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PatchogueQueen City of Long Islands South Shore
In the Twentieth CenturyHans Henke
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ContentsPage 7 ................................................................. The Patchogue Business District
Page 8 ..........................................................................................West Main Street
Page 37 .........................................................................................East Main StreetPage 59 ...........................................................................................East Patchogue
Page 65 ................................................ The Elks Lodge and The Patchogue Hotel
Page 73 ..................................................................................South Ocean Avenue
Page 87 .......................................................................................... Estate Auctions
Page 89 ..................................................................................... Early Automobiles
Page 97 ..................................................... The Four Corners Group Picture, 1944
Page 101 .............................................................. The Patchogue Railroad Station
Page 111 ............................................................................................. Baileys Mill
Page 113...................................................The Lace Mill and Swezeys New Store
Page 131 .......................................................... The Patchogue Police DepartmentPage 139 .............................................................. The Patchogue Fire Department
Page 145 ...................................................................... The Patchogue Post Office
Page 149 ................................................................. The N.Y. Telephone Company
Page 153 ..................................................The Patchogue Electric Light Company
Page 159 ............................................................................. Aviation in Patchogue
Page 163 ........................................................................... The Patchogue Theater
Page 183 .......................... Parades, Entertainment and Sports in the 20th Century
Page 196 .................................................................. Dodge City Amusement Park
Page 198 ............................................The Smithport Beach and Patchogues Pool
Page 202 .......................................................... The Ocean Beaches on Fire Island
Page 213 ........................................................... The Patchogue River and the Bay
Page 224 ...................................................................................1957 Business Ads
Page 231 ....................................................The Patchogue Village Administration
Page 241 ......................................................................Patchogues Parking Fields
Page 251 .............................................................................. The Sunrise Highway
Page 257 ..............................................................................Patchogues Churches
Page 267 ..............................................................................Patchogues Hospitals
Page 273 ................................................................................ Patchogues Schools
Page 285 ................................................................ Hurricanes, Storms and FloodsPage 291 ......................................................................... Patchogues Newspapers
Page 297 .................................................. The Four Corners Group Picture, 1993
Page 301 ........................................ Well Known Places of Business in Patchogue
Page 319 ..................................... Patchogue at the Beginning of the 21st Century
Page 323 ...................................... Events in Patchogue at the Turn of the Century
Page 329 ........................................................................ Entering the 21st Century
Page 337 .....................................................Patchogue Events in the 20th Century
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This picture book is a continuation
of my previously published book,
Patchogue-The Early Years.
It shows the development of our
community in the 20th Century
using available pictures, covering
the years between 1900 and 2006.
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Acknowledgments
My appreciation and thanks to the following people who were kind
enough to loan me their photographs :
Donna Bodkin, Mary Blanding, Peter Barry, the Long Island
Advance, Lillian Priest, Don Zimmer, Postmaster John Sweeney, Lou
Meyers, Fred Printzlau, Adolph Morge, Professor Emil Polok, Gene
Horton, Gateway Playhouse, Camera Concepts, The Davis Park Ferry
Company and Clare Rose Distributors.
Special thanks to Jim Mooney, Eagle Eye Aerial Photography, who
made his beautiful aerial pictures of Patchogue available for this book.
Cover Design by Tom Reid
Printed by AGC Printing and Design, Blue Point, New York
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The PatchogueBusiness Section
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West Main StreetThe first settlers arrived in Patchogue around
1750. The center of Patchogue in the year1800 was
located on the Kings Highway, which is todays
Montauk Highway, extending from River Avenue tothe Patchogue Lake. This center expanded towards
the east in the coming years, and by 1850 the
Patchogue business section extended several hun-
dred feet past the intersection of Ocean Avenue.
Many small buildings lined both sides of West Main
Street, housing a variety of merchants and crafts-
man. Eventually larger buildings sprung up in this
section. The first one was the Havens store,
ca.1850, todays Brick House Brewery.
The large three-story building on the south
side of the street, which until 2005 housed the
Colony Shop, was built in the 1870s. The three-
story building on the corner of Ocean Avenue,
which later became the home of the Swezey and
Newins store, was built in 1869, and the large
Wedgewood Building on the north side of the street
This is West Main Street in the year 1918. The first building on the left is the
Star Palace, followed by the Central Hotel, the Roe Block and the Patchogue
Bank building. The Roe Block is the building with the corner tower, which was
removed in later years. The first building on the right, which is only partially
visible, is Bartletts Hotel and Saloon, followed by the Pape building, the
Syndicate building and the large red Masonic Temple.
was built in 1898. These were the pioneer buildings
of the modern Patchogue business section on West
Main Street, which were followed by other stores,
theaters, banks and movie houses. No great changeswere made to West Main Street until the 1960s and
1970s, when many buildings east of West Avenue
were razed to make room for the construction of the
Sixth District Court Building on the south side and
the Breslin Building on the north side of the street.
