Local Transportation

Charles S. Schleier reportedly paid $23,00 for construction of a new Breslau depot in 1870.  The depot also operated as the telegraph & post office.  Around 1876, the Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) acquired the railroad line from the South Side Railroad.  An early morning fire destroyed the charming depot on January 22, 1901.  A ticket case, 2 record books, & a typewriter were rescued, but everything else was destroyed.    

Breslau's 1st post office opened at the South Side Railroad's Wellwood Station depot on January 9, 1871, with station agent Gustave Gube as postmaster.  The South Side Signal relayed concerns about the post office during its 1st year of operation: "the office, which is located at the Depot, is often closed in 5 minutes after the arrival of trains, subjecting parties calling for mail too much annoyance."  Pictured here in 1897 are conductor Philip Birchell of Babylon & William Laurence of Breslau.  By this time, the Long Island Rail Road had taken over operation of the railroad line.  This view is looking west with an eastbound train on the tracks.

Within 2 weeks of the January 22, 1901 fire, which destroyed the previous depot, the Long Island Rail Road started shipping lumber & materials for the construction of a new depot.  On February 23, 1901, the South Side Signal assured, "The railroad company's carpenters, under the leadership of Foreman A.S. Haff, Jr. are hustling work on the new depot, which occupies the site of the old one.  It is now in frame, & will be ready for occupancy in a fortnight.  It will be a neat-looking structure."  This view is looking east.

The South Side Signal printed weekly construction updates on the construction progress of the new depot.  On March 2, 1901, "It is a pretty little structure, with low, broad eaves & a cone-shaped, pagoda-like roof."  On March 9, "Lindenhurst will have the prettiest  depot between Massapequa & Oakdale - barring none.  Some are bigger, but there are none as pretty from an architectural standpoint."  On March 16, painters began their work, & "carpenters are hurrying up what remains of their work."  On March 23, "Station Agent Bingham is daily expecting orders to vacate his 4-wheeled (temporary) headquarters & take possession of the new depot...freight house has been moved east 80 feet."

On March 30, 1901, the South Side Signal declared, "The new depot was used on Monday (March 25) for the first (time).  There is as yet a conspicuous lack of seats, but that difficulty will be overcome in a few days, no doubt.  Otherwise, the depot is pronounced O.K."  This view is looking west with an eastbound train on the tracks.

This east-facing view shows the Lindenhurst station around 1905.  By 1915, a rail branch was extended a few hundred feet to the Dittmann Bros. coal yard on the north side of the tracks, & another branch reached the Vulcanite Manufacturing plant on the south side of the tracks.  The depot built in 1901 welcomed visitors to Lindenhurst for several decades, from horse-and-buggy days through the advent of automobiles & into the 1960's.  It was a familiar landmark for generations of residents at the southeast corner of Wellwood & Hoffman Avenues as the surrounding downtown expanded.  By the mid-1960's, the Long Island Rail Road decided to elevate the tracks.  Desiring to preserve an important piece of local history, the Lindenhurst Historical Society petitioned the Metropolitan Transit Authority (MTA) to give it the depot & freight house rather than having them demolished.  On October 25, 1968, the MTA transferred the buildings to the historical society, & they were moved to Irmisch Triangle on South Broadway, where they were later joined by the original Village Hall & police station.  The buildings were restored as a museum, which is open during the summer months. 

This postcard advertises the Lindenhurst Estates real estate development.  The company chartered a series of 1907 railroad excursions from New York City for thousands of prospective buyers.  Free excursion tickets were available with a reservation.  Developers declared "Lindenhurst is an Industrial, Commercial & Home City, entirely independent & self sustaining."  The community was suitable to build "Homes for the Mechanic & Millionaire."  Lots & "villa sites" were offered as low as $75, with a $5 down payment & $3 monthly payments.  An oversized ad in the Brooklyn Daily Eagle hyped local amenities, including 2 miles of frontage on the Great South Bay & Atlantic Ocean, 2 LIRR lines, & 28 factories producing lace, millinery goods mechanical toys, & cigars, & "Feller's Famous Lindenhurst Brewery," which "give employment to the present population & many from nearby towns."  It was also described that low rates encouraged many Lindenhurst residents to commute to New York City for business & asserted that "more people commute to Lindenhurst for employment in our factories than go to the Greater City from Lindenhurst."

Pfingst Monday, or Pfingsten, is the German Pentecost & is widely celebrated by German American immigrants.  In 1883, the Brooklyn Daily Eagle declared, "The jolliest day of all the year with the Germans is Pfingst Monday," likening it to "St. Patrick's day among the Irish."  Yearly celebrations of Pfingst Monday, & later Pfingst Sunday as well, brought excursion trains of visitors from New York City who were met at the depot by a festive German band, & business areas were decorated with tree branches & pine boughs.  Pictured is the arrival of an excursion train at the depot.

