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History

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0 1892
Jefferson’s Townsend House, shown in 1908, was located on the corner of Main and East Main streets. Under the Parking District Plan, the historic building would have been demolished and replaced with Woodard Square. Photo by Arthur S. Greene. Kenneth C. Brady Digital Archive

By Kenneth Brady

Visiting the beautiful downtown Port Jefferson of today, it seems inconceivable that the village’s commercial center of the 1950s was thought to be dead, stagnant and depressing.

Businesses were leaving Port Jefferson and relocating along major highways and at malls, where in contrast to the village, there was adequate parking for customers.

Abandoned by some merchants, Port Jefferson’s shopping section was characterized in local newspapers as ramshackle and dilapidated.

pictures five of the proposed parking lots within the Port Jefferson Parking District. The construction of the squares would have entailed the demolition of historic buildings in the village’s commercial center. Kenneth C. Brady Digital Archive

Absentee landlords were lambasted for not razing structures that had been gutted by fire, particularly burnt-out properties along the village’s East Main Street and East Broadway, while indifferent businessmen were faulted for running drab, seedy stores with dirty, unimaginative window displays and dated, limited stock.

Making matters worse, heavy trucks rumbled through downtown Port Jefferson day and night hauling oil, sand, stone, gravel and fly ash from the various industries along the village’s waterfront. According to critics, the lumbering vehicles created noise, dust, spillage  and traffic problems on the streets in Port Jefferson’s business district, driving potential customers away.

In 1957, the Port Jefferson Chamber of Commerce conducted a study to determine what could be done to revive the village’s ailing retail center and found that 87% of the shoppers surveyed were dissatisfied with parking conditions in Port Jefferson. The report called for enlarging public lots, routing trucks off Main Street, relocating store entrances and other suggestions.

In response to these recommendations, Brookhaven Town appropriated $20,000 in 1960 for a Parking District Committee to study the creation of a Port Jefferson Parking District. In 1961, the committee proposed the establishment of seven parking areas in the village including “Crystal Lake Square” and “Round the Block Square.”

The construction of these lots would have entailed the demolition of historic buildings in Port Jefferson’s downtown business district such as the Townsend House and Aldrich House both of which would have been razed and replaced with the asphalt of “Woodard Square.” 

A public meeting was held at Port Jefferson High School on August 22, 1961 to present the plan and allow villagers to voice their reactions. Over 600 indignant residents attended and expressed their overwhelming opposition to the scheme that they believed would destroy the historic character of the community. 

Many villagers were bothered by what they saw as the patronizing attitude of an “elite” that had decided that urban renewal, condemnation and eminent domain were best for Port Jefferson.  

Residents were also insulted by the contents of a 132-page report that had been prepared for Parking District Committee members only, but had been leaked to the public, and had concluded that 30% of the homes in Port Jefferson were deteriorating, there were slum-like pockets within the village and Port Jefferson’s citizens were poor and aged.

While conceding that improvements were warranted and long overdue, many villagers were miffed that control over parking would have been placed in the hands of a distant Brookhaven Town Board in Patchogue, not the people who actually lived in Port Jefferson.

Brookhaven Town’s unwavering support of the parking plan, even as most villagers emphatically rejected the proposal, sparked the creation of the Port Jefferson Property Owners Association. Organized in September 1961, the civic group soon formed a committee to study incorporation.

Jefferson’s Townsend House, shown in 1908, was located on the corner of Main and East Main streets. Under the Parking District Plan, the historic building would have been demolished and replaced with Woodard Square. Photo by Arthur S. Greene. Kenneth C. Brady Digital Archive

The idea of home rule was not new to Port Jefferson. As early as 1895, the Ladies Village Improvement Society of Port Jefferson had called for incorporation, but the parking plan and an indifferent Brookhaven Town Board had prodded villagers into action and awakened a sleeping lion.

On Dec. 7, 1962, by a 2-1 margin, Port Jefferson’s residents voted to incorporate, deciding in favor of local control and the right to govern independent of Brookhaven Town.

The Parking District Plan was dead.

Kenneth Brady has served as the Port Jefferson Village Historian and president of the Port Jefferson Conservancy, as well as on the boards of the Suffolk County Historical Society, Greater Port Jefferson Arts Council and Port Jefferson Historical Society. He is a longtime resident of Port Jefferson.

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A photo of the Iwo Jima Memorial in Washington D.C. This month commemorates the anniversary of the battle, which ended in 1945. Photo from the Library of Congress

By Rich Acritelli 

By the end of February 1945, the United States made significant progress within its island-hopping campaign to operate closer toward the Japanese mainland. Since 1942, Gen. Douglas MacArthur pursued a movement across the Pacific Ocean that saw Americans land on islands like Guadalcanal and Tarawa, along with the recapture of the Philippines. This fighting was waged against an enemy that refused to surrender and was willing to take heavy losses.

For American military and political leaders, this period was an extremely bloody part of the war. In Europe, the United States began its slow advances into Germany after Hitler’s last-ditch attempt to split the Western Allies through the Battle of the Bulge. For MacArthur and Nimitz, the taking of Iwo Jima presented a harsh dilemma for the Japanese. If the American Navy and Marines took this island, it brought our forces 750 miles from the main Japanese home islands. Now, their soil, people, munitions plants and Emperor Hirohito would be directly assaulted during the latter part of this war.

The taking of Iwo Jima also denied the Japanese the use of airfields for attacks on American B-29 Superfortress bombers. At this time, these bombers did not have the support of American fighter planes to guard against the Japanese Mitsubishi Zero aircraft. A victory on this island, allowed the Army Air Forces a strip of land for its bombers and fighter planes to bring increased pressure against the entire Japanese war effort. 

As the American forces kept pushing forward, the Japanese resistance grew stiffer by kamikaze aircraft that targeted our major naval vessels. The sight of these enemy planes that targeted American ships was a horrifying reminder that the war was far from over.  

