The Historical Society of

East Rockaway and Lynbrook

(HSERL)

PO Box 351 - East Rockaway, NY 11518-0351

This is the old HSERL website.

Click here to get to the NEW site: HSERL Home Page

 

E-Mail Link:  psympson@optonline.net

Copyright 2007 – Revised 03/01/2007

The old website follows.  It contains some material not on the new site:

East Rockaway Sloops and the Old Gristmill in 1898.

Coastal sloops such as the Belle of Pearsall carried Lynbrook farm goods and East Rockaway shellfish to markets from Boston to Philadelphia.

Lynbrook's "Shorty the Cop."

In the 1920s, when folks asked, "How do I get from New York City to East Rockaway?" the answer would often be: "Go east on the Merrick Road and turn right when you reach Lynbrook's Shorty the Cop."

 

 

The Lynbrook Historical & Preservation Society and the Friends of the East Rockaway Grist Mill have merged into a new, stronger organization.  Our new name is:

The Historical Society of East Rockaway and Lynbrook.

("HSERL")

 

 

Meetings, Events, Programs

When

What

Where

January 23, 2007

Board of Directors Meeting

@ East Rockaway Yacht Club – 7:30 pm

 

February 11, 2007

 

Chocolate

Valentine’s Tea

 

Lynbrook Library -- 1 p.m. to 3:00 p.m.

Tickets can be purchased for $20.00 per person, sold at:

Noels Country Garden - Atlantic Avenue, Lynbrook

Gifts Galore - Main Street, East Rockaway

 and by calling 887-9094.

 

March 19, 2007

Board of Directors Meeting

East Rockaway Yacht Club - Althouse Avenue 7:30 PM

March 27 (Tuesday)

Pizza Uno

Fund Raiser

All day fund raiser at Pizza Uno in Phillips Plaza in Lynbrook.

15%-20% of your check will be donated to the Historical Society.

Must present a coupon.

Click here for the coupon.

 

May 23, 2007

 

Tenth Annual Meeting

 

East Rockaway Yacht Club - Althouse Avenue 6:30 PM

June  9, 2007 (Saturday)

Huckleberry Frolic

Memorial Park, East Rockaway                  Rain date June 16.

July 8, 2007    (Sunday)

Summer Blooms

Houses to be determined

September 8-9, 2007

 

Garage Sale

 

592 Scranton Ave. Lynbrook

Call 516-887-9094 for information

 

Officers and Directors

PRESIDENT -- Madeline Pearson

FIRST VP -- Gloria Christiano

SECOND VP -- Alene Krivoshey

TREASURER -- William Leahy

RECORDING SECRETARY -- Barbara Gribbon

CORRESPONDING SECRETARY -- Patricia Sympson

DIRECTORS:

Santo Barbarino

Nicholas Caccavo

Louise Campbell

Betsy Davison

Norman Diamond

Theresa Ganley

Nancy Goldman

Bruce Grief

Brian Hetrick

Jennie Kiermeier

Elaine Kiernan

Veronica Krendel

William Leahy

Arthur Mattson

Patricia McGivern

William G. Robinson

Robert Sympson

Phyllis Wright

 
 
 
 

ABOUT HSERL

   The Lynbrook Historical & Preservation Society was organized in 1995, when Lynbrook's most historic house was threatened with demolition.  The group's valiant effort to save the house failed when Village officials granted a demolition permit and gave developers the necessary zoning variances the developers and realtors needed to make the sale and demolition profitable.

    Recognizing the historical significance of the Grist Mill Museum to East Rockaway and encouraged by leading NY State preservationists, the Grist Mill Committee voted in 1995 to form a Friends’ group.  On May 1, 1996 the Friends of the East Rockaway Grist Mill Museum, Inc. was incorporated.

    In September 2005 the two groups voted to merge into the Historical Society of East Rockaway and Lynbrook ("HSERL") a non-profit organization conducting activities which are charitable, literary, and educational pertaining to the advancement of the history and knowledge of East Rockaway and Lynbrook.