West Avenue had the distinction of becoming
only the second street to cross Main Street in 1967
besides Ocean Avenue. The reason for this lack of
intersections was, that Patchogue prior to 1880developed mainly south of Main Street. Only after
1880 did the northern part of Patchogue attract home
builders. There also was a lack of planned develop-
ment and layout of the streets prior to 1900, resulting
in the fact, that there is no other continuous east
west road parallel to Main Street.
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West Main Street in the
1930s. Diagonal parking
was a necessity because
of a lack of parking
fields, a problem thatwas not corrected until
the 1950s and 1960s.
Patchogues Four Corners
about 1920. Traffic is now
controlled from a booth in
the middle of the intersec-
tion. This idea was later
abandoned, especially afterthe booth took a ride on the
front bumper of a car for a
short distance. The building
behind the booth is the Star
Palace Theater.
A curious picture of
Ginocchios candy store on
the southwest corner of
Main Street and Ocean
Avenue. This 1905 picture
shows what looks like a
temporary structure at-
tached to the front of the
building, possibly built to
make the candy store look
like a candy castle?
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During the first two decades of thiscentury, Al Seitz had his barber shop
on Main Street next to Swezeys. As
the displays in the widows indicate, he
also sold Victor Talking Machines, or
gramophones as they were called later.
This picture was taken in 1907.
The Anello Shoe Shoppe, 84 West
Main Street, stood on the south eastcorner of Main Street and Railroad
Avenue in the 1920s.
The Citizens Trust Company Bank
building on West Main Street. This
new bank opened its doors June 20,
1925. In 1933 the Citizens Trust
Company, established in 1903,merged with the Patchogue Bank and
Trust Company, established in 1884.
The name of the newly formed bank
became the Patchogue Citizens Bank
and Trust Company, later simplified
to The Patchogue Bank. October 31,
1963 the Patchogue Bank became the
Island State Bank.
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The Citizens Trust Company bank
building, when completed in 1925,
was one of the most beautiful
banks on Long Island.
The interior of the Patchogue Bank,1935.
The Masonic Temple on
West Main Street became a
total loss due to a fire No-
vember 7, 1974. The site of
this building was purchased
by the Island State Bank.
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Patchogue had an attended municipal
rest room in the 40s and 50s, located
in the Masonic Temple building.
After a fire destroyed the Masonic Lodge November 7, 1974, the Island State Bank
purchased the property and built this Drive-in Bank Teller facility.
West Main Street 1915. A
trolley approaching the Four
Corners. Patchogue could boast
of a street car service from July
1, 1911 to October 10, 1919.
Three battery powered cars,
each having a capacity of 25
passengers, provided service
from the dock at the foot of
South Ocean Avenue to Blue
Point and Sayville. In the first
year, the line carried up to 1,000
passengers a day, but by 1919
competition from bus lines
made the line unprofitable.
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The Sunray Furnishing Com-
pany occupied this large brick
building in the 1940s on the
north side of West Main Street,
a few hundred feet west of the
West Lake and next to John
Belzacs Bar and Grille.
On the opposite side of the street
of the above picture a Used Furni-
ture Store operated out of this long
building, which later became
Flaxmans Furniture Store.
In the 1940s Joe and Franks
Market sold fruit and vegetables
from this small roadside building
on West Main Street, where now
the Car Wash is located. For many
years prior, John Sosinski Sr. sold
candy, groceries and tobacco
products from this little store.
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The corner of Waverly Avenue and Main Street in 1940. The large
house on the right had recently burned and Felices Gas Station would
be built here in the future. Across the street is the Mount Carmel
Church with the rectory barely visibly to the right of the church.
Felices gas station on the northeast corner of Main Street and Waverly Avenue in 1950.
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The Swezey and Newins Department Store in
the 1930s. The tower had been changed from
the original look by enclosing the sides and
the windows with siding material, a fact that
complicated the fighting of the fire in the
tower in 1946.Firemen fighting the fire, January 9, 1946.
The water cannot reach the fire inside the
tower effectively.
The Swezey and Newins
building after the fire.
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The Star Palace Theater was built in 1913 on the south side of West Main Street,200 feet west of the Four Corners. Many famous personalities performed on the
stage of the Palace. A 1920 newspaper article announced that on May 27 and
May 28, Charlie Chaplin, the newlyweds Mary Pickford and Douglas Fairbanks,
Alice Brady and other famous performers would parade on the stage of the
Palace in the costumes of the characters they made famous.
