VANDENBURG'S
CHESTER'S
MEDECI'S
&
SAL'S

 

The Original Post Office Of Mastic Beach

 

CHESTER'S GENERAL STORE
& POST OFFICE

circa 1941

Click Photo To Enlarge

Does anyone out there know who the dapper guy with the '41 Plymouth is?

 

Located on the south west corner of Aspen & Whittier in "Section One" this little building was put up in the late 1920's by the Vandenburg family who I believe came from upstate NY. When Mastic Beach got mail service in the early 1930's, Alida Vandenburg became it's first postmaster. In the 1930's Aspen was more of a main east west corridor than Neighborhood / Birch Road was, because the Knapp estate blocked passage on Neighborhood at Locust and Alder Drives.

In the early '40's James Chester took over the general store. The Chesters, a large Italian family, were a bunch of auto mechanics. Bob DeCordova also had a auto repair garage directly across the street and he showed movies there on Saturday nights. Alida Vandenburg stayed on as postmaster and I believe she was succeeded by Mrs. Jendral . The Jendral family were long time postmasters in Mastic Beach.

When I moved to Mastic Beach in 1950, this place was called Medeci's By then the Post Office was located on Mastic Road and I can still recall our P O Box # 605. We didn't get home delivery till 1959. About that time Sal Badlamenti took over this store. Sal's was well known by the teenagers as a place you could by beer with no hassles. $1.06 for a six pack. A bunch of us would chip in and go down to Beach One have half a can a piece and act silly!

 

Last I heard it was DiMaggio's dress factory in the '70's, then someone torched it. The property is vacant today.

 

Vandenburg's .....A decade earlier

Circa 1930

 

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