Main Road’s colorful past brought to life, as group conducts survey with eye on historic district

Still glowing from their success in getting the Main Street historic district listed on the National Register of Historic Places, members of the Riverhead Landmarks Preservation Committee presented their latest project to the town board at Thursday’s work session: a historic resources survey of Main Road from Route 105 to the Southold town line.

The volunteer group is hoping the picturesque corridor, where they have already identified more than 200 structures of historic significance, will ultimately be eligible for listing in the National Register of Historic Places, committee chairman Richard Wines told town board members Thursday morning.

Listing as a historic district in the registry makes owners of historic properties within the district eligible for substantial tax credits — 20 percent on state income taxes and 20 percent on federal income taxes — for investing in restoration of their properties, Wines said. There are numerous buildings in need of restoration, with some being in a state of complete disrepair, he noted. [Note: Scroll over images below to see second image.]

Historic buildings and structures in the district must be thoroughly documented, Wines said. That effort was spearheaded by Aquebogue resident and business owner Cliff Baldwin, a member of the Save Main Road group. Working from a 1977 study of Main Road completed by the Society for the Preservation of Antiquities, they have been gathering information about the homes and commercial buildings in the picturesque corridor, where some buildings date back to the earliest English settlers of the region, in an effort to document the historic importance of Main Road.

“We’re hoping members of the community can contribute information about places they know along Main Road, which is why we wanted to make this public presentation today,” said Councilwoman Jodi Giglio, town board liaison to the committee.

Wines and committee member Georgette Keller walked board members through a slideshow of historic and current images— shot by Baldwin — of many of the homes, commercial buildings and churches along Main Road. 

Wines narrated the slideshow, sharing some of the rich and colorful histories of the buildings and the people who long ago inhabited them or plied their trades within.

The well-known “witch’s hat,” long used by travelers to mark their eastward progress on Main Road — now almost obscured from view by overgrown brush — was built as a candy store in the 1920s by a retired metal worker from Brooklyn. He sold candy and cigarettes there and even had a gas pump outside.

Many of the large, sprawling old farm houses along Main Road started out considerably smaller, but were added on to make room for married children and their families — all of whom worked on the family farms.

A Polish family bought an old Main Road homestead and built a garage next door for a mechanically inclined son. Bokina’s Garage sold gasoline and offered auto repairs and towing. It subsequently renovated into a woodworking shop and is now the home of Go Solar.

The Downs General Store, located on the corner of Main Road and Edgar Avenue, was built in 1893. George Harvey Downs, whose land ran south to the railroad tracks, built his house behind the store. His son, George Martin Downs, took over the operation of the store in 1910. He was the Aquebogue postmaster during that time and the post office was located inside the general store. In 1936, the family moved the store a little to the east and built the Downs Super Service Station right on the corner of Edgar Avenue. Today, the general store is the home of the Meetinghouse Deli and the service station structure is occupied by an interior design shop.

An Irish immigrant named James Magee, who came to America as a young boy during the Irish potato famine, became a blacksmith and opened a shop on the north side of Main Road in Aquebogue. He was the first in three generations of blacksmiths to operate the shop. His family owned the farm behind the shop until the Great Depression. His grandson, Clarence Magee, fathered 14 children. In the 1930s, with the proliferation of the horseless carriage, Clarence gave up blacksmithing and took up automobile repair. A garage and gas station are operated there to this day.

Clarence and his brothers Albert, a car dealer, and Edward, who worked for the town highway department, built a roadside diner next door to the garage. They hired Wanda Wittmeier to run the diner. The Wittmeier family still owns and operates the Modern Snack Bar.

The house where James Tuthill — the founder of Jamesport — was born was operated as a tavern and tavern stop by his grandfather and father. The stone well used to draw water for horses still stands at the side of the road.

Old Steeple Church is the fourth church built on the site by the congregation that broke off from the Jamesport Meeting House congregation in 1759. The current structure was built in 1862. The second minister at Old Steeple was Daniel Young. He was a slave owner and one of his slaves, Buster, is buried in the Aquebogue Cemetery.

The house where Junda’s Pastry now operates was the home of the town’s first doctor, Dr. Conklin, who was one of the founders of the town. The house dates back to the Revolutionary War era.

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