This Week in North Fork History: New Suffolk waterfront property purchased

20 years ago this week

‘Downtown’ New Suffolk purchased

A company headed by former Southold Town Planning Board chairman Henry Raynor of Mattituck purchased the three acres in the heart of the New Suffolk waterfront for $800,000 at a foreclosure auction Aug. 15, 1994, according to that week’s issue of The Suffolk Times. The property included The Galley Ho restaurant (or the Ho as it was referred to in the article), the former North Fork Shipyard, the former New Suffolk Post Office/general store and an old oyster factory, we reported in that week’s issue of The Suffolk Times. 

Mr. Raynor, who owned a hardware store on Love Lane, said at the time of purchase his only plan was to tie his boat up there.

The former property owner, Shamrock Properties, had proposed a 23,000 square foot bar/restaurant/post office/shop/marina on the property in the 1980s. But the bank began a $2 million foreclosure proceeding on the property in 1993.

Earlier in the 1980s, plans to construct condominiums on the property were shot down by angry neighbors, we reported. Mr. Raynor said he expected “no such flak this time around.”

“I was born and brought up in New Suffolk,” he said. “We would like to do something that’s in keeping with the community.”

The same parcel is now subject to a controversial redevelopment plan proposed by the New Suffolk Waterfront Fund.

30 years ago this week

The Suffolk Times goes on line

The Aug. 23, 1984 edition of The Suffolk Times was the first issue produced using desktop computers, according to Troy Gustavson’s column that week.

And Troy, frankly, didn’t like it.

“This column is being written on a Radio Shack Model IV desktop computer,” he wrote. “It’s a helluva lot harder to use than our trusty Royal 440 [typewriter] , but the idea of typing each story twice — once by the reporter and once by the compositor who mans the typesetter — was beginning to get on the nerves of the efficiency experts here.”

One big benefit, Troy wrote, was the built-in “dictionary” on the computer which featured over 250,000 words. “It even checks for spelling and typographical errors,” he wrote.

50 years ago this week

Monthly police report

Is crime up or down in Greenport from 50 years ago?

Maybe the July police reported from the Greenport Police Department, printed Aug. 14, 1964, can help us figure this out.

“The following is the report of Chief Robert Walden of the Greenport Police Department for the month of July: no. of complaints, 67; no. of arrests, 12; no. of fines, $85; no. of persons sent to the county jail, 1; no. of suspended sentences, 1; no. of police escorts, 60; no. of out of town complaints, 5; no. of requests for aid, 16; no. of prisoners held for Southold Town, 6; no. of Greenport prisoners, 7; no of accidents investigated, 12; no. of persons bitten, 3; no. of dogs hit, 1; no. of parking tickets issued, 93; no. of DOA’s investigated, 1; no. of investigations, 33; no. of radio transmissions, 1,244; no. of gallons of gas used by police, 357; no. of miles patrolled by police, 3,433.”

75 years ago this week

Public invited to telephone building

New York Telephone Company invited the public to an open house Aug. 23-24, 1939 to show off how their telephone calls are handled.

“It has been a little more than a year now that Southold has had dial telephone service,” said New York Telephone Company manager J.B. Fanning.

The article continues to include a little history:

“The first telephone subscriber in Southold was H.W. Prince, who had a pay station on Main Street in 1895. In July 1898, the first local central office was established in Mr. Prince’s residence with a switchboard for serving 10 lines. Horace D. Booth was the first telephone operator.

“The office was discontinued in 1906, the telephones in Southold being served through Greenport. In 1912, the Southold office was re-established in the residence of Mr. Booth. There were 63 subscribers at the time.

“In 1924 the office was moved to the G.W. Smith building on Main Street, at which time there were 296 telephones in Southold. When the new dial office was opened last year there were 434 telephones. At present time there are 506 telephones in service.”

100 years ago this week

When it paid to play

How much did it cost to attend the Republicans of Eastern Long Island dinner at Paradise Point in Southold in August 1914? $1.50.