife, also an avid archaeologist, often entertained the members
of the association. After dinner these gatherings were a delight because of the social atmosphere,
comradeship, interesting discussions, and the display of the many unusual artifacts unearthed
by the members throughout the year. I'll never forget the thrill of looking at a table laden with
chipped and polished Indian stone implements.
These three men, Booth, Latham, and Goddard, were the greatest local archaeologists of
the early 1900s, amateur only in that they didn't receive money for their time and effort, but
exceedingly professional in dedication and knowledge. At their informal meetings new members
were welcomed and it was the hope of all that someday a small museum could be obtained to
house the increasingly valuable collections.
On March 23, 1932, the association received official recognition from the NYS Archaeolog-
ical Ass'ri. in Rochester, New York. On Jan. 21, 1943 a broad charter of incorporation (#4957)
established the museum as an independent corporate body. The object of the chapter was to
promote the study of archaeology, ethnology, and aboriginal history, particularly that of the
Long Island Indian.
The chapter lost an outstanding, devoted member with the death of Nathaniel E. Booth
on April 19, 1948. Nat did field work, mostly in association with other members of the chapter
on 26 prehistoric Indian villages and campsites. He published numerous articles that included
"Potters of the Old Field" and "Archaeology of Long Island". His records and maps of digs
he worked, and a collection of approximately 12,000 items are the property of the Long Island
Chapter. He had a most fruitful career and left records of lasting value.
With the failing health of the museum's life-long President Charles F. Goddard, Dr. Haven
Emerson accepted the office of Vice President and became the leader and spark plug of the
chapter. Dr. Goddard passed away on April 7, 1954 at the age of 92. Shortly after his death
the chapter was notified by the executor of Dr. Goddard's estate that it would receive a
substantial legacy. This eventually enabled the chapter to build the present museum building.
To bring the chapter's history up to date, the following officers were elected on Oct. 31,
1954: Mrs. Dorothy Raynor, President; Dr. Haven Emerson, Vice President; John Husing,
Secretary, and James Gildersleeve, Treasurer. Mr. Gildersleeve filled the office vacated by
Roy Latham because of poor health, a position he had held for 29 years. In 1955, he resigned
as treasurer, and was replaced by Stauton Mott.
Thanks to the legacy left by Dr. Goddard his hopes of a museum were fulfilled when on
Sunday, Sept. 15, 1963 the museum opposite Custer Institute was dedicated. Alfred E. Dart
served as Master of Ceremonies and exhibits were set up with the help of Dr. George Cottrell.
Southold Indian Museum is of great importance to the East End of Long Island in particular
and to the archaeological world in general. The members are the lucky caretakers entrusted
with the preservation and display of collections left by the founding fathers of the organization
for the education of future generations. The more that is known about ancient man's achieve-
ments, the more we can appreciate the inventive genius that enabled early man to survive. As
there is no recorded history of our country's first inhabitants, amateur and professional ar-
chaeologists must make educated guesses as to how they managed from the artifacts left behind.
It is fortunate that in the early 1900s there were many knowledgeable and interested people
who gave of their time and money in order that future generations could benefit from viewing
their extensive collections of Indian artifacts. Sooner than most of us imagine every piece of
property will be settled, and collecting any evidence of prehistoric occupation will be impossible.
Serving as a focal point for groups of school children and both amateur and professional
archaeologists the Southold Indian Museum has been updated with educational displays of all
phases of Indian life on Long Island for the past 9,000 years. Every summer there is a program
of Indian arts and crafts for children. It teaches flint knapping, pottery making, and wigwam
building as done by the Indians. This program is always filled to capacity. In recent years the
chapter has instigated a series of monthly lectures on topics from archaeology to history, nature
studies, travel, and hobbies. Large collections have been donated to the museum, namely
George Penny Sr. 's extensive collection, and that of Mr. Morton from East Marion. Individuals
have donated many unique and unusual Indian artifacts. An all encompassing book of the
history of Long Island aborigines by William E. Golder, Long Island's First Inhabitants, now
in its third edition, has circulated thousands of copies describing the wealth of information
contained in the Southold Indian Museum.
Southold Town
As You Celebrate Your 350th Anniversary,
We Extend Our Congratulations
and Our Best Wishes For the Future
RIVERHEAD
SAVINGS BANK
· RIVERHEAD (Main Office) 7 W. Main St. 369-8500
· EAST NORTHPORT 580 Larkfield Rd. 368-5900
· LAKE GROVE 2835 Middle Country Rd. 585-1100
· BAY SHORE E. Main St. 968-8600
GARRETT A. STRANG
ARCHITECT
"Dedicated to the Ideals of Historic
Preservation through Sensitive Design'
Southold, New York
516-765-5455
The Old Town Arts and Crafts Guild
Robert P. Long
Residents and visitors of the North Fork through the years have exhibited outstanding
skills in arts and crafts, and for more than 40 years the Old Town Arts and Crafts Guild, based
in Cutchogue, has provided an outlet for their varied products.
The Guild was organized in 1949 to stage an art-craft show in Belmont Hall, Southold,
to help fa{se funds for fighting the menace of polio. The show was so successful that a permanent
organization was formed. Six founding sponsors were Mrs. Agnes Mothersele, Mrs. Ralph
Booth, Mrs. Alma Cummings, Mrs. John J. Kramer, Walter McNish, and Mrs. Owen P.
White. The Guild was incorporated as a non-profit organization in 1953, with Walter Hagen
as president.
Its first headquarters was the "Honeymoon Cottage", just east of the North Fork Bank on
the Main Road in Cutchogue. At the time of incorporation more space was needed for an art
gallery and craft displays, and the Guild obtained a $10,000 loan from a benefactor and
purchased the house across the street, known as the old Penny-Crawford homestead.
This red shingled house, dating from the early 1800s, is still the Guild's headquarters and
gallery. Open during spring, summer, fall, and the Christmas season, the gallery displays a
wide and varied selection of locally made crafts, gifts, and original paintings in all media.
The North Fork's biggest art show is the annual Outdoor Show of the Guild held in early
August on the Cutchogue Village Green. The other major Guild event is the annual Snow
Fence art show on the grounds of the Guild house, and this year will be on Saturday, July 7.
Congratulations to the Town of Southold
on its 350th Anniversary
Bridgehampton
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Bank
Celebrating our 80th year of community service
Look for our newest branch opening soon at:
Feather Hill Shopping Plaza, Southold
Other branch offices located at:
Main Street, Bridgehampton - 537-1000
Plaza East, Bridgehampton - 537-1200
26 Park Place, East Hampton - 324-8480
425 County Road, Southampton - 283-1286
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The Long Island Railroad and Southold Town
Vincent J. Quatroche
The Railroad came to Southold Town in 1844, the reason being that the railroad was
advised by their engineers that it was not possible to build a rail line to Boston due to the
many water ways and wet lands. The Long Island Railroad wanted a trade route to Boston. A
decision was made to come down the middle of Long Island, through the Pine Barrens, to the
East End, then establish a ferry to carry passengers and freight across Long Island Sound to
Stonington, Connecticut, then by rail to Boston. Obtaining the rights of way and land the
railroad officials supplied the landowners liberally with spirits to win their favor and land.
Problems developed as they arrived in Southold Town as Jamesport and Hermitage (Peconic)
were selected terminals using Goldsmith's Inlet as a port. The Railroad could not decide on
which to use. Deciding eventually on neither village, proceeded on to Greenport, arriving there
July 27, 1844.
From South Ferry in Brooklyn, 3 sections each with cars and an engine proceeded to
Greenport. The cars were simply stagecoach bodies on flanged wheels and attached to each
other and the engine by link and pin by which the coaches bumped one another constantly
making for an unpleasant ride. The first train arrived in 3~/? hours instead of the scheduled 5.
The officials brought wine, spirits and food. A giant celebration was held in the railroad yard.
Service began the next day to Boston. Dinner was served on the side wheeler as it was an
eleven and a half hour trip to Boston.
No love affair developed between the railroad and the townspeople, whose villages were
ignored as to their location, during building of the line. The first objection to the railroad was
running trains on the Sabbath and along the right of way, stock animals wandering onto the
tracks were run down and killed. The engines burned wood developing clouds of smoke and
sparks which set fires in the farmer's fields and woods. The farmers petitioned the railroad to
pay for the damages - but they refused. The farmers then resorted to a variety of ways to
harass the railroad. The first attempt was to grease the tracks causing the drive wheels of the
engine to spin and slip, unable to proceed, tracks were ripped up and the ties burned. Finally
armed farmers commenced shooting at the engines causing damage and frightening the train
crews. In self defense, the crews camed weapons and fired back. The railroad finally acquiesced
and indemnified the farmers for damages.
The railroad fell on hard times when in 1850 a rail line linking New York City and Boston
was built ending the railroad's service via the water route to Boston. They then turned to
developing freight and station stops. Southold didn't have a station until 1858, although stops
were first made at Tucker's Lane, then Horton's Lane, then to its present site. Greenport,
being the eastern terminus of the railroad, was in 1900 to experience the building of a large
commodius railraod station, freight house, railroad dock, 4 Bay Roundhouse for engine storage
and repairs, a turntable to turn the engines and storage tracks for cars and engines. The station
stops in Southold Town began supplying merchandise for New York City and points west.
Leaving the East End in the afternoon was the fish train providing produce for the early morning
fish markets in New York City. In 1907 the potato trains carded 100,000 bushels, there was
the milk train picking up the milk cans from farms in Southold Town, a mail and newspaper
train. A strawberry train carried 800 crates of berries to the city. Berries were selling for 8¢
a quart.
