Information, News, and features from Montauk Library’s local history collection.
This aerial view donated by the Windsor family to the Montauk Library Archives shows the center of Montauk Village from the late 1950s or early 1960s. A photographic foray into recent history, it reveals a number of easily recognizable buildings. In addition, gaps in the aerial landscape, i.e., those stores and businesses that… Read more »
When Phillis Ridgeway jumped into the fighting chair of her husband Jack Rounick’s sport fishing boat, she thought she was about to tangle with a swordfish. Its radiant blue sheen made it clear, however, that what she had sighted was a very rare blue marlin. In his “FISHING” column for The… Read more »
This aerial postcard of the Bridgeford Cottage Colony on East Lake Drive came into the Archives with the one cottage already circled, a message from a guest to the addressee, “this is where we stayed!” Edwin Bridgeford owned this cozy group of cottages, advertised as “Your Country Estate at the Sea Shore.” The… Read more »
This week’s Throwback Thursday comes from the Ann Ostrander collection of beach scenes dated 1990. Some of the photographs from the Ostrander collection are single, stand-alone images. Others, such as this page from Ann’s dismantled photo album, contain multiple shots. Photo albums and scrapbooks allow the owner to play with creativity,… Read more »
The Photographic Records of Progress maintained by Fisher’s Montauk Beach Development Corporation document the construction of the Manor, Surf Club, and Shepherd’s Neck homes. These meticulously maintained architectural records — donated to the Archives by Frank Tuma — reveal how the local community was transformed by the Montauk Beach Development Company’s ambitious construction… Read more »
Our Montauk Pets: Past and Present exhibit has been extended through the end of September 2019. Marcel Didiot and the Pitts-Burke family dog, 1930s, photographer, Vitus Pitts. (C) Dell Cullum and the Montauk Library Kiwi the pet rooster, 2019, owner and photographer, Kathleen Ernst
“Hot off the Press” The latest from The Friends’ both interesting and useful department, it’s the 2020 Anniversary Calendar. These calendars are the result of countless hours of research, planning, and layout by professionals that are passionate about Montauk’s history. Each month’s photo in this calendar features an archival photo with a descriptive caption. The calendar… Read more »
Archival hurricane photos on exhibit at Montauk Library until October 30, 2018 The Hurricane of 1938 remains the most devastating hurricane in recent memory, a gale with winds of 110 miles per hour that stormed into eastern Long Island and New England with no warning. Montaukers fled from their homes in Fort Pond Bay Village… Read more »