A souvenir program of one of the Star Palace
events in 1918.
The Conklin Building in the year 2001. This is
the renovated Star Palace, which bears no resem-
blance to the original building on the Main Street
side, but if you look from the parking lot in the
rear of the building, the unchanged structure of
the theater is clearly visible.
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The Granada Theater was located on the south side of West Main Street, half waybetween Railroad Avenue and West Avenue. This popular movie house was built
in 1928 for the owner, Samuel Savener. The theater opened November 22, 1928.
Although it was a popular theater, it closed in 1947, most likely due to the com-
petition of the other two Patchogue theaters. In the 1960s the Two Guys
variety store operated from this building for several years. The building was
eventually torn down and today the 6th District Court is located on this site.
The interior of the Granada Theater was done in a Spanish dcor with flowers
and vines decorating the walls and the balcony.
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Lou & Macks restaurant was owned by the Dorr brothers,
William and Hermann. The restaurant was to the east of
Guttes on West Main Street in this 1942 picture. Guttes at
this time was a grocery store, established in 1931. Nicks Shoe
Repair was the next building to the east, followed by the
Liberty Restaurant and Swezeys. The reason for the concerned
look on the soldiers face is because of Duke, the Patchogue
mascot, who is just visible behind the car.
An interior picture of Lou & Macks restaurant and its patrons.
Willie Dorr is standing behind the table and the gentleman wear-
ing a white shirt is Gus Moos, a well known local expert zither
player. The five zithers on the table indicate that this must be the
local zither club.
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The menu of Lou and Macks
restaurant, 1946.
Hermann Dorr behind the bar of Lou
& Macks Restaurant.
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Changes
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Patchogue always tried to be a progressive
town, but here, the meaning of a drive-in
restaurant seemed to have been misunder-
stood. It is safe to assume that the driver of
the automobile had to go hungry for a while
longer. The scene is at the Hofbrau HouseRestaurant on the southwest corner of Main
Street and Railroad Avenue, about 1947.
In the 1960s the Hofbrau House
had become the Home Town
Tavern and Restaurant.
The large Nathaniel O. Swezey mansion occupied this corner
from the 1890s to the 1920s. In 1923 the offices of theBrookhaven Town Supervisor, the Town Clerk and the Town
Assessor were located in this building until the new Town
Hall was completed on South Ocean Avenue. The Dodge
Motor Co. was the next occupant on this spot in 1926.
Some locations in Patchogue saw many changes over the
years; the southwest corner of Main Street and Railroad
Avenue was one of them.
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Taken from in front of the Lace Mill, this 1962 picture shows the sec-
tion of Main Street soon to be crossed by West Avenue. The white
building on the left is Maurice Siegels electrical supply store, which
had to be demolished when West Avenue was extended north, and
thereby became only the second road in Patchogue to cross Main Street.
A 1949 West Main Street photo, looking towards the center of Patchogue. The building on the left,
with the large sign, is the Siegel Brothers electrical supply store. The fence on the left side of the
picture borders the Lace Mill property and the trolley tracks are still visible in the street.
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A picture of West Main Street, takenin the 1960s from the corner of
Havens Avenue. This section of
Main Street experienced the greatest
changes in the following two de-
cades. Only the two dark buildings
in the center are still standing today.
West Main Street as seen from thecorner of West Avenue in 1970. Soon
all the buildings, starting from the
right up to the white building with
the small gable, the former Granada
Theater, would fall victim to the
wrecking ball. In this cleared space
the new 6th District Court building
would rise. The building on the right
side of the picture housed Kurts
Coffee Shop and Ben Schiffers Used
Book Store.
Kurts West End Coffee Shop on the corner of
West Avenue and Main Street.
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In 1995 the former Shand store
became the Brick House Brewery
and Restaurant. The wooden front
extension of the store was removed
and replaced with a brick extension,
housing the brewery equipment,
which blends in nicely with the
brick of the main building. Great
care has been taken to preserve as
many of the original features of the
building as possible.
The Shand store in 1980. Built in
the 1850s, this is one of the oldest
commercial buildings in
Patchogue. The original owner of
the store was John S. Havens.
Shands general merchandise
storestore, on the northeast corner of
Havens Avenue and Main Street. The
store, which was owned by the Shand
family since 1914, was sold in 1990.
This picture was taken in 1989.
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The Wedgewood Building on West
Main Street in 1968 . On September
10, 1967, a fire destroyed the upper
floor, and metal construction was used
to replace the original masonry facade.
