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Community Corner

Tour Re-Creates Transportation Route from Early 1900s

Bayport Heritage Association event features three local historians explaining area transportation during the turn of the century.

This past weekend marked the centennial anniversary of route from Sayville, through Bayport-Blue Point, to Patchogue.

To commemorate the event, the Bayport Heritage Association organized a 90-minute historical tour, recreating the route from the Meadowcroft Estate in Sayville to Mascot Dock in Patchogue, and back.

Bayport Heritage Association member Diana Walch helped organize the trolley tour with help from historians Gene Horton and Jim Connell.

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Tours ran at 9 a.m., 11 a.m., 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. Only 120 tickets were available. Four members of the Bayport Heritage Association rode along and provided commentary for each of the towns.

The trolley began by traveling through Bayport where historian Jim Connell pointed out locations of historic homes and properties.

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A man named John Asher had a house in Bayport at the time, according to Connell. Asher sued the trolley company for $20,000 because he didn’t want it by his house. Many of the people in the area didn’t want their houses to be ‘citified.'

"The trolley was forced to go up Oakwood [Avenue]. The homeowners really didn’t want it here; they feared ‘citification’ and it reminded them too much of living in town,” Connell said.

Gene Horton, local historian and expert on Blue Point, began his narrative as the trolley changed towns and agreed that the trolley line was at an unusual location.

“The trolley was really running through the woods up here. There was
nothing here. It really should’ve run on Middle Road; that’s where the
hotels were; the villages, the businesses, the bigger homes,” Horton
said.

At the height of its run, the trolley transported more than 1,000 people each day between Sayville and Patchogue.

The first stop was at the Blue Point Bible Church, formerly known as the Blue Point Baptist Church. The hamlet's first brick church was built in 1930 and dedicated in 1931. It currently boasts a 75-foot steeple.

Horton said he thinks the steeple is the highest point in Blue Point.

"One day, with the Pastor, I climbed up to the windows [inside the steeple] in the winter and you could see Fire Island. It was beautiful. It’s amazing what you can see,” Horton said.

The trolley then continued along, stopping briefly in front of the FireHouse Deli on Blue Point Avenue, facing the building which once served as firehouse, post office, general store and an assembly area/meeting hall.

The tour continued under the train trestle, which used to be made of wood, and traveled toward the former site of the Anchorage Inn and of the dual Lighthouse towers. The towers were formerly called ‘pharoahs'- the lighthouses of the Egyptians- and they surrounded the Great Sphinx; only one remains standing today.

The Great Sphinx has become a united symbol for the community of Bayport-Blue Point as it was built in Blue Point, but eventually moved to its present location on Montauk Highway in Bayport.

Will Graham, the owner of the Anchorage Inn, built the Great Sphinx around 1905. It is 1/7th the size of the Great Sphinx in Egypt. In 1974, the head of the Sphinx was moved over to Bayport, where the Fontana-Smith company stands today, according to Horton.

"It really is the symbol of Bayport and Blue Point. It sort of unites our two communities,” Horton said.

The trolley continued on its tour through the Village of Patchogue narrated by Pete Berman. Historian Connie Currie provided brief information on the history of Sayville.

Refreshments were provided to all attendees by , a gluten-free bakery and cafe in Bayport. The ride cost $20 per person; the original fare for the trolley ride was only five cents. Souvenir wooden nickels and books were given to passengers.

Anne Mariconda from Bayport was joined by several members of her family for the tour.

“I grew up in Bayport so I thought that it would be interesting to hear about the history first-hand. The tour was great,” Mariconda said.

Her relative, Marilyn, said she thought the tour was great and informative.

“It was fun to revisit some of the areas that I grew up in and around. I knew some of the history before but it was a great refresher,” Marilyn Mariconda added.

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