In Carl Fisher’s mind, apparently, there was nothing an Aerocar couldn’t do. Designed by Glenn Curtiss using lightweight materials and applying aerodynamic principles, the trailer could be hooked to a Hudson Light Runabout to create a land yacht for cruising America’s virgin highways. Fisher hoped to drum up interest in manufacturing several classes of… Read more »
Jerry was the first polo pony that Carl Fisher purchased, and he was his favorite right to the end. “In the Roaring Twenties if a young man flunked out of Harvard, Princeton or Yale, it was possible to salvage the family name by measuring him for a padded pith helmet and sending him off to… Read more »
On the brink o’ the beach is right. The ocean hovers like a forgotten child in both these images of Gurney’s Inn. Warren and Maude Gurney managed the King Cole Hotel in Miami Beach for Carl Fisher, as well as a restaurant and inn in Forest Hills, before heading to Montauk to start a similar… Read more »
There wouldn’t be a Blessing of the Fleet on Sunday in Montauk Harbor – actually, there wouldn’t be a Montauk Harbor at all – if a channel hadn’t been cut in the 1920s to connect Lake Montauk with Block Island Sound. The lake used to be known as Great Pond and Lake Wyandance or Lake… Read more »
On June 1, 1927, the Montauk Manor opened with a splash – “a Carl Fisher masterpiece,” the East Hampton Star proclaimed on its front page, referring to the man who hoped to transform Montauk into a Miami Beach of the North. A reporter marveled that the luxurious, $1.5 million, nearly 200-room resort had been completed… Read more »
Carl Fisher Home, ca. 1927 Photograph of the Carl Fisher House under construction, Judy Sauers Collection, Montauk Library Archives. The East Hampton Town Board will vote this week on whether to purchase the Carl Fisher House and grounds. If the Board vote passes, this house will become an historic property funded by the CPF, or Community Preservation… Read more »
We’re not sure this lady is standing in technically true tumbleweeds, but we’re certain that today she’d be sending up a distress flare or texting Triple A to help peel her away from a cringe-worthy tick population. She looks perfectly content, though, in this photograph from 1926. We can even imagine her waving to summer… Read more »
The Memorial Day weekend is upon us, which means the unofficial start of the summer season has begun. This picture radiates positive energy, and seems a good omen for Summer 2021. Will the era of social distancing finally come to an end? This week’s Throwback Thursday photograph was donated to the archives by Herb Herbert when Joan… 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 »
Algot Olson was a carpenter. He moved from Sweden with his family to Montauk in the 1920s, presumably to work for Carl Fisher. His wife was born Anna Johannsen (Americanized to Johanson). The Olson family had a strong presence in the community, and were stalwart members of the Montauk Community Church. This beautifully printed baptismal… Read more »