Posts Tagged:local history

Throwback Thursday — A Century of Milestones

Throwback Thursday — A Century of Milestones

  “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 »

Throwback Thursday – Home Movie Matinee

  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 »

Throwback Thursday — A Spot with a View

Throwback Thursday — A Spot with a View

  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 »

Throwback Thursday – The Lost Estate

Throwback Thursday – The Lost Estate

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 »

Throwback Thursday – Parade Stories

Throwback Thursday – Parade Stories

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 »

Throwback Thursday – In Montauk Dear With You

Throwback Thursday – In Montauk Dear With You

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 »

Throwback Thursday – Leisurama Under Glass

Throwback Thursday – Leisurama Under Glass

Leisuramas were small, cookie-cutter vacation homes built in the Culloden Shores subdivision of Montauk in the early 1960s. They were designed to be affordable and came conveniently pre-furnished from top to bottom. “All you need is a key and a six-pack,” Frank Tuma, who managed their construction, was rumored to have said. The marketing of… Read more »

Throwback Thursday – Bird Lovers Weekend

Throwback Thursday – Bird Lovers Weekend

Winter birdwatching in Montauk draws a dedicated and frostbitten crowd who are rewarded for their resiliency with abundant scoters, razorbills, loons, eiders, and many species of dabbling ducks amassing along the shorelines, lakes, and ponds. “It was agreed that Montauk was a marvel in the feathers department, particularly in the off-season and after a spell… Read more »

Throwback Thursday — From Shipwreck to Station Name

Throwback Thursday — From Shipwreck to Station Name

It was a misty morning on January 16, 1894, when “Fannie J. Bartlett,” a three-masted schooner transporting coal from Philadelphia to Boston, ran onto an outer bar just two miles east of the Napeague Life-saving Station. Captain A. T. Hutchins was following a pilot boat when he lost his bearings in the fog at 4… Read more »

Throwback Thursday – Staying Warm

Throwback Thursday – Staying Warm

This week’s chilly weather gave us a taste of the biting temperatures and harsh winds our Montauk ancestors experienced in winter. With lower recorded temperatures and less forestation and development hindering the wintry maritime winds, Montauk must have felt uninhabitable to year-round families struggling to stay warm.  “All of the local bays and harbors are… Read more »