AMAGANSETT: BUILT: 1895, BURNED: 8/15/10 2ND DEPOT BUILT: 1910,
AGENT AND FAMILY LIVED UPSTAIRS. ALTHOUGH BRANCH WAS OPENED TO MONTAUK,
AMAGANSETT WAS A TERMINAL UNTIL 6/1/27 WHEN THE NEW YARD WAS OPENED AT
MONTAUK. AGENCY CLOSED: 1958. DEPOT BUILDING RAZED OVER SEVERAL WEEKS
DURING THE MONTH OF AUGUST, 1964 (The East Hampton Star: 08/20/64).
REPLACED WITH WOODEN SHELTER SHED: AUGUST/ SEPTEMBER, 1964. HI-LEVEL
PLATFORMS AND SHELTER INSTALLED: 1999 TO ACCOMMODATE NEWLY-ARRIVED C3
BI-LEVEL CARS WHICH WERE PLACED IN SERVICE JULY, 1999. (Robert L. Myers
1999 data) **FREIGHT STATION BUILT: 1895 STILL STANDING: 2003
Research: Dave Keller
Amagansett was a terminal. until 6/01/1927. Hence the engine house along
with additional layup tracks south of the main., the numerous boarding
houses, a bunk house and a coaling trestle. I was told years back by a
veteran who stayed
at a boarding house, in Amagansett, that one woman owner used to provide
bag lunches for her resident crew members to take for their runs!
It was
a close community that kind of vanished after the Montauk yard was
rebuilt in 1927. Some older railroad families still reside(d) there,
such as the family of Leo Hantz, a LIRR conductor and brother of my late
Aunt Catherine's husband Gene Hantz. Leo and his family lived in
Amagansett. Uncle Gene wasn't a LIRR guy and he and his family lived in
East Hampton.
A lot
of LIRR train crews and engine crews that worked and/or "owned" the
Montauk runs, owned houses or lived in boarding houses in Amagansett,
the reason being that although the branch extended to Montauk, very few
trains went the whole way out there and Amagansett acted as a terminal
from the 1895 opening of the branch extension until 6/1/1927 when the
new yard was built at Montauk. Dave Keller |
Amagansett Station 9/19 1911 Photo: Joseph Burt, Sr. Archive: Queens
Public Library
Note: Although the LIRR opened to Montauk in 1895 with some trains going the full distance, most trains only went as far as Amagansett until the terminal facilities at Montauk were upgraded in 1927. Amagansett was a terminal for over 30 years!
Research: Dave Keller
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LIRR #19 4-6-0 G54sa Camelback c.1910+ - Amagansett Historical
Association - East Hampton Library |
Amagansett G54sa Camelback - Clement Eichhorn, James Eichhorn, Sr. 2nd
from
left c.1902+ - Amagansett Historical Association - East
Hampton Library
Amagansett Station colorized post card - c. 1909
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A postcard rear view of Amagansett Station when new (1911). While this postcard view was of the station when new, it wasn’t mailed until a year or two later as is evidenced by the cancellation on the back (see next image) George G. Ayling collection, Dave Keller archive
Back of same postcard, sent by Amagansett LIRR agent Ira Baker to LIRR block operator George Ayling at Central Islip and postmarked with an RPO cancellation in what looks perhaps like 1912 (cancellation is poor and hard to read). George Ayling spent some time working at Quogue and also under Ira Baker at Amagansett in 1910 and remained friends for many, many years. Ira Baker was a well-liked man and was the agent in charge in 1942 when the Nazi’s landed on the beach at Amagansett and attempted to take the train into New York City. George G. Ayling collection, Dave Keller archive |
When the LIRR opened out to Montauk in 1895, very few trains terminated there. Most of them terminated at Amagansett, hence the terminal facilities. Many LIRR men boarded out there at a very popular boarding house within walking distance of the terminal. The woman who ran the house took good care of the men who stayed there, even providing them lunches to bring with them to work.
Some old timers upon marrying bought houses in Amagansett and East Hampton because their runs originated and terminated at Amagansett.
Amagansett School house, station in background postcard c.1905+
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A valuation photo for the Public Service Commission by LIRR trainman Irving Solomon shot in September, 1958 when the idea of closing the agency and removing the building was proposed. This station was built in
1911 to replace the original one-storey structure that was destroyed by fire. The only photo I’ve ever seen of the original depot was a color postcard view shot from the rear. The 1911 Dutch Colonial structure with gambrel roof was demolished in 1964. Irving Solomon photo, Dave Keller archive
Amagansett color postcard c. 1930
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This postcard view
shows the 1905 four-room addition ("two up, two down") that
was built on the front of the 1881 building. The slightly narrower
original 1881 structure is just visible to the rear in this
view.
The
1881 structure, which as you can see had a simple gable roof. The site
is now occupied by tennis courts owned by the Amagansett Village
Improvement Society.
The
school (it was the second school here -- the first was a one-room
structure that stood in the middle of Main Street) was built in 1881
by George Eldredge of East Hampton, from plans drawn by P. Bergen
Maryotte. It cost $$1,986 to build. The lot on which it stood was
purchased for $500 from Captain Joshua B. Edwards.
That
building soon became overcrowded (larger families then!) and a 4-room
addition was built onto the front of the structure in 1905 by Everett
W. Babcock at a cost of $4,900.
It
was demolished after the third school was built in 1936-37 (nine
classrooms and an auditorium) on the south side of Main Street. That
structure cost $155,000. Research compliments: Peter
Garnham, Amagansett Historical Association
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Amagansett Station -View SE - 9/27/1956 The agency closed in 1958
but the depot itself remained open for a number of years, until it was
razed on August 31, 1964.
The block station was placed out of service on May 19, 1958, with block
limit signals placed IN service the same day. This meant that there was
no longer a block operator on duty there.
As the block operator and the clerk and/or agent were sometimes
one-and-the-same, it would make sense that that agency's closing date
matched that of the block station being taken out of service.
In 1956, when the image was created, there was still an agent/operator
on duty selling tickets and handling the block. Research/Archive: Dave
Keller
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LIRR RS3 #1551 passing siding AG
Block Limit Signal at Amagansett 6/17/1973 Photo: Madden, Archive:
Dave Keller |
Emery MP 103-104 (showing the station facilities and sidings)
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Emery map MP 104- 105 (showing the old railroad terminal, engine house and coaling/watering facilities east of the station area.) |
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LIRR Freight Sidings 1966 map #43 |
Amagansett - Newsday 10/08/1963 Archive: Dave Morrison |
Amagansett - The East Hampton Star 8/20/1964 Archive: Dave Morrison |
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View westbound |
2008 View east |
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View NE January 1966 Photo:
unknown
03/21/08 View NE
Photo/Archive:
Mike McDermet
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Cranberry Hole Road - Amagansett -
8/22/2013
(Kyril Bromley-The East Hampton Press)
Cranberry Hole Road - Amagansett
View SE 6/2019 |
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Photos
1/01/2010 courtesy of Stephen D. Rothaug unless noted.
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