Five Towns Local History

Let's Take Mom out for a Ride!

2008-05-10T15:52:00.002-04:00

This charming picture of an unknown family was taken along East Broadway in Hewlett around 1915.

An Ode to Dashing Dan

2008-04-07T11:24:00.021-04:00

The article reads "Long Island Railroad: Complaints of the public -- fewer trains and higher fares." Taken from today's headlines? Alas, this article appeared in The New York Times on January 27, 1881!

Photograph by Max Hubacher from the H-WPL collection

Last month, the MTA once again increased its fares, leaving commuters wondering where it will all end. For better of for worse, this lament is not unique to Long Island and has been the refrain of commuters since the railroad's earliest days.

The Long Island is the country's oldest continuous operated rail line. Incorporated in 1834, it eventually merged with several of its competitors. The first train ran on April 18, 1836.

In 1868, Conrad Poppenhusen, who made his fortune in rubber manufacturing, opened the Flushing and North Side Railroad. He invested between $3 and $6 million to consolidate several existing lines into the Long Island Railroad, a move which eventually cost him much of his wealth.

A letter to the editor of The Times, entitled "The Wail of the Long Island Railroad Commuter" (January 28, 1881, p. 5) bemoans the increase in fares which will bring an annual expense of $40 for travel from Flushing to Long Island City and then $2.50 per month for the ferry ride to Manhattan! In addition to this outrage, the long lines for punching of tickets before entering the train result in substantial delays. Because of this, the author complains, the 7 1/2 mile trip takes 35 minutes.

More information:

Books (with links to the ALIS catalog):

Web Sites

First Day of Spring 1958

2008-03-17T16:35:00.004-04:00

We couldn't resist one more snow scene from our historical collection.

This photograph, taken by Max Hubacher on Friday, March 21, 1958, shows the Gibson Long Island Railroad station after a record snowfall.

As the blizzard paralyzed the Eastern Seaboard, The New York Times reported that the snow was responsible for loss of power to over 150,000 homes on Long Island. At Idlewild Airport, two planes skidded on the runway, collapsing their nose wheels, but without injury.

According to Bosley Crowther's review, the storm marred the opening of Danny Kaye's new movie , "Merry Andrew" and the Easter Show at Radio City Music Hall.

The #1 novel on the Times best-seller list was Anatomy of a Murder by Robert Traver.
Please Don't Eat the Daisies by Jean Kerr, Art Linkletter's Kid's Say the Darndest Things and Bernard Baruch's My Own Story topped the non-fiction list.
A postage stamp cost 3 cents (in August it would go up to 4 cents!!)
Billboard magazine hadn't yet produced it's first Top 100 list of popular songs, (That, too, would come in August.)

Last, but not least, Elvis Presley had just a few more days of civilian life to enjoy before being inducted into the Army, on March 24, 1958.

It all happened fifty years ago this week!

Hewlett Brothers Coal & Feed, c1910

2008-02-12T18:33:00.003-05:00

According to Weidman and Martin in their book Nassau County Long Island in Early Photographs, 1869-1940 (Dover, 1981):

"Founded in 1902 at Railroad Avenue and Irving Place, Woodmere, by Whitfield and Divine Hewlett, this company originally distributed hay, chicken feed and grain bought from the Pratt Food company in Buffalo, New York. As its South Shore customers increased in number, the Hewlett Brothers expanded their line of products to include anthracite coal from Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. ...The Hewletts also handled Long Island and Maine potatoes, lumber and building products and Atlas Cement, famous for its use in the construction of the Panama Canal."

"Joseph and Herbert Hewlett [were] the owners of a thriving business [by 1915]. ...members of a Long Island family whose ancestry in America dated back to 1649... [t]heir progenitor was one of the judges who signed the death warrant for Charles I. The family name was sometimes spelled "Hulit" or "Owlett," showing the influence of its Yorkshire origin. The "Owlett" spelling also influenced the Hewlett coat-of-arms, composed of two owls on a shield, with a motto appropriate to this enterprising family: "By courage, not by craft." For more than 300 years Hewletts have been outstanding farmers and businessmen. The buildings of their Woodmere distributing company stood until the late 1960s, when they were demolished for a shopping center."

