8AM Club Historic Bike Tour
On
Friday, July 17, BBPHA Board member Frank Giebfried guided the 8am Club
on a historic tour of our twin communities of Bayport and Blue Point.
The 8am Club is a friendly group of local cyclists who meet every
morning on the corner of Gillette Avenue and Middle Road to go for a
ride. They were recently featured on the cover of the Suffolk County
News. For more information and to get involved with this very open and
welcoming group, check out their Facebook page.
During the tour,
we visited the homes and former estates of some of our local residents
from the past: artist Roselle Osk, stage actress Effie Shannon, Nobel
prize winner Raymond Davis, Rheingold president Julius Liebmann, and
many others. We also stopped by the locations of a few entertainment
hotspots of days of yore: the Moon Rise Restaurant, the South Bay House,
Avery’s Five Mile Look Hotel, and, of course, Flo’s Famous
Luncheonette. Despite the rain, a good time was had by all!
A
special thanks to Bill Bailey for helping to coordinate the tour,
planning our route, and ensuring everyone’s safety. Also, thank you to
Jennifer Economos for helping guide everyone to our many stops. Finally,
the Heritage would like to thank the members of the 8am Club for their
enthusiasm, generous donations, and interest in our local history. See
you on the road!
Stay posted for a future Heritage sponsored bike tour!
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St. Ann's Cemetery Walking Tour and Picnic
A St. Ann's Cemetery walking tour is being planned for October 4th followed by a picnic at Meadow Croft. (Plans are subject to change based on current regulations due to COVID-19 restrictions)
We are in need of volunteers to ensure a successful BBP Heritage event. If you are interested in helping and wish further details, please contact Sandra Iden at 631 472-1528. More information about St. Ann's Cemetery can be found below. Save the date!
St. Ann's
Cemetery was organized at the suggestion of John Suydam. At that time, a
portion of the church property was set aside for the burial of the
dead. The Suydams and other original communicants reserved plots along
the main road through the cemetery. The year 1877 is marked on the posts
of the Suydam plot.
The Smiths, who lived on North Main Street,
owned several large parcels of land in Sayville at the time St. Ann's
was organized. They owned the land from their home to the western border
of what is now St. Ann's Cemetery. Foster Avenue was later extended
through their property. Two burials - L. Smith, 3/5/1852, and M. Smith,
3/5/1868 - are probably theirs. The 1852 burial is the only pre-Civil
War interment.
In September, 1895, the grounds between St. Ann's
Cemetery and the older Union Cemetery were purchased by the Vestry, and
the two cemeteries virtually became one. It was the Reverend John H.
Prescott's plan to create a lake as part of the creek area.
The
creek area of the cemetery grounds and the church land that borders
Brown's River are now a Suffolk County Nature Preserve and Watershed.
The county park, Meadowcroft, previously the John Ellis Roosevelt
estate, forms the eastern border of Brown's River. This assures the
integrity of the wetlands in this particular area.
By January,
1932, the Vestry of St. Ann's had awarded contracts to open up all the
roads from the Suydam Memorial Gateway, to the exit road on the east
side of the cemetery. The road at the entrance was to have a bead of
oystershells overlaid with cinders, and the trees south of the south
avenue were to be thinned out sufficiently to make lots salable in that
section.
St. Ann's Cemetery is the final resting place of many
denominations. Episcopalians account for a good percentage of the
burials, particularly the earliest. There are wealthy and poor alike. A
Civil War general, a United States diplomat, and a noted East Coast
architect lie next to physicians, lawyers, musicians, sea folk, clergy,
and just plain people.
SPOTLIGHT: Historic homes in our community
You've past it a thousand times. Two-eighty-two Snedecor is located on the north-west side of the railroad tracks across from Furci's and the firehouse-see picture below. Well, this little farmhouse started its life down on Middle Road. Sadly, though, the house will be lost forever when they begin building the Quick-check station on that location - disappointing.
Isaac Snedecor, a retired sea captain, came to Bayport from Oakdale in 1849 and bought a farm on Middle Road from John and Jennie Hawkins and decided it was time to settle on the land and raise a family. The little red house on the property was located at 515 Middle Road.
Snedecor and his wife raised their family at this location in that little red house for over 20 years.
In 1867, Isaac Snedecor bought the general store from Warren Hawkins located at the north-west corner of Middle Road and Bayport Ave. In 1879, life was good and Snedecor made plans to build his family a new home at 515 Middle Road. It was a big, beautiful colonial with tall columns and a big front porch, which is still there today, thankfully. The little red farmhouse was cut it two pieces and moved. The back part was moved south of Middle Road to East Lane as a rental home. The front part was moved to its current location, 282 Snedecor Ave north of the tracks. The exact date it was built originally is not in our records, but it is likely one of the oldest farmhouses in Bayport. By 1902 Edward Gillette and family lived there- see picture from the Bayport History book page 23. The other families who lived there were the Stolls and the Josts, according to our records.
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