Woodsburgh at 100

This weekend, the Culluloo monument at the intersection of Wood and Keene Lanes will be the site of  ceremonies marking the 100th anniversary of Woodsburgh's incorporation.

The process of incorporation, which required a population of 400 and the consent of one-third of the property owners and twenty-five freeholders*,  was a trend in turn-of-the-century Nassau County (est. 1899) as residents tried to provide locally determined services and zoning which the new county would or could not.  Lawrence was the first of the Branch communities to do so (1897), followed by Cedarhurst (1910) and Woodsburgh (1912). During the 1920's Hewlett Neck , Hewlett Harbor and Hewlett Bay Park followed suit.  Hewlett, Woodmere and Inwood remained unincorporated hamlets, dependent on the Town of Hempstead and Nassau County for services and legislation. There was a referendum for incorporation of Woodmere in 1918, but it was defeated by eleven votes. (Hempstead Sentinel, January 31, 1918, p. 1)

About 100 early residents of the future Woodsburgh began meeting in 1910 as the Woodmere Improvement Society. Created to organize police and fire protection, maintain the roads, improve street lighting and establish rules for sanitation and public safety.  By November of 1910, representatives from Woodmere and Cedarhurst were joining colleagues in Lawrence to cooperate in efforts to build a sewer system and disposal plant which would serve the three communities.

An election was held on October 29th at the Keene Lane home of attorney Arthur F. Cosby, resulting in a unanimous vote of 28-0 for incorporation.  Among the participants at these events were Edward H. Pershing, physician; financiers Arthur Nelson Peck, Frederic H. Hatch, James L. Timpson and Robert Sloan; railroad capitalist James A. McCrea; and Henry Ziegler, President of Steinway Piano Company.  Other residents would include real estate developer Maximilian Morgenthau, his brother Julius C. Morgenthau; Carleton Macy, President of the Hewlett Bay Company; William Fox, founder of Fox Film Corporation; brothers Harold and Sanford Jacobi, founders of Schenley Distillers; attorney George deForest Lord; real estate developer George L. Stebbins; financiers George W. VanSiclen and Louden S. Wainwright, Sr.

Woodsburgh officially became an incorporated village on November 8, 1912, reviving the original name of the community, which had been changed to Woodmere in 1899.



*The term Freeholder, based in English common law, originally referred to all men who owned or held property free of any debts or encumbrances.

Mayors of Woodsburgh
(Information provided from Woodsburgh Village Clerk)

James A. McCrea (President)     1912-1914
Frederick H. Hatch (President)    1914-1926
Charles A. Marshall (President)   1926-1931
John H. Ballantine                      1931-1937
Newbold L. Herrick                     1937-1943
Sidney O. Crystal                      1943-1952
Arthur D. Marks                         1952-1959
Spencer B. Witty                       1959-1969
Donald S. Ruth                          1969-1975
Stephen S. Mukamal                  1975-1978
Jesse Halperin                           1978-1987
Julius Dintenfass                        1987-1989
Jack L. Libert                             1989-July 1994
Susan L. Schlaff                         1994-present


Further reading:

• "To Incorporate Woodmere", (The New York Times, May 8, 1910, p. XX7.) 
• Woodsburgh marks its Centennial (Five Towns Herald, October 11, 2012)  
• "2012 marks a year of Five Towns Celebrations and Centennials" (Five Towns Patch)
• "Woodsburgh marks a Century" (Newsday, October 15, 2012) 
• Incorporated Village of Woodsburgh - official information 
• Woodmere, the modern, an island beauty spot (Brooklyn Daily Eagle, May 30, 1908, p.1)

Cedarhurst at 100!

One hundred years ago, "The Branch" was a resort and  entertainment center which attracted vacationers from all over the country.  The newly formed Nassau County (est. 1899) provided some services in an area formerly  part of Queens County, but some communities wanted local control of their  civic development.  Lawrence became an incorporated village in 1897 and, maintained it's own police and fire departments for many years.  Cedarhurst followed in 1910 and Woodsburgh incorporated in 1912.

In the early years of the 20th century, Cedarhurst consisted of a hotel, three saloons, a blacksmith shop, two butcher shops, a barbershop, a couple of grocery stores, a funeral parlor, an insurance office -- and not much else.    Cedarhurst's first major public works project was the paving of Central Avenue.

Developers created neighborhoods of wide, tree-lined streets where they situated homes in naturalistic settings, far from the noise and pollution of New York City.

The Long Island Rail Road, which had already existed for almost 80 years,  made comfortable commutation to the City possible in under an hour.

 

Early Village Officers (Courtesy Nassau County DPRM)

Cedarhurst's first mayor, Horatio P. Vandewater, died after only one year in office. He was replaced by David Weyant.  Village Trustees and officers shown above are: (From left to right) front row: Arthur M. Lockhart, Wavid H. Weyant and John McNicoll. second row: William D. Reilly, George W. Craft, Albert T. Moon, Lewis M. Raisig and Fred L. Gilbert.

As it developed, Cedarhurst attracted some of the most fashionable stores in the area and became the  commercial center of the Five Towns.  Even this 1915 view of Central Avenue at Cedarhurst Avenue shows the boutiques lining the main business intersection of town.  By 1941, 200 stores were located in the business district's one-square-mile  area.

Anniversary of the Hewlett-Woodmere Public Library

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, 1948 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).