The trains carded as many as a 1000 dozen eggs. The area was growing so rapidly a
suggestion was made to the railroad that the line be extended from Greenport to Orient. A
proposal was made in 1908 by the town fathers of Riverhead and Southold that a trolley line
be establish from Riverhead to Greenport traveling up Railroad Avenue (Third Street) over to
Main Street thence on to Orient, some rights of way were obtained. Excursion trains to and
from New York City were frequent. Some went to Coney Island and Manhattan Beach. Coming
east the fisherman trains in the 1930's carried so many anglers, extra boats had to be pressed
into service to accommodate the crowds. Excursion trains sometimes carded over a thousand
passengers, many returning to New York City via the Long Island Railroad's overnight steamer
from Greenport. It was possible up until 1931 to travel to Amagansett on the Cape Horn train
going to Manorville, across the island to Eastport then east through the Hamptons to its
destination and return the same day. The name trains originated on the main line on the North
Fork, the most famous being "The Cannon Ball" and "The Shelter Island Expre:;s." In 1898,
"The Cannon Ball" made the claim of being the fastest train on a "scheduled run" of any train
in the United States. As many as eight trains a day came and went through Southold Town.
After World War Two, the East End suffered a decline in freight and passenger service
with the increase of trucks and cars. Most of the railroad yard in Greenport was removed,
many freight spurs in the villages of Southold Town were removed. All the stations were razed
in 1964 and 1965, leaving only the brick freight house and station empty shells in Greenport.
The new electric service to Ronkonkoma on the main line has been successful beyond
expectations, bringing New York City to within one hour of Ronkonkoma. We on the East
End will profit by this improvement as we are a little more that an hour from Ronkonkoma.
The future bodes well for tourism in the town with the coming railroad museum of Long Island
in the freight house, the improved Greenport railroad yard and the steam engine to run from
Riverbead to Greenport. In addition to train service, the proximity of the Shelter Island Ferry
Service with New York City bus service continues to keep the station area a transportation
~hub on the East End.
Drawings courtesy o! Vincent J, Ouatroche
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Farming - 1937
Farming - 1990
Farming: Southold's Ever Changing Heritage
Peggy Murphy
From the earliest days of its settlement, Southold's level lands, rich soil and moderate
climate, have contributed to its historic reputation as a farming community.
The English colonists of Yennecott, (the Indian name for the North Fork) crossing the
Sound from Connecticut, found the peaceful and friendly Corchaug Indians, members of the
vast Algonquian nation, living on the North Fork. Archaeologists have determined that their
presence here dates back to at least 9000 B.C. These Corchaugs were the area's first agrarians.
The early settlers found thriving fields of maize near salt marshes a scant ~/2 mile north from
the beaches of Peconic Bay where they had first come ashore.
These native Americans practiced a primitive form of agriculture, cultivating maize, beans,
pumpkins, squash, cucumbers and tobacco. Except for the cultivation of tobacco, which was
done exclusively by the men, the women were the farmers.
Early Southolders cultivated subsistence farms, providing vegetables as needed for the
family table. Expanding on Indian crops, grains such as buckwheat, oats and barley appeared
in their fields. These farmers relied on the rich soil and used only simple composting to replenish
it. It wasn't until the mid 1700's that the fertility of the soil began to deplete. The settlers
turned to the waters of the bay which teemed with fish and began to fertilize the soil in the
manner which the Corchaugs had employed well prior to English settlement.
By 1675, nearly all farmers raised sufficient livestock, including cattle, sheep, pigs, and
chickens, again to provide fare for their families.
Towards the end of the 17th century, self-sufficient farming was gradually being phased
out, replaced by larger farms which were producing crops for market.
Homesteads of that time, however, generally continued to maintain both an herb and a
vegetable garden near the home. Many of the vegetables we find today on farm stands began
to appear in gardens of the 1700's though their use may have been for medicinal and other
purposes rather than table consumption. Lettuce for instance "was bruised and laid on bums"
and "beet roots were used only for dyeing." Cutchogue, Southold's First Colony, Wayland
Jefferson.
Berries of every description grew abundantly in the wild as did apple and peach trees.
They were gradually cultivated and it was noted in Wayland Jefferson's Cutchogue, Southold's
First Colony, that in 1727, "Joshua Goldsmith shipped a bushel of apples to Martinique and
received thirty pounds of sugar in pay."
Cauliflower was introduced to Southold farms in the early 1700's and the colonists were
raising tobacco for trade. Small shipments of salted beef, smoked meats and pork were dispatched
to the West Indies, while oats, beans, corn, barley and buckwheat found a market in New
England and "259 bushels of wheat were shipped to Connecticut." Cutchogue, Southold's First
Colony, Wayland Jefferson.
The first money crop of consequence to the colonist seems to have been flax, the seed of
which was in demand from approximately 1700 until after the Revolution. During this period,
the seed brought "as high as four shillings a pound and every acre of available ground was
devoted to this crop." Cutchogue, Southold's First Colony~ Wayland Jefferson. While the seed
was profitably manufactured as linseed oil, the stalk of the tall, slender plant, with its starlike
blue blossom, was processed by the women and children into linen cloth.
Around the mid 1800's, a related industry emerged in Southold. Fish processing plants
were established to produce fertilizer from moss bunker which was plentiful in bay waters.
Ezra L'Hommedieu, who resided just east of Founder's Landing in the Hamlet of Southold,
is associated with the processing of the moss bunker. His name appears also as being a leader
in the formation of what was to become the State Agricultural Society. Apparently a enviromen-
talist before the term was coined, L'Hommedieu advocated the use of seaweed, creek mud
and red clover, as well as fish, to improve the crop yield. The principle of crop rotation was
introduced and by the late 1800's, with these agricultural practices in place, crop production
had increased significantly.
The potato, which was never dug, but rather pulled from the ground as the plants were
ready to die, is first recorded as a tentative money crop in 1778. A paper of that day, The
Long Island Watchman, noted that Zacharia Hallock sold three bushels of potatoes for 7s.6d.
In 1888, Daniel Y. Hallock of Hog Neck IBayview) devised a crude potato digger. Though it
is reputed to have "cut a good many of the tubers as it threw them out of the ground," still it
did dig the crop with a minimum of hand labor, and showed the way toward quantity production
of a crop especially fitted to this soil and climate. Southold Town, 1636-1936. A few years
later, Farmer Hallock devised a new type of weeder which made hand cultivation a thing of
the past. These two crude devices revolutionized the growing of potatoes and Long Island
potatoes could be grown cheaply enough to be competitive in the open market.
Small quantities of potatoes are found listed among shipments to various markets in the
late 1850's. With the labor saving devices developed by Mr. Hallock in use, the potato crop
assumed great prominence. In the late 1800's and early 1900's, steamers vied with the railroad
for the business of transporting local potatoes to market. The railroad ultimately enjoyed a
monopoly for several decades until the advent of huge tracks displaced rail as the most efficient
method of transporting to distant points.
An estimated 9,500 acres of land in Southold had grown to 19,000 acres by 1980 when
a number of factors, including competition and restricted use of pesticides, combined to reduce
the numbers of acres given over to the potato to less than 8,000 acres as the decade of 1980
drew to a close.
"In 1869, Mattituck resident Peter Duryea raised a few heads of cauliflower in his garden
and the following year George Robinson and Thomas H. Reeve, also of Mattituck, raised them
in a field for the market." The Long Island Watchman, April 18, 1947. A barrel of cauliflower
sent to a New York City market at that time sold for around $25.
A late fall crop which went into the ground after another crop had been harvested,
cauliflower quickly grew in popularity with farmers of the East End. At the turn of the century,
the perishable "flower", now crated in the field rather than packed in bulky barrels, was shipped
to market in specially equipped railroad cars. In the late 1930's, refrigerated trucks replaced
the railroad and enabled the thm~ers to ship greater distances with less handling, vastly expanding
the market. (By 1940, the cauliflower crop ranked next to the value of the potato in Suffolk
County.)
Cauliflower production began to decline in the decade of the '80s. From an approximate
1,800 acres allotted to planting in 1980, less than 800 acres boasted the popular fall crop in
1989. Long Island, A History of Two Great Counties, Volume II.
By 1980, the first vineyard had established itself on the East End. Now scores of orderly
rows of vines, capped with rose bushes blooming in the summer, stretch across the countryside.
In a scant decade, the grape has easily supplanted the potato and cauliflower and is Southold's
principal crop. Green signs featuring a cluster of grapes, dot the two highways which pass
through Southold Town, and speak of the grape's dominance while pointing out individual
wineries. Many of the wineries offer tours and tasting, another attraction for the visitor to
Southold. In addition to the vineyards, the white plastic domes of greenhouses, providing
plants for the area and for tracking into Western Suffolk and beyond, rise from the fields that
once were richly brown when first plowed in springtime. Acres of young trees and shrubs
planted by nurserymen and landscapers in infinite varieties ribbon the landscape and several
hydroponic operations supply farm fresh, water grown crops year round.
Southold boasts of several Christmas tree farms. Scarcely a month after cars laden with
gleeful youngsters who have carried their pumpkins from the pumpkin fields or farm stands
and parents sporting corn stalks on their car roof, have left Southold, they return again to cut
or dig their own Christmas tree. Fragrant orchards produce baskets full of apples, peaches,
and other fruit in season, and rail fences define acres of grassy fields in which horses pasture,
evidence of the emergence of yet another type of farming in Southold. Carefully tended,
cushiony green turf speak of the sod industry. Pallets with cut lengths of nurtured lawn, are
loaded on trucks for local or long distance carting.
Southold's truck farms still ship a variety of crops, including the once reigning potato
and cauliflower, to market in the metropolitan area. Numerous colorful roadside stands, provid-
ing the local resident and visiting tourist alike, with fresh, seasonal crops, continue to take
down their shutters as summer nears. The vast potato and cauliflower farms of the first half
of this century are most surely history, but a few stalwart farmers maintain their more modest
farms surrounded by other agrarian uses of the land and seemingly endless development.
As Southold Town celebrates the 350th year since its founding, it continues to be known
as a farming community, though the changes in agrarian land use have changed dramatically
down through the years.
The new century rushes toward us. With careful planning, one hopes that the community
of Southold will continue to nurture the soil which has so well nourished us and enable it to
continue in productivity for years to come. May Southold Town's future generations not have
to refer to their history books to develop a sense of its agricultural heritage.
