Posts Tagged:local history

Throwback Thursday – Wooed and Wed In Lighthouse Tower

Throwback Thursday – Wooed and Wed In Lighthouse Tower

In late October of 1903, a young couple joined hands in marriage atop the lighthouse tower. Their choice of the venue arose from their happenstance meeting there, when Evelyn Cook was visiting her aunt and uncle, Margaret and Captain James G. Scott, who was the lighthouse keeper living there at the time. The groom was… Read more »

Throwback Thursday – Gather Ye Wild Grapes

Throwback Thursday – Gather Ye Wild Grapes

“Gather wild grapes in early September,” Jean Fischer advised in her recipe for Wild Grape Jam with Lime in Montauk Cooks with Friends.  “Many vines will not have fruit. The heady rich aroma of ripe grapes and your nose will help you find them.” It’s true that only the female vines of wild fox grapes… Read more »

Throwback Thursday — 1970s Play & Stay

Throwback Thursday — 1970s Play & Stay

  After Ruth Woodrow died in 1983, Bessi Hochstein wrote a letter to the East Hampton Star describing her memories of boarding at Mrs. Woodrow’s cabins in Shepherd’s Neck. “The first time I was in Montauk was early spring, 1979, the year before I entered college,” she wrote, “I came, like hordes of others my… Read more »

Throwback Thursday – In Its Wake

Throwback Thursday – In Its Wake

After a bright and fair morning on September 21, 1938, an unexpected Category 3 hurricane made landfall on Long Island around 2 pm. With no cause for alarm, the New York Times’s forecast for the day read “Rain, probably heavy today and tomorrow, cooler.” No one had predicted the storm to take its path north… Read more »

Throwback Thursday – Remembering the ‘Amistad’

On that day, August 25, they wandered from one isolated dwelling to another, frightening most residents but managing to purchase two dogs, a bottle of gin, and some sweet potatoes with the Spanish gold doubloons they had found aboard the ‘Amistad.’ — Mutiny on the Amistad In August of 1839, nine Africans came ashore at… Read more »

Throwback Thursday – One Smart Move

Throwback Thursday – One Smart Move

Given the price of land today, a waterfront building is more likely to be replaced with something grander than moved from one spot to another. Back in the day, though, homes and even restaurants (like Trail’s End) in the old fishing village on Fort Pond Bay were moved to other places like Shepherd’s Neck and… Read more »

Throwback Thursday – Color Our World

Montauk’s past and present history is painted with verdant parks and preservations, a blend of historical and modern architectural styles, shorelines glittering with seaglass, plentiful marine life, vivid sunsets, and colorful characters that make our community so unique.  Aligning with our Summer Reading Program’s theme, “Color Our World,” we used AI software to transform black-and-white photographs… Read more »

Throwback Thursday — The Things We Keep

Throwback Thursday — The Things We Keep

Do you have a drawer or shoebox that has become a catchall for collecting nostalgic items (think postcards, flyers, brochures, ticket stubs, newspaper clippings, menus, etc.) that have significant personal meaning? Maybe you have them on view, stuck to your fridge, a daily reminder of a memorable moment in your life.  Without our community of… Read more »

Throwback Thursday — A House With Many Lives

Throwback Thursday — A House With Many Lives

  Montauk’s first Third House was built in 1747 but burned down, then was rebuilt in 1806. It has had many owners and uses in its 278 years, beginning as a home for the keepers of cattle grazing each summer on Montauk’s pastureland. Almost as remote as Montauk Point, the farmhouse was also known as… Read more »

Throwback Thursday – Recipes Past and Present

Throwback Thursday – Recipes Past and Present

With picnic season in full swing, impress family and friends with local flavors and recipes from the Montauk Library’s collection of community cookbooks.  Spice up your picnic invitation with this unique and unusual jest—“Now hie we to the picnic ground. With pies of peach and custard; Where divers snakes meander round, And frolic in the… Read more »