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A Brief History of Nassau Point

NOTE: this text is copied from a booklet created by Katherine Newell Mayne.

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My parents came to Nassau Point in 1934. Most of the houses were summer cottages. Nassau Point Road and Vanston Road were paved; the rest were dirt. Electricity was temperamental, so supplemental wells with hand-pumps were very much needed and used. I can still see my mother trudging up the hill to the house with a brimming pail of water in each hand. She tripped over her bell-bottom trousers and fell flat in a cascade of water. I still laugh when I think of it.

Our house had a small cellar and a furnace which shot hot air up though a register at the foot of the stairs. The house stood on pilings. I'll not forget the day a neighbor's dog chased a skunk under the house. We had to leave for a week.

From 1919 to the present day minutes of Association Meetings and later the Nassau Point Reporter contain meticulous records of Nassau Point history. These I have read with great pleasure and have organized and condensed.

For the early history of The Point, I have referred to the Southold Town Records - J. Wickham Case, Pagans, Puritans and Patriots - Warren Hall, Whittaker's Southold - Reverend Epher Whittaker, History of Long Island Volume II - William Peiletreau, History of England Volume II - G. M. Treveryan, Sketches of Suffolk County - Bayles.

My thanks to the countless people who wrote the details and made this booklet possible, among them my mother, Rosalind Case Newell, Margaret Bergen, George Case and Barcy Everett and whoever saved old maps, pictures and newspaper clippings. Thanks also to Richard K. Fraser for the aerial photo of Nassau Point.

The History of Nassau Point

The shores of New England were first settled by independent congregations of English Puritans. They refused to acknowledge the authority of the Established Church believing that every man had the right to interpret God's will for himself. This was heresy. Their only escape from persecution was to flee to the New World. One would think that persecution would have taught them tolerance, but this was not the case. The beauty of America was that if one disagreed with any particular brand of puritanism one could move into the wilderness, establish another colony and make one's own rules. New Haven Plantation was one of these colonies. Wishing to expand its boundaries and establish new communities, New Haven bought the North Fork of Long Island from the Earl of Sterling. He, in turn, had been granted Long Island by King James I. They also acquired title from the Corchaug Indians. Both of these deeds have been lost, but the New Haven Records list the transactions. In 164g the New Flaven colony obtained a deed of sale from the Corchaug Indian Chief Momewetah and his three brothers for all the land from Plum Island to Wading River. This deed confirmed the original purchases. The price was "two fathome of wampum, one iron pott, six coats, ten knives, foware hooks and forty needles paid into their hands at the sealing thereof." As we know now, the Indians thought they were selling the use of the land. They had no conception of privately owned property.

On October 2, 1640 the Reverend John Youngs and his congregation of 13 families sailed to Long Island to establish a new colony under the auspices of New Haven Plantation.

Each family was allotted four acres for a home plot. The rest of the land from Plum Island to Wading River was owned in common. As time went on large areas were surveyed, laid out in lots and sold to individuals. Grazing lands, fresh-water ponds and access paths to beaches and woodland remained in the public domain for many years. The necks of land were ideal for communal grazing because the narrow access to them could be easily secured.

Little Hog Neck, which we now know as Nassau Point, and which the Indians called Momeweta, was one of these necks. Indigenous scrub oaks throve in the sandy soil and the hogs (turned out there in the winter) feasted and fattened on the oak mast (acorns). Thus the name- Little Hog Neck.

Untll 1667, it remained public land. Then the constables and overseers of the public lands "sealed, subscribed and delivered" to the first William Wells all of Little Hog Neck plus half the beach leading thereto, and thereby hangs a tale.

In 1656 William Wells, among others, had been appointed as a Governing Officer of the Southold Colony. This body possessed almost unlimited powers passing laws and ordinances and adjusting local differences. He was a lawyer and Town Recorder in the 1650's and 1660's.

In 1649 he and Richard Woodhull were appointed by the Town overseers as their agents to procure additional territory from the Corchaug Indians. William claimed that the Indian chiefs had given land in Corchaug, Mattituck and Occabauk to him and Richard; that he had bought out Richard's share and that the town would have to pay him for it. In 1658 the town did pay him for the money he had supposedly given to Richard. But the battle for william's half of Corchaug raged on until 1667. He was a bull dog. He never gave up.

He also claimed that the Town owed him compensation for oxen and cattle which he said the Indians had killed. On July I, 1667 they finally came to a face-saving agreement. Town Meeting gave him Little Hog Neck. In turn he gave them a quitrent for his cattle and a full bill of sale or deed for the land he had claimed.

