Information, News, and features from Montauk Library’s local history collection.
Giorgina Reid fights erosion on the Lighthouse bluffs, from the Al Holden collection. Today is Earth Day, its 51st birthday. Wisconsin Senator Gaylord Nelson kick-started the event on April 22, 1970, after observing the sickening results of a California oil spill the year before. “Twenty million Americans were inspired by Earth Day— at the time,… Read more »
Although cyclists ride year-round, springtime is the season associated with outdoor athletics. This photograph from the collection of Al Holden was donated with the information, “Bike race start at Gosman’s.” Although undated, most likely this photograph was taken in the late 1970s. George Watson, owner of the Dock, began launching annual athletic events from his… Read more »
What did Fort Pond Bay look like before a village was established at the harbor’s center? Even the earliest photographs we have of Rough Riders arriving in ships show buildings and houses already established in the area. This Kodachrome slide of Fort Pond Bay looking north toward Culloden Point was taken by Harry Bruno in… Read more »
“In Montauk Dear with You” was sung on this particular recording by Lilah Gosman in the late 1980s. Both Easter and Passover are being celebrated this weekend: Easter lands on Sunday, April 4th. Passover began on March 27th and will end on Saturday evening, April 3rd. In celebration of friends and family members arriving in… Read more »
We first learned about Toots Thielmans from Pat DeRosa, the 99-year-old Montauk jazz saxophonist who was recently inducted into the Long Island Music Hall of Fame. DeRosa recalled with delight the summer that Thielmans played jazz at Gosman’s Dock. Thielmans had been catapulted to fame in 1969 after the release of Midnight Cowboy. The movie’s melancholic theme… Read more »
The Montauk Lighthouse structure as we know it today received its daymark, or dark red horizontal band, in 1899. It was done to help sea captains distinguish which lighthouse they were looking at during daylight. A lighthouse at night, with its steady or blinking flash, dispersed location information to the sea traveler, but during the… Read more »
For the second year in a row, St. Patrick’s Day festivities in Montauk have been cancelled because of COVID. As we approach one of the most important days on the Montauk calendar, a photograph from the “Before Times” makes looking backwards a thoughtful journey. Herb Herbert donated this picture of the St. Patrick’s Day Parade… Read more »
Here’s to Montauk Women! In celebration of Women’s History Month, we recognize the hard work and contributions made by the women who have lived and worked in Montauk. A second installment of this history examining the legacy of Montaukett women will appear before the end of the month. Montauk women drove ambulances during wartime, opened… Read more »
A few reference questions directed to the archives recently have centered around religious practice in Montauk before the construction of the two main church buildings in the village: the Montauk Community Church (Presbyterian), dedicated in 1929, and St. Therese of Lisieux Church (Roman Catholic), which held its first public mass on August 31, 1931. Both… Read more »
Herb Herbert donated this photograph of the Montauk Fire Department rescuing a horse trapped in the ice near Deep Hollow Ranch. Fireman Tom Grenci reports that the rescue was successful, and that the horse survived after walking out onto the frozen surface of the lake and falling in. Most Montaukers are pet-passionate and care deeply… Read more »