Up and Down Newtown

During World War I, as part of the war effort, Gregory's had barrels out

in front for the collection of peach pits. They were said to be

used in the manufacture of gas masks.

Odd Fellows Hall was a busy social center. Many of us attended its afternoon tea dances for young people reluctantly, urged on by eager parents.

The East Hampton Public School, today the home of London Jewelers, stood on Newtown Lane 85 years ago, when I was born in a house next door.

The school was a two-story frame building with a brick wing. During the early '20s the frame structure was moved to Main Street and remodeled into the Masonic Temple. Later it became the headquarters of the Veterans of Foreign Wars.

There were bowling alleys in the basement as well as Augie Dragotta's barber shop. During World War II a serviceman's club was established there. Local ladies served sandwiches and coffee to young men stationed in the area.

Our home shared with our business - P.C. Schenck Coal, Wood, Hay, and Grain - a property that extended back to the railroad tracks. A spur of the Long Island Rail Road made possible the delivery of coal, grain, and bluestone via freight cars. Piles of coal and neat stacks of wood, as well as a structure storing grain, filled the yard in the track area until 1938, when the hurricane flattened the grain building.

Perhaps this was fortunate: Room was made for a new development - fuel oil products.

Our house and the supply yards were separated by a large pasture, with a garden and a barn next to it. Animals abounded - horses, a young steer, pigs, chickens, ducks, and geese, all of which grazed contentedly in the pasture, although the ducklings tended sometimes to wander. It was not an uncommon sight on Newtown Lane to see ducklings being shooed along the sidewalk.

The animals provided a source of great pleasure to many city-bred summer children until the property was sold and the house moved to Pantigo on a beautiful Saturday in July 1981 - a minor engineering miracle accomplished despite East Hampton traffic.

I.Y. Halsey owned a garage directly across Newtown Lane when I was a boy. It was a big two-story cement building that housed many expensive "motor cars" belonging to wealthy summer residents. Uniformed chauffeurs gathered each morning, ready and waiting for orders of the day from their bosses. The Halseys lived upstairs in an apartment and for a while the American Legion met in another upstairs area.

East of Halsey's, where the entrance to the Reutershan parking lot is now, there were several smaller buildings: Ryan's Diner (hamburgers 5 cents; root beer a dime). Next, a Chinese laundry, always busy "doing up" shirts with stiff white collars - items then necessary for proper businessmen.

Beyond the laundry, Emil Palma's shop dispensed Victrola records and offered billiard games for East Hampton men and youth. To the east, Joe Loris Sr. had established himself as proprietor of the East Hampton Hotel. His was another large building. Traveling salesmen were the major part of his clientele. (East Hampton was not yet a tourist spot.)

A.O. Jones Hardware occupied what is now East End Hardware. There was a plumbing shop in the basement and I remember that Babe Ruth made a brief visit to it, although the reason is unknown to me. Village kids were ecstatic!

Continuing east were Raymond Parsons's Electric Shop and Schultz's Bakery, with the luscious smell of baking bread. The Cavagnaros had a fruit and vegetable market and nearby, Steve Marley, in competition with A.O. Jones, also had a hardware store.

Mr. Marley had a radio (rare in those days) and men and boys alike were fascinated to see, posted on the store window, the inning-by-inning scoring of the World Series.

In the near vicinity, during my boyhood, a new firehouse was constructed with a meeting room above. Close by was Barney Panzer's tailor shop as well as Dick Corwin's garage. Dick had added convenience for motorists, as his gasoline pumps were right on the sidewalk curbing.

Lastly, there was, on the corner of Main Street, the brick building in which, in those days, the Post Office was situated. Its outside wall contained a through mail-drop for pedestrian access. Upstairs was the domain of the New York Telephone Company. This big building had only recently replaced my grandfather's house, in which my father, Percy Schenck, was born.

The north side of Newtown was not developed for business as early as the south. East of the small coal and wood office now occupied by Who'd A Thought, there was an orchard and a large, two-story house belonging to E. Moreford. He was the first Chief of Police for East Hampton Village.

During the real estate boom that preceded the 1929 stock market crash, Mrs. Norman Barns bought this property, moved the house back, and had built the block of small shops as well as the larger building presently occupied by the Barefoot Contessa. Due to the timing, the shops were not too successful and were mostly rented only in summer. The large one served as Town Hall. Later the Post Office relocated to it, and still later, a small theater, called the Old Post Office Cinema, was there.

Beyond Barns Lane, Tony Rose owned two stores, over which he lived. He had his shoe repair shop in the first and rented the second to Fisher's Variety. When Tony's daughter was married to Sam Nasca they took over the second store and established Sam's Restaurant, and so it remains.

Mrs. Barns also owned and developed the next nearby vacant property during the '20s. One store, leased in advance, became an A&P, another was Levesconte's Men's Shop, and the third, after prohibition was repealed, became Dakers' Liquor Store. A large part of the present Village Hardware occupies the same location.

Beyond, to the east, situated just as it is today, was the Odd Fellows Hall. This was a busy social center. Among other activities held there were afternoon tea dances for young people. Many of the young participants attended these affairs reluctantly, urged on by eager parents. Admission was 10 cents and included refreshments.

Years later, during renovation of the school, kindergarten classes were held here.

Adjacent to the Odd Fellows, John Jensen had a garage and automobile showroom. I believe it is a clothing store now. Close to Mr. Jensen was a small plumbing shop (long gone) owned and operated by Charles Mapes. Where Fleet Bank stands today there was vacant property.

The newly built Rowe's Pharmacy graced the corner. It remained a pharmacy until a very few years ago.

During my lifetime, Main Street, too, has had many changes. A few which stand out in my memory: Ernest Miller's house and McCann's meat market where Guild Hall is today. The East Hampton Free Library, as it was called then, was much smaller and sat between two large residences.

The present Star office was E.J. Edwards's Pharmacy (somewhat later a brokerage house). Otto Simmons's plumbing shop, with two gasoline pumps, was on the site of the historic town school house, Clinton Academy.

Dayton Lane had not been opened up. The Presbyterian Church had two steeples, and the session house (much lower) was beside the church, facing Main Street.

Gregory's Department Store, on the west side of Main Street, was a thriving establishment - the largest in the village. Inside, toward the rear, the cashier had an elevated station. Payments made to the sales clerks were inserted in a cup, which was then sent to her by an intricate system of overhead wiring. Much to the fascination of both young and old customers, change and receipts were whizzed back to the clerk in the same manner.

During World War I, as part of the war effort, Gregory's had barrels out in front for the collection of peach pits. They were said to be used in the manufacture of gas masks.

The grand old store burned and was almost completely gutted on a bitter cold winter night in the late '20s or early '30s.

Kennell Schenck was born on Newtown Lane and has lived on the street for all but about nine years of his life. When he left it was to attend college, join the Navy, and work in New York City.