• 1671 - William Wells II inherited Little Hog Neck

• 1697 - William Wells III inherited Little Hog Neck

• 1762 - Benjamin Wells inherited Little Hog Neck

• 1800 - Benjamin left 3/4 of Little Hog Neck to William C. Wells, son of his brother James, and 1/4 of the same to William V son of his brother, William IV. William C. died in 1811, when his ship, Rosetta, sank in Smithtown Harbor during a terrible X-mas storm. His 3/4 share went to his father, James Wells.

James left this 3/4 share to his son-in-law, Barnabas Horton. William V left his 1/4 share to his son-in-law, Joshua Hallock.

In 1857 Joshua Hallock's will was contested by one Joseph Hallock, resulting in an order by the New York Supreme Court for a public sale of Joshua's quarter of Little Hog Neck, to be held in southold on October 7, 1857.

Enter Edward White Burr and John Carringtown, (his wife's uncle), Benjamin W. Floyd, and Stephan T. Trapnil. They made the high bid of $1,200. They acquired the 3/4 balance of the property from the Barnabas Horton heirs for an additional $4,800. These men intended to create a gentlemen's retreat on the Point. They disdained the name Little Hog Neck as too lowly and bucolic. They renamed it Mattawauk. A map was drawn up of the intended layout of lots. There were twenty-four very large plots, all of which had waterfront and extended to the center of the peninsula. The land, which encompassed Wunneweta Pond, and the Langoon were left vacant.

Nothing is heard again of this venture and history tells us nothing. Nor do we know what happened to Mr. Floyd and Mr. Trapnil. Mr. Burr and Mr. Carrington built houses for themselves. Dr. Benjamin D. Carpenter, a friend of both Burr and Carrington, also built a house on high ground at the juncture of the present Wunneweta and Carrington Roads in 1865. It was the main house of Camp Wawokiye for many years. Cabins for the older children are still in situ.

The Burr mansion is said to have been one of the most luxurious structures on Long Island with its magnificent woodwork and trim, its tower and flanking greenhouses (one called a grapery, one an orangerie). It stood on high ground encircled by the present Nassau Point Road, Bridge Lane, Bayberry Road and Wunneweta Roads - John Carrington's house is still standing on the corner of Vanston and Carrington Roads.

We hear no more of Edward White Burr. On June 18, 1872, John Carrington sold all of Mattawauk (Little Hog Neck), excepting Mr. Carpenter's land, to Mr. James Wilson for $2000. No money changed hands. Mr. Carrington assumed a mortgage of $7,000 plus interest to be paid off July 3, 1873.

Mr. Wilson defaulted and a public auction was set for that date. Mr. Wilson founded a syndicate to pay his creditors and a mortgage was arranged with Mutual Life Insurance. In 1873 he had bought Robins Island for $20,000, also with Mutual Life Insurance. Obviously he never paid out a cent himself, nor did the syndicate, because Mutual Life foreclosed on October 6, 1879 against the syndicate. Obligations were again met with a new syndicate. How he kept going on air and promises for so long is amazing. Money must have kept rolling in because in the next twelve years he did incredible things. The Burr home became a Tudor Manor with landscaped grounds, stables, barns and carriage houses, hothouses, tennis court, bowling alley with billiard room. There is confusion over who erected what outbuildings - Mr. Burr or Mr. Wilson. Perhaps Mr. Wilson merely renovated existing structures. Photos show us that the greenhouses flanking the main house were removed at an early date. The fresh water pond on Bridge Lane was bricked in for a skating rink. He dug a canal from the lagoon to Wunneweta Pond, thus creating the island off Bridge Lane. He built a house for his personal physician. This was moved at a later date and still stands on Nassau Point Road between Wunneweta Road and Bridge Lane - a charming, small house with bright blue shutters. Mr. Wilson renovated the Burr Mansion, which he called "The Villa". Townspeople called it "Wilson's Folly". The large tower was rebuilt and a handsome flagstaff was erected thereon. A11 of the buildings were painted in the most approved styles. "Mr. Wilson intends to make his home one of the finest places on the East End," says a local newspaper.

My mother, Rosalind Case Newell, in her book ''Rose of the Nineties" writes: "Aunt Ida used to tell me about Mr. Wilson's two daughters, dressed in fine riding habits, shiny boots and derby hats, riding their horses up to Peconic to get the mail. They were always accompanied by a groom in livery."

In 1883 Mr. Wilson launched his most grandiose plan to make Mattawauk into a playground for the rich; a resort to outshine Newport and Bar Harbor. Such a paradise deserved a name other than Little Hog Neck or Mattawauk. He called it Peconic Park and employed a writer and an illustrator to produce a booklet eulogizing the beauties, glories, and grandeur of this place.