Bob Feller was called Ace of the Greatest Generation, and he was stationed on the USS Alabama battleship in the Pacific. This Hall of Fame pitcher and Cy Young Award winner was a called a hero when he returned to the Cleveland Indians in 1946. Recalling the determination of the Japanese, he firmly stated that he was not a hero, but ”a survivor” of combat against this nation. For Feller and the other veterans of World War II, they were constantly targeted by these enemy pilots that sunk some 47 Allied vessels.  

American war machine

Even as the Japanese government sent few reinforcements and supplies to their garrisons, they were left on these islands to fight to the death. The Japanese, unlike the Germans, realized that they were unable to stop the strength of the American war machine. But they understood that our citizens hated losses and the Japanese were determined to increase the blood toll. In battles like Iwo Jima, Japanese officers instructed the necessity of their soldiers to kill at least 10 Americans before they were overrun by our forces.

During the Iwo Jima planning stages, there was a lack of information from the American pilots who were unable to see any major signs of Japanese soldiers on this island. Instead, they observed a rugged terrain of rock and mountains that offered few luxuries for any of its inhabitants. But the Japanese deployed almost 22,000 soldiers to contest any American landing. They operated in the caves, a series of tunnels, and placed heavy guns in well-concealed positions. They gained valuable time in building these lines of defense by delaying the American conquest of the Philippines. 

Before the American military planners assaulted Iwo Jima, they ordered their “frogmen” — or the earliest SEALs — to attack the Japanese in the effort for them to reveal these gun emplacements. In anticipation of heavy resistance, the Marines requested that the Navy should fire at the suspected areas of Japanese fortifications and guns for 10 days. Instead, there were only three days of naval bombing, and this resulted in the later extreme losses for American land forces. A flotilla of about 450 ships laid off the coast of Iwo Jima, where 60,000 Marines and 10,000 Navy and Army personnel were used to capture this small island. On Feb. 19, when the Marines landed with their waves of men and materials, the Japanese barely resisted these early American actions.

Led by veteran Japanese leader Gen. Tadamichi Kuribayashi, it was his intention to allow the landings to reach the shores unopposed. The Americans were permitted to move inland where they would be heavily targeted by Japanese forces. Kuribayashi believed that if his forces created massive American losses, it was expected that our officers would lose their willingness to continue fighting on Iwo Jima. He utilized the steep terrain of the beaches, as the first wave of 8,000 men had to wade ashore through deep beaches. This sand was also difficult for the motorized American vehicles to operate on, as tanks, trucks and jeeps were targeted by Japanese guns.

Opening assault

On the first day of the assault, there were 2,400 casualties that surprised the American military leadership, as these losses were lower than those that were suffered at Tarawa and Saipan. The biggest mistake that the Japanese made on this day was to fire from their positions at Mount Suribachi.  Japanese firing at the tip of the island, proved to be fatal for the enemy, as it allowed the American Navy, fighter planes and ground forces to hit these enemy troops and their guns. On the fourth day of the fighting, photographer Joe Rosenthal captured perhaps the most historic military picture ever taken.  The “flag raising” depiction on the top of Mount Suribachi presented the commitment of the Marines to place the colors of this nation. As Americans were elated by this picture, the dangerous reality for the Marines was that this contest was far from over.  

Unlike other battles that showed the willingness of the Japanese to use banzai assaults against American positions, Kuribayashi discouraged these methods. If large groups of Japanese soldiers went into the open to attack the Marines, they would eventually be killed, and this would only weaken his forces.  While there was some fighting at night, the Japanese stayed close to their tunnels, guns and cover, and this prevented an early victory for the Marines. Our military leadership became increasingly worried about the resistance that the Japanese had showed on the northern part of Iwo Jima. The Japanese used larger mortars which increased losses and the Marines began to utilize napalm against the enemy.  There was a kamikaze assault of the Navy off the island, with the USS Bismarck Sea and the USS Saratoga being targeted by Japanese aircraft.  For both sides, the 36 days of warfare at Iwo Jima proved to be a battle that was bent on total carnage.

Even as American strength was far superior, the Japanese often waited for the sight of the Marines before they opened fire. Gen. Holland McTyeire “Howlin’ Mad” Smith came ashore several times to personally observe the fighting, and he believed that the Marines were in perhaps the worst battle that they had ever experienced. It was estimated that 14 out of 24 Marine infantry battalion commanders were killed or wounded leading their men on the front lines. Mostly through hand-to-hand combat, this was the only way to chip away at the Japanese defenses.  

Severe losses

By March 14, the Marines felt confident that Iwo Jima was taken into possession by American forces.  While the Japanese lost most of their positions, there were still moments that they infiltrated the rear parts of American lines to kill Marines. On both sides, the losses were severe, with the Japanese having more than 20,000 casualties. It was estimated that 30% of Americans were casualties, with most of the damage being done against the infantry.  The losses of this battle never discriminated, as noted combat figure John Basilone, a gunnery sergeant and Medal of Honor recipient, was killed during his earliest moments on Iwo Jima. Every type of Marine fought on this island from the most decorated, to a 16-year-old that experienced some of the hardest warfare. 

Some 76 years ago this month, over 6,000 Marines were killed during an immensely challenging time within the history of this branch of service.

Rocky Point students Chloe Fish, Sean Hamilton, Carolyn Settepani and Madelyn Zarzycki contributed to this article. 

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Courtesy of Middle Country Library

Amongst the Middle Country Public Library’s many historical artifacts are a few that explain just how far the area has come from its pastoral roots. The pictureS and story below comes courtesy of a collaborative effort among the librarian staff.

Courtesy of Middle Country Library

Clarence “Cad” Dare, pictured here at his post atop the 70-foot Bald Hill Fire Tower, directed forest fire management in the woodlands of Suffolk County and the town of Oyster Bay as Fire Ranger for over 32 years.