    HSERL awards annual historical-research scholarships to an East Rockaway student and a Lynbrook student. A scale model of the East Rockaway Grist Mill is used to tell the story of tide water milling on Long Island to schools, civic groups and other interested people. Members receive a quarterly newsletter and notification of cultural events and special meetings. HSERL speakers are available to tell the story of East Rockaway's and Lynbrook's history.  We welcome you to join us - become a member this year. Help HSERL tell the story!

Organizations

In order to enhance their goals and mission, HSERL has joined SPOOM, the Society for the Preservation of Old Mills. This organization publishes Old Mill News and provides information about mills, memorabilia and publications which further enhance the knowledge of all who are interested in history and milling.

HSERL is also a member of The Society for the Preservation of Long Island Antiquities (SPLIA). SPLIA's goal is to recognize and preserve historic places on LONG Island.

 

HISTORY OF THE EAST ROCKAWAY GRIST MILL, circa 1688-89

    Historical records indicate that the south shore area known as the Rockaway Peninsula was at first valued primarily as pasture by the settlers of the Hempstead community to the north. Numerous references in the early town records point to this practice. In fact, a fence was constructed in 1659 from present day East Rockaway to Jamaica Bay for grazing cattle. As farms developed along the south shore at some distance from Hempstead, the need arose for quicker and more affordable transportation to New York City for profit and supplies. The economic imperative underlying this need to exploit a navigable inlet also led one individual, Joseph Haviland, to perceive the profitability of locating a mill at this emergent shipping and trading center. Milling had formerly taken place either at Hempstead or Foster’s Meadow (now Elmont), necessitating a lengthy and costly transshipment of flour to New York City via the old Hempstead Turnpike.

    An alternative milling location and transportation route was sought.  Hog Inlet (now East Rockaway Inlet), was a deep, natural channel that connected the mainland with the sea. This made a new settlement accessible not only to coastal trading, but could result in its development as a shipping and trading center for the sparsely populated south shore region.  It also led to its being chosen as a potential site for one of the region’s earliest mills.  The proposal was to use the power of the tidal estuary, along with the freshwater river-flow of the Mill River to power a gristmill. 

The Town of Hempstead granted Joseph Haviland the right to construct a grist mill at a town meeting held on December 28, 1688, at which it was agreed that:

  • Joseph heviland Shall have Liberty to Sett a Grist Mill upon ye streame of ye Rockaway Swampe and to have Six acors of Land by it upon ye following Conditions: to macke and Sett up Compleat a good grist mill within one yeare...and to grind ye townes Corne for the twelfth part thereof and if ye Said mill Shall...Ly uncapable to grind one yeare...then ye sd streame and Land is to Reterne to ye towne againe.

Based on the physical evidence, it is believed the original section of the mill was built very soon after this 1688 agreement, probably within the following year. Like many other water mills on Long Island, the power for the mill came from the movement of the tides supplemented the flow of a freshwater stream.

Haviland’s mill evidently flourished for many years, and thus became one of the primary commercial underpinnings for the developing community.

While the Mill has long enjoyed Landmark status from the Town of Hempstead, in 1998 it was included in the New York State and National Registers of Historic Places, validating the high esteem in which the Haviland-Davison Grist Mill is held locally.

The Haviland-Davison Grist Mill is located in Memorial Park, corner of Atlantic Ave. & Wood Ave., in East Rockaway, New York.

Open Weekends from June to Labor Day, 1PM to 5PM.

HOW LYNBROOK GOT ITS NAME

By Arthur Mattson

Lynbrook Village Historian

 (Originally published March 11, 1986 in Lynbrook USA)

Most residents of our village know that LYNBROOK is an anagram for BROOKLYN, with syllables transposed, but few know that our village was once named after one of Long Island’s oldest and most distinguished families, the Pearsalls, and that it has an interesting history dating to before the American Revolution.