There is an architect's drawing of his proposed hotel, which is straight out of fairyland - towers and turrets, banners and pennants. The flowing Prose of the prospectus is irresistible. ''A domain of wooded upland and verdant fields, graceful slopes and bowery hollows, crowned with summer sea, where the best facilities exist for healthful exercise and diversion on land or water; where the tired refugee from the metropolis may recline at ease, listening to the song - sparrow the robin, the red-winged blackbird, the king-fisher and the screaming gull, while a cool wind from the bay rustles the tossing bough above his head. What could be more refreshing than a sojourn in such a place as this?"

Where was this incomparable hotel to be situated? "On the broad and roomy plateau lifted to a height of close up on ninety feet from which, even standing upon the sod, the visitor can overlook the whole length of Peconic Bay, both west and east, up to Riverhead or down to Shelter Island and even to the roofs and church spires of Sag Harbor." (It was to be on the high land above Horseshoe Cove and Meadow Beach).

How to reach this paradise? The Long Island Railroad was first choice. A railroad spur, south from Peconic and across the causeway at Broadwaters, was being planned. Until that was a reality, one could drive 2 miles from Peconic or take the Sag Harbor branch of the railroad, then board a small steamer from Canoe Place to the Park - "a delightful cool sail across the Great Peconic, landing at the Park already refreshed and rested." One could take a steamer from New York or Hartford or New London to Greenport, or one directly from New York to New Suffolk.

The prospectus concludes with the many Pastimes and pleasures to be enjoyed. "Safe bathing in warm water, fishing, boating, sailing, rowing, horseback riding and beautiful scenic carriage drives. The public will soon discover this unassuming but delightful little tract of rolling hill and bluff, of oak woods and golden beaches in the midst of cooling waters which constitutes Peconic Bay Park."

But this dream died too. What happened? We don't know. A 1903 news clipping says, "The property known as the Wilson Estate including practically all of Little Hog Neck consisting of circa 500 acres was sold to a syndicate of New York men." According to my mother, born in 1890, the property was deserted except for a caretaker, Theodore Horton, who lived for years in the Manor House. She told how she and her friends, as children, would drive down Skunk Lane to the first sharp curve. It is still a 90 degree curve. The road stopped there. They would have to leave the horse and wagon, as the sand was too deep for the wagon wheels. (Can you imagine tying your horse to a tree at that corner?) From there they walked to the causeway and on to the Manor House picking arbutus or May pinks as they called them. "Uncle Theo would let us climb up into the tower, high enough for a sweeping view up and down the Bays and over to Sag Harbor."

There are tales of fluctuating ownership, but no proofs.

The next trace is an indenture for the purchase of a 66' wide strip of land for a length of 889', beginning at this first sharp curve on Skunk Lane, proceeding south, for a road to connect to a planned bridge over Broadwaters to Fishermans' Beach. The purchasers were Laurance Embree of Flushing and George Finck of Manhattan. The date was July 13, 1906. The documents conveying Little Hog Neck to these men have not been found but we know they bought it because their widows sold it to the newly formed Nassau Point Club Properties on December 25, 1918 for $70,000. (The NP Club Properties says $70,000, the deed in Riverhead says $60,000.) A newspaper clipping from December 1918 reads, "Mrs. Lawrence Embrie and Mrs. Geol Fink have sold to Jerome Pennock and a Mr. Johnson, of Brooklyn, the neck of land on Peconic Bay known as Nassau Point. Improvements will be sent in motion at once. Edgar Tuthill will do the carpenter work, Daniel R. Young of Riverhead will do the civil engineering and Philip H. Horton of Peconic will be the road builder. It is planned first to erect a large club house and then a number of cottage bungalows to fit it for the sunnier colony which is planned'"

The organizers, promoters and directors of the above corporation were Walter Johnson, Jerome Pennock, Charles E. Hopkins, and Chauncey H. Humphries. They, like their predecessors, scorned the name of Little Hog Neck and gave the entire peninsula the official name of Nassau Point, which the southern tip had always been called.

A corporation was formed to lease, purchase, hold, improve, develop, use, sell and exchange real property... to acquire, hold and dispose of bonds and mortgages... to act as contractors on construction and erection of houses... to make and carry out contracts.