In 1914, Hewlett Brothers lumber yard was the site of an attempted robbery, featured in an article in The New York Times entitled "Brothers, Thieves, in duel with Police."

Anniversary of the Hewlett-Woodmere Public Library

2008-01-09T11:38:00.000-05:00

On January 28, 1973, the Library celebrated its 25th anniversary with a gala Silver Anniversary celebration.

According to F.B. Schwartzberg in South Shore Record (2/8/1973),

"In 1947, the country was trying to forget World War II. In the Five towns, a committee of the Woodmere-Hewlett Exchange Club, chaired by Dr. Joseph Rudnick, set out to build a library as a permanent, vital memorial to the war dead. A board, headed by Charles A. Hewlett, was formed. Edythe Brenner was vice president; the other trustees were William S. Pettit, Dr. Rudnick and Albert B. Schultz. They began to search for a director. Mrs. Brenner via the library system in Albany, wrote to a young librarian named Elizabeth Thomson in Cleveland."

Mrs. Thomson became the Library's first Director and remained until her retirement in 1973.

For the anniversary celebration, the lobby was transformed into a replica of the Library's original location, an 18' X 18' room in a clapboard house.

Retrospective exhibits were presented by artists and collectors whose exhibits enhanced the early library and celebratory programs were part of the events. Sallee Hewlett Kahler loaned her doll collection to the Library for the event, while Rev. Leon V. Kofod reassembled his collection of shoes from around the world!

The afternoon programs in the old Meeting Room featured a slide and tape presentation "To See Ourselves: a retrospective look at the Library" and "A Sentimental Journey", a musical revue of highlights of the Library's history, performed by Hewlett High School students under the direction of Lee Jeske. It featured lyrics by Mrs. Thomson set to original music by Rose Lazarus.

According to the South Shore Record article of January 18, 1973, contests included a "Photo Guessing Contest" identifying people and places in the displays and Puzzle Contests for all age levels. In addition, prizes were given to anyone who could document that they were born on January 28, 1943 as well as to the first 500 borrowers who were still library patrons.

At formal ceremonies in the afternoon, dignitaries assembled with local residents to commemorate the past and celebrate the future of the Hewlett-Woodmere Public Library, which became and has continued to be such an important part of the community.

1973 Library Board & VIPs

Standing (L to R): Stuart Prall (President of the Friends of the Library), Trustees: Alvin Boretz, Fred Bruell & Laurence Rosenthal, Paul Kantrowitz (Treasurer), Peter Kolbrenner (Trustee); Seated: Dr. Michael Santapolo (Superintendent of Schools for Hewlett-Woodmere), Edythe Brenner (Past President and member of the original Library Board), Helen Walling (Library Board President), Elizabeth Thomson (Director).

The Blizzard of '47

2007-12-13T17:11:00.000-05:00

Sixty years ago this month, The New York Times headlines read "CITY IS MASTERING RECORD SNOW; BUSES STILL OUT, RAIL LINES GAIN; SUBURBS HARD HIT; 55 DEAD IN EAST".

A major snowstorm hit New York on Friday, December 26, 1947, crippling the metropolitan area for days and eclipsing the "Blizzard of '88". On March 11, 1888, 16.5 inches of snow fell in a 24-hour period, setting a record, and by the time the storm ended, there were 20.9 inches of snow and drifts of up to fifteen feet.

The 1888 mark was surpassed in the first twelve hours of the 1947 storm, and the final total was 26.4 inches. At times, three to four inches fell in an hour in a surprisingly windless sky. In Westchester County, reports the Times, sled caravans in long, winding columns, became the only way that families could shop for food. The roads and public transportation were not available for several days in the pre-Peapod era.

The record remained intact until February 12, 2006, when Central Park recorded a total of almost 27 inches.

The accompanying photo, taken by Max Hubmacher, shows the Gibson LIRR station, two days after the storm.

Further information (may require login to Proquest databases)

"Blizzard of '47", The New York Times, December 28, 1947, p. 1.

"Record snowfall buries New York City", CNN.com, February 12, 2006.

"New York City buried under record Snowfall...", Wall Street Journal, December 27, 1947, p. 2.

