MASTIC BEACH IN THE 1930's
Here are some photos I brought back
from the January trip. They came from many sources including Queensboro
Public Library's Long Island Room, Brooklyn Historical Society,
NY Historical Society, Suffolk County Historical Society, Websight
Readers like you and my own camera. Any info you may have on these
or any other photos you might have in your attic or in your grandmothers
closet are always welcome.
EMAIL
"The Old Entrance To Mastic
Beach At The Fork 1938"
An earlier shot than the other one
I have posted. Look how straight Mastic Beach Road is! That was
the work of either the Hulse's or The Penney's. Notice there is
a tower on the right side of the road. This one either was knocked
down by a motorist or taken out by the hurricane of '38. It too
is now pointing to "New Town" aka 5 Corners. If you
went straiht you went to Old Town in Section 1. The Kiernan family
would be building their cottage on the left just behind that fine
looking vehicle. Their little blue cottage is still there today....I
wonder about the car? The arrow signs say "INFORMATION /SAMPLE
BUNGALOW & BROOKLYN CITIZEN (the newspaper sponsor Home Guardian
used)
New and Improved Photo Courtesy
Of Greta L. Tucker
The Fork Circa 1940 Mastic Beach
& Mastic Roads
THE MASTIC BEACH HOTEL
That is Friede Schulte, standing
in front of her fathers establishment. This was the very first
business in Mastic Beach, erected by Paul Schulte in 1925. It
was located on Orchid & Birch behind the MBPOA Clubhouse.
Paul ran it until 1932 when he sold it. According to Greta Tucker
(Friede "Mamma Schulte" Spiess' daughter) it burned
down in the fall of 1937. She also said her grandfather "bootleged
out of it" Those were the days!!
Photo courtesy Greta L. Tucker
For the rest of the pics just click
on them to enlarge
A: 1915 Looks like it might be Sheepspen
Point area (Section 5) / 1933 I think this is the same area looking
eastward / Close up of Bungalow or Fishing Station? there were
many of them in the 1930's squatting on the shoreline. The '38
Hurricane and The MBPOA took many of them out.
B: January 2, 1933 unidentified
man standing on what looks like could be the start of Beach 5
/ Mystery Man Who was he? Warren or Arthur Smadbeck from Home
Guardian or Julius Newman or Ira Schlossberg of the MBPOA or the
photographer Joe Burt in a self portrait? One person he probably
isn't is the elusive Dodi Knapp...who would most likely be in
sunny Florida in January. / Same area looking westward you can
see that new bulkhead jutting out.
C: The Richard Floyd Estate 1937....Richard
was long gone by the time this pic was taken. He backed the British
in the Revolution and took off for Canada when the war was over.
For many years this place was in limbo till The Robert Family
took title. At the time of these photos it was known as the Lawson
Estate. Screenwriter / Playwright John Howard Lawson was one of
the "Hollywood Ten" swept up in the House Un American
Activities Hearings in 1948. After that Doc Frank Calabro bought
it around 1946 ......at first he used it for a summer home
for the ever growing Calabro, DiPierro, Messenetti, Calabria,
Siriani Family. Then he turned it into Bayview Hospital. In November
1958 it would host a major field trip from William Floyd when
the entire school came down with food poisoning from a ( bad turkey
) Thanksgiving Dinner. Around 1960 a modern addition was added
to the back and young Doctor Frank tried valiantly to keep it
going.... then it too suffered the fate of way too many historic
landmarks (Knapp, Dana, etc) in Mastic Beach...Someone Burned
It Down
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D: A rare shot of General "Nat"
Woodhull's house still looking good. Would you believe this one
got torn down because it became an eyesore ???? / Meantime a few
hundred yards away they make a postcard from his grave yard. Old
"Nat" never seemed to get any respect even from the
idiot officer of the British Army who struck him as a prisoner
with his sword when Nat said God Save Us All instead of God Save
The King! Is calling him "Nat" instead of Nathanial
disrespectful? I Think Not...It's something I picked up from Mr.
Turpin one of my teachers at Floyd...He used to always refer to
Shakespeare as "Will"
To me what was disrespectful was
letting his house become an eyesore
NEXT STOP OLD MASTIC
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