Cedar Island Lighthouse

Cedar Island Lighthouse stands at the end of a sand spit that protrudes from Cedar Point State Park and guards the entrance to Sag Harbor Bay. When originally built, the lighthouse was on Cedar Island, named for the small stand of trees on the otherwise barren island, but the Great Hurricane of 1938 filled in the 200-yard gap between the island and the shore, turning it into a peninsula now known as Cedar Point.  The light’s purpose was to guide whalers and other ships into Northwest Bay and the port of Sag Harbor. Sag Harbor was once one of the most important ports on the East Coast.

The town’s whaling fleet began to place stake lights around Sag Harbor as early as 1810, and in 1838, the federal government purchased Cedar Island from the town of East Hampton for a new lighthouse. After Congress provided $1,000 in 1837 and another $2,500 in 1838, the original Cedar Island Lighthouse was built in 1839 in the form of a one-and-a-half-story keeper’s dwelling with a small tower centered on its pitched roof. The beacon in the lantern room was made of nine Winslow Lewis lamps with fourteen-inch reflectors, shining at thirty-two feet above sea level and having a range of 12.5 nautical miles. In 1855, a sixth-order Fresnel lens, illuminated by an Argand lamp, replaced the lamps and reflectors. 

Since the Cedar Island Lighthouse was decommissioned in 1934, it has passed through private hands until it became part of Suffolk County’s Cedar Point Park in the late 1960’s. Vandalism and weather have taken their toll on the Cedar Island Lighthouse. Its construction of granite from New England has withstood the test of time, but in 1974 a fire gutted the interior of the Lighthouse. At that time the building was sealed up and it continues to be to this day.

In the early 2000’s the Long Island Chapter of the United States Lighthouse Society raised the funds to restore the Cedar Island Oil House, the small structure next to the Lighthouse where oil to light the original beacon was stored. The Long Island chapter of the United States Lighthouse Society has been authorized by Suffolk County Parks to restore and “Relight the Lighthouse”.

 

Sources:

“Cedar Island Lighthouse.” LighthouseFriends, https://www.lighthousefriends.com/light.asp?ID=737

“History.” Cedar Island Lighthouse, 10 Feb. 2021, https://www.cedarislandlighthouse.org/history/

Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum

The Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum first opened on February 11, 1972 with a game between the New York Nets and the Pittsburgh Condors. With an initial capacity of 15,000, the arena occupied 63 acres of Mitchel Field, a former Army/Air Force base, and was built at a cost of $32 million. The Coliseum was considered state-of-the-art at the time, featuring a digital scoreboard, the first of its kind in an indoor arena, instant replay technology, unobstructed sightlines and affordable tickets, starting as low as $4.50 in 1972.

The arena closed for renovations on August 4, 2015. Following an 18-month, $180 million renovation, the Coliseum re-opened on April 5, 2017. Guest enhancements included refreshed concourses, a redesigned main entrance, all new seating, improved bowl circulation, and revamped bathrooms and concessions. There are plans to to build housing, offices, biotech research space, "experiential retail," and parking garages around the arena, but nothing has bene verified.

The New York Nets called the Coliseum home from 1972 until 1977. The New York Islanders played their first game on October 7, 1972 and their final game on April 25, 2015. The Coliseum has hosted several WWE Raw and Smackdown Events over a period of over 30 years.

The Coliseum was originally intended as a cog in a grand vision for the Uniondale property, along with a concert hall, museum, library and gallery. Those plans  never came to fruition.

 

Sources:

“About Us.” Nassau Coliseum, https://nassaulivecenter.com/about-us

Brodsky, Robert. “Nassau Coliseum at 50: Memories of the 'Old Barn'.” Newsday, Newsday, 7 Feb. 2022, https://www.newsday.com/entertainment/nassau-coliseum/nassau-coliseum-islanders-concerts-anniversary-1.50500279

 “The Storied History of Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum.” The Disability Guys - Markhoff & Mittman, P.C. - New York Injury Attorneys, 16 Nov. 2018, https://thedisabilityguys.com/storied-history-nassau-veterans-memorial-coliseum 

Bulova Watchcase Factory

 When its last whaling boat, the Myra, departed in 1871, Sag Harbor’s heroic whaling period officially ended. The Bulova Factory was developed in 1850 as a cotton mill. A fire destroyed the cotton mill in 1879. Watchcase manufacturer Joseph Fahys constructed a new factory on the site of the former mill in 1881. The Fahys Watchcase Factory operated until 1931, and then sat vacant for six years.

