Information, News, and features from Montauk Library’s local history collection.
“Ms. Crasky’s long life was chronicled in the pages of The Star,” the East Hampton weekly noted in its obituary for Josephine Crasky after her death, at age 101, in April of this year. The obituary listed a number of examples: “an announcement of the Amagansett School’s 1939 commencement exercises, a 1942 note about… Read more »
A large billboard reading “Welcome to Montauk, America’s Outstanding Summer Resort,” greeted tourists as they arrived for the summer of 1947. The Montauk Surf Club and Pool parking lot was full of coupes and station wagons that delivered travelers to the seaside retreat. Guests loafed around in the public pool, while others enjoyed the cabanas… Read more »
Montauk, or Manatacut, or Meuntacut, or Montaukut, is thought to come from an Indigenous word for “fort country.” The word suggests a lookout, most likely from on high and far away, as at Fort Hill, which European settlers also called “New Fort” and today is the home of Fort Hill Cemetery. Formerly the site… Read more »
National Library Week is a national observance sponsored by the American Library Association and libraries nationwide. It was established in 1958 with the theme “Wake Up and Read.” This year’s theme is “Drawn to the Library,” celebrating what draws people into the library. Before 1980, Montauk had no library to draw people in. Library services… Read more »
The contemplative young woman in this postcard turns out to be Diane Duca Delprete, now 78 and living in New Jersey. She was about 13 or 14 when the photograph was taken in the 1950s, one of three decades when her family would spend two weeks each summer camping at Hither Hills State Park…. Read more »
Imagine driving up a meandering dirt driveway lined with ornamental trees, a horse-riding track on your left, a watchtower home to a fancier of pigeons on your right, greenhouses stocked with tropical plants, and a private zoo replete with gazelles and peacocks, all surrounding a Spanish-Moor-styled estate. Does this sound like Montauk? While contemporary estates… Read more »
It’s that time of year when we write a post about the Montauk St. Patrick’s Day Parade, sharing some aspect of its founding or the history of its organizers–the Montauk Friends of Erin. Last year we posted a cartoon by Frank Borth depicting a colorful parade of marchers, floats, and balloons rounding the plaza. The… Read more »
According to the Society for the Preservation of Irish Soda Bread – yes, there is such a thing! – Irish soda bread was born of necessity during the potato famine. Ireland was importing a soft type of wheat from America, and yeast was difficult to obtain. Adding baking soda (also called bread soda) to… Read more »
Just received your letter and I want to say It has recalled the day when we first met dear Now I’m feeling better and I promise true I will return to you So don’t forget dear When William H. Heagney released the song In Montauk Dear With You in 1928, Montauk was in a period… Read more »
“A great force of engineers and surveyors is now engaged at Montauk,” the County Review reported in November of 1925. “They have dug a channel from Great Pond to Block Island Sound, and the pond was drained last week. In two hours it fell 11 inches.” Known today as Montauk Inlet, that channel was… Read more »