Langley Ave and Halsey Ave

Mystery question of the day (as a follow up to the previous post). Most of the streets in the presidential section are aptly named after presidents (i.e. Adams, Madison, Jackson, Harding, Grant(land), McKinley, Roosevelt, Coolidge, Wilson, Tyler Pl.). The two noted exceptions are Langley Ave. and Halsey Ave. Older street maps of WH show that these two streets were originally called Lincoln Ave and Harrison Ave, respectively. When zip codes were later introduced and the postal system became formalized, the people in charge assumedly didn't want there to be confusion with other streets of the same name within one zip code. Since a street named Lincoln already existed in the Hempstead Gardens section, and another named Harrison south of Eagle Ave, they chose different names for those two streets. But who are Langley and Halsey after whom the two streets are now named?

Aubrey G Hutcheson

One of the purposes of this blog is to provide a sense of what West Hempstead used to look like 100 years ago. Though most people wouldn't know it, there's a good chance that what is now a dilapidated gas station or a nail salon was once the site of a wealthy merchant's country estate (see previous post). Such is the case with the estate of Aubrey G. Hutcheson, located at what is now commonly known as the presidential section - a property that stretches from Nassau Blvd to the west to Hempstead Ave to the east, and from Walnut St north down to McKinley St to the south. A G Hutcheson made a fortune as an importer of fruit from the West Indies, whose firm, according to Peter Ross' History of Long Island, was the largest of any such business in NYC at the time.

In 1890, he purchased a large farm in WH from Alanson Abrams, a prominent Hempsteader who went on to become TOH Receiver of Taxes. Thereupon he built the magnificent home you see pictured below (taken from the book linked above).


About this home, Peter Ross writes:

His home at Hempstead is one of the finest residences in that pretty little town, the grounds being beautifully laid out and adorned with ornamental trees, shrubs, and flowers. Everything about the place testifies to the culture and fine tastes of the owner, and while there are many indications of wealth, there is nothing of display in this beautiful and attractive home. In 1910, Hutcheson sold his 99 1/2 acre farm and the property then was platted and developed as the presidential section, after the 'presidential' names of its streets. Hutcheson later retired to the Bahamas, but his legacy in WH still lives on in two buildings now located across Hempstead Ave. from where his old house once stood. Hutcheson had nine children, two of whom, Ralph E and Howard B Hutcheson, built the twin houses now occupied by China Connection and Congregation Anshei Shalom. Their stories will be the subject of another post.

To line up the 'now' shot, I had to resort to the E. Belcher Hyde map of 1906 (which incorrectly labeled our subject as 'A. Hutchinson'). The house appears just below center -

From the position of his house relative to Hempstead Ave. just north of the corner of Locust St., the picture below approximates the location.

The Murder of Minnie Bartlett and a Case of Swift Justice

In June, 1921, Long Island was gripped by the sensational story of a grizzly murder committed in West Hempstead. The victim was Minnie S. Bartlett, a wealthy 60 year-old widow whose late husband made his fortune as an oil merchant in NYC. Mrs. Bartlett was also a member of the Seabury family, a very old and prominent family on Long Island. The picture above comes from the Hempstead Public Library photo collection and shows Mrs. Bartlett's lovely 15 room Victorian home as it appeared in 1905, the scene of the crime (Mrs. Bartlett is at the far right on the front porch). The house was located at 2 Hempstead Ave, on the south side of the street, near the corner of the intersection with Hempstead Tpke. Below is a picture of the site as it looks today (albeit taken from the other side of Hempstead Ave - to give perspective of the building that currently occupies the property).

When Mrs. Bartlett's body was discovered by her sister Rebecca Seabury on the afternoon of June 22nd, an enormous manhunt for the killer was touched off. The initial search focused on the area behind the Bartlett home. At that time, that area was yet heavily wooded (before the Hempstead Country Club laid out its golf course) and would have provided good cover for someone who wished to hide out. Ironically, Mrs. Bartlett had put her home up for sale because she feared living alone in such a big house in a part of town that was considered secluded in 1921. When nothing turned up by the next day, the dragnet expanded to the entire area of Hempstead Reservoir. Over 150 detectives, firemen and boy scouts joined the search. The Town of Hempstead put up a $1,000 reward for information leading to the capture of the killer. Even Long Island's upper-class, socialite women took up the cause. Mrs. Morgan Belmont, a breeder of show dogs, donated hounds to join the hunt and offered her own monetary reward. For three days, detectives had nothing but fruitless leads to go on.