THE INDIANS

Long before the Europeans came, the Rechquaakie (Rockaway) Indians settled here along with their neighbors the Masepeages (Massapequa), Merriacks (Merrick) and Canarsies. The name Rechquaakie is a corruption of Rokawanhaka, which means "Our Place of Laughing Waters", an apt name because the Rockaway Indians thrived on the plentiful shellfish from the bays to the south. Their peaceful life was shattered by the arrival of the English settlers, who saw the Indians as primitive, near-animals. As Richard Denton, the founder of Hempstead wrote, "They have decreased by the hand of God from six towns to two small villages. A Devine Hand makes way for the English by cutting off the Indians by wars with one another or by some mortal disease." In 1643 the Indians signed a treaty ceding all the lands from the Hempstead Plains south to the Atlantic Ocean.

EARLY HISTORY

An historical marker in front of Lynbrook Village Hall proclaims: "LYNBROOK - ESTABLISHED 1785". The date comes from a 19th Century Methodist Prayer Book which indicates that by 1785 a small community of 40 houses had been established near Merrick Road and Ocean Avenue, close to where the Rockville, or Sand Hole Cemetery is today. In 1790 a 20 X 30 foot Methodist meeting house was built on land donated by Isaac Denton. Benjamin Abbott, the first preacher, rode a 300-mile circuit on horseback to reach his widely spread Long Island parishioners. The intersection became known as Parson's Corners.

THE PEARSALLS

The land to the west of Parson's Corners, near what is today the center of Lynbrook, was called Bloomfield. Much of the land was owned by one family, the Pearsalls. The Pearsalls had been among the first European settlers to come to Long Island. They arrived in 1639, only 30 years after Henry Hudson explored the Hudson River. The Pearsalls were Englishmen who had sailed up from their Virginia tobacco farms and took a liking to the free economic climate offered by the Dutch on "Lange Eylandt". They were among the founders of Hempstead, Flushing and other settlements.

THE VILLAGE OF PEARSALL'S CORNERS

By the time our village got its start in 1785, the Pearsalls had already been on Long Island for almost 150 years. But unlike families such as the Baldwins and the Hewletts they had not had a place named after them. They had tried, naming the Hell Gate area (in Queens County) Pearsalls, but the name did not stick. About 1830 Wright Pearsall purchased some land at Hempstead Avenue and Merrick Road, at the intersection we today call The Five Corners. An historical marker marks the spot where Pearsall opened a general country store. Wright Pearsall's store became so widely known that the corners and the surrounding community soon became known as Pearsall's Corners. The name Pearsall's Corners stuck for about 40 years until just after the Civil War. At that time a post office and railroad station were built and the simpler name Pearsalls came into use on postmarks and train schedules.

PEARSALLS GROWING PAINS

Pearsalls had long been a hub for road transportation, linking the East Rockaway and Far Rockaway ports to the Hempstead and Jamaica population centers. When the Southern Railroad extended its line through Pearsalls in 1866, the stage was set for a growth spurt. Pearsalls' own newspaper, "THE ONCE A WEEK", had this to say about the growing village in 1876: "Probably there is no South Side village which offers more inducements to people to locate than does Pearsalls. This picturesque, lively and enterprising little settlement, located upon a level tract of land does indeed make an attractive appearance. Everything to make a place desirable can be found here:

BUSINESS / PROPRIETORS (in 1876)

General Country Store / W. Pearsall & Son

Hotel / M. Bowley

Oyster, Confectionery & Billiard Saloon / S. Furman

Fancy Goods Store / Mrs. H. G. Mott

Fancy Goods Store / Mr. Clark

Fancy Goods Store / Mrs. Welling

Blacksmith Shop / M. Mount

Blacksmith Shop / T. Box

Blacksmith Shop / J. Bedell

Wheelwright Shop / Dikeman

Wheelwright Shop / G. W. Strickland

Shoemaking Establishment / W. W. Williams

Shoemaking Establishment / M. Stein

Florist / Seally Bros

Coal, Wood & Feed Depot / D. Langdon

Feed Store / W. Pearsall & Son

Steam Factory for Toys / C. Sherman

Law Office / G. A. Mott Physician's Office / Dr. Hutchinson

Dental Rooms / [Microfilm Unreadable]

