Highlights of Early Horse History in West Hempstead

The following article appeared, with slight modifications, in the Summer 2013 edition of the WHCSA News & Views newsletter.

The grand opening of the revamped New York Equestrian Center on Eagle Ave provides an opportunity to highlight some of the more illustrious moments in horse-riding history in West Hempstead.  That history dates back to time when the horse was still the preferred mode of travel to get around.  Some time around 1910, the first riding school in WH was started by famed equestrian circus star Josephine DeMott Robinson on her farm on Hempstead Avenue near Johnson’s Lane.   Robinson knew a little something about riding, as she was purportedly the first woman in the world to perform backwards somersaults on a moving horse.  Robinson continued this operation until 1917 when she sold her farm and moved to Hempstead Village.

In 1922, WWI veteran Paul C. Lienhard moved to WH and opened the Lake View Riding Academy at the corner of Oak(ford) St. and Woodfield Rd.  Lienhard was a captain in US Army cavalry division and after the War, he had been working as an instructor at the US Army’s cavalry school in Ft. Riley, KS before moving east.   In the 1920s, members of the military community had increasingly viewed the use of horses in the Army as outdated and questioned their usefulness in battle when tank divisions (“mechanized cavalry”, as it was called then) were the order of the day.  Ever the horseman, Lienhard sought to prove the usefulness and durability of the cavalry by embarking on a solo cross-country horseback ride, literally cross-country, from New York to Los Angeles.  

On a warmer than usual winter day on December 13, 1927, the 37-year old Lienhard mounted an Army mare named Black Bess and left the Malverne train station for a 3,700-mile ride to the West Coast.  Twenty five days into his trip, after averaging about 42 miles a day, he paused briefly in St. Louis to talk to a United Press reporter about his expedition and continued on his way.  After 102 days on the trail, while cantering through the Arizona desert outside Yuma, Black Bess was bitten by a huge rattlesnake.  The old mare wavered but within 20 minutes, she dropped dead, 180 miles short of Lienhard’s goal.

In 1931 Lienhard moved his riding school to Mill Road (Peninsula Blvd) in Hempstead to be closer to the bridle trails that were laid down in the new Hempstead Lake State Park.  His was but one of half a dozen riding academies and stables that sprouted up along Mill Rd. in those days.   Lienhard counted among his prize students Gen. Chen Cheng,  Chief-of-staff  to Chiang Kai Shek and his representative at the UN, and two-time Academy Award winning actress Luise Rainer. (Parenthetically, Luise is still alive today and at 103 years young, she is currently the oldest surviving Oscar-winning actor).

The current stables on Eagle Ave. dates back to 1926, according to County records, shortly after the deal was announced to develop Hempstead Lake as a state park. 

In that year John Wellbrock opened the Paramount Riding Academy.  In the 1930s, ownership was turned over to Charles Heinsohn who renamed it Lakeside Riding Academy, a name that survived until about six years ago, and ran it for the next number of decades.

Aerial photo of Lakeview Riding Stables on Eagle Ave, circa 1947.  The stable houses that flank the entrance at he upper left of the photo are all that remain of the original complex.  Eagle Ave. cuts horizontally along the photo and Park Ave. runs vertically at the right of the image.

Though by WWII, the use of horses in a military capacity was all but obsolete, the cavalry would have one more opportunity to prove their efficacy in the war effort, and Lakeside Stables played a central role at the time.   In June 1942, Americans were shocked to learn of a botched Nazi infiltration at Amagansett by four German saboteurs who had swam to shore from a U-boat, a plot that would later be known as Operation Pastorius.  The incident set the entire region on edge and highlighted the need for a civilian patrol along the hundreds of miles of Long Island coastline.  On August 3, in response to a call by the Coast Guard to set up regular patrols along LI’s shores, a group of 50 expert horsemen, many of whom were WWI cavalry veterans, met at the Lakeside Stables and set up a staging area there.  These patrols were an important component in defending the Homeland from any further enemy infiltrations.

Like a candle that flickers bright before it burns out, the beginning of 1943 brought conventional transportation-by-horse into major prominence one last time, after fuel-rationing during WWII was the cause of a pleasure driving ban in the East Coast region.  Long Islanders had to get creative to get around.  So, following the lead of the Hempstead High football team, many local schools hired out horses and wagons to transport their sports teams to their games.  Theaters, restaurants and bowling alleys built hitches out in their parking lots for their horseback-riding customers.  It would be the last time that horses would be used for conventional transportation to that extent in our area, before finally giving way to motorized vehicles, and the numerous stables on LI at the time played a major role in providing horse-transportation during the WWII fuel shortage.