Then, on the morning of Saturday, June 25th, a man walked up to a police officer claiming his brother-in-law, a 36 year-old Polish day laborer named Lawrence Kubel, had committed the crime. Police then quickly arrested Kubel at his home and took him to police headquarters where he confessed to killing Mrs. Bartlett. Kubel had posed as a man who was interested in purchasing Bartlett's house and after the widow let Kubel into her home, he demanded $500 in cash. When the lady refused, he bludgeoned her to death - a senseless, cold blooded murder, brazenly carried out in broad daylight.

The case progressed at a speed that would be utterly unimaginable today. A grand jury was convened the following week and handed down an indictment of 1st degree murder against Kubel. A judge and jury were then selected and a trial date was set the week after that, on July 7th. The trial at the court house in Mineola was in itself a sensational event as hundreds of spectators crammed the court room to witness the proceedings (though the prosecutor persuaded all the women to leave to spare them from listening to the gory evidence). The trial lasted all of eight hours and the jury deliberated for a mere 11 minutes before they returned a guilty verdict. It would be the speediest verdict for a murder trial in Nassau County history. The following Tuesday, less than three weeks after the crime was committed, the judge sentenced Kubel to death, and shipped him off to Sing Sing where he would await his ultimate fate.

While at Sing Sing, Kubel twice tried to commit suicide by hanging himself by his bedsheet. On January 31st, 1922, the New York State Court of Appeals (which included future Supreme Court Justice Benjamin Cardozo) affirmed the conviction of Kubel and his date of execution was set for March 23. On March 22, Governor Nathan Lewis Miller, himself a proponent of the death penalty, refused to issue a stay of execution despite Kubel's bizarre behavior at Sing Sing that possibly suggested he was insane.

The next day, an eerily cheerful Kubel went to the barber for a haircut and a shave, listened to some music from a phonograph placed outside his cell, spoke to his wife for about an hour, and ate a hearty supper. Then he spent some time with Catholic priests before he was strapped to an electric chair at 11:03pm. Nine minutes later, (87 years ago yesterday from when I posted this blog) he was pronounced dead, the final chapter in West Hempstead's most notorious murder case.

General Foods Arch

The photo below is a picture of an Arch that was erected by the General Foods Co. for the 1964-65 NY Worlds Fair in Flushing.

From what I could gather from the posted comments at the worldsfaircommunity.org forum (hat tip), the arch was one of eleven scattered about the grounds of the Worlds Fair and in essence served as an advertisement for the General Foods Company as well as an information kiosk and rendezvous destination for fair goers. After the fair, General Foods sold off and/or scrapped the kiosks and the good old Worlds Fair enthusiasts at the linked website above were able to track down five of them that still exist in various parts of the country.

One of the archs ended up at the entrance to the Cherry Valley Center, a.k.a. the Pathmark shopping ctr, and remains WH's best specimen of the type of googie architecture that was popularized in the '50 and '60s.

I like to think of it as West Hempstead's own Gateway Arch, beckoning homesteaders' westward migration into the wild wild west (Elmont?) and the hinterland beyond (NYC?) - OK, maybe the comparison's going too far.

I'd love to find out more about this landmark if anyone has more info about it (e.g. when it was put in, who bought it, etc.)

Lindbergh St. or Lindberg St.?

In December 1926, a prominent local farmer named Edwin Duryea sold his 35 acre farm bounded by Woodfield Rd. and Hempstead Ave. to the east and west, and Bedell Terrace and Chestnut St. to the north and south, to a development company that was to build the homes and businesses upon that parcel. Edwin Duryea had lived in West Hempstead for years and was instrumental in the formation of its public institutions such as its fire dept. and school district. The new development would come to be known as Plymouth Colony, a commemoration of the 300th anniversary of the famed settlement of that name, celebrated only a few years earlier. (The colonial home off the northeast corner of Spruce St. and Hempstead Ave was originally built as the headquarters of the development, and for a time the developers showcased some artifacts from the original Plymouth Colony at that location).

