March Monthly Membership meeting
Join us for our monthly membership meeting at the Bayport-Blue Point Library.
All are invited to attend.
Historian Robert von Bernewitz will give a talk about the various historic cemeteries, types of burial sites, and noteworthy people who are buried on Long Island. Come find out where Mae West, Jackie Robinson, Jackson Pollock, William Sydney Mount and President Teddy Roosevelt are laid to rest. You will learn that the oldest burial ground in New York State is on Long Island. It has the largest Cemetery in the country as well. There may even be a joke or two.
You will learn a lot of interesting facts about Long Island during this presentation.
Date: Sunday, March 24, 2024
Time: 2:00
Place: BBP Library
Presenter: Robert von Bernewitz
NO registration required!
St. Patrick's Day Parade
Join your friends, neighbors and the BBPHA for Bayport Blue Point's 32nd Annual St. Patrick's Day Parade!
On March 10th, beginning at 11:00, starting from Snedecor Avenue and continuing down Montauk Hwy, our communities will be honoring the Grand Marshal for this year's parade... Ronald F. Devine Jr.
Ronnie serves our communities in many capacities and always with a smile. His passion and dedication makes him the perfect Grand Marshal to represent our communities for this honor. He currently serves as president of the Board of Trustees of the BBP Library and was a board member for over 10 years. He also serves as a board member on the Chamber of Commerce. Ronnie has served Bayport and Blue Point in various other roles including a Budget Advisory Committee for the school district, committee member for raising funds for Our Lady of Snow, and current board member for over 25 years of the Town of Islip housing authority and many more.
Wear your green and come join in the merriment of our community's annual parade to celebrate the Irish and of course our Grand Marshal, Ronnie Devine!
Save the Date!
Save the dates, read our newsletters, or follow on our social media pages for information on these upcoming events brought to you by the BBPHA!
March 10, 2024: St. Patrick's Day Parade
March 24, 2024: General Membership Meeting
March 2024: Sandra Iden (Heritage board member) has a display of stoneware in the East display case at the BBP Library.
June 13 & July 18: FREE concerts at Bayport Memorial Parks. June concert to feature Jack's Waterfall. More info on musicians to follow.
Historic Walking Tour: Look for the date to be announced soon
August 20, 2024: Historic Boat Tour: tickets on sale August 1, 2024
November 30 & December 1: Christmas at Meadow Croft
Thank you Troop 130!
Thank you Boy Scout Troop 130! After months of planning and set-up for our signature event, Christmas at Meadow Croft, we needed to organize and plan to take it all down. Dozens of trees, ornaments, garland and other Christmas items needed to be boxed and stored and hauled three fights up to the attic space. That's where the marvelous Troop 130 comes in. Recently, the troop came and helped move all of these items for us. And we are very grateful! Thank you Troop 130 for your time, efforts and MUSCLES!
Theodore Roosevelt Autographed Book Donated to BBPHA Collection
The BBPHA would like to thank Mike Dawidziak for his very generous donation of the complete twenty volume set of the Author’s Digest, containing stories by some of the best writers of the turn of the twentieth century. This set, the 1908 Autograph Edition, includes “A Shot at a Bull Elk” by Theodore Roosevelt in volume one. The former president autographed the book at the end of his article. This set is number three of only thirty two-copies, and includes photogravures, watercolor headpieces, and hand illuminated letters.
The autographed volume will be displayed in John Ellis Roosevelt’s dressing room at Meadow Croft.
Here is a brief description of the the Author’s Club and their publication of their first volume in 1893:
The Authors Club, an association for literary-minded gentlemen, was formed in New York City in 1882. In an effort to raise funds for a permanent clubhouse, its members published Liber Scriptorum, a collection of original work, in 1893. Contributors included Mark Twain, Theodore Roosevelt, William Dean Howells, Andrew Carnegie, and printer Theodore Low De Vinne, who ensured the production of a beautiful book, featuring hand-made paper, wood-block engravings, and fine typography bound in blind- and gilt-tooled brown morocco. Incredibly, each of the 109 writers who submitted a story signed his respective work in each volume, e.g. Twain placed his signature just below his "A Californian's Tale," and Roosevelt under his "A Shot at Bull Elk." The edition ran to 251 copies, each selling for $100. In the meantime, Carnegie had donated a suite of rooms at 57th St. & Seventh Ave. to the club, and the Liber profits were used to decorate the rooms. -Fine Books Magazine Thank you, Mike!
Suffolk Traction 1911-1919
These articles first were printed in the Bayport Blue Point Gazette. They were written by Gene Horton and reprinted here with permission.
March 2004
Streetcar service from Patchogue to Blue Point began on July 1, 1911. The name of the streetcar company was the Suffolk Traction Co. It wasn't really a trolley; although it ran on steel tracks, there were no overhead wires. Rather, the streetcar was powered by storage batteries. The fare was five cents one way. Eventually, there would be four streetcars in service.
By 1913, Suffolk Traction streetcar service extended its rails through Bayport to Sayville. From Patchogue's "Four Corners," the tracks ran west along Montauk HIghway turning south onto Blue Point Ave. Then along Maple St. which becomes Railroad Ave. in Bayport....turning down Oakwood Street in Bayport to Middle Road, and thence into Sayville, a 5.5 mile route.
In its heyday, Suffolk Traction carried about 1000 passengers a day. The batteries could go about 50 hours before being recharged. There was generally a motorman and a conductor on board.
Under the Blue Point LIRR trestle was often the scene of problems for Suffolk Traction: the hill was steep; if the streetcar was crowded, occasionally the male passengers would have to get out & even push the streetcar up the hill. After a heavy rain, Blue Point Ave. would flood under the trestle and prevent the streetcars from passing. Also, teenage rowdies thought it neat to sit in the back of the streetcar and rock the car off its track. On at least one occasion, the streetcar plunged into West Lake in Patchogue after leaving the track.
Unpaved roads, stones, wet leaves, ice, heavy rain and acorns.....all posed hazards to the smooth operation of Suffolk Traction. Each one of Suffolk Traction's four streetcars could hold about 30 people. They had four steel wheels and leather seats and generally traveled along at speeds of 10 to 20 miles per hour. Unfortunately for Suffolk Traction, this was becoming the age of the automobile. Henry Ford's Model T was selling like hotcakes.
Even a bus line opened up along Montauk Highway in this area. Suffolk Traction revenues plunged. By 1919, Patchogue Electric Co. (PELCO) cut off power to Suffolk Traction. Suffolk Traction was history.
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