In 1937, the Village leased part of the second floor to a subsidiary of the Bulova Watch Company. Local citizens formed a committee to raise money for renovations and new machinery for the watchcase industry. Once production increased to around 30,000 watchcases per week, many new jobs became available, and Bulova occupied the entire building. The Bulova plant was the biggest of Sag Harbor's factories. Generations of local men and women worked there. By World War II the Bulova factory had over 500 employees and was producing 30,000 watch cases per week, as well as telescope parts and aircraft instruments as part of the war effort. 

Bulova closed its operation there in 1981. For over 30 years the building sat abandoned and uncared for, left to fall slowly into ruin. In 2006, however, the property was purchased by New York developers Cape Advisors, Inc. with a bold and controversial plan to convert the old factory into luxury apartments and townhouses. The condominiums opened in 2016.

Sources:

Boody, Peter. “Sag Harbor Factory's Toxic Legacy Lingers.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 21 Oct. 2001, https://www.nytimes.com/2001/10/21/nyregion/sag-harbor-factory-s-toxic-legacy-lingers.html

“The Watchcase Factory in the Whaling Village.” Beyer Blinder Belle, https://www.beyerblinderbelle.com/stories/13_the_watchcase_factory_in_the_whaling_village

“Watchcase - The Story of a Rebirth by Michael Heller.” Blurb, https://www.blurb.com/b/6909516-watchcase-the-story-of-a-rebirth

Welwyn Estate & Preserve

 Welwyn was the 240 acre estate built in 1906 for Harold Irving Pratt, an oil industrialist and philanthropist. Pratt and his wife Harriet lived in their lavish home until his death in 1939 and hers in ‘69, upon which occasion the house was willed to Nassau County. The County did not build on this estate or restore it and it was left to rot.

Only the greenhouses on the property served a small purpose: In the 1990s the Nassau County Sheriff’s Department used the large basements beneath the greenhouses as a training center for its staff. A makeshift jail was built, complete with a steel-barred cell.  

In 1993, Boris Chartan, a Holocaust survivor, announced plans to restore the nearly 100 year old mansion and use it to house Long Island’s first Holocaust museum, which remains open to this day inside the estate’s main house.

As a part of the restoration of the mansion, the museum decided to restore the adjacent garden to its original beauty. The garden, designed by the famous Olmsted brothers, were commissioned by Harriet Pratt. Along with the verdant gardens, she designed multiple elaborate greenhouses.

Unfortunately, the cost of restoring and maintaining the once-magnificent glass buildings proved too expensive, so they have been left to the elements. The greenhouses today are the most derelict part of the property. They can be found behind the mansion, carriage houses, and tennis courts down a very narrow cobblestone path.

The entire estate is open for exploration. Follow the cobblestone paths through the woods, to small bridges that lead over streams, all the way down to what was once the Pratts’ private beach. Welwyn Preserve is operated as a public preserve. The preserve includes a butterfly garden, extensive mature woodland, salt marsh and a tidal inlet

 

Source:

 “Welwyn Preserve.” Atlas Obscura, Atlas Obscura, 24 Mar. 2017, https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/welwyn-preserve

 

“Welwyn Preserve.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 11 Jan. 2021, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Welwyn_Preserve

The Farmingdale Post

The Farmingdale Post was a local newspaper made specifically for and about the Village of Farmingdale. It was created by longtime resident, Jesse Merritt (who, at the time, was a clerk for the Nassau County Board of Supervisors) and his wife, Mabel, along with several interested friends.

The first issue was published and put into circulation on November 19, 1920 and they accomplished this from a storefront rented on the east side of Main Street. The storefront was rented from Joseph Appelt, and it was across from the old post office.

In 1922, the paper was incorporated and they purchased property on Front Street. This location was where they erected a small print shop that they called Bethpage Press, but unfortunately this shop burned down in 1927. The shop was completely destroyed and they also lost most of the presses.

A couple of years into its circulation, the New York State Press Association awarded the Farmingdale Post the prize for best editorial page in both style and content amongst the papers of its class.

Mabel Merritt was the paper’s first editor. As editor, she encourage many community projects. One major project that Mrs. Merritt worked on was the editing and publishing of a Community Cookbook, which contained hundreds of recipes from local residents and each recipe was signed by the creator. Mrs. Merritt was a dedicated editor spending the majority of her time in kitchens learning the recipes and any cooking secrets for the paper, as well as gathering local stories for the paper. Her time and dedication was more than successful with more than a thousand cookbooks printed and sold. These books were sold by local clubs, Ladies Aid Societies, and fraternal organizations and on a liberal commission basis.

