It was August 1898 when Camp Wikoff opened to what quickly grew to be more than 20,000 sickened, injured, and weakened soldiers returning from the Spanish-American War. A hastily created patchwork of tents and infirmaries blanketed virtually all of Montauk, from Fort Pond Bay to Ditch Plains to Third House. It was intended to… Read more »
“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 »
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 »
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 »
The man clamming in the foreground of this photograph was known as Augustus Petitpas in his native Nova Scotia, and as Ben Pitts in the United States. The beached boat listing behind him in Lake Montauk was known as the “Pelican,” an open party boat that Long Island Rail Road passengers would eagerly jump… Read more »
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 »
‘Tis the season to keep a sharp eye for those big, beautiful, brave but vulnerable butterflies – the monarchs. Monarchs are important pollinators as well as indicators of the overall health of other species and their habitats, migrating thousands of miles each year over several generations and as many as 100 miles in one… Read more »
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 »
This post originally ran on January 3, 2024. It has been updated with additional photographs. Montaukers of a certain age may recollect some of the people and places in this chamber directory. They might even remember using a two-letter telephone exchange prefix: MP for Montauk Point, for example. The directory comes from a collection of… Read more »
This past weekend, relics of Montauk’s history representing the fabric of our community were displayed at the Arts Center at Duck Creek’s Airing of the Quilts. Three quilts from the Montauk Library’s collection were exhibited outdoors alongside baby blankets, contemporary textile artworks, heirlooms, and historical pieces created or inherited by community members across the East… Read more »