125 Years Ago 1898
From The East Hampton Star, October 7
Some of the citizens residing on the Georgica road, including Capt. Dominy, of the Life Saving station, have built a bicycle path from the Bridge Hampton road to the life saving station, which now affords one of the pleasantest short wheeling routes in the town.
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Plans are being drawn for the new Maidstone Inn. The company, which is to be known as the Maidstone Improvement Company, will probably be organized within the present month, after which the contract will be placed and construction of the building commenced.
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Robert P. Porter arrived at New York yesterday morning from Havana, where he had been sent to collect information on financial and economic subjects for the president. Mr. Porter spent his summer in East Hampton, and was contemplating the purchase of a piece of land when he was called away.
100 Years Ago 1923
From The East Hampton Star, October 5
The question is often asked: “But where did it get the name?” To make more plain the quaint name places of East Hampton town, a paper is devoted to this subject.
Acabonack, Indian — “The root place, or place of ground nuts,” meadows and harbor, adjoining Gardiner’s Bay; divided and laid out from commonage in 1651.
Acabonack, Indian: “An ancient village site on Montauk” — “A List of Indian Names of Places on Long Island,” J.E. De Kay.
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How different the political atmosphere has been the past week in comparison with that of two years ago. The Republicans held their convention last Saturday night, and the Democrats their caucus Monday night. There were only a few minor surprises as a result, but nothing like that following the Republican convention two years ago, when K.E. Davis, present supervisor of East Hampton town, defeated N.N. Tiffany for a re-nomination.
It is reported that the two factions in the Republican ranks met Saturday afternoon before the convention and patched up some of the existing differences.
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The unusual attitude of Superintendent of Schools P.B. Matthews of the First District, in opposing a salary increase for Superintendent Kraft of the Second District, unless he, Mr. Matthews, was given a greater salary than Mr. Kraft, was an incident that amazed both the Supervisors and the audience at the session held at Riverhead on Monday afternoon.
Although the Supervisors said nothing after the two men had finished their remarks to the board, it is understood that they did a powerful lot of thinking.
75 Years Ago 1948
From The East Hampton Star, October 7
East Hampton whipped Smithtown last Saturday by a score of 32-19. East Hampton got the jump on Smithtown by getting three touchdowns in the first ten minutes of play.
The starting lineup for the game was: Ecker, O’Rourke, Loris and Flach in the backfield; Nasca and DeBoard, ends; Leddy and Cangiolosi, tackles; Dordelman and McNally, guards; and LeBlanc, center.
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The Guild Hall Players at their first fall meeting, held at Guild Hall on Monday evening, reviewed their biggest production to date, the staging of the Tercentenary Pageant given on the Village Green on June 26, and made plans for three major productions this season. These include “The Torch Bearers,” already partly cast, an enlarged minstrel based on the one given as a workshop production last spring, and a spring comedy.
Mrs. Warren Whipple reported that the 35-millimeter movies which were made of the Pageant by RKO-Pathe equipment are now ready and will be shown at the Edwards Theatre in the near future.
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Plans for decorating the village sidewalks and streets were among the topics discussed at the monthly Chamber of Commerce meeting, held on Monday evening at the Village Hall.
First and second prizes are to be offered for the best store decorations, and merchants are being encouraged to decorate outside as well as inside. Tentative plans for giving the village a Christmas atmosphere are being formulated by Edward Tillinghast, chairman of a special committee appointed to study the Christmas decoration question.
50 Years Ago 1973
From The East Hampton Star, October 4
A Board of Elections resolution confirming that Judith Hope and Sandra Breuer will be on the East Hampton Democratic ticket in November, confusion over whether it would be the best three-out-of-six candidates for Councilman or whether two are actually running against each other for two-year terms, and a challenge to absentee registration forms eclipsed the news of the meet-the-candidates circuit and even a home-run derby in the election campaign here this week.
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A formation of limousines, a white bus, and police cars was seen here and there throughout Suffolk County Saturday, impressing other motorists, and perhaps its occupants, with its speed, immunity from traffic lights and such, and sirens’ fanfare. It contained six Congressman from California, Washington, Massachusetts, Nevada, and New York.
“Now,” County Executive John V.N. Klein was quoted in explanation, “when bills are put forward by one of Long Island’s representatives, they’ll know what we’re talking about.”
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A 6,328-pound iron cannon, apparently from the British man of war Culloden, wrecked off Montauk 192 years ago, was dredged up by two divers last weekend.
Renting a crane mounted on a barge belonging to the Ralph T. Preston Company of Greenport, Carlton Davidson, 50, of East Moriches, a pneumatic-controls installer for the Honeywell Corporation, and Paul Knight, 43, of Mattituck, a construction electrician, succeeded after about seven hours Saturday in hoisting the nine-foot, six-inch-long naval gun from its resting place in the sandy bottom about 1,000 feet off Culloden Point, where the vessel fetched up in a blizzard early on the morning of Jan. 23, 1781, after striking Shagwong Reef.
25 Years Ago 1998
From The East Hampton Star, October 8
A month before the November election, a major campaign aimed at undermining support for the land bank referendums on the ballot in the five East End Towns is being waged on television and radio.
The advertising campaign is sponsored by an organization called New Options for Open Space Preservation. This week, the New York State Association of Realtors, a trade group, announced that it had contributed to the campaign and supported its efforts to “educate voters about the negative implications of the new property tax.”
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Never has East Hampton Village’s Main Street been shut down for so long a distance of time as it will be on Saturday, when the town’s much-anticipated 350th anniversary parade takes place.
In addition to the big event, the day promises free musical performances, tours of village streets and landmarks, antique vehicle and equipment demonstrations, a theatrical presentation, and a historic cultural exhibit with deep local routes.
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East Hampton Town Supervisor Cathy Lester released her proposed 1999 town budget last week, which she says “has no frivolous or impractical expenditures” but would result in a tax hike of nearly 6.9 percent for most property owners.
The Supervisor’s budget recommends nearly $35.4 million in spending — a $2.2 million increase over this year — with the “lion’s share of the tax impact resulting from the wage increases in benefits associated with the tentative labor contract” the town is about to ratify.
