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Building Northport
 

By the late 1800s, Northport had entered its “Golden Age” of prosperity and growth. Industries like ship building, publishing, sand mining, banking and oyster farming provided steady employment and wealth for the growing community. Men like Henry Scudder Sammis, his son Charles T. Sammis, and Benjamin Robbins were some of Northport’s early builders, constructing churches, schools and commercial storefronts.
What Northport needed next was housing.
As the original land holders began dying off, their heirs seized the opportunity to sell their large estates to developers, who then divided them up into lots to create new housing developments.

Building By the Harbor
Last week's newsletter featured Highland Park, which was developed by the owners of the Edward Thompson Company for their employees. Builder Darius S. B. Ruland, whose father, also Darius, was the Eaton’s Neck Lighthouse keeper, built many of the beautiful homes in Highland Park around 1895, including 71 Woodside, 75 Woodside, 40 Douglas and 11 McKinney. Perhaps his most noted work however is the house that stands at 155 Bayview Avenue, which he built in 1898 for oyster baron Stanley Lowndes.
Stanley Lowndes' house at 155 Bayview Avenue

Church Street and the Village
Another prolific builder of that time was Joseph Cadoo. The son of an Irish immigrant, Joseph built houses at 22 Church Street (which he built for his family), and 24 & 30 Church Street. He also built 15 Avenue B for Anton Fredericks and 103 Highland Avenue for William McKinney, the Editor-in-Chief for the Thompson Company. Unfortunately, Joseph’s life and career were cut short when he died in 1906 at the age of 36, leaving behind a wife and two children.
22 Church St, home of Joseph Cadoo 
103 Highland Avenue, built by Cadoo for William McKinney


Vail Street and Laurel Avenue
The contracting firm of Vail and Call were responsible for many houses as well as some of the important buildings in Northport.
Isaac Platt Vail, born in 1873 to a farmer in Vernon Valley, and William E. Call, one time the Mayor of Northport, bought up property off Church Street and laid out Vail Street around 1909, where they built most of the houses. They also bought the land around Laurel Avenue and built numerous houses between 1910 and 1915 across the street from the Laurel Avenue School, which they constructed a few years later in 1923. Vail and Call also built the first Northport Public Library on Main Street in 1914, now home the Northport Historical Society.
The Northport Public Library under construction in 1914

Price's Bend and Hobart Beach
The estate of Mary E. Jones on Eaton’s Neck which included the area around Price’s Bend and Hobart Beach, was purchased in 1952 by the Eaton’s Neck Sound Corporation, which was founded by Robert Lennox, a real estate lawyer for US Sand and Gravel. He hired the land surveyor firm of Teas and Steinbrenner to lay out roads, such as Argyle Drive, Essex Court, Carlisle Road and Peterborough Drive, all named for counties in England. Lennox did not get to see his dream realized further, as he died suddenly of a heart attack in 1953. The Corporation eventually appointed a new president, Charles F. McNamee, who finished the job. Trees were cleared, roads were paved, water mains, and telephone and electric poles installed. Building lots were mostly sold to builders and contractors for $2,400.  

Asharoken 
William Codling was a self-taught real estate lawyer who became one of the largest landowners in Suffolk County. In the late 1890s, he developed Seaview Avenue, building a house for himself at # 46, then selling nearby lots. In 1900 he purchased all of Asharoken Beach, but for a few lots, from Ida and Milton Smith who had previously tried to sell the beachfront property without success.
Codling felt marketing would help move the land. He created brochures, built a model home, and targeted wealthy families in NYC, enticing them to build summer homes along the beach where ‘every lot was a shorefront.’ In just a few years, all the lots were sold, and large homes lined the Avenue.


Waterside Park and "The Pit"
Several members of the Burt Family have had a major impact on helping to develop and build Northport and East Northport. Willis B. Burt grew up farming with his brother Monroe in Crab Meadow, then became the proprietor of a carriage making firm and blacksmith shop on Main Street. The next step in his varied career began in 1900 when he purchased the several hundred-acre William Chesbrough estate in Crab Meadow. The development he created became Waterside Park. 
Willis also owned the original beach pavilion on Crab Meadow Beach. His son Henry W. Burt joined him in building and development of Waterview Terrace. They also built homes along Burt Avenue. Joining the family tradition, A. Raymond Burt founded the Burt Lumber Company and Howard Willis Burt built some of the first houses in the then newly developed area know as “The Pit.”
The original Crab Meadow beach pavilion 

The Reach of the Railroad
The House and Home Company, a large firm that bought up property near LIRR stations all over Long Island, began buying in East Northport, laying out roads, and constructing houses around 1904. This area is now known as “The Grid.” This company also developed Bellecrest to reflect more of a park-like setting. As a sales tactic, the company offered free rides on the LIRR from the city for families to come and see the new homes in the suburbs. Many immigrants living in crowded conditions in the city bought more spacious lots in East Northport, and built homes there. One such family was the Tiivola family. 
The Tiivola house in Larkfield
Frederic Tiivola, originally from Finland, built the house that still stands on 4th Street and 9th Avenue, as well as the original East Northport Fire Department Building.
The original East Northport firehouse

Hewitt Square Remains
Walter C. Hewitt began developing in Nassau County, but turned his sights to East Northport around 1937. He purchased the Thomas A. Clarke estate, which included 38 acres adjoining the railroad station, and divided it up into 102 lots. Hewitt continued buying up properties all the way from Makamah to Elwood to Fort Salonga all through the 1930s. In the 1940s he bought on Clay Pitts and Larkfield, Crab Meadow and Dickinson.
In 1947, Hewitt purchased property from Mabel and Grace Carll on the corner of Larkfield and Pulaski Roads. He decided to keep the land and had a shopping center constructed, naming it Hewitt Square. Shortly afterward he moved to Northport himself.

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Northport Historical Society
PO Box 545
Northport, NY 11768






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Northport HIstorical Society · 215 Main Street · PO Box 545 · Northport, NY 11768 · USA

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