Acknowledgements
A Brief History of Farming in Southold Town, Cathy H. Stankewicz
Cutchogue, Southold's First Colony, Wayland Jefferson.
Long Island, A History of Two Great Counties, Volume I & II, Lewis Historical Publishing
Co. Inc.
Long Island Watchman
Southold Town 1636-1939, Published 1939.
Winnifred Billard, David Horton, Gall Horton, James I. Monsell
Roy H. Reeve Agency, Inc.
Main Road
Mattituck, NY 11952
298-4700 722-3520
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Congratulate the Town of Southold
on its 350th Anniversary
Southold Floor Covering
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Health Care
Cynthia Mellas
In 1905, the "Mansion" at the head of Sterling Creek in Greenport, owned by Abraham
Sully, was purchased by two sisters who were residents of Greenport. They offered the structure
to the town for use as a hospital. At that time, the nearest hospital was in Mineola. A meeting
was held for the purpose of organizing a Hospital Association. The sisters gave the use of the
building free of rental and eight years later deeded the property to the Easteru Long Island
Hospital Association. In 1938 a fund drive raised enough money for a wing to increase the
facilities and in 1947 another campaign resulted in the construction of the present hospital.
Today our residents have extensive up-to-date facilities at their disposal.
San Simeon by the Sound is named for Simeon, the aged saint in the the Bible and Long
Island Sound which represents the peaceful atmosphere and natural beauty of the setting for
its ministry. Total nursing care is provided for the elderly including physical and occupational
therapy, special events, religious opportunities and social activities. Many volunteers visit,
listen to, shop for and meet the emotional needs of the residents. It is operated by St. Peter's
Lutheran Church of Greenport but welcomes persons of all creeds.
Oysterponds Manor was built in 1906 as a private home. In 1965 it became a residential
care facility. Today it is an adult home for nineteen residents who need a home away from
home and who enjoy tender loving care in a personal fashion in pleasant surroundings.
Southold Hospice In Progress was organized in 1985 when two local nurses had a conver-
sation and decided there was a need for such care. The Southold Town Board awarded a
start-up fund in 1986, a Board of Directors was established and training sessions were developed.
Lectures on death and dying, pain control, counseling, funeral options and other topics were
initiated. The office is on Main Road, Cutchogue and is staffed with trained volunteers. Funding
from local organizations, individuals, memorials, grants, donations from Southold Town and
Suffolk County are making it possible for this important program to continue.
East End Community Services, Inc., with an office on Main Road, Southold, began
treat'mg patients in 1985. They are a not-for-profit organization with a community Board of
Directors and a staff of seventy-five. They offer mostly in-home care and refer to themselves
as a nursing home without walls. They have a community outreach program which provides
advice, support, referrals and assessments to help with many types of needs. Although Southold
Town is the primary area of their work, they are now branching out to all five East End Towns.
Southold Town residents can be proud of and thankful for having these excellent organi-
zations available for their health needs, wE,m~ ALWAYS
IN SEASON
SOUTHOLD HOSPICE
IN PROGRESS INC.
East End Community Services, Inc.
Eastern Long Island Hospital- 1905
San Simeon By The Sound
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Sound Avenue
Mattituck, NY 11952
1516) 734-7171
Orient By The Sea
MARINA AND RESTAURANT
Main Road, Orient Point · 1516) 323-2424
Located Between State Park & Orient Ferry
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WATER SYSTEMS
Main Road, Mattituck, NY 11952 Business Phone
1516) 298-4278 1516) 765-3663
Fishing in Southold Town Waters
Members of the Stifling Historical Society of Greenport
Town waters cover a very large area from Great Peconic Bay up around Jamespon, referred
to by the old-timers as "Up Bay", and way out east to the Long Island Sound area around
Fishers Island.
We assume early fishing was carded out by the settlers who learned the trade from the
Indians. Mounds of oyster and clam shells were found at the sites of Indian villages. A marker
along the Narrow River Road in Orient places an Indian Village at this location right off
Hallock's Bay. Most local folks refer to this area as "Pete Neck", a location known for an
abundant supply of clams and scallops before the brown tide devastated this area, and nearly
all of our Town waters, for shell fishing.
During the Revolution, the British Fleet was at times anchored in Gardiners Bay, and no
doubt kept a close eye on movements of any baymen. We refer to a letter sent to General
Heath from Colonel William Ledyard who was commanding officer of Fort Griswold, Groton,
Connecticut, on Sept. 17, 1780, that the following ships were at anchor: "Europa-64 guns",
"London-98 guns", "Royal Oak-80 guns", as well as the "Prudent", "Resolution", "Bedford",
"America", and the "Robust." These were all British ships of the line. Major General Heath
forwarded the letter on to George Washington. Colonel Ledyard and nearly all of his command
were killed by the enemy after they had surrendered the fort on Groton Heights on September
6, 1781.
Whaling was a daring occupation carried on in the early 1800's from the ports of Orient,
New Suffolk, and Greenport. The recently published book, IN THE WAKE OF WHALES,
by the Old Orient Press, Inc., covering a period from 1841 to 1847, tells much about the
"Whalers". This book is a wonderful publication telling of two voyages aboard the ships "Lucy
Ann", and the "Washington", Captain Edwin Peter Brown of Orient, L.I., in command. Other
ships, especially out of Greenport, were the "Sabina", "Delta", "Italy", "Prudent", "Nile",
"Neva" - (A model may be seen in the Townsend Insurance Office in Greenport), "Roanoke",
"Bayard", "Noble", "Triad", and the "Caroline". Local stores and shipyards were kept busy
with this trade.
The Menhaden fishing industry referred to as "Bunkers", is mentioned as far back as 1790
when seine nets were dragged from the beach and the fish taken were used for fertilizer by
being allowed to rot in the fields. Years later, fish factories were established in our Township
usually in isolated locations because of the "cooking aroma". These factories were supplied
with catches "by the millions", as larger "Bunker Boats" stayed at sea for a week or so, and
returned fully loaded. The last big fish factory on Eastern Long Island was at Promised Land
near East Hampton, and was owned and operated by The Smith Meal Company. The products
were fish meal scraps used for animal foods, and "Bunker Oil", which had several uses in
industry. In late years the old wooden hulled "Bunker Steamers" were replaced with larger
sea-worthy vessels. Some of the old time ship names were: the "A. Brooke Taylor", "Amagan-
sett', "Napeague", "Wilbert A. Edwards", "East Hampton", "Pocahantus", "John Lawrence",
and the "Elias Wilcox." The menhaden fishing died out in recent years probably due to the
brown fide, pollution, etc.
The old Bunker Steamer, "Ocean View" was a casualty of the 1938 Hurricane when
caught by the fury of the storm in Long Island Sound. Captain "Roy" Griffing of Shelter Island
and his crew were all lost. The old vessel was familiar around Greenport, and had repairs
made in The H.W. Sweet Shipyard previous to the sinking.
Our bays have provided much pleasure through all the years for Town residents and
visitors who have caught large weakfish, many of the smaller varieties, and good blue fishing
off Orient. The waters known best as Plum Gut and at "The Race" near Fishers Island are
other popular fishing areas. Our creeks have seen great crabbing, good scalloping, and eeling
through past years. Since the brown fide has hun the shell-fishing so badly, we can only hope
that our Bays' days of glory will return.
The Oyster Industry was always a great provider of employment for local men and women
as well as keeping the local shipyards busy with constant repair. Men from the New England
States, and from Delaware and Virginia, found employment in Greenport during the Depression
years when the oyster crop was abundant. The L.I.R.R. yards in Greenport were lined with
refrigerated cars waiting to be loaded with oysters for all over the country. The J. and J.W.
Ellsworth Oyster Co. used to send thousands of small tin containers of oysters during the
holiday season. Reich Brothers Trucking Co., and several others carried barrels of oysters in
the shell daily to the New York market.
Scallops were a great asset to our baymen through many past years when the scallop-boat
fleets, especially out of Greenport, South Jamesport, and New Suffolk, brought in large catches
daily to the many scallop-shops along the shores to be opened by men, women and many
school-aged children. In these late years before the brown tide ruined the industry, the baymen
were allowed ten bushel per boat, but in the "Good 'Ole Days" the scallop sloops brought in
daily catches of about twenty-five bushels or more per boat. Just imagine nearly one-hundred
boats out in our bays taking these bountiful catches entirely by sail. No power was allowed
until years later, and that's when the limit per boat became effective. Our various local shipyards
were kept busy with repairs, local stores sold marine supplies, and old-time blacksmiths like
Paul Nossolik, (now aged 92 at this date), made scallop dredges and anchors for the many
boats that worked the Bay. We might add, that at the "Charlie Meyer's" blacksmith shop were
Paul worked, they also made clam rakes and dredges for the deep-sea scallopers. All the
old-time scallop sloops are gone, but the "Modesty" has been restored and is on exhibition at
the Suffolk Marine Museum in West Sayville, L.I.
Greenport Basin
Washington White Oyster Plant & Basin
Views at the Greenport Basin & Construction Co.
Orient Association
Dedicated to Preserving the Quality of Life
and Community of the Historic Hamlet of Orient
· Proud to be Part of Southold Town ·
TERRY-MULFORD HOUSE, INC.
Communications & History
Compliments of
Greenport Police Benevolent Association
Gary C. Blasko, President
John P. Schott, Vice President
Gary M. Charters, Sec. Treas.
Philip T. Charters
Andrew J. Ficurilli
Erick R. Heins
Stephen D. Ryan
Raymond VanEtten
Robert E. Walden
516-765-1220
516-734-6993
Distinctive Landscape Concepts
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3350 West Creek Avenue
Cutchogue, N.Y. 11935
PROUD TO SHARE IN SOUTHOLD'S HERITAGE
OYSTERPONDS HISTORICAL SOCIETY
VILLAGE LANE * BOX 844 · ORIENT · NY · (516)323-2480
June and September Hours: 2-5 pm, Saturday and Sunday
July and August Hours: 2-5 pm, Wednesday, Thursday, Saturday, Sunday
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919 Main Street
Greenpo~, N.Y. 11944
477-0573
765-5555
Sea Shell Restaurant
Luncheon - Cocktails - Dinner
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Main Road
Southold, New York
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Southold, New York 11971
Your Local Dealer For
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Plum Island
Beverly Hallock
Attached to Long Island before the Glacier Age - maybe. But today, it is separated from
Long Island by one of the most hazardous pieces of water in the United States. Plum Island
is located about 1 lA miles east of Orient Point, is approximately 3 miles long and 1 mile wide
at its widest part and comprises about 800 acres. It is shaped much like a pork chop.