A lifelong Selden resident, Dare also served as Brookhaven Town Highway Superintendent during the years 1915 through 1920, before accepting the District Forest Ranger position. 

A colorful firefighter, Dare directed every major forest fire in both counties. To detect and locate fires, Dare and associate fire rangers scanned the region through a powerful telescope mounted on a compass base. A telephone on the lookout platform allowed the observer to call any fire in to the nearest Fire War-den.

Courtesy of Middle Country Library

In April 1952, at age 70, Dare was credited with working for over two days straight, extinguishing a forest fire that burned from Holtsville all the way to Selden, requiring the use of 90% of Brookhaven’s fire appa-ratus to subdue it. As the Patchogue Advance reported on Dec. 4, 1952,  Dare was “eating smoke with men half his age keeping at his fingertips a knowledge of what was going on over hundreds of acres of burning trees and scrubs.” 

The value of service to country and community was held in high regard in the Dare family. His father Samuel, a native of Selden, served in Company C, 165th Volunteer Infantry of the Union forces in the Civil War, and before his death, in 1913, he was a town trustee of the Town of Brookhaven.  

Following in his father’s footsteps, Clarence Dare was active in community affairs, serving as vice presi-dent and director of the National Bank of Lake Ronkonkoma, and also as a treasurer and trustee of the Board of Education for the School District of Selden. 

During World War I, he was a member of the New York State National Guard. Additionally, Dare belonged to various fraternal organizations, including the Suwasset Chapter of Royal Arch Masons in Patchogue, the Patchogue Commandery of the Knights Templar and the Kismet Temple Shrine of Brooklyn. 

Dare passed away at the age of 70 in 1952 and is buried in Cedar Grove Cemetery in Patchogue with his wife, Florence Eugenia Gould, daughter of George E. and Eugenia (Hallock) Gould, both natives of Lake Grove.

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Airmen in the 332nd Fighter Group
A member of the Women’s Auxiliary Ferrying Squadron exiting a fighter plane
Women Army Corps members exiting a training shack in gas masks
A propaganda poster
A propaganda poster
Bund picture
Bethpage-made fighter planes in the air

Reviewed by Jeffrey Sanzel

In his new book, World War II Long Island: The Homefront in Nassau and Suffolk (The History Press), author Christopher Verga presents a detailed but succinct look at the titular era. He has written a powerful and informative tome that represents the community in all its strengths and flaws. Wisely, he brings a keen twenty-first-century eye to address social inequality issues, giving the book a deep resonance. He demands that the reader reflects on what has and has not changed in the past eighty years.

Author Christopher Verga

The book opens with pre-World War II Long Island. Unlike many works that create a picture of idyllic and often pastoral life, he shows the attitude towards the outside world: 

“Similar to other small agricultural areas of the time, both counties had an isolationist mentality toward New York City, immigration, and foreign affairs …” He explains this as reflexive to the losses in World War I as well as the Spanish Flu pandemic. 

In this time, Long Island faced a recession and a labor glut. There was also an influx of Italian, Jewish, Eastern European immigrants, and myriad African-Americans fleeing the south, all looking for jobs. This increase in the non-native population created unrest and the rise of the Ku Klux Klan’s membership and power. Add to this the stock market crash of 1929 and the hurricane of 1938 (which did major property damage and destruction to the oyster beds). The result was a depressed and divided Long Island.

While the prologue offers a bleak introduction, the book proceeds to show the major transitions that allowed Long Island to flourish during World War II and beyond.

One of the uniting forces was the enemy from without. The potential for economic growth via wartime manufacturing enhanced the outlook. “Within a few short years, aircraft manufacturers had an exclusive customer with a blank check: the government.” Of course, the boon came with many problems, including poor background checks and security clearances. He shows the frightening ease of military infiltration by German and German-American spies: two major German spy rings infiltrated the system. 

He also gives one of the clearest explanations of the rise of the German-American Bund. Verga has unearthed exceptional photos of Camp Siegfried, with its Nazi banners and crowds of Nazi sympathizers, dressed in their para-military uniforms. Again, contemporary events live in the shadow of this organization’s white supremacist mentality and the KKK.

Much of the book covers the shift that came with the bombing of Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. The attack spurred civilian involvement along with unification behind the war effort. He documents the early failures and gradual shift to competency in air raid drills across the Island. This example also emphasizes the growing cooperation between the military and non-military populations. 

The war provided many small-town young men with an opportunity to embark on what they saw as an adventure. Leaving their lives of fishing, farming, and small-scale shops, they volunteered for service. And while there was the chance for new opportunities, most were fulfilling what they saw as their patriotic duty. The author has multiple accounts of families where all of the sons went off to war, and many did not return.

Amazingly, Verga covers an impressive quantity of material in this slim volume. There are anecdotes of famous generals along with first-hand accounts of soldiers who came from Long Island. He deals with anti-Italian biases before and throughout the war and writes of training in high schools and beyond. He includes the draft board scandals. He focuses not just on the manufacturing success but also the factories’ dangers to the workforce. The various military bases are explained in their use during the war and after. In his dissection of rationing and war bonds, he doesn’t just emphasize the nationalistic view but also discusses people circumventing the rules and the illegal gas stamp rings.

A unique section focuses on the contrast of German POWs’ humane treatment in the States instead of American POWs’ brutal, destructive treatment in Germany. He also shares the local backlash with the German’s use as the labor force on farms and other businesses.

The author shows women in the workforce and the rise of the WAC (Women’s Army Corp) and its offshoots. He explains the stigma and false accusations surrounding women in service, an important point rarely taken up in the war’s history. He also chronicles women losing their place at the end of the war. 

Racial injustice receives the boldest accusations. From the segregated military units to the refusal to sell housing to Black veterans, Verga gives numerous examples of Long Island’s divide. Again, his use of history mirrors many current challenges.

