This photograph, from the glass plate negatives in The East Hampton Star’s photo archives, shows a group gathered in front of the East Hampton Steam Laundry. Smoke pours out of the laundry’s smokestack, and the steam that powers the machines inside collects near the ground.
The people shown here are a mix of ages, genders, and races. They appear in working attire from the turn of the 20th century. Those pictured are likely a combination of employees and members of the family that owned the laundry, given the variety of faces and the baby.
The East Hampton Steam Laundry opened in 1904 on Cedar Street, operated by two brothers-in-law, Judson Banister (1886-1967) and Jeremiah Huntting (1882-1937). The two had a falling out, eventually going to court, and in 1907 sold the business to Fred Dayton (1881-1951), who in turn sold it to T.W. Whitney the following year. The wagon in the background bears the names “Huntting & Banister,” suggesting the image dates to between 1904 and 1907.
Under Whitney’s ownership, in 1909 the original building on Cedar Street burned to the ground. Banister eventually reopened a steam laundry at a new location on Race Lane in 1911, but in 1913 it also burned down.
Following this second fire, Banister rebuilt the steam laundry in a fireproof building, where it continued to operate for several decades. Banister participated in the physical labor of the laundry, in addition to the administrative tasks of a proprietor, even while serving as East Hampton Village’s mayor for many years.
After its time as a steam laundry, the building was converted into the Laundry restaurant on Race Lane, which was open year round there for 25 years.
Moriah Moore is a librarian and archivist in the East Hampton Library’s Long Island Collection.
