Construction of the Montauk Community Church broke ground during the winter of 1928, with the help of community contributions of labor and resources under the direction of the Pearson Construction Company. Before they had their own building or formalized congregation, members of the Presbytery of Long Island originally met in the Montauk Theater. In January… Read more »
The Depression was in full swing and one in four workers was unemployed when, on December 2, 1932, the East Hampton Star reported that commercial fishing on eastern Long Island was “almost at a standstill.” For decades fishermen had taken advantage of an abundance of menhaden, or bunker, along the coast. Factories, or “pot-works,” on… Read more »
Early local settlers waited till the cows came home – literally — before celebrating Thanksgiving. The Thanksgiving holiday was almost exclusively a local New England tradition observed as early as October or as late as January, depending on the town. On the eastern end of Long Island, the date was determined by the homecoming of… Read more »
Hardly a month had passed after the ’38 Hurricane when the East Hampton Star reported that Third House in Montauk, historically an inn, had been sold to William Bell and Frank Dickinson, who planned to start a dude ranch. “The house will be restored completely … The Montauk Beach Company has made an informal… Read more »
As firetrucks go the old red Dodge was a beast. In 1939 the newly formed Montauk Fire Department purchased it, and one more, to replace a truck the Montauk Beach Company had used in a makeshift effort to fight fires. Voters approved the expense despite it being the tail end of the Depression and not… Read more »
As Autumn sets in, beachgoers clear the Montauk shorelines, retreating to apple orchards, pumpkin patches, and fall foliage excursions. Meanwhile, for surfers in the Northeast, the fall signals large swells generated by late-season hurricanes and impending winter Nor’Easters. Crowded waves like the ones pictured above are no distant memory to Montauk surfers, especially those catching… Read more »
Is there anything sweeter than a community cookbook? Often compiled to raise money for a good cause, they tend to be stuffed with all manner of extra ingredients. Corny jokes, endearing illustrations, poetry, sage advice, tips for hunting, gathering, and fishing, the names of book committee volunteers and recipes from others fondly remembered, even celebrities… 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 »
This week we are throwing down the glove, er, kitchen mitt and challenging readers to identify the whos and whats on their own. (Actually, we only know the names of two whos.) The photographer, Ray Smith, worked in high fashion and advertising, then proceeded to capture a whole different world on his camera here in… Read more »
When school starts this week the yellow buses won’t look so different from the first one Cliff Windsor sent out to transport Montauk students in the 1940s. He must have been proud; these photos come from an archival collection donated to the Montauk Library by his son, Clifford Jr., and his son’s wife, Clara Windsor…. Read more »