In each chapter, Verga provides the larger national picture juxtaposed with events and facts specific to Long Island. His research is meticulous, with a complete command of dates and specific and enlightening statistics. There is a wealth of photos and documents that enhance the text. But he never loses sight of the humanity of the story he is relating. He consistently paints a portrait of men and women in action: a time of fear but of great patriotism. 

Verga presents a balanced picture of a complicated era. He suggests that negative actions were the exception, and most of Long Island reflected the overall country doing its civic duty.

Christopher Verga’s World War II Long Island is a rich, textured, and honest account. The book reports on a complex time with great depth, sensitivity, and originality. It makes for a rewarding read for both students of history and any inquiring mind.

Author Christopher Verga is an instructor of Long Island history and on the foundations of American history at Suffolk Community College, as well as a contributor to the online local news sites Greater Babylon, Greater Bay Shore and Greater Patchogue. His published works include Images of America: Civil Rights Movement on Long Island, Images of America: Bay Shore and Saving Fire Island from Robert Moses. Verga has his educational doctorate from St John’s University. His dissertation work included Long Island Native Americans and the impact of tribal recognition within their cultural identity. 

World War II Long Island is available at Book Revue in Huntington (www.bookrevue.com), at Barnes and Noble bookstores and on Amazon.

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The Schooner Restaurant was once a familiar sight on West Broadway in Port Jefferson. Formerly the yacht Ilikamo, the vessel was brought to the village in 1946, placed on land and converted into a distinctive eatery. The restaurant was razed in April 1968. Photo from Kenneth C. Brady Digital Archive

By Kenneth Brady

The Schooner, once advertised as Long Island’s most novel restaurant, was a waterfront landmark in Port Jefferson from 1946 through 1968.

Located on the south side of West Broadway (Route 25A), the eatery was the brainchild of brothers Charles and Elmer Mapp who had found the schooner yacht Ilikamo languishing in a Riverhead, New York, boatyard.

Taken with the Ilikamo’s graceful lines, the Mapps purchased the 44-ton ship, which they had towed to the west side of Port Jefferson Harbor and brought ashore for remodeling.

Transformed into a distinctive restaurant, the Ilikamo was then moved to a site on West Broadway and placed on a concrete foundation.

Sitting on land, her days on the seas over, the Ilikamo had reached her final destination, but surprisingly the ship’s last voyage was not her first to Port Jefferson.

Built in 1899 at Rice Brothers in East Boothbay, Maine, the Ilikamo was formerly the yawl Regina. In 1901, the 61-foot Regina was converted into a schooner yacht at Port Jefferson’s Bayles Shipyard, just one of the pleasure craft’s many ties with the village.

Later renamed Sita and ultimately Ilikamo, the luxurious schooner yacht regularly visited Port Jefferson during the early twentieth century, often returning to Bayles Shipyard where she was hauled out for repairs and laid up for the winter.

Over the years, sailing under her different names, the ship cruised along the east coast of North America, never straying too far from Long Island’s waters.

By summer 1940, the Ilikamo was under the command of William J. Marshall of Greenport, anchored in Southold Bay and being used as a training ship for Sea Scouts, the maritime branch of the Boy Scouts.

Marshall enlisted in the Royal Canadian Naval Volunteer Reserve (RCNVR) before America’s entry into World War II and died of natural causes in 1944 while serving as a lieutenant. He was the Ilikamo’s last documented owner before the Mapps brought the ship to Port Jefferson.

Sensitive to the yacht’s rich and varied history, the Mapps were careful to preserve many of the craft’s original features while preparing the ship for its new life as a landlocked restaurant. With the yacht’s character intact, the Schooner opened on Oct. 26, 1946.

The entrance to the dining room, as well as a service counter for takeout, were located on the port side of the restaurant. The menu featured standard fare with the emphasis on short-order selections with nautical names, such as “Sea-Pups (small meatballs).”

Adding to its curb appeal, the sides of the Schooner were painted in gleaming white. Two masts towered over the restaurant; their “sails” outlined at night by strings of electric lights that could be seen by ships passing in Long Island Sound.

In 1949, the Mapps sold the Schooner to Rose Ceperano of Poquott, who over time made several changes at the eatery. Among the improvements, she expanded the menu, enlarged the kitchen, added a covered patio for outdoor dining and constructed small outbuildings on the grounds. Ceperano also closed the restaurant during the winter months, reopening in the spring.

Although she initially ran the Schooner as a family business, Ceperano subsequently leased the establishment. Called “Tom’s Schooner,” the eatery broadened its menu to include Italian cuisine.

Wer-Kay Realty Corporation purchased the Schooner from Ceperano in January 1968. After the eatery was razed that April, the New Schooner Restaurant was built on the cleared land. The site is now home to SāGhar Indian Fusion Restaurant.

Kenneth Brady has served as the Port Jefferson Village Historian and president of the Port Jefferson Conservancy, as well as on the boards of the Suffolk County Historical Society, Greater Port Jefferson Arts Council and Port Jefferson Historical Society. He is a longtime resident of Port Jefferson.

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President Joe Biden. Stock photo

By Rich Acritelli

President Joe Biden (D), Jan. 20: “This is America’s day. This is democracy’s day. A day of history and hope. Of renewal and resolve.  Through a crucible for the ages America has been tested anew and America has risen to the challenge.  Today, we celebrate the triumph not of a candidate, but of a cause, the cause of democracy. The will of the people has been heard and the will of the people has been heeded.” 

These were the words of the newly inaugurated 46th president of the United States that addressed citizens on his first day as the leader of this nation. Unlike previous years, the historic landscape of Washington, D.C., did not have the large crowds to pay tribute to the incoming and outgoing presidents due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This was a different ceremony in every imaginable way, that saw Biden surrounded by former presidents Barak Obama (D), George W. Bush (R) and Bill Clinton (D), along with military, government and Supreme Court figures.  