Drug Store / H. A. Graef

Carpentering Establishment / S. Symons

Carpentering Establishment / T. Stansbury

Barber Shop / C. Maler

Milk Depot / C. Maler

Butcher Shop / T. Mott

Grocery Store / M. Dibble

Grocery Store / Maler

"We have a fine schoolhouse and a commodious church. A short drive takes you to the East Rockaway landing where it is a most delightful sail through the South Bay to the shores of the broad Atlantic.  Pearsall's is but 16.3 miles from New York, connected by the numerous trains daily by Southern Railroad. Our roads are first class, our soil is excellent. In fact we have every requisite to make this village pleasant and desirable to reside in. [THE ONCE A WEEK, 1876] "

This kind of salesmanship certainly worked because in the 15-year period between 1879 and 1894 the population of Pearsalls increased from 500 to over 2,000 people.

THE ARRIVAL OF THE COMMUTER

Hundreds of people vacationing from overcrowded Brooklyn and New York City liked what they saw in Pearsalls and decided to stay. Many of the new arrivals kept their jobs in the city and became commuters on the Southern RR. And some of them had a keen businessman's eye for real estate values. These men wrote numerous, mostly anonymous letters to the editor of the SOUTH SIDE OBSERVER, the Newsday of the day, putting forth their view that the name Pearsalls did not have enough marketing pizzazz.

A MORE EUPHONIOUS COGNOMEN

   On February 12, 1892, an editorial appeared in the SOUTH SIDE OBSERVER, the leading newspaper of Long Island's South Shore: "A number of Long Island villages have within a few months changed their names, and it has been suggested that Pearsalls follow suit. The present name is somewhat proprietary and many of the citizens think a more euphonious cognomen would be desirable." That editorial set off a storm of protest and counter argument between Pearsalls' newer residents and the establishment. The controversy drew comment from as far away as New York City. On May 1,1894, after two years of verbal warfare, the name Pearsalls was officially changed to Lynbrook. Diehards continued to refer to the village as Pearsalls until the 1920's. Even today, there are residents who believe the even older name of Pearsall's Corners should be restored.

   To the newcomers to Pearsalls, choosing a new name became synonymous with social progress. Here are some of the Letters to the Editor which appeared in the early 1890's:

".....a new name would add 20% to the value of real estate." (2/19/92)

"There seems to be something about the name Pearsalls (when mentioned on the trains) that brings out a slur of unkind remarks." (2/26/92)

"A majority of commuters using this station have signed a petition to have the name of the station and Post Office changed. The preference is for Wyndemere."(8/4/93)

"The current name, Pearsall's ....is obnoxious." R.D. Jaques (9/8/93)

"I am in favor of anything which will lift us out of the ruts, and scour the rust off our social and business machinery....Have we any more reason for naming our village Pearsalls than for calling it Nebuchadnezzer or Phil McCool? Roanoke, Bristol, Centreville, Marietta, Sandringham, Damascus, Ceylon, Memphis, Plymouth and Prospect Plains are among the names suggested. The above are the sentiment of the most intelligent and progressive people in this vicinity." (3/11/92)

"....new sidewalks, new rows of trees along the streets, new public lamps, a host of newcomers, filled with the spirit of progress and last, but not least, a new name for the place." (3/25/92)

"The Pearsall Improvement Association [later truncated to `The Improvement Assoc'] was formed last week. 40 members. Goals include sprucing up own homes, give concerts, get decent sidewalks, street lighting." - H.R. Jaques, Sect'y (3/31/93)

"The name of LYNBROOK is of course the name of Brooklyn transposed. One end of the future metropolis would be Brooklyn, the other Lynbrook. The name of Pearsall's Corners will be a thing of the past." (8/11/93)

