Village of Babylon Historical and Preservation Society - Babylon Village

POSTCARD HISTORY SERIES

Babylon
Village

Henry Livingston debuted the South Side Signal on July 7, 1869, declaring, Our Signal lamp is lighted, and it is our intention to... prove a faithful beacon... [to] make plain the ways of honor, happiness and virtue. The Signal building was erected in December 1869 adjacent to Livingstons West Main Street residence. It operated as the Red Lion English Pub from the 1960s to the 1980s and was relocated to Mansfield Place by attorney Patrick Kevin Brosnahan in 1990. (Town of Babylon, Office of Historic Services.)

ON THE FRONT COVER: The intersection of Main Street at Fire Island and Deer Park Avenues is pictured around 1905. The original public fountain erected by the Womens Exchange in 1897 is prominent in the foreground. The steeple of the Presbyterian church and the Provost Building with a Heffley Drug advertisement are visible in the background, two prominent landmarks that still adorn the village. (Village of Babylon Historical and Preservation Society.)

ON THE BACK COVER: Deer Park Avenue is pictured looking north from Main Street in the 1920s with an officer from the Babylon Village Police Department standing guard near the rudimentary traffic signal. By this time, the old Heffley Drug advertisement had given way to Liggetts Drug Store, on the right. Winegars Pharmacy (left) was situated at the northwest corner of Deer Park Avenue and Main Street. The pharmacy and adjacent stores suffered a devastating fire in December 1931. (Village of Babylon Historical and Preservation Society.)

POSTCARD HISTORY SERIES

Babylon
Village

Village of Babylon Historical and Preservation Society with Mary Cascone

Copyright 2017 by Village of Babylon Historical and Preservation Society with Mary Cascone
ISBN 978-1-4671-2475-1
Ebook ISBN 9781439659410

Published by Arcadia Publishing
Charleston, South Carolina

Library of Congress Control Number: 2016956676

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In memory of the generations of Babylonians who helped shape and develop this village, and for the generations of Babylonians to come.

CONTENTS

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

This book is the result of a collaborative project between the Village of Babylon Historical and Preservation Society (VBHPS) and the Town of Babylon History Museum (TOBHM) to organize and preserve the historical societys photograph and postcard collections. Many thanks to the VBHPS board for having the foresight to protect and share these visual treasures and to the TOBHM staff for their diligent, and often monotonous, labors: Georgia Cava, Kelly Filippone, Renee Leone, museum volunteers Samantha Parmely and Jason Cascone, volunteer researcher Steven Clampit, 2016 Ujima summer intern Jahron Causey, deputy historian Thomas B. Smith, and town historian Mary Cascone. Current VBHPS board members are Jackie Marsden, Judy Skillen, Donna Consola, Marie Bohrer, Janine Logan, Richard Vultaggio, Carolyn Gutmann, Wayne Horsley, Karen Petz, Jack Conroy, George Pozderec, and Carolyn Romaine. Many Babylonians have inspired and made contributions toward this project, including former museum curator Ruth Albin; Westminster Kennel Club researcher Joanne Anderson; the Babylon Public Library for supporting the maintenance of an excellent microfilm machine and printer, and reference librarian Inez Foster and library director Vicki Lever for just being excellent; Gus Fishel; St. Josephs Church researcher Dr. Rick Hess; Karen Kennedy; Scott Lockwood; Oak Island and Oak Beach researcher Tom Tinker Morris; Bert Pedersen; Stephen Quigley of the Long Island Sunrise Trail Chapter, National Railway Historical Society; Theresa Santmann, whose generous funding for digitization of the South Side Signal in 2010 has made local research much more convenient; Sumpwams Creek researcher Tom Stock; village historian Alice Zaruka; Rev. Leonard M. Davis, Bethel A.M.E. Church (Bethel AME); Rev. Wayne Griffiths, First Baptist Church; and William Holmes of the United Methodist Church. All images are from the collections of the Village of Babylon Historical and Preservation Society, except as noted. Additional images were graciously provided by Edward Kauf, Herbert Ketcham, Steve Loudon, Lindenhurst Historical Society (LHS), Babylon Masonic Lodge No. 793 (Masons) and the Town of Babylon, Office of Historic Services (TOB).

INTRODUCTION

Welcome to our postcard collection. Presenting a prime selection of nearly a century of collecting and developing, the Village of Babylon Historical and Preservation Society proudly offers this historic homage to our village. In doing so, we gratefully acknowledge the Muncy and Howell families, to name but two, who generously donated their personal collections to the historical society, expanding the collection so that we may now share them with you, the public.

Postcard collecting and the sending of postcards was a popular way to connect with friends and assemble souvenirs of places visited. Many postcards in our collection were never mailed, just treasured by locals and kept in the community. Others were, however, mailed from Babylon with pleasant notes to friends and family around the country. It is remarkable when postcards sent away from Babylon long ago make their way back to us. Today, websites such as eBay can facilitate the return of some old-time postcards. Sadly, the act of sending a postcard via the postal system has fallen victim to the contemporary trend of taking a selfie in Argyle Park and posting it on a social media website.

But a word, first, about the history of our lovely village. Babylon Village has been an incorporated village since 1893, but its history began with the Native Americans who occupied Long Island and thrived off the bounty of the Great South Bay. Their historic presence is reflected in the names of community streets and creeks, which were derived from their culture and languagesumpwams (a just man), annuskemunaka (planted land), ketewamoke (crab meadow), and araca (furthermost).

The abundance of fish and salt hay that sustained the original indigenous peoples brought new settlers to Huntingtons South Shore, known as Huntington South, originally part of the town of Huntington, established by English settlers in 1653. As the southern portion of Huntington grew and fashioned its own identity, citizens voted to secede from the northern territory in 1872. The name given to the new town, bordered at four corners by Amityville, East Farmingdale, Deer Park, and our village, was Babylon. The new town took its name from the community where some of the secession movements most ardent supporters lived. The communities of North Babylon and West Babylon assumed their names from proximity to the village. Reminders of prominent citizens from that time live on in local street names: Elbert Carll, Henry Livingston, David S.S. Sammis, James B. Cooper, E.B. Litchfield, Judge John R. Reid, and William R. Foster. They took great pride in their newly formed town and in their village community, from the bucolic neighborhood streets to the verdant shores of the barrier beaches, many of which appear as postcard images within this book.