For the first time since 1869 when Andrew Johnson (National Union) refused to be present for the transfer of power to Ulysses S. Grant (R), there was no presence of the immediate past president, Donald Trump (R), who was on his way home to Florida. 

Biden mostly spoke to the people across America that saw him on the television, the Internet and on the radio. By looking at the numerous problems of this nation, the new president has continually stated that he expects to work across party lines to better unify our people. Although he has an enormous task in front of him, this is not an unusual situation, as other previous presidents dealt with similar situations during their terms.

John Adams and Thomas Jefferson

In 1801, Thomas Jefferson (D-R) was inaugurated after one of the most controversial elections in our history.  Through the support of Alexander Hamilton, who pushed Congress to accept Jefferson over Aaron Burr, outgoing President John Adams (Federalist) was forced out of office. Even as Jefferson was the president and Burr the vice president, Adams refused to stay for the inauguration, and he went home to Massachusetts. 

Jefferson spoke about the divisions in the country and claimed that we were “all Democratic-Republicans and all Federalists,” within the United States. This Founding Father entered the White House without a glaring endorsement from the voters and he presented the willingness to become a consensus builder amongst the different political parties. Jefferson expressed his concerns that our government had grown too strong under President George Washington (no affiliated party) and Adams, at the expense of the people. He wanted limitations on the size of the government and believed that the people should hold more power.  

James Madison and James Monroe

Directly after the War of 1812, and the term of President James Madison (D-R), the last of the Virginia dynasty to run the United States was James Monroe (D-R). This figure who was later known for an “era of good feelings,” spoke of the necessity of admitting new states to the union, the need to have a “wise partition of power” between the states and federal government and regulation of trade with foreign countries. Monroe was at the helm of leadership at a vastly different point that saw our people at a crossroads.  

He was the last resemblance of the Revolutionary War generation of leadership that pushed Monroe to balance the direction of his government through old and new ideas. While Monroe was a popular figure, he had to handle the negative tensions that were felt by the northern and southern states over the War of 1812. 

During this conflict, politicians from New England openly spoke out against the support of sending their soldiers to aid the southern and western states that were fighting the British. There was also talk by politicians from this region that if the government continued this war that secession was a possibility.  Monroe also had to contend with the growth of slavery within the new states and territories, and the tensions that expansion created for this government.

James Buchanan and Abraham Lincoln

In 1857, James Buchanan (D) ascended to the presidency as an experienced leader who served in the Pennsylvania State Assembly, in Congress, as a secretary of state and a minister to Russia. On paper, it looked as if Buchanan had enough credentials to steer the United States through the treacherous waters of the late 1850s. A strong politician before he entered the White House, Buchanan nevertheless is considered one of the worst presidents in American history.  

When he replaced the outgoing Franklin Pierce (D), Buchanan complained that the nation was consumed through constant debates over the slavery issue. This pro-states-rights president accepted the merits of the Kansas-Nebraska Act that promoted the use of popular sovereignty to decide the fate of slavery in the Upper Midwest. Buchanan’s timid demur did not quell the violence between pro-slavery and abolitionist forces which threatened the peace and stability of the union. 

Buchanan believed that the judicial branch was responsible in determining the future of slavery in America. He did not want to utilize authority of the executive branch to rule on this explosive problem.  The Dred Scott case played into the central ideas of Buchanan that the government was bound to follow the Supreme Court’s decisions. He supported the ruling against Scott that promoted the notion that a slave had no rights, was property and could be moved north of the Missouri Compromise without being set free. 

Abraham Lincoln (R) closely monitored the lack of actions by Buchanan and he publicly spoke out against the political use of compromises. When he debated Stephen Douglas for the Illinois Congressional Senate seat, he was recognized on the national level over his refusal to endorse the expansion of slavery, while the South saw him as a direct threat toward the future of slavery and would never accept his future rule.

 During the transitional period when Buchanan met with Lincoln, he expressed to the new leader, “If you are as happy to become president of the United States as I am to stop being president and go home, you are very happy.” With Buchanan in attendance, Lincoln recognized the start of secession and he told the South that he would not end slavery. Although Lincoln spoke out against the prospects of war, he stated that he would protect the citizens, their property and the laws of this nation. The inauguration of 1861 marked conflicting viewpoints of strength within the presidency. In one sense there was the weakest figure ever to lead in Buchanan, while his predecessor Lincoln, next to Washington, was one of the strongest presidents to ever guide the United States — especially through the horrors of the Civil War.

Dwight D. Eisenhower and John F. Kennedy

Nearly 100 years after Lincoln took his oath of office, the United States watched as a new generation of citizens became the leaders of this nation. President Dwight D. Eisenhower (R) was an incredibly trusted general during World War II and through his two presidential terms from 1952-1960. When our people looked at Eisenhower, they observed a grandfatherly figure. On the other hand, our citizens saw the popular John F. Kennedy (D) as a fellow war veteran who was still young, and had a family which resided in the White House.  

While this was not a negative period, Kennedy marked a far different approach toward the goals of this country.  With the Cold War expanding in Cuba and Vietnam, Kennedy expressed the strength of the United States to continually “pay any price” and to “oppose any foe.” He was also in the middle of the civil rights movement that had leaders like Martin Luther King Jr. who demanded the government creates the same freedoms for all American people. King expected Kennedy to finally establish an America that was prepared to fully end the terrible strains of segregation in the early 1960s.

Jimmy Carter and Ronald Reagan

When Ronald Reagan (R) defeated Jimmy Carter (D) in November of 1980, this country was in an apparent downward spiral. This was the third and final chance that Reagan had to win the presidency, and up until the victory of Biden, Reagan was the oldest leader in our history.  Americans had a “question of confidence” over the Vietnam War, the resignation of Richard M. Nixon (R), the frustrations of the oil crisis and our citizens watched in disbelief as radical Iranian students overran our embassy in Tehran and held Americans for 444 days. Reagan spoke about the necessity of whipping inflation and getting more people back to work to compete with the economic powers of Germany and Japan. 