THE ESTABLISHMENT STRIKES BACK

Thoroughly disconcerted by the attacks against the status quo, the Pearsalls establishment struck back with haughty sarcasm:

"The solid and substantial residents are, like myself, satisfied with the name as it is" (3/9/92)

"While we duly appreciate the great sacrifice made by these benevolent citizens who left their beautiful city homes to labor among the deluded and barbarous backwoodsmen, we believe most of those who have most to say about the poor ignorant inhabitants would not be included in the missionary circle had they been obliged to pay 50 cents for membership." (5/12/93)

"I propose the name Jaquesborough, the latter being more euphonious than Lynbrook and will not be confused with Brooklyn." (7/29/93)

"When did the privilege of substituting some other than the real name of a village devolve upon a society of a few weeks' growth or the commuters of a railroad? Next we shall read of two or three individuals saying 'We the people of the United States RESOLVE, that Long Island shall henceforth be called Short, that Brooklyn must be turned wrong end and that New York is antiquated and will be called Old York." (8/18/93)

"Lynbrook? Ha! Ha! Where's the brook? Why not York New?" (9/22/93)

AN ELOQUENT APPEAL TO PRESERVE TRADITIONS

One writer from Hempstead made what was surely the most eloquent statement offered by either side when he argued persuasively for holding to tradition and decried the practice of renaming old villages:

  • "It is not in accordance with a spirit of progress to change things simply because they are old or connect our thoughts with the events of long ago. Traditions and local history should be carefully preserved; and nothing is more repugnant to the preservation of these traditions than the pernicious and foolish habit, which seems to have become so popular of late on Long Island, of altering the names of old villages. Some were named after the original inhabitants of the place, as for instance Hallet Cove, which has been changed to the meaningless Astoria. Cow Neck which was long and justly famous for its excellent pasture land, has been named Manhasset, which is the name of an indian tribe on Shelter Island, thus being totally inapplicable to Cow Neck. More recently, the village of Baldwins, bearing the name of one of Long Island's oldest families, has been given the senseless cognomen, Millburn. And now we are informed that the village of Pearsalls --- also named after an old Long Island family --- is to have its name changed to the singularly inappropriate one of Wyndemere, and as an alternative it is suggested that it be called Lynbrook, which is a word recently manufactured for the purpose, and absolutely meaningless. Perhaps it will not be out of place to repeat the warning given by Mr. Thompson, the historian of Long Island: `Old names, like old friends, should not be changed for light and transient causes, much less for whim and caprice." - S.S., Hempstead" (8/18/93)

THE NAME LYNBROOK ADOPTED

Pearsalls had no local government in the 1890's (incorporation was to come in 1911) so a local, ad hoc referendum was held on April 4, 1894. With the newer, more numerous residents providing the impetus, the change to Lynbrook was approved. Formal adoption came on May 1,1894 when the Post Office and Railroad accepted the change. The adoption of the new name, Lynbrook, marked the crest of a wave of change that pushed a country farming and fishing village into the 20th century. The nostalgic country charm invoked by the name Pearsall's Corners is today only a dim memory

============================== Endnotes:

 (1) The SOUTH SIDE OBSERVER, published in Rockville Centre, is quoted throughout the article. A date in parenthesis is used after each such quote. All cited issues are available on microfilm at the Brooklyn Historical Society.

(2) 1785 data from THE BOROUGHS OF BROOKLYN & QUEENS, by Henry Isham Hazleton, pub. 1925. Avail at Brooklyn Hist Soc. Also see SO.SIDE OBSERVER (Sep 8&15,1883) for reference to Sand Hole, Parson's Corners and Brower's Corners.

(3) HISTORY AND GENEALOGY OF THE PEARSALL FAMILY, vol. 2, by Clarence Pearsall, pub. 1928. Avail in Brooklyn Hist. Soc.

(4) See A PEARSALL GENEALOGY by A Mattson, in the Lynbrook 75th Journal.