West Main Street in 1950. Next
to the Swezey and Newins store
stands the former Bartletts
Saloon and Restaurant, soon to
be torn down and the space
incorporated to the Swezey store.
The large Syndicate building, or
Wedgewood Building as it is now
called, still has the original upper
floor. The last large brick build-ing is the Masonic Temple, which
was destroyed later by a fire.
West Main Street in the year
1914. The large building on the
right is the Syndicate Building,
which is now called theWedgewood Building. The small
white structure between the two
large buildings is the White
House Hotel, which was re-
moved in the early 1920s and in
1925 this spot became the site of
the future Patchogue Bank.
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Scenes on West Main Street in 1962.
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East Main Street
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After 1850, the Patchogue business section
started to expand to the east past Ocean Avenue.
Roes Eagle Hotel, built in 1851 on the north
side of East Main Street, was one of the first
buildings. During the following fifty years the
business section expanded up to Maple Avenue,
while east of Maple Avenue large mansions
lined both sides of the street. One of the first
large homes here was the J.S. Havens home near
East Main Street, c. 1915, was surfaced with brick. The trolley
tracks were only running up to Bay Avenue. The large building on
the right is the Roe Hotel and the tower visible above the tree is
part of the Fischel building, in which the Swezey and Newins storeoccupied the ground floor. The large building on the left is the
Hammond and Mills building.
East Main Street in the late 1910s. The Roe Hotel is on the left. This
scene has changed much, only the building with the gable on the
right side of the picture survives basically unchanged to this day.
Years ago Michaels Camera Store was located in this building.
Medford Avenue, built around 1850. Many
prosperous Patchogue merchants built their
homes on East Main Street between 1880 and
1911. A further expansion of the business
section started in the late 1920s and continued
for the rest of the century. Gradually most of the
large homes were torn down to be replaced by
commercial buildings, leaving only two at the
present time.
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East Main Street opposite
Rider Avenue in 1908. The
three homes belonged to
Charles E. Rose, on the
left, C.T. Lowndes in the
center and Walter S. Rose
on the right. The C.T.
Lowndes home became inlater years Nan Gurneys
Inn and then the Clayton
Nursing Home.
Xellers Restaurant was located on the northwest corner of East Main Street and
Rose Avenue. William Xeller also was the manager of the Elks Club in 1926. By
1939 the restaurant moved to a new location opposite Medford Avenue.
This is the former Xeller Res-
taurant building on East Main
Street which, in 1939, became
Hymans Service Station.
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Xellers Restaurant moved to this
larger building when the business
outgrew its old location. This build-
ing stood on the south side of Main
Street, opposite Medford Avenue.
The cozy little dining room in
the second Xellers Restaurant.
Browns Boarding House on the east
side of East Main Street, opposite
the Patchogue Theater.
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A large fire destroyed most of the
Roe Hotel on West Main Street
March 7, 1934. The fire loss was
$100.000. Forty guests and a dozen
employees managed to escape
unharmed.
The old Mills building on the corner of
Main Street and Ocean Avenue sports a
new brick faade in this 1947 picture.
The Glenda Lyn store, specializing in
ladys apparel, was located in the Main
Street section of the Mills building, bor-
dered by the Woolworth on the left and the
Russel store on the right. The Woolworth
store had an entrance on Main Street and
also one entrance on South Ocean Avenue,
a feature that still existed when Max
Kavners Mens Store occupied this store.
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In the 1930s this
Shell gas station
stood on East Main
Street, just west of
the Post Office. In
the background the
Patchogue Diner
and the Roe man-
sion are visible.
This 1950s view of the south
side of East Main Street, almost
opposite Maple Avenue, shows
the Rex bar and grille and part of
the Jack and Jerry store.
Thanks to the efforts of Adolph
Morge, a Patchogue Village patrol-
man and amateur photographer, wehave all these Patchogue scenes from
the 1940s and 50s preserved. This
view of the south side of East Main
Street shows from left to right:
Kallers jewelry store, Nicks barber
shop, Mike Weiners shoe store and
Sacks Stationary.
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Main Street in the late1940s.
On the extreme right a small
part of the Peoples National
Bank is visible. The diagonal
parking would soon be elimi-
nated, after off street parking
fields had been constructed.
A beautiful 1958 picture of Main Street. Starting on the right we can see The Peoples National
Bank, Optometrist Kurt Roeloffs store, the Patchogue Stationary Store and the Bee Hive. The
white building above these stores is the remnant of the Roe Hotel that survived the 1934 fire.