In 1954, Peninsula Blvd. was laid out between Hempstead and Rockville Centre and thereafter, one by one, the old stables and riding academies on the eastern side of Hempstead Lake closed down, while Lakeside on the western side remains as the only riding stables left from that bygone era.

In later years, Suzanne Benedict and Brian McTigue partnered to run the Stables, until they sold it in 2006 to the current owners, Alex Jacobson and Benjamin Haghani.  The initial plan was to redevelop the 1.2 acre site into condominiums, but after recognizing the value of the stables to the community, Jacobson and Haghani opted instead to rebuild the riding academy into a world-class facility, as the newly minted NY Equestrian Center.

The WHCSA and the West Hempstead Now and Then blog wish Mr. Jacobson best of luck and continued success in preserving one of West Hempstead and Lakeview’s prized local treasures.

Josephine DeMott Robinson – West Hempstead’s Celebrity Circus Star

The following article appeared in the fall 2009 edition of the West Hempstead Community Support Association newsletter.

Amidst the rough-edged gold nuggets of prominent male personalities who pioneered in the early settlement of West Hempstead lies a sparkling gem of a lady whose efforts left a lasting effect on our community. When we hold up this jewel to be scrutinized and rub away the dust of history, it is revealed that perhaps no other West Hempstead resident before or since has achieved as much celebrity as the illuminating Josephine DeMott Robinson, the subject of our present sketch.

Born in Newtown (present day Elmhurst), Long Island in 1868[1], Josie DeMott came from a long line of circus performers whose bygone members performed in front of early 19th century French audiences. Throughout her childhood, she accompanied her parents in their small travelling circus and at a very early age, was trained to perform tricks while riding horseback. By her teens she became a highlight act by perfecting her trademark stunt - multiple somersault flips on a moving bareback horse, purportedly the only woman in the world at the time to perform the feat. The diminutive, five-foot tall circus star then went on to win international renown as a marquis act with the Barnum & Bailey Circus.

In 1891 she married Charles M. Robinson[2], a business manager of the circus who would later go on to serve as an Ohio State assemblyman, and soon thereafter she quit the circus settled down as a homemaker in Cincinnati. Unaccustomed as she was to the formalities of playing hostess in her husband's social and political circles, she never really adapted to this new lifestyle. In 1897, news of the Klondike gold rush swept the nation and Charles Robinson made a split decision to try his luck in the Yukon. Ever the adventuress and eager to break the humdrum of life in Ohio, Josie decided to join her husband in Alaska.

The next three years in the Alaskan frontier brought little else but misery for the Robinsons, as their gold seeking venture proved unrewarding. As one of the very few women among hundreds of men in the remote and isolated miners' camps, Josie found herself overburdened as the unofficial camp matron and having to care for the infirm. Out of hope and money by the spring thaw of 1900, the Robinsons longed to return home but simply could not afford passage back to the States. Stuck in Alaska with nowhere to turn, they caught a break that June by finding work as federal census agents and earning just enough money to get back home[3].

Soon after returning, the Robinsons purchased a picturesque 14 acre farm in West Hempstead from a man they had met in Alaska named William Pine-Coffin who had also spent 3 years up north in fruitless pursuit of gold. This farm, located between Nassau Blvd. and Hempstead Ave., was originally settled and built in 1855 as the summer home of prominent Kings County judge, Brooklyn school superintendent, and two time NY state assemblyman Samuel E. Johnson.[4] (The southern border of this estate is marked by Johnson's Lane, named for the original owner). The estate sprawled around a small lake about the size of Halls Pond that once filled an area just south of where Echo Park is presently located. In-period descriptions of this fine estate paint the picture of a long, hedge-lined driveway, rolling lawns, cornfields, forests of birch and pine trees, and a stately home with an expansive porch[5]. By 1900, three years of absence by its previous owner took its toll on the property’s appearance. With great effort, in short time the house was renovated, crops were planted, the pond was once again stocked with trout and the estate was brought back to its former splendor. Farm life in West Hempstead suited Josie much better than the straight-laced world of Cincinnati's upper class. But once again, fortunes would turn for the worse as a series of bad stock market investments erased the Robinson's savings and by 1906 nearly cost them their beloved farm. Though already pushing 40, Josie went back to doing what she knew best to remedy their situation; against the insistence of her husband but to the delight of Circus fans, she came out of retirement and rejoined the Barnum & Bailey Show.

Financial constraints and long periods apart weighed heavily on the marriage. The following year Josie and Charles Robinson separated and would later divorce in 1912.[6]

Josie was an early champion of women’s rights. Her strong will coupled with her life experiences in male-dominated environments - the years spent in various circus troupes and at the Yukon miners’ camps, undoubtedly influenced her to become a leading, outspoken advocate for women’s suffrage. In 1912 she stirred up controversy by organizing the women of the Barnum & Bailey Circus to work for the suffrage cause[7], and went on to become captain of the suffrage club for her district[8].