Early explorers gave it the name Plum Island because of the beach plums they saw growing
along its shores. The first European owner of Plum Island, Samuel Wyllis, bought the island
from the ruling Indian chief of Long Island in 1659 for "a coat, a barrel of biscuits, and 100
muxes [small drills the Indians used to make holes in wampum] or fishhooks".
Plum Island remained privately owned until the 1890s during the Spanish American War
when the U.S. Government purchased it, renamed it Fort Terry and established a coast artillery
post. The military occupied the Island through World Wars I and II guarding Long Island
Sound from enemy intruders. The Island was pockmarked with underground bunkers. Thank-
fully, the only real threat was the shattered or cracked windows at Orient Point from the impact
of the 12" guns during practice manuevers. Following World War II the Island was assigned
to the Army Chemical Corps.
Plum Island came into the limelight in a big way in 1952 when it was selected, after a
survey of coastal islands, as the site for a foreign animal disease research laboratory. The need
for such a laboratory was brought about by the occurence of foot-and-mouth disease (FMD)
in Mexico in 1947 and again in 1953 and in Canada in 1952. The last outbreak of FMD in
the United States was in California in 1929. With faster means of travel and increased population
movement between countries, the threat of entry into the United States of foreign diseases
including FMD was very real. Congress responded to this threat in 1948 by authorizing the
Secretary of Agriculture to establish a laboratory "for research study in the United States or
elsewhere of foot-and-mouth disease and other animal disease which in the opinion of the
Secretary constitute a threat to the livestock industry of the United States." The legislation
restricted the location of this proposed laboratory to a coastal island separated from the mainland
by deep navigable water and not connected to the mainland by a tunnel.
In 1954 the U.S. Department of Agriculture started limited research in the remodeled
amunitions building which became known locally as "Lab 257". The remodeled building also
included intricate safety features to ensure containment of studied viruses but permitted research
on only one virus at a time. In 1954 construction was also started on a new laboratory building,
to cost 10 million dollars, that would incorporate the most modem features for conducting
research on highly contagious viruses including safety and containment. Included with construc-
tion of the new laboratory building was the sewage treatment plant and the steam and emergency
power plant. These buildings were completed and dedicated in September 1956 when then
Secretary of Agriculture, Ezra Taft Benson, spoke at the dedication ceremonies. The new
Laboratory became locally known as "Lab 101" and had facilities adequate enough for simul-
taneous studies on as many as four different viruses.
Between 1952 and 1954, the Army Chemical Corps worked with the U.S. Department
of Agriculture personnel to establish the Plum Island Animal Disease Center. On July 1, 1954,
all of Plum Island except for a U.S. Coast Guard 1869 lighthouse, was formally transferred
by the military to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Coast Guard personnel remained on
Plum Island until the light went automatic on June 1, 1978. Today the U.S. Department of
Agriculture also has acquired responsibility for the lighthouse which is now an historic site.
During the early years, some of the Center's employees and their families lived on Plum
Island. A few children had the distinction of being able to say they took a boat to and from school.
From 1953 to 1963 employees rode the New London Freight Lines (now Cross Sound
Ferry) ferries to and from work. In 1963, the U.S. Department of Agriculture leased and later
purchased a passenger ferry and a freight boat built specifically to provide transportation for
the Center. Coastal storms and hazardous crossing conditions cancelled days of work through
the years and on at least one occasion forced employees to remain on Plum Island all night.
For the all night stay, housing facilities formerly used by the military were utilized.
Today, research and diagnostic studies on foreign animal diseases continue on Plum Island.
Many local people worked, still work there, and are thankful Plum Island was selected in 1952
as the site for this very important mission.
Plum Island Lighthouse, L.I., N.Y.
DAVID R. SANDS, P.G.A.
THE GOLF SHOP
MATTITUCK PLUMBING &
HEATING CORP.
298-8393
· WE SELL
· WE INSTALL
· WE SERVICE
NORTH FORK COUNTRY CLUB
Main Road
Cutchogue, NY 11935
(516) 734-7758
Affiliated with:
Eckert Oil Service, Inc.
298-4197
It Pays to Make The Right Connections
PAUL M. ROSS,
M.D., P.C.
Orthopaedic Surgery
57555 East Main Road
P.O. Box 1166
Southold, N.Y. 11971
887 Old Country Road
Riverhead, N.Y. 11901
Telephone
727-1873
Telephone
765-1234
38 Front
Gree~porl. N.Y.
Tourism
June Giuliani
Three hundred fifty years ago the first "tourists" arrived in this area, greeted reluctantly
by the Corchaug Indians. Unlike the annual Memorial Day invasion by city folk, these tourists
arrived in late September, 1640, with the intent to stay and develop the township we now
know as Southold. The thirteen families, led by Reverend John Youngs, came for many of
the same masons our "summer people" come today. Rich soil for fanning, surrounding waters
for fishing and entertainment, and peace and quiet were and are at the top of the list.
The stark difference is, Reverend Youngs' family, along with the families of Barnabas
Horton, William Wells, Peter Hallock, John Tuthill, Richard Terry, Thomas Mapes, Mathias
Corwin, Robert Ackerley, Jacob Corey, John Conkline, Isaac Arnold and John Budd, stayed
and built on the assets that surrounded them. The remainder of the 1600's and 1700's saw a
steady stream of visitors, turned residents, who arrived mostly by way of the sea. At that time,
John Peakins tavern in Orient was the only spot in Southold Township licensed to sell liquor.
There weren't many visitors who merely passed through, notable exceptions being Ben Franklin
and George Washington in the mid 1700's.
In the early 1800's, the Clark house in Gmenport was a famous stop for whalemen. The
hotel was built for the entertainment of the Captains, officers and owners of the ships. Stopovers
were at least a week in duration and proved to be a boost to the economy. Tourism was just
in its infant stages but even then recognized as profitable.
Ira Tuthill owned the Inn at New Suffolk in 1840 which was built exclusively with New
Yorkers and Brooklynites in mind. A stage coach connection in Port Jefferson waited daily to
bring the city people to their final destination where tennis, sailing, riding, and tranquility
awaited them.
A few years earlier, in 1836, William Wells was busy at the Southold Hotel, which stood
on the Southold Savings Bank comer. Much like major hotel chains of present day it boasted
may amenities including a general store, post office, tailor, barber shop, and food. The hotel
catered to business men (traveling salesmen) and summer vacationers alike. The Southold Hotel
truly was ahead of its time in knowing what the public wanted. In 1875 the Southold Hotel
became more elegant under new proprietorship. Landscaping, interior decorating, and the
addition of a dining room, along with entertainment and daily stagecoach departures to the
beach, swelled the guest register. Two more owners contributed to the popularity of the Southold
Hotel before it met its demise in the name of progress in 1925.
Both the Southold Hotel and the New Suffolk Inn experienced a flourish of business in
1844, which was the year the Long Island Railroad opened its tracks to Gmenport. What used
to take three days from New York by stagecoach to reach Southold now only took four hours.
The railroad was the means of showing off to the western end of L.I. the serenity, culture and
beauty of Southold.
By the early 1900's the word was out that Southold was where you found as much quiet
or as much fun as visitors desired. Paumonok Inn was most popular with vacationers due to
its location near Hortons Point Lighthouse, so every visitor had a room with a view overlooking
the Sound and an unvarnished landscape below. The tourist attractions of the time were Paradise
Point and Kimogenor Point. Anyone who loved water, beautiful shaded roads, and the wonders
of nature became frequent visitors. Barn dances, picnics, clambakes and church gatherings
were the order of the day.
Tourism in the twentieth century continued to grow. Orient Beach state park is 357 acres
of unadulterated splendor. Four other county parks along with seven preserves could keep
nature lovers busy for days. Accommodations range from turn of the century houses transformed
into charming bed and breakfasts, beachside efficiency apartments and hotels, to a Civil War
era farmhouse converted to a guest house. Condominiums, cottages, and house rentals are also
available to those with a longer stay in mind.
The initial lure of Southold to its visitors is its landscape, proximity to water and peace-
fulness. However, there are also ongoing activities every summer that have been enjoyed by
many year after year. A partial list includes Mattituck Lions Strawberry Festival, North Fork
Theater productions, Mattituck Presbyterian Chicken barbeque and Country Fair, Cutchogue
Village Green Community Yard Sale, Sacred Heart Church County Fair and Auction, Southold
Fire Department Parade and Drill, Eighteenth Century day in Orient, and the Invitation Art
Show and Peddlers Fair in Greenport. For the shopper there is a specialty shop around the
comer, for the sports enthusiast (water or otherwise) their delight is available, and our newest
cultural phenomena of wine tasting tours is a terrific way to spend an afternoon or even a
weekend depending on how much of a connoisseur you are. Local fam~ stands dot the major
roads selling the freshest fruits and vegetables for the health food goum~et in all of us.
Last but not least our biggest tourist attraction is Southold Town's preservation and sense
of history. Each town from Mattituck to Orient has their own historical society and claim some
of the oldest houses in the country. As we go into our next 350 years it is a safe bet Southold
will continue to prosper from the magic it holds in the hearts and minds of its visitors. Truly
a safe and awe inspiring home away from home then, now, and in the future.
The Clark House in Greenport circa 1900,
H. SMITH
Plumbing and Heating Inc.