(5) 1879 pop. data from LIRR brochure, quoted in LYNBROOK LEGACY, by S. Wilner. Avail in Lynbrook Public Library.

(6) ONCE A WEEK, Pub. in Pearsalls 1876. Available on microfilm at the LI Museum, Hofstra University.

(7) 1894 pop. data in LYNBROOK ANNUAL (900 families), interpolated by me to 'over 2000 people'. SO. SIDE OBSERVER (Apr 8,1892) says pop. 4000 in the summer.

(8) METHODIST PRAYERBOOK. References to it may be found in the Lynbrook Historical Collection, under "Religion".

Student Scholar Program:

--  The HSERL Scholar Project, under Director John Caffrey, awards two scholarships each year, one for East Rockaway High School and one for Lynbrook High School. Each is worth $500. The Scholar Project must recognize the educational and historical significance of people, places or events in East Rockaway, Lynbrook and the surrounding communities.  The Friends' Scholars for 2005 are:

STUDENT SCHOLARS

William Hempstead - ERHS

Kathleen McIntyre - LHS

Live Classroom Presentations

"The Grist Mill Grinds  . . . The Staff of Life (The Role of Grist Mills in Colonial Life on Long Island)"

The East Rockaway Grist Mill Museum, formerly the Haviland-Davison Grist Mill, c 1689, is the inspiration behind HSERL's educational program called The Staff of Life.

Give your students the opportunity to see local history brought to life through the use of visuals, historical photos, a quern and a working 1" scale mill model.

This historical presentation includes the following:

     The Settlement of Long Island

     Historical Perspective of Long Island’s Mills from 1600 to Present Day

·         Natural Resources: Topography • Lumber Agriculture • Wheat and Corn

·         Power Sources: Windmills • Tidewater Grist Mills • Millpond Grist Mills

An Invitation to JOIN us

 

The Historical Society of East Rockaway and Lynbrook, Inc.

 

 

           HSERL is an outgrowth of the Friends of The East Rockaway Grist Mill Museum, Inc. and the Lynbrook Historical & Preservation Society.  This new organization, which formed as a result of a merger in May 2005, seeks to enlarge public awareness of the history of both communities and to encourage the study of their rich histories.  We also belong to Long Island Museum Association, Long Island Convention and Visitors Bureau and participate in the respective Chambers of Commerce of Lynbrook & East Rockaway.

 

Our current work and programs include:

 

 

•           Promoting the Haviland Davison Grist Mill now on the NYS and National Register of Historic Places.

•           Adding as many as six historic homes in Lynbrook and East Rockaway to the National Register.

•           Adding the Bristol and Mexico Monument in Rockville Cemetery to the National Register.

•           Producing postcard and photograph retrospectives

•           Providing speakers highlighting local history

•           Summer Blooms Garden Tours

•           Prospective Historic House Tours

•           Valentine’s Tea

•           Wine and Cheese Tasting Collations

•           The Heritage News a quarterly newsletter

•           Historical Discussion Groups

•           Scholarships to East Rockaway and Lynbrook students

•           “The Grist That Grinds” – BOCES-sponsored classroom visits

•           “Turning the Quern” – an interactive lesson opportunity

•              Annual Meeting with a free collation.

 

                             

Membership Application

 

We invite you to become a member for the year 2007.

Send your check payable to:

 

 “The Historical Society of East Rockaway and Lynbrook, Inc.”

PO Box 351

East Rockaway, NY 11518-0351

 

Include your:

 

Name: ___________________________________________

Street Address: ____________________________________

 Village, State, Zip: __________________________________

Phone: __________________________________________

e-mail: __________________________________________

 

Category of Membership

$  15       Individual

$  35       Family

$100      Supporting

$250      Sponsor

$500      Benefactor 

                                    

The Historical Society is a 501(c) (3) not-for-profit organization and your contribution is tax deductible to the amount limited by law.

 

Other Links

Lynbrook Historical Website

Malverne Historical Society