The main street cutting through the new tract would be named Plymouth St. and a cross street would be called Colony St. To honor Edwin Duryea's maternal grandfather, William B. Bedell, who also lived nearby and tended the farm, the street forming the northern border would be named Bedell Terrace. The names of the four remaining streets running east-west would be taken from existing roads which the new cross-streets would be extending; Sycamore, Linden, Spruce and Wilson (Chestnut St. already ran through from Hempstead Ave. to Woodfield Rd.)

Then in May 1927, as the Plymouth development began selling off individual plots to prospective buyers, an incident occurred which changed aviation history. An army reserve pilot named Charles Lindbergh became the first man to fly solo, non-stop across the Atlantic Ocean, taking off from nearby Roosevelt Field, Long Island, and landing 33 hours later in Paris, France. The feat instantly made Lindbergh a huge American hero. In the days and months following the flight, Lindbergh was showered with parades and honors throughout the country.

In West Hempstead, the Plymouth Plan developers were so enamored by Lindbergh's accomplishment that they took the street they designated as Linden St. and decided to name it Lindbergh St. instead. On June 26th, a crowd of 2,000 people came out on a Sunday afternoon to witness a dedication ceremony in honor of Lindbergh at the corner of Plymouth St. A bronze propeller upon which Lindbergh's name was engraved was erected at the intersection, while an airplane made a special flyover to scatter rose petals over the street and the neighborhood .

Fast forward to today. If you look at the three street signs for Lindbergh St., you will notice something peculiar - the 'h' at the end of the name 'Lindbergh' is missing. In fact, the official spelling for the registered name of the street both at the County and the Postal Service is 'Lindberg'. Two of the street signs indicate that there was once an 'h' but that is was rubbed out (look closely at the picture below of the sign at the intersection with Plymouth St.). An examination of the County's property cards of homes along the street indicates a split - some of them have it Lindbergh while others have it Lindberg.


What happened to the 'h'? Here are two possible theories.

1) In a choice between Lindbergh and Lindberg, the more common and intuitive spelling is Lindberg. After time, people simply no longer identified the street name with its namesake and so the 'h' was eventually dropped.

2) It is well known that much of the luster of Lindbergh's reputation was tarnished in the 1930's after he made known his pacifist and protectionist views. His controversial statements, his frequent trips to Germany, his belief in Eugenics, and his resignation from his commission from the US Armed Forces made him considered by many as a Nazi sympathiser and by others as downright anti-Semitic. He was a leader of the America First Committee, which advocated that the USA stay out of the war in Europe. After Pearl Harbor, when the US was drawn into WWII, Lindbergh somewhat changed his tune and sought to reinstate his commission as Colonel in the Army Air Corps. But it was too late. The Roosevelt Administration denied his request, questioning where his true patriotic sympathies lied. (FDR once remarked to a cabinet member that, "if I should die tomorrow, I want you to know this, I am absolutely convinced Lindbergh is a Nazi.")

Though he still had many fans, it's clear that by the time WWII rolled around, Charles Lindbergh fell out of favor with many Americans. Perhaps neighbors who lived on the WH street named after him no longer wanted to be associated with the famous aviator, and so the 'h' was dropped.

LIRR - West Hempstead to Mineola Line

The terrific photo below (taken by Max Hubacher) is a scene from a "railfan" excursion train that ran on October 26, 1952. It depicts an old steam engine crossing Hempstead Turnpike on a sunny fall afternoon, looking west toward Broad St.

The LIRR West Hempstead line dates back to 1893 and used to run all the way up to Mineola. (Most of the right of way still exists and can still be seen by following the LIPA electric lines along the ROW) The original engines were all steam, until Oct. 1926, when the LIRR electrified the line. In addition to commuter service, the LIRR also ran freight trains that hauled, among other things, produce from the numerous Long Island farms to points west. (Can you imagine getting stuck waiting for a freight train to pass on Hempstead Turnpike?) At the time the photo was shot, the LIRR was still running freight trains along the line, and did so until 1956 when the operation became unprofitable. Commuter service along that portion had already ended sometime in the '30s, and by the 60's the tracks were torn up, leaving the West Hempstead station as the terminus of the current line.