Main Road, Willow Hill, Southold
Available for all your
plumbing and heating needs
Featuring:
KOHLER and
AMERICAN STANDARD
Fixtures
WEIL-McLAIN
Boilers
Superstor- and Bock
Hot Water Makers
FAST AND EFFICIENT SERVICE
Licensed and Insured
765-3690
765-3293
TOWNSEND
Marina
~e;taurant &
Cool, tail Lounge
RADFORD REALTY
Route 25
Mattituck, NY 11952
Broker -
Stella Radford
J.P. HUBERMAN, M.D.
Diplomate, American Board
of Ophthalmology
My Best Wishes
on
This Remarkable Anniversary.
Phone
298-8556
41705 County Road 48
Southold, New York 11971
(516) 765-5051
Congratulations
Southold Town
EMPORIUM
FOR CASUAL CLOTMING
FOR GENERAL MERCHANDISE
The
North Fork Animal Hospital
on the occasion of the
350th Anniversary of
Southold Town
Sends Congratulations
and Best Wishes
for
Prosperity and Good Fortune
in the years ahead
Thompson's Emporium
Southold, NY
Main Road
Southold, NY 11971
Main Road
Southold
765-1780
ICE CREAM, COLOMBO FROZEN YOGURT
CAKES & PIES MADE-TO-ORDER
HOT & COLD SANDWICHES AND HEROS
SOUPS, SALADS
HOT DOGS, TACOS, NACHOS
AND THE NORTH FORK'S MOST
CREATIVE pIZT. A!
DELIVERY AVAILABLE
We at
North Fork Wood Design
would like to
congratulate
Southold Town
on this
Special
Anniversary
Sheds · Gazebos * other Fine
Backyard Structures
Paul's Lane, Peconic- 766-3090
(See you at the next 350th Anniversary)
3350 West Creek Avenue
516-734-6993 Cutchogue, N.Y. 11935
Congratulations Town of Southold
Congratulations Southold Town
From:
ECKERT OIL SERVICE, INC.
Main Road - P.O. Box 1412
Phone: (516) 298-4197
"Big Enough To Serve You"
"Small Enough To Know You"
Mattituck, L.I., N.Y. 11952
VICTORIAN REALTY CORP.
Full Service Realty
110 Front Street
Greenport, N.Y. 11944
(516) 477-2730
Nancy Morris, Sec.
Morris Cesspoo/Service
Daysman Morris, Pres.
The Old Bay View Schoolhouse Goes To Town
Aurelie D. Stack
Less than 40 years after the Revolufiona~ War, upon orders from farsighted people in
the state legislature, the Commissioners of Schools for the Town of Southold got together at
the home of John Wells and divided Southold Town into school districts. The date was Monday,
Dec. 6, 1813.
Not too many years after that, I was built. What is called the Bay View area was designated
School District No. 6 and that's where I stood, beginning, if I can remember correctly, in
1822. Many more years later, in 1990, when Southold was about to celebrate its glorious 350th
birthday, it was decided that I was to be moved to the Main Road to become the memorial of
that historic anniversary. I was excited and honored, because I have lived through so much of
our town's history, and our country's.
But that gets a little ahead of the story of my life.
A concern for schools began very early in our nafon's history. In McKinney' s Consolidated
Laws of New York State, Book 16, which covers the education laws, it says: "Under the laws
of 1795 and 1803, the Regents were expected to take charge of all educational interests of the
state, but, as they did not concern themselves with the common schools, it soon became evident
that some new plan would have to be enacted for the management of these schools and for the
distribution of the income of the state fund among them. Accordingly, a law was passed in
1812 under which the towns of the state were to be divided into districts by three school
commissioners, and each district was empowered to elect three trustees to take care of its
schools and share of the money...."
The three commissioners who met at Mr. Wells' house on that wintery Monday in 1813
were Thomas S. Lester, Augustus Griffin and Benjamin Case. According to Southold Town
Records, they delineated School District No. 6 as follows: "The Sixth District [is] to comprehend
Great Hog Neck as far as the North line of Giles Wells' farm and extending west to the line
running from Jonah Halseys to South Harbor including all the inhabitants on each Side of the
said lane." (The Bay View area is also known as Great Hog Neck.)
Soon official schooldays began for the boys and girls in the Great Hog Neck area of
Southold. Classes were first held in the basement of the home of a civic-minded community
leader named Joseph Hallock, one of the district's two trustees. (It being a small district, there
were only two ~trustees.)
In an 1821 ledger, Mr. Hallock and Gilbert Horton, Jr., the other trustee, recorded that
there were 27 children in the district from 5 to 15 years of age. In less than 10 years after the
districts had been set up, it became clear that School District No. 6 was in need of a schoolhouse -
and soon, there I was, standing on the triangle of land where Bay View Road and Jacobs
Lane meet. In a story written in the Long Island Traveler-Mattituck Watchman in 1922 Ella
B. Hallock said: "The triangular piece of land on which the schoolhouse stands was leased
perhaps a hundred years ago to the Town for school purposes by Joseph Hallock. As some
price must be named, it was leased for 'a peppercorn. '"
I was one of the earliest district schools to be built in the town and I was a handsome
building indeed, if I may be allowed to brag a little bit. I was built at the dawning of the Greek
Revival style, just becoming fashionable in those days. My entrance, at one gable end, faced
the afternoon sun and I had four windows on each long side. A flag pole rose high above my
peak. The year I was built, my flag had 24 stars.
My furnishings were typical: long class benches, hand-made desks where the children sat
two-by-two, a wood stove set in a tray of sand, in which ink bottles were buried to keep the
ink from freezing. I recall that in the early days each boy and girl was to bring a stick of wood
from home. The child who forgot had to sit in a chilly comer far from the stove. They didn't
forget too often, you can bet. I remember those freezing days, and how the wind howled at
the crossroads. Mornings about 10 o'clock, a little girl would make cocoa on the wood stove,
and that helped to warm up her classmates. One of the tin cocoa cups was found in my attic
not too long ago. I'd forgotten it was up there.
A privy stood across the road. That could be a chilly place, too, especia/ly when the child
who needed to use it had to trudge through snow to reach it. More than once, I overhead
mischievous boys plotting ways to lock the door on an unpopular teacher while she was occupied
in the outhouse. There were no drinking fountains in the school; thirsty boys and girls used a
dipper to drink water from a bucket.
In the spring and in the fall, ah, that was different. At recess in the balmy weather, the
boys and girls romped under the maple trees that shaded me from the sun. They played jacks
and skipped rope and played baseball. The children also were taught to play dominoes and
they became famous for their skill. No graduate ever thought of dominoes as child's play.
I was always known as a good school. My teachers were paid a good salary and every
effort was made to attract the best teachers. Years ago I heard that that poet fellow, Walt
Whitman, was teaching at the Locust Grove School down on the Main Road, and I guess he
was a good teacher, but over all my long life I had some of the finest. Among the ones I
remember are Miss Susan Wells, Miss Margaret Horton, Mrs. Mary Conldin Griffin, Miss
Henrietta Horton, Whitfield Dickinson, J.N. Dickinson, Augusta Carpenter, Mrs. Gilbert Hot-
ton, S.F. Overton, Mrs. Charles E. Terry, Mrs. George H. Terry, George Horton Terry, Miss
Emma Hutchinson, Mrs. Julia Williamson Phelps, Sylvester Tuthill, Miss Addie Steen, Mrs.
Jesse H. Terry, Dr. George W. Fitz, Mrs. Jennie Salmon Bryan, Miss Ella C. Bunce, William
Elmer, O.F. Payne and Mrs. Ida Leslie Beebe. In that 1922 Traveler-Watchman story I told
you about earlier, Ella B. Hallock, who listed those teachers in her story, wrote: "Also the
editor [J.N. Hallock] and his wife [Ella B. Hallock herself] are proud to be counted among
these worthies." I also recall Miss Ada Bi/lard, Miss Doris Hagerman, Miss Mary Monsell,
Miss Peggy Raynor, Mrs. Charles Hardy and Mrs. Charlotte Overton.
The teacher I recall most fondly is Miss Gertrude Koke, probably because she was the
last one to teach hem. It was a sad time for me when the children all left that day in 1925 and
she closed the door for the last time. But there I go again, getting ahead of my story.
In case you might be wondering why they call the Bay View area where I was built Great
Hog Neck, I can tell you. ,A long time ago, pig farmers used to summer their hogs right there
in my neighborhood. Bay View, a peninsula connected to the mainland in those days only by
a narrow strip of land with a single road, extends into Little Peconic Bay, so, you see, the
pigs couldn't stray too far. (The road across Goose Creek and Jockey Creek wasn't built until
years later.) A gate at a house on Bay View Road, tended by a man named Abijah Corey,
closed off the road. (Wesley and Agnes Dickinson live in that gatehouse today. Wes Dickinson
was one of the first people who wanted to restore me so my part of the past wouldn't be
fo?gotten. Actually, you might say his efforts were part of a family affair. His grandfather and
his grandfather's brother were among those teachers I was telling you about.)
At the time there were 26 stars in the flag flying over my peak, a momentous thing
happened. Workmen for the Long Island Rail Road laid rails along the North Fork all the way
to Greenport, and, in 1844, this rail line became the fastest route between New York City and
Boston, speeding commerce and boosting tourism. Sometimes I could hear the whistle of the
train when the wind was just right.
When the flag had 34 stars, our country was tom by the War Between the States. So
many young men from Southold went off to fight in those bitter battles. I understand you can
read their names on a monument that stands on the Main Road on the curve near the Universalist
Church. The memorial, a statue of a weary soldier leaning on his musket, was erected by The
Ladies Monumental Union, and the words on the pedestal say:
In honor
of our soldiers who
served their country
1861-1865
In the last half of the 19th Century, besides being a busy schoolhouse I also served as a
meetinghouse. Through the many years of his pastorate, on Wednesday and Sunday evenings
the Rev. Dr. Epher Whitaker would walk the rural roads from his home nearly four miles
away, even in cold or stormy weather, to hold a prayer meeting within my four walls for his
loyal church members.
The population of the United States was being enriched during these years by people who
began coming here from all parts of Europe. At first, it seemed to me, almost all the children
who sat on my hard benches had English names. Then there were quite a few with Irish names,
and then it seemed as if nearly all the boys and girls had Lithuanian names.
