Columbia University Libraries Digital Collections: The Real Estate Record

Real estate record and builders' guide: [v. 90, no. 2318]: August 17, 1912

Text version:

F^> ^§1^ H^^ AUGUST 17, 1912 THE OCEAN FRONT OF LONG ISLAND EAST OF THE CITY A Long Stretch Principally Known as Great South Beach, Whose Superb Advantages Are Mainly Localized by Town Ownership ■yHE development of a piece of acreage ••• cm Fire Island near Fire Island Light, within the last two years and the develop¬ ment of another acreage tract on Ocean Beach, opposite Bay Shore call attention to the possibility of the ultimate development of all of Great South Beach, which extends .east from Jones' Inlet to Westhampton Beach, a distance of fifty odd miles. Fire Island Beach and Ocean Beach comprise a part of Great South Beach, and the latter embraces all of the ocean front of Long Island east of the limits of New York city except Long Beach and Montauk Beach. Great South Beach is one of the finest stretches of ocean front in America and the bulk of it lies dormant. The first im¬ portant development of it or of any part of it has been made during the last two years near Fire Island on a tract of 300 odd acres known as Saltaire. The State of New York itself has in recent years discerned the attraction of this magnifi¬ cent beach and has arranged to transform its holding on Fire Island—which it bought from D. S. S. Sammis during Governor Flower's administration—into a state park for public recreation. Commissioners have been appointed for some vears now. but front and the mainland. But. the greater popularity of the south shore of Long Isl¬ and as a result of better railroad condi¬ tions has called attention to its ocean front as a place for summer bungalows; and, an other five years will undoubtedly witness the erection of several large hotels there. Those parts of Great South Beach that are fairly well populated in summer are connected with the mainland by good fer¬ ry service with the result that already many New York business men have their summer homes there and commute daily to the city. There is ferry service between the mainland and the beach at Freeport, Wantagh, Amityville, Babylon, Bay Shore and Patchogue; and, year on year the traf- flce on these routes Is heavier. Until about three years ago the advan¬ tages of Great South Beach were gener¬ ally known only to the native element along the south side of Long Island; and many of them who love the sea built bun¬ galows there for summer use, particularly at Hemlock Beach, opposite Amityville, on Oak Island, opposite Babylon, and at Wa¬ ter Island, opposite Patchogue, These lo¬ cal cottage colonies, however, are compar¬ atively insignificant. The land on which to buy from the. township of Babylon and Islip the large area known as Cap Tree Island in Great South Bay just back of Great South Beach, and a special election was held in both townships to pass upon the matter. It developed strong opposition to the offer and feeling ran so hig'n that ill feeling was engendered between old fami¬ lies, some of whom favored the sale and most of whom opposed it. The island still belongs to the township and it probably will continue to hold title until old families die off and a new influx of population takes place. All of the ocean front and bay islands of the various townships yield a paucity of revenue, wnereas they could be made to yield a large sum in taxes each year if they were sold and improved in accord¬ ance with the demand for ocean-front property adjacent to New York City. The natives declare that if they sold their title in Great South Beach that they would be selling a birthright for a mess of pottage; and, yet they will do noth ing to improA'e it themselves except to make leases for the erection of a few cottages scattered along its length. The most notable development of ocean AN UNDEVELOPED PART- OF GREAT SOUTH BEACH. .\E\V COTTAGES AT SALTAIRE, FIRE ISLAND. money has not been made available in the necesis9,ry; arnount to complete the park. In this large tract the state has a great pub¬ lic asset because with the steady flow of population to Long Island the state park some day will be well frequented and its aquatic advantages well used. Fire Island was famous a generation ago as a summer resort when the late D. S. S. Sammis built and managed the Surf Ho¬ tel, which became the gathering place for men of prominence. The hotel was burned down some years ago. Until the Saltaire development took place Fire Isl¬ and was In late years famous only as the site of a government lighthouse. The steady demand for ocean front property on Long Island in late years has been caused •by the building up of the New Jersey coast and by the greatly increased population of the City of New York and the Improved traffic facilities of the Long Island Rail¬ road. The New Jersey ocean front has long been in public favor because of its ac¬ cessibility by rail as well as by water. All of Long Island's ocean front, from Jones' Inlet east to Westhampton Beach, is not reached directly by rail, the Great South Bay intervening between the ocean they stand in most cases, is leased from the Township of Babylon, the Township of Islip and the Township of Brookhaven. These townships, by the way, still own much of the Great South Beach; and, that to a degree, has retarded extensive devel- op.T.ent. The townships lease lots or plots for nominal sums for terms of years; and, it is timely to state, in passing, that the native element are jealous of its rights In the premises which date back to colonial time. They have tenaciously fought every attempt of any private corporation to pur¬ chase parcels of beach front for develop¬ ment, which wouW not only allow them greater marine advantages but . which would materially increase the taxable re¬ sources of the various townships. The op¬ position of the native element to the sale of Great South Beach or any part of it to private owners is the most formidable drawback to the development of one of the finest parts of the Atlantic coast. Here and there along this beach parcels have been sold that belonged to old families to whom beach land descended through colo nial grants; and, it is these tracts that have been bought and developed. Only one year ago a private corporation sought front leased from a township is at Oak Island, opposite Babylon, where several hundred bungalows have been built; but, these houses are not as costly and sub¬ stantial as those built at Saltaire, for in¬ stance, where the fee to t'ne land rests in the owner of the house and it is only logical that they should not be. The Township of Babylon derives very poor revenue from Oak Island compared to what it would derive in taxes from it if it was owned and improved by private entenirise. The largest single private holding of ocean front property is on the part of Great South Beach between Brookhaven and Mastic which has been owned for many generations by the Smith family, of Smith's Point, on Great South Bay, A land developing company bought considerable of this prime\'al ocean front from the Smiths about three years ago but it has not yet made any notable im- proA'cments on it and it is not definitely known when it will. Almost coincident with the development of Saltaire, on Fire Island, the Ocean Beach Development Company bought and developed a large tract of beach opposite Bay Shore which is knowu^ ^s Ocean