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The Pergament Paint store and the
Patchogue Stationary store became a
total fire loss on April 23, 1959. This
was the former location of the Bee
Hive department store. This JimMooney aerial photo shows clearly the
extend of the damage. The intersection
on the left side of the picture is
Patchogues Four Corners. The
burned building is the section of the
Roe Hotel that survived the 1934 fire.
Today this is the site of Blums ladys
apparel store.
A February 26, 1967 fire destroyed the
Sylvia Dee store and the Judsons Mens
Store on East Main Street.
A fire at Dales Fabric Shoppe on
East Main Street, February 2,
1968 also damaged the adjacent
Patchogue Stationary Store. Asecond fire on February 13 made
a total loss out of the damaged
stationary store.
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Stanleys Furniture Store at 44 East Main
Street was the scene of a major fire No-
vember 7 ,1974. At the same time, the
Masonic Temple on West Main Street was
also destroyed by fire.
The fire in the large Mills building
complex, February 10, 1956, totally
destroyed all the buildings on the south-
east corner of Main Street and Ocean
Avenue.
A large group of spectators
on the Four Corners
watching the Patchogue
Fire Department fighting
the fire in the Mills Build-
ing, February 10, 1956.
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The Main Street section of the Mills
Building after the fire. The building on
the left survived the fire thanks to thegreat effort of the firemen and it is still
standing today. This $1,000,000 fire
destroyed the Woods Jewelry Store,
the Glenda Lyn shop, the Miles Shoe
Store, Cantors Dress Goods, Muriel
Modes, Falkoff Shoe Store, Blums
and the Stuart Drug Store.
The corner section after the fire. ThePatchogue radio station WPAC was
located on the upper floor, as the letters
W and A in the windows indicate.
The Newmark and Lewis Appliance
Store on Medford Avenue was totally
destroyed by a fire July 26, 1991.
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The old stately Roe home on East Main Street was
razed in February 1956. It was built in 1911 for
Gelston G. Roe, owner of Roes Hotel. The site of
this home would become the site of the new Bee
Hive store in the near future.
The new 60 000 square feet Bee
Hive Store opened August 15,
1957 on the south side of East
Main Street. The management
added 100 employees to the
former staff of 50. This store hadthe first escalator in Patchogue.
Interior view of the Bee Hive Department Store.
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In the foreground of this 1957 picture
the foundation for the coming new
Peoples National Bank building is
visible. The large home is the residence
of John J. Roe Sr. The building in the
background is the Patchogue Hotel.
The Glass House and the Doll House
stores on 8890 East Main Street were
heavy damaged by fire June 11, 1977.
The building was remodeled in 1978 to
become a mini-mall with a walk-through
to the Terry Street parking lot.
The Village Mall.
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Angelos Restaurant on East Main Street
opened as a small restaurant in the late1960s and the owner gradually expanded
the restaurant in the following years by
buying adjoining stores.
Angelos was enlarged and modern-
ized by the owner and renamed
Mediterranean Manor. This is a
2005 picture.
The Cadillac and
Oldsmobile dealer-
ship of Barrie Broth-
ers on East Main
Street in 1958. The
dealer ship was
established in 1926.
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Another view of the Elks Lodge dining room.
The property of the Elks Lodge was
sold to the New Jersey based Com-
merce Bancorp, when the overhead
on the property became too high.
Attempts to save the building by
moving it to another location failedbecause of the prohibitive cost
involved. The demolition of the
building began February 13, 2002.
The Commerce Bancorp building
under construction.
The completed
Commerce
Bank, 2002.
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Street sceneson East
Main Street, 1962.
The Grand Union store opposite Rider Avenue.
W.T. Grant store.
The north side of East Main Street.
Mc Brides Pharmacy.
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Main Street in the winter of 1978.
Patchogue had a snowfall of 18 inches
January 19, 1978 and the blizzard of
1978 added another 25 inches over aperiod of 36 hours on February 5 6.
East Main Street opposite
the Congregational Church,
winter 1964.
The winter of 1995 96 gave
the merchants a big workout
clearing the sidewalks.
A few winters were
worse than others.
Blizzard 1964.
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East Patchogue
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The quaint little Ye Olde
Homestead Tea Shoppe
stood just east of the Swan
River Nursery on South
Country Road in the
1930s and 1940s.
When Montauk Highway was cut through
the Avery property, Humphrey R. Avery took
this opportunity and built this attractive
display building and office on the north side
of the highway and a large fountain on the
south side to make his business appealing to
potential costumers. Today a shopping mall
is located on this spot.