The Farmingdale Post took pride in their community efforts, especially in aiding in the establishment of the Farmingdale Public Library and choosing the village flower, which is the Forsythia.

In 1934, Griscom Publications purchased the Farmingdale Post. At this time, Mabel Merritt resigned as editor after spending fourteen years in the position, and as the head of the staff. Grey Mason became the paper’s new editor following Mrs. Merritt’s resignation.

The Farmingdale Post had a motto which was “Keep Posted—Read the Post”, and did its best to keep the public informed of local news. The paper was published every Wednesday, until it stopped publication at the end of December 1981.

 

Sources:

Farmingdale, Long Island, New York: A Guide to Its Past, Present, and Future. Prepared by

Stewart Associated for the Farmingdale Chamber of Commerce 

“Welcome Post Readers.” Farmingdale Observer. January 28, 1982

 

 

William Sidney Mount

William Sidney Mount was born on November 26, 1807 in Setauket. He apprenticed as a sign painter to his brother, Henry Mount in New York City. In 1826, when the National Academy of Design opened drawing classes, Mount was one of its first students and was elected an associate member in 1831 

In his early years, Mount primarily painted works with historical and literary themes.  In 1829, the artist began to paint portraits and scenes from everyday life, or genre paintings.  Mount’s scenes of rural life immediately became popular, both in the United States and abroad. His paintings often commented on American social and political issues.  By the middle of the nineteenth century, he was one of the most renowned artists in America, with more commissions than he could fulfill. He sketched extensively in notebooks and painted plein-air oil sketches for several works, devising a studio-wagon in which he travelled over Long Island.

He played the violin and in fact produced his own type own fiddle for which he also acquired the copyright. He named it ‘Cradle of Harmony’. It produced a louder sound than that of an ordinary fiddle.

Mount never married, and died in Setauket on November 18, 1868.

 

Sources:

“William Sidney Mount.” Artist Info, https://www.nga.gov/collection/artist-info.1741.html

“William Sidney Mount.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., https://www.britannica.com/biography/William-Sidney-Mount

“William Sidney Mount - Biography: American Artist.” Victorian Era, http://victorian-era.org/william-sidney-mount-biography.html

“William Sidney Mount: American Genre-Painter / Lim.” Art & Architecture Quarterly, 19 Feb. 2018, https://aaqeastend.com/contents/william-sydney-mount-american-genre-painter

William Henry Webb

 William Henry Webb was born on June 19, 1816. He began shipbuilding in 1836. Webb inherited his father's shipyard, Webb & Allen, in 1840, renamed it William H. Webb, and turned it into America's most prolific shipyard, building 133 vessels between 1840 and 1865. Webb designed some of the fastest and most successful sailing packets and clipper ships ever built, and he also built some of the largest and most celebrated steamboats and steamships of his era, including the giant ironclad USS Dunderberg, in its day the world's longest wooden-hulled ship.

He constructed packets, clippers, side-wheelers, sailing vessels, steamships, wooden ships, and ironclads. He also built war vessels for Russia, Italy, and France. Webb closed his shipyard in 1869 because of the shift from wood to iron construction but maintained his shipping interests until 1872, when he retired because of ill health.

Mr. Webb decided to create a school to train future designers of ships and marine machinery. The State of New York granted a Charter to Webb’s Academy and Home for Shipbuilders on April 2, 1889.  Instruction started in 1894 the first class of eight men graduated in 1897. Tuition for the students, who were carefully selected on the basis of aptitude and lack of means, was free.

The length of the course was increased from three to four years in 1909. In 1933, authority was obtained from the University of the State of New York to award a Bachelor of Science degree. In 1947, Webb Institute moved to its current location in Glen Cove. The present name of Webb Institute was adopted in 1994.

In addition to creating the Webb Institute, he was a founding member of the Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers. Webb died in 1899.

 

Sources:

“William H. Webb.” Webb Institute, https://www.webb.edu/about-webb-institute/william-webb

“William Henry Webb.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., https://www.britannica.com/biography/William-Henry-Webb

“William Henry Webb (1816-1899) - Find a Grave...” Find a Grave, https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/8490643/william-henry-webb