More and more states were admitted to the Union, and when my flag had 48 stars another
terrible war began. The World War started in Europe in 1914, and in 1917 the United States
became involved. The Armistice was signed on Nov. 11, 1918, and the young men and women
who had served so well came home again. Those who did not come home were remembered
with sorrow and pride. I'm told that monuments to them, and to all the others who fought so
gallantly in the wars and conflicts since then, stand in places of honor from Mattituck to Orient.
Through the years my appearance did not change much. My shingles slowly weathered
to a silver-grey and then finally I was painted white. Some folks think that long ago I may
have had two doors, one for the boys and one for the girls. People today remember me with
one front door. If this change was made it may have been about the time some men came in
and gave me a fancy tin ceiling. My shape stayed the same, though, until a woodshed, later
also used as pumphouse, was added at one back comer. Then, it seems to me it was about
1920, came a real innovation! Indoor toilets! A vent was poked through my roof and a window
was added to each side toward the front where a Boy's Room and a Girl's Room were built,
complete with chemical toilets. No more frozen fannies. I was really up-to-date.
But in only a few years, there were so many children in School District No. 6 that the
district decided to build a new, larger school about a quarter of a mile away. When the last
one of my 38 boys and girls had said good-bye on that final day in 1925 and Miss Koke locked
the door for the last time, I never felt so alone, so sad. (Mr. Mahlon Dickerson, who years
later was to use me for a machine shop, came across my attendance book from that final year
and the offical District No. 6 seal that was used to emboss diplomas, and he kept them safe
in his home. Many years later, in 1989, his sons presented these artifacts to the Southold
Historical Society.)
Was my life over? I was over a hundred years old, that's true, but I still felt useful.
For years I stood lonely and forlorn in summer sun and winter winds. Life was passing
me by. More and more of those new automobiles went speeding past, and I hardly ever saw
a horse anymore. People talked about using me for different things and, for a time, a farmer
used me for storing potatoes. How undignified that was!
One day after the end of World War II (it was 1946, I think), Mr. Dickerson, his two
sons, Chester and Parker, and a couple of other men walked over from the nearby farm that
then belonged to Miss Mary L. Dayton. They lifted me up on skids and moved me across
Jacobs Lane and through the fields and set me down near a pretty stable with a cupola. They
made my front door bigger, built a ramp outside and connected me to some wires to bring in
something they called electricity. They installed some machinery and I began a new life as a
shop on a farm. I'm proud of those years. I can tell you I kept that farm humming.
But those busy days, too, drew to an end in the late 1980s. Chester and Parker Dickerson,
who fanned the land as their father had, decided to retire. Today Parker's son, Howard, is
farming in a new way that has no need for lots of machinery. He grows herbs and edible
flowers in greenhouses and the produce goes to fancy restaurants in New York City. They call
it hydroponic farming.
About this time, people began to talk about ways to mark Southold Town's 350th Anniver-
sary. Someone got the idea of restoring a building as a memorial of this wonderful birthday.
When the Dickerson brothers were approached about making the Old Bay View Schoolhouse
the memorial, they agreed and signed me over to the town. I bet their ancestor Philemon
Dickerson, who came to Southold only a few years after the Founding Fathers, would have
been proud of them.
Me! A memorial! Can you believe it! I'm so excited. I heard them talking about moving
me to the Main Road, onto the grounds of the Southold Historical Society. That's a much
longer move than the one across Jacobs Lane years ago. And I'll be all fixed up with a new
roof and fresh palm. And I heard I'm going to be a school again. I'm going to be used to
teach boys and girls about the history of Southold Town, about those faraway days in the
1640s when the East End of Long Island was first settled and also about the days when I was
built, in the early part of the last century, and about all that's happened since then. The United
States flag has 50 stars nowadays, but chances are that the flag will fly over my new roof will
still have 48 stars, because that's how many stars there were when I ended my days as the
first schoolhouse in School District No. 6.
To be a school again! That's the best part of all.
NORTH FORK AUDUBOH SOCIETY
[- A Chapter of National Audubon -)
P.O. Box 1401
New Suffolk Ave.
Mattituck, N.Y. 11952
Free Admission to our Monthly
Program Meetings and Field Trips.
Sand & Gravel
(516) 298-8828
(~ongratulations
Joanthony's Restaurant
Main Road, Southold, New York
Beckwith Ave., Southold
Congratulations Southold
Thomas & Jennifer Schlecht
Jewelers
765-3353
Compliments of
NORTH FORK SIGN CO.
727-0221
LYNCH HOMES INC.
- Investments for Living -
- Come Visit our Model Home Centers -
283-0009
MERIDIAN STEEL COMPANY, INC.
50 Jericho Turnpike
Jericho, L.I. New York 11753
TEL: 516-334.8250 TELEX: 144531 CABLE: STELMERID-JERI
JOSEPH L. TOWNSEND
Insurance
216 Main Street
Greenport, Long Island 11944 477-0153
Southold At A Glance
1898- The Orient windmill is moved to its new home at Glen Island.
Horton's Point Lighthouse
FIRST UNIVERSALIST
Founded 1835
~.~,~.~ CHURCH OF SOUTHOLD
, ....... ~ .. (~ Dr. Peter Lee Scott
TRIUS, INC.
369 DUFFY AVENUE
HICKSVlLLE, NY 11802
(516) 935-2600
(718) 895-0610
(914) 237-0777
Compliments of
Dr. & Mrs. Herbert S. Arm
and Family
Security Guards
Courier Service
Sentrum Security Services Corp.
765-5476
Commercial
Residential
PROUD OF OUR TOWN
ADRIATIC SOCIAL CLUB OF SOUTHOLD
Clare Rose Inc.
72 West Avenue
Patchogue, New York 11772
(516) 475-1840
North Fork Housing Alliance, Inc.
(516) 477-1070
Community Action Southold Town, Inc.
(516) 477-1510
Bessie E. Swann, Executive Director South Street, Greenport, N.Y. 11944
SILKWORTH
North Fork Properties - Real Estate - Appraisals
12700 Route 25, Mattituck, NY 11952
(516) 298-4485
t~ Fairweather * Brown
Architecnts · Designers
Box 521, 122 Front Street Garden
Greenport, New York 11944
G & M DEGE, INC.
Service Station Maintenance
250 Orchard Road
East Patchogue, New York 17772
(516) 477-9752
(516) 475-1456
Compliments of
Cutchogue Diner
Estate Jewelry
Carousel Horses - Clowns - Teddy Bears
P.O. Box 931, Main Road, Southold, NY 11971
(516) 765-5599
Compliments of
Brandi's Shoe Store
Compliments of
Eastern Long Island Electronics, Inc.
THE LEAGUE
OF WOMEN VOTERS
RIVERHEAD-SOUTHOLD
We honor the past and
continue to work for
the future of Southold Town
Compliments of
C.P. Tuthill, Inc.
Preserving Southold's History
Irene Hyde
Southold Town's Historical Societies have captured the past and held it for all of us to
look at, and wonder. The men, women, and children too, did so much with so little. They
came to a wilderness populated sparsely with a few Indians, cleared land, set up townships,
established governments, schools, and churches, raised families and for the most part thrived
at it. Instead of buying linens from department stores, imagine growing the flax, treating the
fibers, spinning and weaving sheets or toweling. No wonder fabric was so precious. Or, try
baking enough bread day after day for a hungry family in addition to all the other chores that
had to be done. These historic buildings and collections have preserved this way of life for
our education and enjoyment.
Oysterponds Historical Society
The Oysterponds Historical Society was founded in 1944, encompassing the areas of
Orient and East Marion known as Poquatuck by the local Corchaug Indians. This fascinating
complex is comprised of a building originally used as a cookhouse/dormitory (Hallock House),
two inns (Village House and the Webb House), two schools and a barn. In addition, the Sam
Vail House, and the slave burying ground on Narrow River Road and Poquatuck Park are also
part of the Society. Many of the buildings were moved to the site. The Webb House was
floated part of the way from Greenport.
The Hallock Building came from Halyoake Farm in Orient. One outstanding exhibit is
The Sea Around Us and another, the recently completed exhibit of antique agricultural and
carpentry tools.
Village House was the home of the local historian, Augustus Griffin and an inn and
stagecoach stop. There are a variety of exhibits and paintings. The Beach Plum Gift Shop is
located in this building.
The Red Barn was actually a seine house near the wharf and the country store area there
has penny candies for sale, making it popular with children. The Amanda Brown Schoolhouse
is closed to the public. Old Point Schoolhouse contains the photographs and documents of the
Society and is available to students and researchers by appointment.
The Webb House was moved to Orient by George R. Latham in 1955 and used by him
as a private museum until his death. It has been determined to have been built in the mid-
eighteenth century and is under restoration.
The complex is open 2-5 pm, Sat. and Sun., June through August. In July and August it
is also open Wed. and Thurs. Admission is $2.00 for adults, $.50 for children. Tours are
welcome by appointment. Telephone 516-323-2480. Special programs and events are conducted
throughout the year.
Stirling Historical Society of Greenport
The Stirling Historical Society was organized in the late 1930's by Col. W.W. Bums with
135 members. Meetings were held in the home of the F. Langton Corwins. In 1976 the Margaret
E. Ireland House, which had been donated by Mr. and Mrs. Fred Preston, was moved to its
present location and dedicated as the site of the Society. On this same location, for nearly 100
years, the Clark House, built by Capt. John Clark in 1830-31, was run as an inn with many
whaling ship captains and families as guests. Other guests included Ex-President John Quincy
Adams, General Winfield Scott, Admiral George Dewey and Mr. and Mrs. David Gelston
Floyd who built Brechnock Hall.
The museum is open Sat., Sun. and holidays, 1-4 p.m. Admission is $.50.
Southold Historical Society
The Southold Historical Society was founded in 1960 by Mrs. Ann Hallock Currie-Bell
with 58 charter members. At her death her house became the home of the Society. Since that
time, other local buildings have been added to the complex.