$9,000 in capital stock, consisting of 90 shares of $100 each, was sold to stock subscribers. Mr. Johnson paid $5,000 of his own money, which was obviously all he had, as then he began to borrow:

• $ 7,500 from Marjorie Barth

• $45,000 from Riverhead agings Bank, secured by a first mortgage

• $7,500 from Edith Embree, secured by a second mortgage.

He continued to rob Peter to pay Paul. hen creditors became too importunate he would borrow to pay them or give them land or convince them to take mortgages or renewed notes. There always seemed to be money forthcoming from individuals and banks. And he was a very good real estate broker. In the first year of operation, property sales reached $116,750. To maintain property values he stipulated in each sales agreement that houses had to cost a minimum of $4,000! Mr. Wilson's villa was converted to a clubhouse/Hotel. The defunct tennis court was rebuilt and the bowling alley refurbished. Mr. and Mrs. Andrew Mac Nish were hired to preside over the hotel kitchen. "Their reputation for savory meals extends throughout the East End.." Dwellings completed prior to the summer of 1919 along Nassau Point Road belonged to Dr. Zimmer (father of Margaret Bergen), Payne, George Case, Aborn, and to W. Justin Vanston on Vanston Road.

Dwellings completed prior to 1925 were

• Bainbridge

• Muncie

• Clark

• Schmidt

• Cover

• Reynolds

• Davison

• Thorndike

• Eakins

• Tuthill

• Everett

• Uellendahl

• Johnson

• Wimbalee

Director's Meeting notes in 1920 are very gloomy. Mr. Johnson complained that it was hard to sell lots because he was so restricted in his advertising plans. It was impossible to get builders to take bids due too the excessively high price of labor and materials. In 1921, things were no better. One buyer of four lots paid $500 down and was never heard of again. One buyer didn't pay her builder and he put a lien on the property. Many of the purchasers were demanding the promised electric light and the LI Lighting Company wanted half the expense of putting in lines before they would start. Many notes were due for redemption; expenses far exceeded his commissions; there had been no advertising for a year; he had made one sale in the past year and there was no money in hand.

In September 1921, he asked his stockholders to raise $15,000- $20,000 to meet obligations. This is not mentioned again.

In August of 1922 he reported that all waterfront properties had been sold. He said that the greatest expense was maintenance of the Clubhouse. He recommended that they remodel it by adding a third floor with 10 rooms and 2 baths, 2 new baths on the second floor, running water installed in all the rooms, a new dining room, and new extra large piazzas (porches). The old bowling alley (containing bedrooms and now called the Annex) should have an addition of seven rooms and 2 baths. A new well with electric motor and a gas auxiliary motor was needed. All buildings should be painted and redecorated. This work was begun and finished in 1924 at a cost of $31,631.16. Also bought were new furniture, linens, silverware, and kitchen utensils for $4,732.37. Much of the cost was paid by a $30,000 loan from the Mattituck Bank. $15,000 of this loan went to pay off part of the 1918 loan from the Riverhead Bank.

"Now," said Mr. johnson, "our Clubhouse will be an asset rather than a liability."

But he was still not satisfied. He said there were no proper servants' quarters and no garage facilities. These could be supplied by altering the old barn with an estimated cost of $2500.

The February 14,1924 minutes state:

"The Company has always been very much hampered by the rack of cash as it never had on hand any substantial sum of money. AlI improvements have been practically paid out of sales. The only real capital in the corporation at present is the $1,000 due to the Norwegian American Securities Company and $4,609.90 due to Walter and Marion Johnson for loans, the capital stock of $9,000 never having been paid in cash." He then proceeded to say that he should receive a salary of $5,000 a year for his services in lieu of past commissions, or, if the Board approved, a commission of 20% on all sales including those made by outside brokers.

Mr. Johnson didn't have much luck with his co-directors. They either died or resigned, as did their replacements (from age or frustration?). So, by February 14, 1924, he had full powers of management, operation and control of Nassau Point Properties. He and Mrs. Johnson were the sole Board of Directors and the sole members of the corporation. They continued to hold meetings at which they elected themselves as officers and voted themselves dividends and commissions and salaries. Walter Johnson died in 1953. Marion Johnson died in 1955. Their daughter, Helen Johnson Crisp, carried on in the same way (formal meeting and all) until 1956 when she sold Nassau Point Club Properties and its original $9,000 capital to the Nassau point Causeway Association for $400. She had placed a value of $14,550 on this stock!