When her body could no longer handle the rigors of performing under the Big Top, she continued to stay involved in circus life by building a makeshift ring at her farm and training horses to perform in the circus. With her husband now out of the picture, Josie went on to use her home as she pleased. So, she opened a horse riding school for the young girls of Long Island and then converted the place into a sanitarium for women where young ladies could relax, go horseback riding, canoe or swim at the lake or partake in a variety of courses from dancing to nutrition.[9]

Though she never bore any children, in 1916 Josie Robinson adopted Verona Oakley, the twelve year old daughter of a colleague at Barnum & Bailey’s, a circus clown named ‘Slivers’ who tragically took his own life.[10]

As Josie got on in years, care of her beloved farm became too burdensome for her. So in late 1917, Josie sold the property to William and Margaret Collins[11] (after whom Collins Avenue is named) until they, too, sold to a developer in 1940[12]. (Part of the property was purchased later in 1952 as the site of the Hebrew Academy of Nassau County). Josie moved to Manhattan and taught classes in exercise and proper posture to women at the now defunct Traphagen School of Fashion. But her heart was always drawn to the circus. Whenever the circus would roll into town at the old Madison Square Garden, Josie would never miss the show, on occasion being called down to be recognized by the crowd.[13] In 1935, at the remarkable age of 67, she had a part in an ongoing live production called Jumbo that required her to perform shoulder stands on a moving horse[14].

Josie DeMott Robinson died on March 8, 1948, a relic of an era before the advent of motion pictures and television, when all the real starlets of the world were found on stage and in the circus.

(To read more about the remarkable life of Josephine D. Robinson, see her autobiography entitled The Circus Lady.)[15]


[1] As an adult, Josie would never reveal how old she was to reporters, in part because her appearance would belie her age. The 1880 Federal Census (Film T9-1182, Page 137B) taken on June 12 records that she was 11 years old at the time.
[2] New York Clipper 1892 Annual (New York: Frank Queen Pub. Co., 1892) 6.
[3] Entries of the diary that Josie Robinson kept during her years in Alaska were published as a three part feature in McCalls magazine Nov 1927 – Jan 1928. Leaving Rampart, AK on June 9, 1900 to do census work, the Robinson’s were not heard from for more than two months and were presumed dead until they turned up on Aug. 21, having surveyed every camp and native village in the territory.
[4] As for the date when the farm was originally built, see “In Memoriam, Hon. Samuel E. Johnson” Brooklyn Eagle 7 Feb 1870 4, wherein it is reported that Johnson purchased the property at Hempstead ‘twelve or fifteen years ago’ and converted it from swamp and marshland into a farm. See also Transactions of the NY State Agricultural Society Vol. XVI 1856 (Albany: C. Van Benthuysen, Printer to the Legislature; 1856) 551, which shows that Johnson presented corn specimens from his farm at the Queens County Agricultural Society Exhibition in September 1856.
[5] Photos of this lovely estate accompany an essay on Josie Robinson in “Romance of a Circus Rider’s Home” New York Herald Magazine 16 July 1911 8.
[6] “Love’s Dream Shattered” New York Clipper 6 Apr 1912 10.
[7] “Bareback Rider’s Husband Defies Mad Suffragists” Syracuse Journal 1 Apr 1912 4, recounts an incident when the husband of a participant rudely interrupted the suffrage gathering to pull his wife out of the meeting, to which Josie Robinson angrily shot back, “What right do you have to take your wife away from a decent, orderly meeting?”. The husband retorted, “Because she’s my wife and I’m not going to wait all night for my grub!”
[8] “Once Daring Circus Rider Now Soother of Jaded Nerves” Brooklyn Eagle 25 Aug 1916 8
[9] “Youth Possible to Every Woman Who Really Wants It” New York Times 16 Feb 1913 44.
[10] “To Adopt Slivers’s Child” 11 NYT Mar 1916 9.
[11] “Nassau County – Conveyances” Brooklyn Eagle 24 Nov 1917.
[12] The initial plans for the pond was to preserve it as a recreational centerpiece for the new “Hempstead Manor” development (see “Home Models ‘on Parade’ in Development” Brooklyn Eagle 31 Mar 1940 2D), but evidently the developers found it more profitable to drain and subdivide it.
[13] “Circus Star, 80, Revisits Old Scene” NYT 5 May 1946 16.
[14] “Mrs. C. M. Robinson, Once Circus Star” NYT 10 Mar 1948 27.
[15] 304pp. New York: Thomas Y. Crowell Co.; 1926. A personalized, autographed copy can be found in the special collections of the Hempstead Library.