Gibson, NY

2007-11-13T17:59:00.000-05:00

After World War II, the Baby Boom and the explosion of suburban housing developments created the Long Island which we know today. But twenty-five years earlier, William Gibson and his Gibson Corporation began building in Valley Stream to accommodate New Yorkers who wanted to get out of the crowded city.

The concurrent development of the Long Island Railroad and Sunrise Highway made Valley Stream a transportation hub and an easy commute to The City.

According to Howard F. Ruehl in his History of Valley Stream, published for the village's fiftieth anniversary in 1975

"Almost all of the families included at least one commuter. Realizing that his community needed transportation, Mr. Gibson planned a railroad station. After several years of legal negotiations, the Long Island Railroad agreed to have trains stop morning and night at Gibson, if the builder would erect his own station. This was done at a cost of $55,000 and on May 29, 1929, the new building was
officially opened. ..."

"Gibson awarded prizes for the most-beautiful and best-kept gardens and lawns. He started the custom of carol-singing around a Christmas tree at the Gibson Station, provided the Santa Claus, and bought candy for all the children who attended. ...In a whimsical mood, he named some of the new streets after well-known liquors: Haig Road, DuBonnet Road, Carstairs Road, Gordon Road and Wilson Road."

At one period during Gibson's development, 733 houses were sold in 738 days. During the depression years, Mr. Gibson pioneered the cellarless house, the so-called Nantucket model. It sold in 1939 for $3,890. These homes, comparable to an average four-room apartment, won the award of the New York Chapter of The American Institute of Architects for "excellence in design and construction."
The accompanying photos, dated November 2, 1947, are part of a fascinating series of photographs in the Library's local history collection which documents the post-war construction of the Gibson Houses and the growth of a neighborhood.
(Photographs by Max Hubmacher)

For more information:

Newsday's Long Island History: Valley Stream
Valley Stream Historical Society
"South Shore Operation: sites in four towns being improved with dwellings " The New York Times, Feb. 18, 1923
"Building houses without cellars". The New York Times, Sept. 21, 1941.
Ruel, Howard F. Ruehl (comp.). History of Valley Stream, 1840-1975. Valley Stream, NY : Incorporated Village of Valley Stream, 1975.

Hewlett-Woodmere Public Library - First Library Building

2007-10-17T11:16:00.001-04:00

Now in our 60th year, the Hewlett-Woodmere Public Library is based on a strong foundation of community service as well as community support and involvement.

From its humble beginnings in one room of the Woodmere School, the Hewlett-Woodmere Public Library has grown to a be the Nassau County co-central library for Art and Music, with an extensive collection of almost 200,000 books, plus periodicals, compact discs, videorecordings, DVDs, CD-Roms and online databases to fill the needs of our ever-growing and ever-curious public.

Help us celebrate our sixty years of excellence by visiting the Library or our home page at hwpl.org and seeing the new and exciting information resources we have to offer. (photo by Susan Szraz, 1950)

Back to school

2007-09-19T14:03:00.000-04:00

It may have been sixty years ago, but things haven't changed all that much.

This photo was taken on September 17, 1947 at the corner of Amherst and Page Roads, in the Gibson area of Valley Stream.

View a New York Times article about the Gibson Corporation on the Proquest database (login required).

http://proquest.umi.com/pqdweb?did=105848569&sid=2&Fmt=10&clientId=13364&RQT=309&VName=HNP

The Hewlett Bay Company

2007-08-06T10:42:00.000-04:00

A 1908 article in The New York Times (June 14, 1908, p. 12) recounts purchase of a 650 acre tract of land by the Hewlett Bay Company for a residential community between Hewlett and East Rockaway. The land, acquired by attorney Joseph Auerbach, was originally owned by the Hewlett family and was established by land grants to the Hewletts from Queen Anne of Great Britain (1665-1714) .

The owners listed in the Times article include Auerbach, R.W. Stevenson, William Voss, George Seargent Jr., A.W. Connoble, George T. Hewlett and H.C. Everdell. The land was restricted to building one residence every five acres.

Further resources:
See the houses at the Library's website: www.hwpl.org/fthh.html
"Big Long Island Land Deal", The New York Times, 12/23/1899, p. 12.
Hewlett Bay Company (Smithsonian Archives, Manuscripts & Photo Collection)
Homes at Hewlett at the Queensborough Public Library