The Swan River Nursery was a large and
well known nursery on Montauk Highway
in East Patchogue. This nursery was startedin 1893 by Charles W. Avery on the prop-
erty of the Avery family, which owned this
land since1754. From this park-like nursery,
products were shipped to all parts of the
island and New York City.
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The old Elks Club Building had to be re-
moved from its location on the corner of
Maple Avenue and Main Street to make room
for the new Elks Hotel. Here the building ismoved past Swezeys, on the Four Corners, to
its new location on West Main Street, where
today the parking lot of the 6th District Court
is located. The date of this picture is February
7, 1925. Buildings at these times could be
moved without great difficulties, since there
were very few overhead wires and traffic
lights to worry about.
The former Elks Club Building became an
apartment house on its new location, which
deteriorated over the years and eventually
became a total fire loss June 13, 1974. Eight
families became homeless.
The new Elks Hotel and
Club House on East Main
Street, opposite the postoffice, was dedicated March
4, 1926. It served the Elks
until 1936, when it was
vacated. The hotel was not
used again until 1941, when
it became the Patchogue
Hotel. In 1969 the hotel
was demolished and a large
apartment building was
erected on this spot.
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The upper floor of the Elks Club
was one large hall. During the
Patchogue Hotel days it was used to
host many meetings and social
events for the people of Patchogue.
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The end of the Patchogue Hotel, 1969.
Another picture of the demolition of the hotel.
The former site of
the Patchogue
Hotel opposite the
post office is now
taken up by the
Tiffany Apartments.
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South Ocean Avenue
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South Ocean Avenue was one of the first
streets running south from Main Street towards the
bay. It was originally called Water Street or The
Lane. There were no buildings on the west side
of the lane, only 5 farms on the east side. By 1850
a continuous line of homes had been built on the
east side of the street between Main Street and the
South Ocean Avenue as seen from the Four Corners c. 1918. The sign in
front of the police officer was the first form of traffic control on the
always busy Four Corners. Later this was upgraded to various other
signs, control booths and finally traffic lights.
South Ocean Avenue in 1918. This photo was taken from the corner of
Terry Street, looking north. The white building on the left is the Union
Savings Bank.
bay and only a few homes on the west side. This
was the largest concentration of homes in
Patchogue in 1850. The first stores appeared just
south of Main Street in the 1870s, gradually
extending the business section south, but never
further then the railroad line.
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Charles Howells store at 35
South Ocean Avenue specialized
in mens furnishings. The picture
of this store in the Mills building
was taken in 1904.
Charles Odells store, 467 South Ocean
Avenue, sold staple and fancy groceries,
foreign and domestic fruits and special-
ized in butter and eggs. This picture wastaken in the early 1900s.
The Algonquin Restau-
rant, on the northeast
corner of South Ocean
Avenue and Smith
Street, was photo-
graphed in 1926. Today
this building is an
apartment house.
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The Union Savings Bank was
established in 1896 and opened
its offices in the Tower Build-
ing on the Four Corners,
above the Swezey and Newins
store. In 1912 this new bank
was built in the northwest
corner of South Ocean Avenue
and Church Street in the style
of the Georgian Period of
classic colonial architecture. It
was faced with the whitest
Vermont marble available.
Interior of the Union Savings
Bank, 1918.
Dr. Agate Fosters former home on the
northwest corner of Ocean Avenue and
Gerard Street. At the time this picture was
taken, c. 1970, the house was vacant. This
house was an apartment house in the 1940s
and a home for the elderly before it was
demolished in the 1970s.
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Hyman Steiner, the owner of
the Economy Pharmacy on
South Ocean Avenue, had
been in business in
Patchogue since 1931. His
store was next to the Olym-
pia. The date of this picture
is approximately 1944.
Nelson McBrides drugstore on the
northeast corner of Main Street and
Ocean Avenue was one of the oldest
businesses in Patchogue, established in
1881. this picture was taken in 1945.
The Ruby Lane store for women on
South Ocean Avenue was bordered
on the south by Kresges 5&10 store
and on the north by the Audrey Shop
on the east side of the street.
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The counter of Jimmy Doukas Confectionary and Luncheon-
ette at 110 South Ocean Avenue. Not far from either the High
School or the Rialto Theater, it was a favored place to have a
soda or lunch, especially liked by the young crowd.
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This apartment house on Church Street, the
former home of Daniel Chichester in 1900, was
demolished in the 1990s and the drive-in of
the North Fork Bank took its place.
The site of the former Chichesterhome is now the drive-in of the
North fork Bank.
South Ocean Avenue in
1950. The large buildings on
the right are all part of the
Mills Building complex,
which became a total loss in
one of Patchogues largest
fires on February 10, 1956.