The original Hallock Currie-Bell House is c. 1900 and includes interesting architectural
details of the period with delicate paintings of the ceilings and stained glass, as well as many
artifacts from the families of Southold, such as costumes, paintings, toy collections, porcelain
and glassware.
The Thomas Moore House, a pre-revolutionary home includes furniture and textiles which
were utilized at that time.
The Pine Neck Barn and the Buttery hold tools and vehicles which would have been
necessary for farming and rural life when residents were required to be self-sufficient.
There is also an 1842 Blacksmith Shop donated by Mrs. Frank Gagen; an old barn which
houses carriages and wagons; and a consignment shop which is called the Treasure Exchange.
The most recent acquisition is the Prince Building, a two-story brick building in the center
of Southold village which is expected to house the Society's archives, office and Museum
Shop and give badly-needed storage room. 1990 will be the 30th anniversary of the Society.
It is planned that the Old Bay View Schoolhouse will be moved to the Society complex
during the winter of 1989-1990 and restored as a joint project with Southold Town as part of
the 350th anniversary of the Southold settlement. The school will be used for educational
programs.
Separate and apart from the complex is the Marine Museum housed at Horton's Pt.
Lighthouse which was commissioned by George Washington and built in 1858. The exhibits
include paintings and artifacts.
The Marine Museum at the Lighthouse is open July and August, Sat. and Sun. 1-5 p.m.,
admission $1.00 adults, $.50 children. The village museums are open July and August, Tues,
Thurs. and Sat. 2-5 p.m. Admission to all buildings $2.00 adults, $1.00 children. Tours by
appointment. Telephone 516-765-5500.
Cutehogue. New Suffolk Historical Council
In answer to an inquiry from the Curator of the Natural History Museum in Washington, D.C.
in 1959, a group a local citizens was formed to research the Indian culture and historic
background of Cutchogue village. They became the Cutchogue-New Suffolk Historical Council
in 1960. They prefer to be referred to as a historical council rather than a society because of
the connection with the Corchaug Indian settlement. This group led to the clearing of what is
now known as The Village Green originally leased from the Congregational Church.
In 1961, the c. 1840 schoolhouse was moved to the Green and restored. It contains a
collection of 19th century schoolbooks and furnishings. In 1965 the 18th century William
Wickham farmhouse was moved from the Main Road and Mr. Henry Orville Beebe donated
his services to supervise the reconstruction of this house as a "Settler's Home".
The Old House, a National Historic Landmark built in 1649, is the oldest English-type
house in New York State. It features the architectural details and furnishings of the 17th century.
In addition, on the edge of the Village Green is the Congregational Church built in 1862
and used as a Library since 1914 with its modern addition.
The buildings on the Green are open 2-5 p.m. Sat., Sun., Mon. July and August. Sat.
and Sun. in June and Sept. Tours by appointment May through Oct. Telephone 516-734-7122
or 516-734-6977. Admission $1.00 adults, $.50 children.
Mattituck Historical Society
The Mattituck Historical Society on Route 25 was started in 1964 by Mrs. James Delehanty.
In 1965 Mr. Cedric Wickham purchased property and donated the property and the charming
early 19th century Tuthill house to the Society. This building was originally a country store.
The oldest part was built in the 1700's and an addition built in 1840. This selection of Route
25 was known locally as "Tuthill Town" as it was populated with Tuthills.
In 1967 Mr. Thornton Smith gave the schoolhouse located on Sound Ave. which was
moved and added to the complex. There is also a barn and milkhouse. One of the main
attractions is the extensive doll collection.
This very active society is open Sat. and Sun. 2-4 p.m. in July and August. During the
year there are programs of teas, house tours, doll exhibits and other activities. Donation $1.00
adults, $.50 children.
Mattituck Historical Museum
The Stirling Historical Society of Greenport
drawing coutlesy of Vincent Quatroche
Cutchogue-New Suffolk Historical Council
Southold Historical Society
Oysterponds Historical Society
Journal Committee
Margaret F. Hagerman, Literary Editor
Cynthia Mellas
Peggy Murphy, Coordinator
Barbara Terry
350th Celebration Dance
Marilyn Corwin
Han~ Fagan
Gabe Grilli
Chris Hogan
Joan Jacobs
Bmbara Kujawski
Jacqueline Monsell
Jim Monsell
Betty Neville
Jane Rousseau
Barbara Rudder
Bafoara Santacroce
Ruth Yoskovich
Bob White
Lillian White, Chairperson
History / Cultural Committ~
Raymond Belanger
Antonia Booth
Josephine Boyd
George Brown
Edana McCaffery Cichanowicz
Frank Coyle
Agnes Dickinson
Wesley Dickinson
Barbara Fertig
James Grathwohl
Alice Hussie
Ger~ude Koop
Barbara MacMillan
Dorothy Mealy
Joe Mellender
Jane Minerva
Wendy Reeve
Aurelie Stack
Joella Vreeland
Pamel Wickham-Searl, Chairperson
Michael Zukas
Cruise to Nowhere l~ndraiser
Harry Fagan
Raymond W. Terry, Jr., Chairperson
Lillian White, Chairperson
Education Committee
Jean W. Cochran, Chaixp~rson
Gall Hor~n, Chairperson
Raymond L. Jacobs
Jim McMahon
Peggy Murphy
Dr. Carl Nelson
Jane Williams
Southold Town Highway Department
Service Clubs Liaison
Hany P. Fagan, Jr.
Daysman Morris, Chairperson
Aurelie D. Stack
Moments of I-Rstory Radio Spots
JoAnn Brooks
Antonia Booth
Edana McCaffeD' Cichanowicz
Jeffrey F. Fisher
Troy Gustavson
David Horton
Cynthia Mellas
Patricia Milford
James Monsell
Peggy Murphy, Chairperson
Bea Sawicki
Edith R. Ulp
Joella Vreeland
Radio Station WBAZ
H'zstoric Houses
Lawrence Adams
Joy Bear
Nicholas Langhart
William Peters
John Stack
Ralph Williams, Chairperson
Birthday Barbecue
Joanna Boergesson, Chairperson
Peggy Murphy, Coordinator
Helen Talbot, Chairperson
Jane Rellly
The "Schoolhouse" Quilt Fundraiser
Lillian Baglivi
Doris Bayles
Edna Bechtel
Dorothy Bloom
By the Yard Fabrics
Cutchogue Free Library
Linda Denner
Betsey Dickerson
Parker Dickerson
Alice Doroski
Caroline Fraser
Elizabeth Geyer
Ethel Grigonis
Jane Hardy
Marie Helinski
JoAnn Hinchliffe
Susan Hocker
Florence Hughes
Caroline Hunka
Betty King
Jackie Mazzaferro
Kathryn McCourt
Jean Peters
Rajean Salmon
Lauren Dickarson-Sisson
Joanne Davis~Slotkin
Southold Historical Society
Aurelie D. Stack, Coordinator
Jeanne C. Tuthilt
Betsy Widirslky
Elizabeth Wilise
Fireworks
Gall Hot,on, Coordinator
Lillian White, Coordinator
Village of Greenport
Memorabilia and Distribution
Gall Horton
Henry Santacroce, Chairman
Parade
3ohn Hanison, Chairperson
Publicity
Hany Fagan, Chairperson
Aurelie D. Steck
Old Bay View Schoolhouse Memorial
Betsey and Parker Dickerson
Millicent and Chester Dicke~son
Wesley Dickinson
Friends of the Old Bay View Schoolhouse
Mary Mooney-Getoff
Alice Hussie
Katherine N. Mayne
J. Stanley Parkin, Chairperson
Aurelie D. Stack, Coordinator
Raymond W. Terry ]r., Chah'person
John Williams
Bay Chamber Players Concert
Jean Behnke
Daniel Gladstone
Palxicia Milford
William M'dford
Peggy Murphy, Chairperson
Aldona Norkus
Arthur Swan
Celebration Signs
Raymond L. Jacobs
Aarelie D. Stack, Coordinator
Harry B. Ward Technical Center Students
Southold Town Highway Department
Fiber Art Exhibit
Jane Minerva
Joyce Mttrrin
Aurelie D. Stack, Coordinator
Peter Stout~enburgh
350th Anniversary Video
David Wald
John Williams, Coordina~r
350t~ Anniversary Regatta
Eastern Suffolk Sailing Assochaion
Gall Ho~on, Coordinat~or
Merlon Wiggin, Chairperson
350th Anniversary Sunfish Race
Gall Horton, Coordinator
Bill Gillooly, ChaLq~rson
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& Bayview Road
Southold, NY 11971
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Full Service Florist
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Custom Designs
Exotics
Silks Balloons
Main Road, Peconic
765-4005
Congratulations
Southold Town
Weddings
Funerals
Deliveries
Riverhead to Orient
Major Credit Cards
BENEFACTORS
CUTCHOGUE
Peggy and Bob Dickerson and Family... Marie and Harry Fagan... Peter Schleipman and Patrieia
DeMuria
LAUREL
Mr. and Mrs. William E. Grannehan
MATTITUCK
Dr. and Mrs. L.P. Kelly and Family . . . Honoring Thomas E. Reilly Sr.
Mr. and Mrs. Robert B. Fisher
NEW SUFFOLK
SOUTHOLD
John and Inge Doht... Gerald and Patricia Hayes... Honoring the Patrick May Family . . . Burton E.
Michaels honoring the Hutchins Family - 1643 - Virginia... Lucy E. Michaels honoring the Whiting Fam-
ily - 1641 - Massachusetts... Mr. and Mrs. Nicholas Murray and Family... Councilman and Mrs.
