Northport, East Northport, Greenlawn

Northport Harbor

I spent most of the day just driving around Northport, East Northport, and Greenlawn, also having lunch at the house I grew up in. First, the Village Dock in Northport at the end of Main Street.

Northport Harbor

Lobster traps on the dock.

Northport Harbor

More of the harbor.

Northport Harbor

Posing seagull.

Northport Harbor

Closer–up.

Northport Harbor

The People’s Float.

Northport Harbor

Long view of the dock.

Northport Harbor

End of dock with man in a rowboat.

Northport Harbor

World War I memorial.

Northport Harbor

Vietnam War Memorial.

Northport Harbor

Chess table in the park.

Northport Harbor

My Old House

Before exploring the rest of the area, I went to have lunch at the house that I lived in from 1945 to 1962. One way to get to the house is go under this train trestle. You can see in the photo that its been tagged. This was very upsetting as THIS WAS MY TRESTLE––I walked or drove under this trestle constantly. I used to give people directions to my house––go under the trestle and then look at the top of the hill for a big white house and go up the driveway.

My Old House

This was my big white house on the top of the hill––but you can no longer see it from the street. A number of very large houses have been built on the bottom of the hill and so many trees have been planted that you can no longer see the house through the trees. I even had some trouble finding the driveway to the house. (When I visited my old house in 1994 with Eddie, there were no trees or houses blocking the view.)

My Old House

The back of the house. The small building to the left is known as “The John.” It was the original john when the house was built about 200 years ago. Now it is used for storage. The middle building is known as “The Freezer House.” We had a very large freezer in it (to freeze our blueberries, raspberries, and 100 chickens––our chickens freaked out and smothered, so we ate them two per week for a year). Before the freezer was put in, it was my grandfather’s laboratory in which he made gum for my sister and me. The freezer house no longer has a freezer in it, but the name has stuck. The plants in the front and right of the photo are peonies, the bulbs of which my mother planted at least 60 years ago.

My Old House

The Old Red Barn, now made into a house. This was my father’s publishing office.

My Old House

This English walnut tree has certainly grown in the last 45 years (for some of you who remember this tree for various reasons, it is not an apple tree). I am so very lucky that I know the people who bought my old house and I am able to visit it again. I was served a most excellent lunch on my visit and was able to tour both the property and the inside of the house.

My Old House

James Street Beach

After visiting My Old House, I went back to driving around. First, to James Street Beach. We spent our junior high school summers at this beach––then, there was just a gravel path to the beach.

James Street Beach

What, no swimming allowed here anymore?

James Street Beach

The beach. There was a float to swim to and also to push people off from. The greatest fun here were the jelly fish fights when the harbor was full of them in August. They were small and not poisonous, but if one hit you in your eye, it stung. Jackie Endres Harned and I used to swim far off this beach into the harbor where the boats were––we were very adventurous. For the first summer that this was our hangout, we didn’t have a lifeguard. The next summer I guess the city fathers were worried about having at least 100 teenagers swimming without supervision, so we were given a lifeguard––Joe Corliss, Eddie’s brother for those who know the name.

James Street Beach

Not only is there a big house now fronting the beach (it used to be an empty space), there are also houses on the side of the pathway leading to the beach.

James Street Beach

Asharoken Beach

We went to this beach sometimes during our high school years.

Asharoken Beach

Even though the gates to the parking lots at some of the beaches had opening and closing hours, I do not remember there being “beach hours” at any of the beaches.

Asharoken Beach

Not only can’t you swim here if no lifeguard is on duty, you can only swim in a specified area––see white floats. In the 50s and 60s, you could swim out as far as you wanted.

Asharoken Beach

Those are condos in the background––another Northport change of landscape.

Asharoken Beach

Looking to the right of Asharoken Beach.

Asharoken Beach

Crabmeadow Beach

This was the main beach that we went to during our high school years. Its pavilion has been redone.

Crabmeadow Beach

And a fountain and gardens added.

Crabmeadow Beach

The beach.

Crabmeadow Beach

It’s low tide––you need to walk out pretty far just to get wet to your knees––almost all the way to Connecticut across the Long Island Sound from Crabmeadow Beach. When the tide was low, you had to be careful not to step on the tail of a horseshoe crab––these crabs are over 12 inches across and have nasty stingers.

Crabmeadow Beach

The boardwalk.

Crabmeadow Beach

The sand here right off the boardwalk was our claimed spot of the beach.

Crabmeadow Beach

The rocks that we had fun climbing on.

Crabmeadow Beach

Inside the pavilion where we used to get snacks (there now is also an upscale restaurant here). We used to dance here at night during the summer––it had a jukebox playing rock and roll music.

Crabmeadow Beach

Northport

St. Paul’s Methodist Church, where I went to kindergarden and first grade. The regular elementary school was too crowded, so some of us were sent to school here. I still remember who some of my classmates were: Jackie Endres Harned and Bonnie Berglund Wine.

Northport

Ocean Avenue Elementary School

Where the Northport kids went to elementary school. Patti LuPone’s father was the principal of this school.

Ocean Avenue Elementary School

Larkfield Elementary School

Where the East Northport kids went to elementary school. I went here. It is now a rest home.

Larkfield Elementary School

Laurel Avenue School

he original high school, then a junior high for both Northport and East Northport kids. It has been renamed the William J. Bronsnan School after a popular retired school superintendent. The renaming resulted in a letter writing campaign against it by ex–Northporters. They lost.

Laurel Avenue School

Northport

I was a freshman here when it first opened as a high school. However, the population of the area had already expanded to more than the capacity of the new high school, so freshmen went to school in the afternoon and the rest of the grades went in the morning. It was built as a campus style school––a nice design in warm weather areas, but not great for the winter snow and cold and ice in NY. Today, it is a junior high. I had to take buses to all the schools that I went to. I envied the kids who could walk to their schools. Today, an elementary school and the high school are both in walking distance from my old house.

Northport

St. Phillip Neri Church, where some girls went to high school.

Northport

First Presbyterian Church???

Northport

My dentist’s office was in this house.

Northport

An old house in Northport. As I drove around Northport, I was almost shocked to discover that it had had “An Invasion of the Yuppies.” There were many, many new, some quite large, very attractive houses on every piece of land available. But I was also impressed with how nicely the old houses have been fixed up, such as this one. I used to have to explain to people where Northport was––”it is near Huntington,” a large neighboring town. No more––if I say that I grew up in Northport, now people say “Wow!” This is not to say that old Northporters are all pleased with the changes in Northport––overdevelopment, not enough roads to handle the increased traffic, and very high property taxes.

Northport

Another old Northport house.

Northport

The Oldest House in Northport––the Skidmore House, built in 1761. There was a 1700s house near my old house, but I was told that it had burned down. Maybe it was older than this one.

Northport

East Northport

The main street of East Northport has not been yuppyfied. In most places, it looks like it hasn’t been touched since the 1960s. Photo: the shopping center. I think that market once was Bohacks.

East Northport

The train track crossing in East Northport.

East Northport

The Northport train station in East Northport.

East Northport

Greenlawn

Even though I attended Northport/East Northport schools, we lived closest to Greenlawn, population 2000 when I left. This is where we would do most of our simple shopping. Greenlawn also was our fire department and we had a post office box there.