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A 1917 picture of the Olympia Confectionary and Ice
Cream Store at 32 South Ocean Avenue, a favored
place, especially for young people. The store was in the
old Ackerly building on the west side of the street,where today the entrance to the parking lot is located.
Clarence Lagumis was the manager in 1926.
A 1950 menu.
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A 1940 photograph of the interior of the Olympia.
The store was totally destroyed in a fire on
December 28, 1953.
Scenes of the Olympia fire, December 28, 1953.
The rear of the burned out building.
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Nancys Restaurant on South Ocean
Avenue, next to the railroad tracks.
The restaurant was built on the site
of an old, large structure that was
demolished in 1952. Nancys was apopular restaurant. A fire March 15,
1969 destroyed the restaurant, but it
was immediately rebuilt.
Nancys Restaurant the way it looked
after it was rebuilt. In August of 1970 it
came under new ownership and was
called the Golden Lantern. The restau-
rant was gutted by a flash fire April 26,
1971 and never rebuilt.
The Station Bar and Grilleon South Ocean Avenue,
next to the railroad tracks.
This dilapidated building
was demolished in 1952 and
Nancys Restaurant would
be built on this spot.
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The Mallard Restaurant, on the
east side of South Ocean Avenue,
in 1957. The Ocean Avenue Hotel
stood just south of this older
building. It became a restaurant
after the demolition of the hotel
and it had several different owners
and names. In 1957 it was the
Mallard Restaurant, thenWolfgangs and later Georges
Restaurant. After modifications
to the exterior it became Mister
Lees Restaurant and Cocktail
Lounge in the early 1970s and
later Pippins.
Mister Lees Restaurant and
Cocktail Bar.
Pippins Restaurant was
vacant when a fire gutted the
building December 6, 1975. In
previous years this was the
Mister Lees restaurant and
cocktail lounge.
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.
All but 10 acres
of the estate of
Kate L. Gilbert,
bordering the
Patchogue
River, was
auctioned off in
July 1913. A
second auction
was held in
September1913 for the
remaining 10
acres, including
the main house.
The Carman Estate was the first large
estate in Patchogue to be auctioned. The
date was Saturday, February 22, 1913.
The Boyle Estate, the last of the large
Patchogue estates was auctioned on
September 5, 1925.
Estate Auctions
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EarlyAutomobiles
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Howard S. Conklin, the owner of a stationary store on South
Ocean Avenue, was also a photographer whom we have to thank
for hundreds of photographs of Patchogue. He was especially
fascinated with automobiles. Whenever he spotted a new kind of a
car coming through Patchogue, he would ask the driver to let him
take a picture. These are some of his pictures of automobiles.
Howard S. Conklin and wife with his personal automobile.
John Foleys automobile in front of Roes Hotel, July 19, 1904.
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A Packard on South Ocean
Avenue, July 29, 1910.
R.J. Skolers Maxwell,
April 20, 1907.
W.M. Harrisons automobile, May 8, 1905.
W.M. Harrisons automobile,
May 8, 1905.
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Mr. Ball and his 1902 Whitein front of Howard Conklins
store, September 1, 1904.
Mr. Conroy and his auto, August
30, 1904. The white coat, cap
and glasses for men and veils for
women were mandatory equip-
ment in the days of open cars
and dusty roads.
Edwin Bailey and his grandchil-
dren with his Ford automobile
in front of his home on Baker
Street in the year 1906.
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Robert Baileys 1910E.M.F.
Cars are getting better, as this 1918 picture shows.
Photo taken at Weeks Garage in the Roe Court.
Mr. King, a local furniture merchant and his
early version of a delivery truck, fully loaded.
No need to raise the car to
inspect it underrneath, they
were high enough of the
ground to crawl under.
An unknown make automobile in front of
Roes Hotel, 1910.
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Now there is a high price car, a
Rolls Royce.
Mrs. Emma Norton and Mrs. Abbot in
front of the Norton house, 272 EastMain Street, corner of Potter Street.
The Reverend Havens and his
family posing for a picture on
this automobile, June 28, 1904.
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Now this is what one would
call a major tune up! Or are
these mechanics building a
car from a do it yourself kit?
The scene is at J.O. Hulses
garage at 52 West Main Street
and the year is c. 1905.
And some people prefer
a beautiful horse any-
time over a noisy auto-
mobile. This picture of
Edgar Sharp and his
horse and buggy was
taken in 1903. Edgar
Sharp had an insurance
and real estate office in
the Mills building.
This is definitely ayoung fellows car, just
the bare essentials.