To get the "now" shot, I lined up the telephone pole holding up the lines along the LIRR ROW on the left side of the "then" shot. I'm not sure if it's the same pole, but it still must be pretty close.

Two interesting points of note about the 'then' picture. 1) Looks like Hempstead Turnpike was still a dirt road. 2) In the backgound you will notice a sign the says 'Jacoves'. Jacoves was a liquor store that only recently closed up, three years ago or so.

Nassau Hospital Part II - Onderdonk Estate

Below is a sketch from the same Brooklyn Eagle article of the estate of the late Henry M. Onderdonk. Onderdonk was a prominent local citizen who was publisher and editor of the Hempstead Inquirer, and had once served in the Senate when he lived in Ohio. The house was built in the 1840s for Adrian V. Cortelyou, a veteran of the War of 1812. Onderdonk pruchased the home sometime around 1870. He died in 1885 and his widow, Catherine, occupied the house until she, too, died in 1898. When the Nassau Hospital ran out of room at the Bedell House, the recently vacated Onderdonk home across the street (at the western corner of Hempstead Ave and Hempstead Tpke) provided a golden opportunity to handle the overflow of patients.

Though the Onderdonk house itself was at the eastern corner of the property, as per the Chester Wolverton Atlas of 1891, the estate comprised the entire 19 acre triangle bounded by Hempstead Ave, Hempstead Turnpike and Westminster Rd. Soon thereafter, LIRR President Austin Corbin purchased most of the property to lay a new rail line from Valley Stream to Mineola.

Since I didn't know at what angle the sketch was drawn, I had to resort to the Fowler & Bulger birdseye view of Hempstead below from 1876 to recreate the "now" photo.

The birdseye view above shows both the Bedell and Onderdonk houses, with the present-day Hempstead Tpke-Front St. running NW-SE and Hempstead Ave-Fulton St. running SW-NE. The Bedell House is just right of center while the Onderdonk House is at the far left. From the sketch, a porch exists on the near side of the Onderdonk House, while the far side of the house is obscured. The rear of the house has an extension that runs lengthwise, so it can't be that the Brooklyn Eagle sketch was rendered from the rear of the house. It's clear then, that the near porch in the birdseye view is the porch on the left side of the sketch, which was drawn from the street corner facing west - hence the angle provided in the "now" photo. As you can see below, the stately home of Henry M. Onderdonk has been replaced by a different sort of "castle".

Nassau Hospital Part I - A K Bedell Estate

The sketch below is taken from a feature article in the Oct. 2, 1898 edition of the Brooklyn Eagle about the Nassau Hospital, Nassau County’s first full service medical facility. The hospital was opened in July 1897 at the home of Abner K. Bedell, a wealthy silver and china import merchant from NYC who spent his summers in Hempstead. Prior to its opening, residents of the townships of Oyster Bay, Hempstead & North Hempstead in need of hospital services would have had to travel all the way to Brooklyn or Long Island City, a considerable distance at the time.

In 1898, the Hospital was instrumental in treating the sick soldiers of nearby Camp Black. By 1900, the hospital relocated to Mineola and became the forerunner of Winthrop University Hospital. The house was located on the north side of Fulton street, near the intersection with Front street, and is testimony to the grandeur of the stately homes that lined Fulton Ave at the turn of the 20th Century.

The expansive porch of this house was emblematic of its use as a summer retreat, and its Mansard roof as the main feature of its architecture was a popular style for many homes of the area (including the "Apostle Houses" of Garden City). A K Bedell died in 1912 and left his million-dollar estate to a daughter and a son, Daniel Bedell, who had once served as a NYC Alderman. At some point after Daniel Bedell died in 1922, the property was sold off and platted (the E. Belcher Hyde map of 1927 still shows the Bedell estate as a contiguous property, so it's fair to assume the earliest date the sale could have taken place was not too much before 1927). The Bedell name survives at the former property in Bedell Ave which runs north-south along the Hempstead-Cathedral Gardens border. In place of the home above was built the current structure, the Lutheran Church of the Epiphany. According to the Nassau County property records, the church was completed in 1931. Below is a recent picture, approximate to the location of the where the above house used to stand.