125 Years Ago - 1897
From The East Hampton Star, May 14
Robert F. Congdon, late of the Hart Cycle Co., Philadelphia, has been engaged by E.B. Muchmore for the summer to do bicycle repairing, and take entire charge of his repair shop. Mr. Congdon is a practical mechanic and has had a long experience in the repair of wheels.
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Two intoxicated individuals from Sag Harbor were seen driving a poor, famished horse out of this village on Sunday evening. The couple sat like two putty men in an old buckboard trying hard to keep from falling overboard, while the horse dragged itself painfully along. When half-way to Sag Harbor the animal dropped dead, and the two fairies, not perceiving that their establishment had ceased to move, clung to the seat until a traveler came along and aroused them. They bought the horse for $1.25, and with two dollars’ worth of firewater on board, had driven it all day.
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Several of the East Hampton cottagers have already arrived for the summer, the season opening, this year, a little earlier than usual. F. Gallatin and family arrived on the yacht “Almy” on Monday, Mrs. Robert Bowne and family came on Tuesday, Dr. Herrick and family on Wednesday, and Dr. Paxton on Thursday. Dr. Allen, of New York, arrived at the Peck cottage last week.
100 Years Ago - 1922
From The East Hampton Star, May 12
The Poultry Committee of the Suffolk County Farm Bureau Association is calling upon poultrymen everywhere in Nassau and Suffolk Counties to co-operate in making a tour of the poultry men possible this year. A meeting has been called at the Farm Bureau Office, Riverhead, on Tuesday, May 16, at 1:30 p.m.
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Supervisor Davis has arranged for a mounted patrol of the woodland territory in East Hampton town. S.C.M. Talmage has been engaged and is now making a patrol of the woods roads, especially in the district where the woodland is valuable.
The careless man with fire, whether he be motorist or landowner, will find himself in trouble if he starts a fire in a section where it may get beyond his control.
There are already conservation laws making it a penal offense to set fire to forests.
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Several officers of the U.S. Army have been down at Montauk this week surveying for the camp site on the east side of Fort Pond. The officers have been staying at the Huntting, going back and forth to Montauk in their own motorcars. The officers were Capt. W.G. Sandelin, Lt. Col. A.J. Green, Major L.W. Webb, jr., Major Selleck and B.H. Van Winkler, jr.
Some of the officers landed at Montauk in a navy craft which put in at one of the docks.
75 Years Ago - 1947
From The East Hampton Star, May 15
The Methodist Church celebrated Mother’s Day last Sunday with a varied program. A special program conducted by the members of the Norman’s Society of Christian Service with Mrs. C.C. Rowe presiding, singing by the chorus with Mrs. H.H. Phail as soloist and the presentation of interesting sketches of the lives of the National Mothers for 1946-1947 by Mrs. Melvin Curlew and Mrs. Melvin Moore was one event.
In the afternoon a Baptismal Service for two was held.
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Miss Sarah Diodati Gardiner of New York and White House, East Hampton, Long Island, owner of Gardiner’s Island, which has been in possession of her family since 1638, has written a book, “Early Memories of Gardiner’s Island,” which has just been published, in a very limited addition. The East Hampton Free Library is handling the sale of the book. The book includes Miss Gardiner’s own girlhood memories of the beautiful and romantic island; old family stories of the island heard at her mother’s knee; childhood memories of New York when she visited her grandparents in the then fashionable Lafayette Place; and of five years’ travel and study abroad.
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The Hamptons Choral Society will present its next concert on Friday evening, June 13, in the John Drew Theater at Guild Hall. Rehearsals have been going on every Tuesday evening for nearly four months. There are 54 members of the chorus this spring. John Craft, the conductor, will sing solos in the concert, and there will be a notable guest artist, to be announced next week.
50 Years Ago - 1972
From The East Hampton Star, May 11
East Hampton and its environs, with a certain emphasis on Springs, are described in an article in the June issue of Esquire, scheduled to go on the stands May 16. The piece, entitled “Hitting the Boiling Point, Freakwise, at East Hampton,” is by Robert Alan Aurthur of Fireplace Road, Springs.
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After a public hearing last Friday, the East Hampton Town Board voted to approve revised proposals involving waterfront zoning as amendments to the Town zoning ordinance. The proposals have been changed following a public hearing on March 3, when they had met with unanimous disapproval from members of the public. Disapproval at Friday’s hearing, while still unanimous, was qualified by occasional endorsements of specific aspects of the proposed legislation.
The amendments, which were to take effect immediately, provide for the elimination of commercial-industrial districts, and of the B-marina district, from the waterfront. They are to be replaced by “waterfront marina” and “waterfront business” districts.
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Dr. Ida B. Scudder, a medical missionary whose aunt, also Dr. Ida Scudder, founded the famed Vellore, India, Medical College and Hospital in 1906, will speak in the Amagansett Presbyterian Church Sunday at 3 p.m. Dr. Scudder retired recently as superintendent of the Vellore operation.
A film, “Tomorrow Will Depend,” on India’s villages and Vellore medical teams, will be shown. The meeting, open to the public with discussions led by Dr. Scudder, will be followed by a coffee and tea hour.
25 Years Ago - 1997
From The East Hampton Star, May 15
A pedestrian-friendly village with lushly landscaped roadsides, small-scale businesses, quiet back streets, and a quaint, historic charm. Sounds a bit like Amagansett, doesn’t it?
According to the long-awaited Amagansett Corridor Study, which was unveiled last week before the East Hampton Town Planning Board, those qualities are at serious risk without significant changes in zoning and strict new rules to guide commercial development.
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From Bridgehampton to Montauk, taxpayers will vote on school district budgets on Tuesday. Residents of three districts — Bridgehampton, Springs, and tiny Sagaponack — will see a slight decrease in their tax rates if they approve their proposed budgets. In the other districts, tax rate increases, ranging from 2.97 percent in Montauk to 9 percent in Sag Harbor, are anticipated if the budgets pass.
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Whether you’re talking about residential or commercial real estate, a limited supply and a demand for prime location are making East Hampton Village properties, well, in demand.
The dearth of undeveloped residential land puts a premium on the few vacant lots that do exist and creates a burgeoning market for potential “teardown” properties. As for commercial activity, the desire to have a presence in the small but ever-more glitzy business district along Main Street and Newtown Lane continues to bring in high-visibility tenants and even higher rents.