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The 1944Four Cornersgroup picture
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In 1944 all Patchogue citizens were invited to take part in a 360
degree group photo shot staged at the Four Corners. This picture
was sent to all the soldiers from Patchogue serving in the Armed
Forces. It was impossible to fit the picture in its original format in
this book, so it had to be divided into sections.
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The PatchogueRailroad Station
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A 1900 picture of the station.
The train from New York
arriving at the station. The
jitneys are lined up and
waiting to bring their
costumers to the hotels.
It looks like a Sunday evening in
the summertime. The visitors areleaving on the New York train.
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On a hot summer weekend
the railroad station would
become a very busy place.
A train approaching the Ocean
Avenue crossing c.1905. The
switching tower had not been
built at this time.
An elevated view of the
Patchogue railroad yard
and station, taken fromthe smoke stack of the
Bailey Mill.
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A Pennsylvania Railroad
steam engine just east ofthe South Ocean Avenue
railroad crossing in 1936.
Steam engines are now
much bigger and much
more powerful than in the
early years of the century.
1955 was the last year of
steam engine service on the
Long Island Railroad.
The Cannonball train, 1967. The old style railroad cars in the 1950s.
This is a Pennsylvania loaner car.
The Patchogue railroad yard in
the 1940s during the last years
of steam.
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A 1962 Jim Mooney aerial
photo of the Patchogue rail-
road station, taken before the
renovation. South Ocean
Avenue is running across the
bottom of the picture.
The station and parking lot in 1962.
In the course of the next year the
station building would be torn downand the parking lot modernized.
The end of the old 1889 station building
came in May 1963. Here Mayor Waldbauer,
operating the crane, takes the first bite out of
the station roof.
The demolition is getting serious now.
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Another Jim Mooney Eagle Eye Air Photo, this time of the renovated railroad
station, taken September 28, 1963.
Opening day of the rebuilt Patchogue railroad station, September1963. This
was also the year of Patchogue Villages 70th anniversary. Mayor Waldbauer is
at the microphone. To the left of the podium in this picture sits senator Otis Pike
and on the right, Suffolk County Executive Lee Dennison.
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The last steam engine train at the
South Ocean Avenue crossing, Novem-
ber 26, 1967. This was a special train,
an organized last steam trip for fans on
the Montauk Line.
The local train service between
Babylon and Patchogue, called
Scoot, operated originally with
steam engines, but was con-verted to diesel power in 1949.
In 1955 a pair of R.D.C.s (Rail
Diesel Cars) took over this
service for a few years.
A diesel powered train in 1970.
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The Montauk train approaching Patchogue Station, October 23, 1976, This type rail-
road car was used from 1960 to the end of the century.
Railroad platform under construction. This new type platform was needed to accommodate the new
diesel electric trains coming into service.
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The new Railroad platform, July 1997
The new double-decker diesel-electric trains serving on the Montauk line now.
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An artists sketch of the Bailey Mill, ca. 1910. The street on the left is
West Avenue and the future bowling alley would be located on the
site of the foremost buildings in the picture.
The office staff of the Bailey Mill in 1930
Top row, L. to R.: Joseph Gould, Louis Rauch, Glen Hendrikson, George Andrechock, Charles Gould
Center row: Harry Beare, Gerard Hayduck, Lincoln Andrews, Charles Beurnier, Richard Lewis, Ivor Conklin
Front row: Fred C. Hendrikson, Lavern A. Walker, Robert Bailey, Mrs. H. Goodger, Mrs. D.C. Beurnier, Mrs.
Ruth Emison, Miss Kathleen Henshaw, Miss Irene Buxton, Oscar Allen, Arthur Lewis, Claude C. Conklin
Baileys Mill
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The Bailey Lumber Mill went out of business in
1939 and the site was taken over by the Bruns
Kimball Company in 1940. This company was
building aircraft rescue boats for the Defense
Department until their contract expired. In 1944 the
new occupant of the Bailey Mill site, the United
States Prefab Corporation, a subsidiary of the
Adirondack Log Cabin Company, was awarded a
government contract under the Land Lease Pro-
gram, to build thirty thousand prefab homes for
England, but this contract was cancelled after theconstruction of only 300 homes. This company
employed 353 people in 1944.
In the following years the mill complex was leased
to several other firms and manufacturers. On
November 22, 1951, a large fire, causing $500,000
damage, wiped out three firms leasing in the mill
and damaged a fourth. The National Lock Corner
Cabinet Corporation, Colonial Art, and the Castle
Silver Company were the firms totally wiped out.
The Castle Silver Company produced plated hol-
lowware and was finishing surgical instruments for
the Department of Defense, employing 35 people.
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