Pfingsten was locally celebrated for more than 4 decades.  In 1917, a movement to abolish the German celebration spread through the community.  The festival had attracted an undesirable hoodlum element, & many in the community became uncomfortable adhering to German customs as World War I raged in Europe & more non-Germans moved to Lindenhurst.

This photo of the depot shows the gaslight lamp posts that lit the station until electric lights were installed.           

A close-up of the previous photo showing the depot sign above the bay ticket window  reveals the distances to Montauk in the east & "L.I. City" in the west.  Before the opening of Pennsylvania Station in 1910, the Long Island Rail Road terminated at Long Island City, with ferries completing the journey into Manhattan.

This photo shows the passenger shelter pavilion constructed on the south side of the tracks, on the left side of the photo.

A close-up of the previous photo shows the crossing warning sign reading "Railroad Crossing, Look Out for the Cars", meaning the train cars, without lights or crossing gates.  At this time, the absence of much automobile traffic & other noises would have made the trains much easier to hear as they approached the station.  Eventually, manually operated crossing gates were installed on either side of the intersection of Wellwood & Hoffman Avenues.  

Wessel's Hotel was built in 1913 at Linden Beach, now Gilgo State Park.  Proprietor John Wessel advertised "An Ideal Beach Resort... A short sail from Babylon & Lindenhurst, Accommodations by the day, week or season...Excellent ferry service Sundays & holidays from Lindenhurst - Captains James & Charles Reve."  The Reve brothers' service to Linden Beach included the powerboats Barney C. & Surprise.  A round trip to Linden Beach was 25 cents.

The Wellwood Avenue pavilion & dock are pictured around 1905.  In 1916, the South Side Signal reported a successful fishing trip: "George B. Long & little Johnnie M., of New York, enjoyed several days fishing on the bay last week piloted by Captain Singraf, who found plenty of fish.  They caught 500, 450 & 300, on 3 successive days, shipping them to their friends along Broadway."

In 1909, the South Shore Traction Company purchased an old Babylon village trolley route & extended it 3 miles west through Lindenhurst to Amityville.  Operating under the name Babylon Railroad, the electrified trolley line opened on June 11, 1910, with 5 small trolley cars, each with a capacity of 28 passengers.  Trolley cars operated at an average of one per hour.  

The full trolley trip from Babylon to Amityville cost 10 cents & took about 35 minutes.  Intermediate trips from Lindenhurst cost just 5 cents.  Stories of trolley mishaps abound.  Motorman Henry Ellis Willmont recalled that the trolley "used to jump off quite a bit & we'd have to run it back on."  Sometimes, passengers helped to lift the car back on the tracks.

A car barn for trolley storage for the Babylon Railroad was located to the east at Belmont Junction, near Great East Neck Road (across Hoffman Avenue from the present CVS).  The trolley business was never a profitable enterprise.  Despite its decade-long service shuttling residents & visitors through Lindenhurst the trolley business could not compete with the increased use of personal automobiles.  On May 15, 1920, the operations of the Babylon Railroad ended.

One of Lindenhurst's 1st automobiles was owned by hotelier & town highway commissioner John Griebel, a 1908 Ford Model S Runabout that cost about $825.  It is pictured with Griebel's daughters Lily (at the right-side steering controls) & Agnes.  Highlighting some of the hazards of early automobile ownership, the South Side Signal reported, "Tony Warta, while cranking his automobile on Wednesday, was struck by the handle & sustained a fracture of the left arm."

Another early automobile was that of Charles Weierter Jr., pictured at the wheel of his E-M-F Company motorcar around 1910.  The increase of automobile use brought many local concerns.  At a Babylon Town Board meeting, town clerk Fred Sheide proposed installation of an "arc light", or street lamp, at the intersection of Wellwood Avenue and Montauk Highway, citing the hazards of crossing the main thoroughfare after dark, as reported in the South Side Signal on July 2, 1910.

This photo of a west-bound automobile on Montauk Highway starting to turn north onto Wellwood Avenue ca. 1910 illustrates Fred Sheide's concern, as one can imagine how the dark of night would affect the ability to clearly see pedestrians or other traffic in this heavily wooded intersection.

Workers clear snow from Montauk Highway by hand.  After a December 1910 storm, the South Side Signal headlined, "Heavy Fall of Snow Reminds Us of the Good Old Days When Sleighs Were Commoner Than Autos."  The paper further described the amusement of seeing "daring automobile drivers pushing their cars through the heavy snow...every once in a while (they) had to get out & shovel the snow away from the wheels in order to get a start."  The old Welwood mansion on the north side of Montauk Highway can be seen in the middle of the photo, at which time it was owned by Timothy & Johanna Neville.

On August 19, 1924, a biplane crashed in a field near Montauk Highway.  The Suffolk County News reported, "Near-by, the running team of the Lindenhurst Fire Department was practicing for the tournament...& saw the plane descent but thought it was maneuvering to get closer to them.  When they saw the crash, however, they ran up & extinguished the fire with chemicals, pulling the 3 men out."  2 survived.