The former California governor addressed the untrue notion that there were no more “heroes” left in the United States. He reassured this country that our “heroes” worked in the factories, farms and were the entrepreneurs that sought new opportunities and wealth.

As Carter listened, Reagan said the growth of the government and its immense spending and debt was a problem for our people. Both older and younger Americans responded to the words of this immensely popular politician who was known as the Great Communicator. 

While the Carter administration should have earned additional credit over the release of the hostages, the moment that Reagan was sworn in, our detained people were immediately freed and placed on a plane that flew to West Germany. Right away, Reagan made it known that America would not tolerate widespread disrespect toward our interests and people. The emergence of Reagan presented the willingness of our citizens to regain the same prosperity and respect that had transformed the United States into a superpower.

It is not difficult to understand that Biden, as he enters the Oval Office, has a challenging presidency ahead of him. Since the start of our republic, our presidents have had to deal with major problems that have tested the will and resolve of this proud nation.

Rocky Point students Chloe Fish, Sean Hamilton, Carolyn Settepani and Madelyn Zarzycki contributed to this article. 

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The Improved Hand Laundry was located on Port Jefferson’s East Main Street. Proprietor Owen S. Clagett, standing in the center of the doorway, and his employees are pictured in this 1911 photograph taken in front of the store. The building still stands today. Photo from the Kenneth C. Brady Digital Archive

By Kenneth Brady

Once again, it was time for Mrs. George D. Lee of Port Jefferson to do the wash, an onerous household task that just would not go away.

According to a diary that chronicles life in her family from 1866 through 1886, Lee usually devoted the equivalent of a full day of labor per week to cleaning her clothes, as well as those of her husband, children and elderly father.

Laundering was a multistep process that typically involved making soap from tallow and lye or using a commercial product, chopping and carrying wood for the fire, and hauling and heating buckets of water. Using a washboard and tub, the dirt was scrubbed from the clothes, which were then rinsed with pails of fresh water, squeezed of liquid, hung outside to dry, starched, and ironed.

The Improved Hand Laundry was located on Port Jefferson’s East Main Street. Proprietor Owen S. Clagett, standing in the center of the doorway, and his employees are pictured in this 1911 photograph taken in front of the store. The building still stands today. Photo from the Kenneth C. Brady Digital Archive

She generally managed the wash herself, but at times paid laundresses to deal with the hard, heavy and hot work. Some of the washerwomen toiled right in Lee’s home while others took the laundry to their respective houses.

Competing with Port Jefferson’s washerwomen, so-called Chinese laundries first appeared in the village during the late 19th century.

Running a laundry demanded long hours and backbreaking manual labor, but it was an “option” for Chinese immigrants who faced discrimination, were short on capital, had limited English, and were kept out of most desirable careers.

Sanborn maps of Port Jefferson from 1891 through 1917, show Chinese laundries at various locations on today’s Main and East Main streets, while advertisements for some of these establishments appear in local newspapers and business directories.

Laundering became industrialized in Port Jefferson during the early twentieth century with the advent of the steam laundry.

In contrast to a Chinese laundry where the work was done by hand, a commercial steam laundry used a steam engine to drive its specialized machinery, enabling a plant to handle a large volume of business and to do so quickly and efficiently.

In 1907, Owen S. Clagett of Central Islip opened a steam laundry in the basement of Athena Hall (Theatre Three) on the west side of Port Jefferson’s Main Street, naming his company the Improved Hand Laundry.

The following year, as his business flourished, Clagett moved the laundry’s operations to larger quarters on what is now the village’s East Main Street.

Clagett served individuals, families and hotels in Port Jefferson and the environs, running a pickup and delivery route as far west as Old Field and east as Shoreham.

Owen S. Clagett, shown behind the wheel of the Improved Hand Laundry’s pickup and delivery truck, served customers as far west as Old Field and east as Shoreham. Photo from the Kenneth C. Brady Digital Archive

In a 1911 advertisement in the Port Jefferson Echo, Clagett urged readers to “Come, be an American!” and patronize his establishment, an apparent racist swipe at the proprietors of the village’s Chinese laundries who earlier had been harassed by a number of Port Jefferson’s “young rowdies.”

Clagett moved to Kentucky in 1917 and closed shop in the village, providing an opportunity for an experienced Port Jefferson laundryman to fill the void.

Alphonse Raynaud, who had worked briefly as the foreman at Clagett’s Athena Hall location, opened the Port Jefferson French Hand Laundry in 1909 within what is today’s Traders Cove Parking Lot on the south side of Arden Place.

A French laundry was perceived as offering services far superior to those of a Chinese laundry, such as its attention to lace, but the term “French laundry” was also racist code among some for a white-run operation.

Enjoying considerable success, Raynaud moved his business to within what is now the village’s Resident Parking Lot on the north side of Arden Place. There he established the Port Jefferson French Steam Laundry. The plant was later enlarged and modernized after Raynaud partnered with Walter Sword.

In the ensuing years, the company changed owners several times and had different names, dissolving in 1949 as the Community Steam Laundry of Port Jefferson, Inc. The former laundry building was later used by the Athens Wire Company and destroyed by fire on Oct. 20, 1953.

Many factors contributed to the decline of steam laundries, but foremost was the popularity of electric washing machines which ironically put laundry work back into the home where the village’s Mrs. Lee had faced the loathsome chore in 1866.

Kenneth Brady has served as the Port Jefferson Village Historian and president of the Port Jefferson Conservancy, as well as on the boards of the Suffolk County Historical Society, Greater Port Jefferson Arts Council and Port Jefferson Historical Society. He is a longtime resident of Port Jefferson.

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Photo from library

Amongst the Middle Country Public Library’s many historical artifacts are a few that explain just how far the area has come from its pastoral routes.

