By Francesca Normile
Back in 1870, the last stop on the Long Island Rail Road was Bridgehampton. Anyone coming from Manhattan and aiming to travel beyond that final stop was greeted with carriages to carry them out further East.
Commonly, however, the fatigued travelers would stay in the little hamlet for a night, sleeping in one of Bridgehampton’s three inns or at another boarding house. Businessmen began falling in love with the local Bridgehampton girls, and, so the story goes, the hamlet population grew, grand houses were eventually built along Ocean Road, and Bridgehampton was no longer a rest-stop on the way to Montauk.
Fast forward to present day, and there are only two houses left on the long stretch of Ocean Road that are architecturally intact — that is, identical to how they appeared before the turn of the 20th century.
However, in an exhibit which opened last weekend, the Bridgehampton Historical Society is providing the public with a glimpse of what Ocean Road (formerly Atlantic Avenue) used to be. Beyond the Minden and Rusticana estates — the two remaining structures on Ocean Road that have kept their original architecture — curators Julie Greene and Nora Cammann have collected an expansive amount of historical and photographic evidence on those other buildings that are no longer standing today.
The exhibit, “Ocean Road: 1895-1915,” showcases photographs of all structures that existed during a span of 20 years around the turn of the 20th century, alongside photographs of the people who built or inhabited those homes and the town during that time. And, as Greene illuminated, with plenty of strange anecdotes and familial facts coming to light in this exhibition, the owners and residents are perhaps even more fascinating than the structures they once resided within.
Take, for instance, Frederick Valentine Clowes (who preferred to reduce his middle name to V.) who owned Hopewell, a beautiful mansion he ordered built in 1906. Clowes lived in Hopewell for around 50 years with his wife, Virginia A. Clowes. Everything about the family and the house appeared normal enough, until Frederick V. Clowes’ death, when it became evident he had stipulated in his will that his house be torn down as soon as he passed, so as to prevent anyone else from ever inhabiting it. And so, in fact, it was destroyed in the 1950s.
Finding out so many specifics about life a hundred years ago or more may seem like an impossible task, but Greene and Cammann received an insider’s look from a long-passed Bridgehampton resident, Ernest Clowes.
“Many of the photographs and information we have on a typical day [in the late 1800s/early 1900s] in Bridgehampton is from [Frederick V.] Clowes’ brother, Ernest,” explained Greene. “After his brother died and the house was torn down, Ernest remained in the town. He took tons of photographs at the turn of the century and kept a diary, and when he died he donated them all to the Bridgehampton Historical Society.”
“So we have a great picture of what life was like back then on a daily basis,” added Greene.
The exhibit, in addition to including a vast number of photographs, includes mannequins in period dress as well as a re-creation of a strip of beach shaded by the early 20th century version of the beach umbrella — the beach arbor — hung in front of a painted ocean scene. While semi-kitschy and kooky, the exhibit is also incredibly informative, providing a fascinating look into what today’s Bridgehampton once was.
On July 19 a lecture presentation will be offered by co-curator Julie Greene at 10 a.m. Admission is $10. Bridgehampton Historical Society is located at 2368 Montauk Highway, Bridgehampton. Call 437-1088 for details.
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