George L. Penny IV and Family... Honoring the Petras Family... Vincent F. and Veronica C. Regan
Priscilla and Sergio Sedita... Honoring the Torkelsen Family
OTHER
Southold Town PBA... A Friend, Winston-Salem, North Carolina
PATRONS
CUTCHOGUE
Robert L. Christensen and Family... Pauline Ketcham... William and Jeonette Lukert... Old Town
Arts and Crafts Guild, lnc .... Hank and Marty Pope... Mr. and Mrs. Edwin Ruettiger
GREENPORT
Honoring the memory of Sophie V. Dors . . . In honor of the Kral Family . . . Peconic Lodge # 349, Free
and Accepted Masons
MATTITUCK
Zigmond T. Rysko honoring the Rysko Family
SOUTHOLD
Steven Bom honoring the Born Family . . . Robert and Phyllis Mallgraf honoring the Allan Baker Fam-
ily... Joseph P. Ulrich... Maynard E. Smith... Mr. and Mrs. Raymond W. Terry, Jr .... The
Taminello Family, Vi, Larry, Mike and Jamie
SPONSORS
CUTCHOGUE
Winifred Billard... The DeMott Family... James F. Grathwohl... Christopher Karb Jr .... Eileen
Karh... The Leskody Family... Katherine Newell Mayne... Arthur and Bette Ross... The Silver-
nagel Family... Robert J. Tangel... Ruth E. Wehlau
EAST MARION
Lillian Bergen Brown honoring the memory ofWayland C. Brown . . . Peter and Carmelia Dykovitz... The
Marinakis Family... The Charles M. Muffin Family... George and Elsie Schmitt... Mr. and Mrs.
Leopold Stern... Mr. and Mrs. Henry M. St. George...
GREENPORT
Mr. and Mrs. Harold Anderson honoring the Valentine Family... Albert and Gloria Boergesson... Mr.
and Mrs. Frank S. Coyle honoring the Wm. P. Coyle Family... Mr. and Mrs. Frank S. Coyle honoring the
George W. Grathwohl Family... Honoring the memory ofEIvira Damiani... Charles Damiani... Hon-
oring the memory of Joseph Damiani... Lawrence Damiani... Honoring the momory of Peter Da-
miani... The Heaneys... The Horton Family - Dave, Gail, Dan, Josh and Eva, . . Robert Jennings
Long... Honoring the memory ofEmidio Giorgi . . . Charles and Marion MacDonald . . . The Greenport
United Methodist Church . . . Gerald P. O'Neill . . . Joseph L. Townsend honoring the memory of Mathias
Corwin... Mr. and Mrs. Ernest Richter... Mrs. Robert W. Tasker
LAUREL
Klm and Bob Constantini
MATTITUCK
Honoring the memory of Edward Smith Bishop, boat builder . . . Anne and Wifliam Cremers... Honoring
the descendants of Jonathan and Sarah Salmon Dimon... The Paul G. Edwards Family... Gall S.
Faircloth honoring Myra D. Sawyer... Honoring Harry Fox . . . Mr. and Mrs. Herbert Fisher honoring
Henry Wells Fisher.. , Raymond Flanagan... The Goehringers... Larry Higgins... Marion and
Spencer Hoag... Honoring Helen L. Houghton... George S. Lomaga... Kathryn L. McCourt... The
Nargenfino Family... Steve and Juliana Perge... Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Pfaff... Stella Sidor Rad-
ford... John and Aureile Stack... The Tbeuer Family... Thomas and Elizabeth Twomey... The
Visser Family... The Howard Wagner Family...
ORIENT
Mr. And Mrs. John Dorman... Mr, and Mrs. Wm. Meklenbarg... Mr. and Mrs. Reginald F. Tuthill
SOUTHOLD
Fred and Sophia Adler... William G. Albertson honoring Storrs Lester AIbertson... Al and Susan
Arias... Irene and Kurt Arndt... Gordon J. Bares... AIdo Bacchia... Irene Q. Bassarear... Her-
bert C. Bloore honoring Ernest L. BIoore... Antonia and Whitney Booth ... The Dorfman Fam-
ily... Honoring Norman L. Cohen... Eleanor and Vince Carnagie... Paul and Shirley
Caminifi... Paul and Mildred Claessen... Richard Henry Clay honoring Philemon Dickerson... Jean
and Carlisle Cochran... Mr. and Mrs. C.J. Denker Jr. and Family... The Dorfman Family... Mari-
lyn and Mickey Dunn... The Fergnson Family... Dave and Chris Fisher... Mr. and Mrs. A.J. Franke
honoring Mahala Conklin Appleby... Midge and Ken Hagerman... Mary and Thomas
Hawkes ..... Honoring the memory of Harold F. Hawthorne .... Z. Micah Kaplan and Family ....
SPONSORS
SOUTHOLD
Russell and Joan Mann . . . Dale and JoAnn Maynard . . . Cynthia and Had Mellas honoring the memory
of Murlin Young Knight... Dr. and Mrs. William J. Miller... Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Muntyan... Peggy
and Jim Murphy honoring the memory of Dr, and Mrs. S.B. Fischer . . . Patrick and Mona Nolan . . . Hon-
oring Stefano and Mary Piccinich... Jean A. Podeyn . . . Joseph S. Potorski... Joseph and Angela
Raso... Walter and Camille Rohr... Rajean Salmon... Alvin and Ruth Savage... Mr. and Mrs.
Frank Tarulli... Miss Grace M. West... Robert and Camille Wilson... Lucy B. Wright... Ralph
B. Wright... Elizabeth and Bill Wurtz
OTHER
Frederik, Liz, Jessica and Erik Bailey, Norwold... Mr. and Mrs. Edward J. Horton, Wilton,
CA . . . Derek M. Rusch, Norwoid . . . John and Gina Rusch, Norwold... Mrs. Robert Rusch, Nor-
wold... Joan Unkclbach Bruns, Nanck, Mass. honoring Victor Hamlin Kirkup... Marion Council Calum-
biettes #3852... Southold Chapter, National Society, Daughters of the American Revolution
FRIENDS
CUTCHOGUE
Lillian and Harry Baglivi... Helen and Otto Bookmiller... Marion and Frank Carr... Vito and
Sophie Catalono... Robert J. Chester... Honoring the Antone Gadomski Family... Robert Lawr-
ence... Robert P. Long... Honoring Richard Machnowski Sr .... Mr. and Mrs. Francis J. O'Con-
nell... Jean and Bill Peters... The Winters Family
EAST MARION
The Mihados Family ... William Murtha... Mr. and Mrs. Gordon Rackett honoring Frank Rac-
kett... Honoring the Vazquez and Popielaski Families
GREENPORT
Mr. and Mrs. Philip Bakelaar... Betty and George Capon... The George T. Conklin Family... Nancy
and Truman Cook... Frank and Joyce Grigonis... Mr. and Mrs. Ted Loewy... The James B.
McMann Family... Dot and Jess Owen and Family... Holly and Jeffrey Pareelluzzi... Ethel Quillin
LAUREL
Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Cupolo... Robert and Carol Daly honoring the Bodurtha Family . . . The Kauffman
Family
MATTITUCK
Mr. and Mrs. Robert G. Brendel... Sharon L. and Richard E. Brooks... The Steven Burns Fam-
ily ... Rose Carty... Theodore J. Conlon... The Dantes Family ... Robert and Dorothy En-
derle... The Enzel Family... Edith Cullen Fenn honoring the F.J. Sinnott Family... The Fiorvante
Family ... John and Terry Hofer and Family... Helen and Ed Jaskowick ... Marjorie Wells
Lellmalm... Wallace Macomber... Helen and Robert Muir... Mr. Felix Mul~... Mrs. Judith D.
Utter... Thomas Vlahos... Dr. Joclla Vreeland... Mr. and Mrs. John W. Weber
FRIENDS
NEW SUFFOLK
Honoring the Charles A. MagiH Family . . . Honoring the Thomas Sehade Family
ORIENT
Sharon, Jim, Jacob and Jordon Bogden
PECONIC
The John L. Bednoski Jr. Family... The Evans Family... In memory of Jackie Sissino... The Staron
Family, Donald, Lorrinda, Bev and Ashley
SOUTHOLD
Elena Bergani... The Robert E. Boergesson Family... Mildred Boyce... Fred W. Buhler... Richard
L. Caggiano ... Betty and Bob Casey... Pat and Joe Cassidy ... James and Nancy Cas-
tagna... Charles Cieeotto... Belle and Dave Dalton... Shirley G. Darling... Parker and Betsey
Dickerson... The Ernest Donatich Family... Evelyn and Gregory Doyle ... Jean and Art
Esslinger... Virginia Feder... Betty Fingerle... C. Harry Fisk... Bessie Gagen... Mrs. Robert
Gilbert... Girl Scout Troop #158~... William Greet... Erich Haesch... Erich Haesch honoring
Jeremiah Vail... Vincent and Joan Heffernan... Nancy and Alfred Hilbig... Jean P. Koke Hoi-
man ... The Ted Hoyle Family... The Thomas James Family... The Joseph Kilkeuny Fam-
ily... Ginger Kroepel... Eulalie and Evelyn Kuhn... Alice C. Leslie... The Arthur Loeffler Fam-
ily... Mr. and Mrs. Anthony Losquadro... Bruce and Cecilia Loucka... The William
Mnnos... Edie and Warren Melhado... EtheI-Jann Mirchel... Frank A. Mirchel... M. & R.
Morsch... Joseph Novey... Gladys P. Pandolfi... Richard A. Pandolfi... Eric H. Podeyn... Mr.
and Mrs. Arthur W. Rathje honoring Charles Ryder... Henry Ring... The $aywell Family... Muriel
and Edward Schwindt... Southold Garden Club... Robert Staron... Mr. and Mrs. R.G. Terry
Jr .... Mr. and Mrs. Thomas W. Wall... The Rev. and Mrs. Carl C. Weaver... Robert and Camille
Wilson... Eugene C. and June C. Wlock... The Edward Yanke Jr. Family... Mr. and Mrs. Jay S.
Young
OTHER
John R. Bagshaw honoring the descendants of Henry Tuthill . . . Lloyd and Lori Brooks Hey, formerly of
Mattituck . . . Oie and Stripes Rusch, Norwold
FIRST MAP OF LONG ISLAND,
DRAWN BY ADRIAN BLOCK
1616
1750
SOUTHOLD TOWN
TODAY
Is~d