The pictures and story below comes courtesy of a collaborative effort among the librarian staff.

Maybelle Still (Walcott) sits at the wheel of this automobile along with three of her colleagues who are out promoting the Work Projects Administration in Selden. 

The WPA was an ambitious employment and infrastructure program created by President Franklin Roosevelt in 1935 during the Great Depression with the goal to put Americans back to work. 

In Brookhaven Town, sidewalk projects were approved at the cost of $63,531 for Lake Ronkonkoma, Mastic Beach and Selden. 

The Federal government contributed $38,512 to those projects. 

The Selden project plans were drafted by Norton Brothers of Patchogue and called for the construction of sidewalks along a strip of land on the south side of Middle Country Road from Evergreen Avenue to Dare Road. 

The materials for these projects were purchased through the Brookhaven Town projects office by purchasing agent and Centereach resident, Arthur W. Murray.

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Valentine’s Day penny postcard circa 1909-1911. Image from Beverly C. Tyler's collection

By Beverly C. Tyler

The celebration of Feb. 14 began as an ancient Roman ceremony called the Feast of the Lupercalia. It was on the eve of the Feast of the Lupercalia in the year 270 that Valentinus, a Roman priest, was executed. According to an article in the Nuremberg Chronicle, published in December of 1493, “Valentinus was said to have performed valiant service in assisting Christian Martyrs during their persecution under Emperor Claudius II. Giving aid and comfort to Christians at that time was considered a crime, and for his actions Valentinus was clubbed, stoned and beheaded.” The Roman pagan festivals were spread over the world as the Romans conquered various lands.

Valentine’s Day penny postcard circa 1909-1911. Image from Beverly C. Tyler’s collection

In Britain during the middle ages, these customs were observed and Alban Butler describes that “to abolish the heathens’ lewd, superstitious custom of boys drawing the names of girls in honour of their goddess . . . several zealous pastors substituted the names of Saints on billets given on this day.” It is also thought that when the early Christian church reorganized the calendar of festival they substituted the names of Christian Saints for the pagan names and allocated Feb. 14 to St. Valentine.

The tradition of sending messages, gifts and expressions of love on Valentine’s Day goes back to at least the 15th century. In 1477, in Britain, John Paston wrote to his future wife, “Unto my ryght wele belovyd Voluntyn – John Paston Squyer.”

By the 17th century, Valentine’s Day was well established as an occasion for sending cards, notes or drawings to loved ones. An early British valentine dated 1684 was signed by Edward Sangon, Tower Hill, London. “Good morrow Vallentine, God send you ever to keep your promise and bee constant ever.”

In America the earliest valentines that are known date to the middle of the 18th century. These handmade greetings were often very artistically done and included a heart or a lover’s knot. They were folded, sealed and addressed without the use of an envelope. Until the 1840s, the postal rate was determined by the distance to be traveled and the number of sheets included, so an envelope would have doubled the cost.

In 1840 Nichols Smith Hawkins age 25 of Stony Brook sent a valentine to his paternal first cousin Mary Cordelia Bayles, age 18. The original does not exist, but her reply, written two days after Valentine’s Day, says a great deal. “Much Esteemed Friend – I now take this opportunity to write a few lines to you to let you know that I received your letter last evening. I was very happy to hear from you and to hear that you hadent forgot me and thought enough of me to send me a Valentine. I havent got anything now to present to you but I will not forget you as quick, as I can make it conveinant I will get something for you to remember me by.

“You wrote that you wanted me to make you happy by becoming yourn. I should like to comfort you but I must say that I cannot for particular reasons. It isn’t because I don’t respect you nor do I think that I ever shall find anyone that will do any better by me. I sincerely think that you will do as well by me as anyone. I am very sorry to hear that it would make you the most miserable wretch on earth if I refused you for I cannot give you any encouragement. I beg to be excused for keeping you in suspense so long and then deny you. Believe me my friend I wouldn’t if I thought of denying you of my heart and hand. I think just as much of you now as ever I did. I cannot forget a one that I do so highly respect. You will think it very strange then why I do refuse you. I will tell you although I am very sorry to say so it is on the account of the family. They do oppose me very much. They say so much that I half to refuse you. It is all on their account that I do refuse so good an offer. I sincerely hope that it will be for the best.”

We don’t know the members of Mary’s family who opposed her marriage to Nichols. Was it her parents who had died in 1836 and 1838 respectively, or the family members that Mary most likely went to live with when she became an orphan at age 16 or 17? Whatever the circumstances  their love for each other continued to bloom.

Four days after replying to the Valentine letter, Mary again replied to a letter from Nichols.  “Dear Cousin – I received your letter yesterday morning. I was very sorry to hear that you was so troubled in mind. I don’t doubt but what you do feel very bad for I think that I can judge you by my own feelings but we must get reconciled to our fate. . . Keep your mind from it as much as you can and be cheerful for I must tell you as I have told you before that I cannot relieve you by becoming your bride, therefore I beg and entreat on you not to think of me anymore as a companion through life for if you make yourself unhappy by it, you will make me the most miserable creature in the world to think that I made you so unhappy. . . I must now close my letter with my love to you. – This is from your most unhappy cousin M__________________ ”

At least two other letters, written the following year, were sent to Nichols from Mary. The letters continued to express the friendship that existed between them. The story does not end there. Mary’s letters are in the Three Village Historical Society archive collection.

On Feb. 11, 1849 (three days before Valentine’s Day), Nichols Smith Hawkins, age 34, married Mary Cordelia Bayles, age 27. Coincidentally, Nichols parents, William Hawkins and Mary Nichols were married on Valentine’s Day in 1813. Nichols and Mary raised three children who lived beyond childhood (two others died in 1865 within a month of each other). Nichols was a farmer and the family lived in Stony Brook. Mary died January 30, 1888 at the age of 66 and Nichols died February 10, 1903, at the age of 88. They are buried at Oak Hill Cemetery in Stony Brook.

