Local History

Information, News, and features from Montauk Library’s local history collection.

Throwback Thursday – Hither Hills State Park, circa late 1940s

Hither Hills State Park, circa late 1940s. Postcard from the Montauk Library’s Postcard Collection.  The pensive girl in the kerchief and the stone walkway lend a kind of European flavor to this thoughtfully composed image. Andrew Wyeth’s “Christina’s World” also comes to mind. Could the photographer be paying homage to a famous painting? The image,… Read more »

Throwback Thursday – Margaret Potts, Montauk Aviatrix, and her Powderpuff Derby Co-pilot, Viola Gentry, 1961

Viola Gentry and Margaret Potts on their way to the Powderpuff Derby in California, 1961. Michael Potts Collection, Montauk Library Archives. In early 2021, the Montauk Library Archives received a phone call from Patrick Hreachmack in Columbus, Ohio.  Margaret Potts had taught him how to fly when he was a teenager living in Montauk (Hreachmack’s father… Read more »

Throwback Thursday – Dog Days

“Marie and Chewy,” 2012. From the Mike Carlisi Collection, Montauk Library Archives. We are in the thick of the “dog days” of summer.  The reference comes to us from ancient Rome, when our brilliant forebears ascribed the excessive summer heat and humidity between July 3rd and August 11th to Sirius, the brightest star in the… Read more »

Throwback Thursday – Leisurama

Much as they like to talk about real estate, most people in Montauk these days wouldn’t be referencing a 750-or-more-square-foot house with no AC or winter insulation on a 7,500-square-foot piece of property. The product of a late 1950s collaboration, the 200 or so prefab summer residences were designed by Andrew Geller and Raymond Loewy… Read more »

Throwback Thursday – National Pet Fire Safety Day

Trusty Dalmatian Guards Crates of Budweiser Beer during 1992 St. Patrick’s Day Parade. Color photograph from the Herb Herbert Collection, Montauk Library Archives. A favorite website is National Today, or nationaltoday.com.  It’s a day-by-day calendar, listing an event or activity that is celebrated on a particular day in a specific month, every year.  According to National… Read more »

Throwback Thursday – Cattle Drives

No, these cowpokes aren’t headed to the Surf Lodge. They’re hot to trot to Deep Hollow Ranch instead  ̶  after meeting up with some ­livestock about to arrive on the Long Island Rail Road. Cattle drives were an enduring part of Montauk’s history starting in the 17th century. Its grazing pastures were used to bulk up… Read more »

Throwback Thursday – Friends of the Montauk Library Book Fair

Photo collage of Book Fair volunteers, ca. 1996-1998:  Starting in the top left-hand corner: Mary (last name unknown), Angela Lambriola, Robert Schorr, Christine Langerfeld, Judith Rade, Bob Mautschke, June (last name unknown), Charlotte Schorr, Eileen Mautschke, Doris and Frank Donahue, Suzanne Gosman, and Elaine Kahn Photograph of Bob-e Metzger, Chairperson of the Friends’ Book Fair, looking over boxes in the storage area… Read more »

Throwback Thursday – Children of Fort Pond Bay Village

This week’s Throwback Thursday is a tribute to the children of Fort Pond Bay Village.  The Bay was their frontage and the train tracks their backyard boundary.  Nothing, however, could restrict these kids from exploring the larger world around them. This image from around 1938 comes from the Pitts-Burke-Cullum collection, a large group of photographic… Read more »

Throwback Thursday – School Trip

As the school year draws to a close, everyone looks forward to passing their exams and moving up another grade level.  Especially seniors!  (Or in the case of Montauk School graduates, 8th-graders.)  Graduation ceremonies bring celebration and a sense of freedom.  Before graduation, however, there’s the school trip.  Its itinerary is usually structured around an… Read more »

Throwback Thursday – Blessing of the Fleet

The annual Blessing of the Fleet became part of Montauk culture after Vinny Grimes witnessed a similar ceremony during his tenure with the U.S.  Navy.  In 1955, the Montauk community supported Grimes’ idea of creating a blessing ceremony for fishermen’s vessels. On June 7, 1956, the East Hampton Star ran a notice alerting the public… Read more »