125 Years Ago 1898
From The East Hampton Star, April 29
The trustees of the town at a meeting held last Monday evening received a petition for permission to build a road across Georgica Pond from the house of R.V.V. Sewell, the artist, to the nearest point of land on the western side. This will necessitate the construction of a bridge a thousand feet in length. The trustees considered the proposal and the matter was laid over for action next week.
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There seems to be no thought of forming a home guard in East Hampton. There is nothing panicky about us.
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Superintendent Sargeant and other officers of the New York and New Jersey Telephone Company, which operates the long distance system throughout Long Island, accompanied by John Perkins, of Riverhead, the agent for the company for this district, visited Montauk on Tuesday for the purpose of considering the extension of the lines to Montauk Point. The present eastern terminus is at Muchmore’s drug store, in East Hampton. The line is soon to be carried to W.M. Terry’s hotel at Amagansett, three miles farther east and then on to Price’s fish factory at Promised Land, Napeague harbor.
100 Years Ago 1923
From The East Hampton Star, April 27
“I am very glad to get home, and the more I saw of Europe the better I liked the United States and Long Island,” said Congressman Robert Low Bacon at the Court House in Mineola, Monday morning. With Mrs. Bacon the Congressman returned on Saturday from a several weeks’ trip to Europe.
Congressman Bacon was received enthusiastically by his many friends at the Court House, and he said, “I am convinced that Long Island is the best place to live and I wonder if Long Islanders fully appreciate the opportunity they have in living here.”
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Chief of Police William Early assisted Deputy Sheriffs Albert Wiggins, Frank Mayer and Frank Jose in raiding Krupenski’s place, near the Synagogue, Sag Harbor, Monday afternoon. They confiscated a car load of hooch-making outfits.
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Wainscott and Sagaponack
A large company of the Busy Bees were very pleasantly entertained on Wednesday afternoon of last week by Mrs. Oliver S. Osborn. After a pleasant social afternoon, each club member taking her own work, delicious refreshments consisting of home-made ice cream and cake with little fancy crackers were served. The next meeting will be held at the home of the Misses Jenny and Florence Osborn, Wednesday afternoon, May 2.
75 Years Ago 1948
From The East Hampton Star, April 29
A pair of diamond clip earrings valued at $2,000, reported lost in East Hampton last August by Mrs. Jack F. Chrysler, were discovered Tuesday by New York detectives in a pawnshop. A tour of pawnshops by detectives disclosed that the earrings had been pawned for $50 by Mrs. Virginia McCormick of the Crown Hotel, 156 West 44th St., New York, and who police said had been in East Hampton last August for two weeks.
Mrs. McCormick’s statement to the police stated that she had found the earrings in the powder room at the East Hampton Hotel, that she did not realize the value of them and had tried unsuccessfully to locate the owner through inquiries at the hotel and by newspaper ads. She had worn the earrings until the illness of her husband in April made it necessary for her to pawn them.
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A souvenir Tercentenary edition of the East Hampton Star will be published about July 15, complete with stories of East Hampton township’s three hundred years, illustrated with photographs and drawings. Tercentenary events which have taken place by July will be adequately covered with photos and complete accounts.
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The Maidstone Club, of which Howard B. Dean is president, Delos Walker, vice-president, Preston L. Sutphen, treasurer, and R. Lawrence Oakley, secretary, is setting dates for opening its various departments. The golf courses will be open and lockers available on Saturday, May 15, with Jack Ross as golf professional. The restaurant will be open for weekend luncheons on May 15; the beach cafeteria will open soon after the cabanas are opened, about June 15. Vincent Marchetti will again be club steward.
50 Years Ago 1973
From The East Hampton Star, April 26
Dr. Roberta Bitgood, an organist and composer from Battle Creek, Mich., will visit the East End the first weekend in May for a two-day program that will culminate with a concert by 120 children from the junior choirs of seven churches, entitled a “Festival of Praise to God,” at the Bridgehampton Presbyterian Church on Sunday, May 6, at 4 p.m.
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The East Hampton Town Board, meeting on Friday morning, discussed possible legislation that would give the Planning Board “site control” of new construction in non-residential districts; proposed a ban on any dredging or filling, except for “maintenance dredging,” between Feb. 15 and Aug. 15; and downzoned about seven acres in Wainscott from residence district A to commercial-industrial-heavy district.
“Site plan review” legislation, which was recommended in the Town’s Comprehensive Plan five years ago, was detailed in a four-page report submitted to the Board on Friday by Councilman Henry A. Mund Jr. A resolution calling for a public hearing of it will probably be offered at the next Board meeting, Mr. Mund said.
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Montauk
County Executive John V.N. Klein will address the Concerned Citizens, who heard Dr. Ian Marceau of the Group for America’s South Fork Saturday evening, May 12, at the Fire House. He will discuss the County’s open-lands acquisition policies.
The public has been invited to attend; a question period will follow the talk.
25 Years Ago 1998
From The East Hampton Star, April 30
A statewide mapping of cancer patients, thought on Sunday to have become a last-minute budget casualty after Governor Pataki vetoed its $1 million cost, found new life the next day.
To get the mapping off the ground, Dr. Barbara DeBuono, the State Health Commissioner, announced Monday that she would tap existing funds from the department’s epidemiologic and environmental health centers and discretionary monies, if necessary.
The project is the first of its kind in the nation.
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The Parish Council of Saint Therese of Lisieux Catholic Church in Montauk has agreed that the congregation’s much-loved church building should be replaced with a new church of similar design. The Tudor-style building, on South Essex Avenue, is a downtown Montauk landmark.
The decision, which has been accepted by the church’s pastor, the Rev. John C. Nosser, was made at a meeting of the council on April 19. The cost has been estimated at over $1 million.
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As if on cue, the storm that blew past the East End a week ago made the point for the State Legislature, which, the week before, had allocated $2,183,000 toward the construction of an erosion control system for the western side of the Shinnecock Canal, and $450,000 for a study of erosion on Montauk’s ocean side.
The wind and surf assault last Thursday washed over what was left of the dunes beside Shinnecock’s west jetty, and threatened to breach the barrier beach there. A breach would eliminate access to commercial and recreational fishing boats, restaurants, and docks.