Valentines became fancier and more elaborate through the second half of the 19th century. After 1850 the valentine slowly became a more general greeting rather than a message sent to just one special person. The advent of the picture postal card in 1907, which allowed messages to be written on one half of the side reserved for the address, started a national craze that saw every holiday become a reason for sending a postcard and Valentine’s Day the occasion for a flood of one cent expressions of love.

Beverly C. Tyler is the Three Village Historical Society historian and author of books available from the Three Village Historical Society, 93 North Country Rd., Setauket. For more information, call 631-751-3730 or visit tvhs.org.

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Rocky Point Just One LI Location Dedicated to Protect NYC from Attack

The nuclear missile silo located in the Rocky Point pine barrens was one of 19 such bases meant to protect New York City from missile attack. Many locals living on the North Shore worked at this site over the decades.

By Rich Acritelli, Sean Hamilton, Carolyn Settepani and Madelyn Zarzycki

In 1962, the Cuban Missile Crisis came extremely close to pushing the superpowers of the United States and Soviet Union into a nuclear war. Closer to home, people went to church to light candles in the hope that a peaceful resolution would be found to prevent war. Little did our local citizens ever know about the history of Long Island, especially that of Rocky Point, in how close the Cold War was to our residents.  Within the sprawling acres of the conservation area that stretches from Miller Place, Rocky Point, Ridge, and Shoreham, was a nuclear missile silo.  

Gary Wladyka, front, and Tony Kuczewski bike through the Rocky Point Mountain Bike Trail. If one follows certain paths they can find the site of the old nuclear missile silo. File photo by Kyle Barr

This was one of 19 missile bases that were built by the U.S. military and government to ensure the protection of New York City. While it is extremely unique to have this piece of history on the North Shore, these weapon sites were also in Oyster Bay, Lloyd Harbor, Lido Beach, and Amityville. Citizens in upstate New York and northern New Jersey had these weapons in their midst which were stationed near major population centers, in the suburbs, near schools, businesses, etc. From 1945 to 1990, hostile tensions were demonstrated by the U.S. and Soviet Union in every corner of the world, and the roots to protect against the prospects of a communist attack were based within the pine barrens of Rocky Point.  

Most people never realized how close they came to being near an operational missile that was designed to fire at a moment’s notice. Later, private homes were built on the missile sites in Oyster Bay and Lloyd Harbor. In Lido Beach, where missiles were a short distance from the Atlantic Ocean, it is now the headquarters of the Long Beach School District bus depot. If you were to hike around Camp Hero in Montauk, there are many reminders of the Cold War including a radar tower and a series of military bunkers. Within our local conservation area, thousands of local mountain bikers a year have surely ridden through these numerous trails, where one is able to see the silo protruding out of the ground.   Situated around this long-removed weapon is a fence that has signs to warn the people not to enter this once classified and dangerous area.

Today, it is possible to go to this location from trails that start at the Rocky Point Route 25A Bypass. Not too far from the Broadway light, there is a straight trail that leads for a half of a mile southward. If you’re mountain biking, running or walking, you will quickly reach an open field. It is easy to observe older military roads, cement, brick gate pillars, and barbed wire fencing. It is also possible to reach this spot by traveling down Rocky Point-Yaphank Road and about three quarters of a mile south of the condominiums, there is an access road that will take you southeastern to an old parking lot. At this spot, there is a noticeable black military road that will precisely lead to one of the 250 Nike Missile sites previously present were in America.

Underground is a bunker complex area that was built some 50 feet long and 60 feet wide. Although these missile bases were organized by the U.S. Army, these bases’ functions were later handed off to the National Guard that had a full-time garrison of soldiers and reservists. In the 1960s, the soldiers that manned these sensitive weapons were paid $85 a week, purchased nearby homes and said little to their families about this vital duty.  If these weapons were to be fired in response to an attack by the Soviet Union, it was estimated that they could fly 1,600 mph, reached altitudes of 70,000 feet and had a conventional warhead and a range of about 25 miles.

As with the advent of new technology, many of these weapons were quickly considered to be obsolete.  Eventually, these military bases that were located on Long Island were closed and only the Amityville and Rocky Point sites remained open during most of the Cold War. The Ajax missile was later replaced by the Hercules that allowed for a range of 90 miles and ten kilotons of explosives (three less than what was used on Hiroshima). From 1959 to 1964, there were 56 of these powerful weapons that were stored in metal sheds in Westhampton Beach that would target any Soviet aircraft that could attack the area.  Today, this is the location of a training firing and vehicle range for the Suffolk County Police and 106th Air National Guard.  

The Rocky Point Natural Resource Management Area includes trails that take one past the location of the old nuclear site.

Many of these weapons were created to attack long range Soviet bombers targeting the highly populated areas of Manhattan. Although they were placed near the North Shore, the base at Rocky Point was completely top secret with two fences (one being electric) and guard dogs. The codes were kept in safes, and at all times there had to be two military officials to concur over the status of the codes and firing. These bases were always the center of heightened military discipline and drills.  

To keep the soldiers sharp to their own attention to detail, many of these men and women had inspections, military scenarios and trips to New Mexico, where they received advanced annual training.  It was stated in earlier stories that the missile battery at Rocky Point excelled with national army awards for preparation and was rated as one of the five top bases for these weapons in America. Not too far from the summer bungalows, baseball fields, Joseph A. Edgar Imtermediate School and the older hamlet of Rocky Point was an unknown reminder of the threats of the Cold War. While the U.S. and Soviet Union competed for domination in Berlin, Cuba, Vietnam and Afghanistan, there were many local military residents that quietly ensured the national security of this country within the trails of the Rocky Point Conservation Area.

This article was a collaboration with students in the Rocky Point High School History Honors Society and its advisor, Rich Acritelli.

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