We return to 1928 and the disaster which effectively destroyed Nassau Point Club properties although the Johnsons kept up the facade until 1956. On June 1928 the Clubhouse/Hotel burned to the ground. The following is from a contemporary newspaper account:

"Within 20 minutes of the discovery by Mr. Johnson's daughter, Helen, the structure was a mass of flames and the tower had collapsed. By the time the firemen from surrounding towns arrived, there was nothing to be done but to keep the fire from spreading." The 1928 season had promised to be the most successful in the six years of operation. Accommodations were completely booked for the season and the hotel had been completely refurbished for the opening. Some estimates of loss were over $100,000. It was partly covered by insurance but it was reported that some of the policies had been recently cancelled. The blaze was one of the most spectacular fires in years and motorists flocked to the scene from as far away as Sag Harbor and Southampton. The traffic jam greatly impeded the fire apparatus. Here is a quote from the June 18, 1926 local newspaper. "Owing to the great number of motorists who attended the fire, there were many near accidents. lt has been suggested by many who were at the fire that something should be done to protect the drivers of the fire apparatus from the motorists who even force the apparatus from the road in their anxiety to satisfy their curiosity."

In 1976 a touch of the former grandeur could still be seen - the huge old barn, a greenhouse wall, the fresh-water pond which had once been the skating rink. In the early 1930's the bowling alley annex was still there with roof fallen in and bedsteads and mattresses hanging out of the broken windows. The cellarhole of the clubhouse, full of foundation bricks, was there with its sweeping carriage turnaround still visible. Mr. Schiefferdecker relaid all the bricks as the foundations of the house he built on the site in the 1930's. On the other side of Bridge Lane by the bricked-in pond he had an extensive vegetable garden. He made an apartment in the barn for his daughter and her family. In 1997 the barn is a charming home. The Wilson tennis court, which had become a horse pasture, is again a tennis court.

On the old maps Wunneweta Pond is called The Lagoon, and what we call the Lagoon today had no name. Wunneweta was shallow and the unnamed pond was fresh water. When Mr. Wilson dug his canal between the two, there was quite a tide run under the bridge. In 1935, Robert Glenn, who owned rand around the Lagoon, dug out an entrance to the Bay to create a harbor for his boat. This stopped the flow of water from Wunneweta so that the canal became almost stagnant. Nature rarely allows itself to be changed. Its forces continually close up Mr. Glenn's cut. We do not know when channels were first dredged in Wunneweta. It has become a Little Venice with channels for boats to every house and dock bordering it. But these channels are maintained only by constant dredging of both waterways. It has been suggested that Grenn's cut be allowed to close. Then the scouring of the tides would again deepen the channel between the two and stop the silting of both bodies of water.

What was it like on Nassau Point in the early 1920's? It was rustic, remote and somewhat rugged. Margaret Bergen remembered that before 1922 there was no electric power. For many years thereafter the lights went off at the slightest wind storm. Fred Richmond, who owned the country store at Skunk Lane and Main Road, and later on his son, Albert, came by every morning to deliver milk and take grocery orders and every evening to deliver mail and newspapers and the requested food supplies. George Case recalled the incomparable meals served by the MacNishes at the Clubhouse/Hotel. He swore that there was no distinction between luncheon and dinner either as to number of courses or size of portions. He remembered the Saturday night dances at the hotel. He recollected the rows of bathhouses, one on the east side, one across the bridge at Bridge Lane.

Barry Everett remembered skinny dipping beneath the bridge, the water quite deep from the racing tides. He remembered the soft clam beds along the East shore - a bucketful to be had in 20 minutes - wild oysters to be plucked off docks by the dozen (tide permitting), scallops so plentiful one had to walk very carefully in the water so as not to crush them, hard clams one could dig up with one's toes. And the blue crabs and silversided minnows by the thousands for bait! He talked of the local milk, so rich it would hardly pour. I remember the nightly seining on the Causeway Beach. Men in hip boots walked out into the water and down the beach with a huge net, one end of which was held at the edge of the water. As they came around and heaved it up on the beach it was full of fish of all kinds. Blowfish were trash fish then. The seiners would give my mother all she wanted. She knew that one could turn the blowfish inside out and out would pop two boneless fish fillets. Wonderful for chowder! How many of you remember the Causeway as a narrow strip? Broadwaters almost lapped over the old road (now the beach road for parking cars). A Nor'easter often blew the water of the bay over the entire strip and Nassau Point was marooned. Very exciting!

In 1933 a few Nassau Point residents hired at their own expense a winter patrol system to protect their homes from vandalism. Daily house inspection and road patrol were included. The demise of this service focussed attention on the need for protection during the winter months. At that time people were summer residents only, so the houses were vacant for eight months of the year. The Caretaker's Association was founded to oversee regular patrols.

In 1947 the Nassau Point Game Farm Association was incorporated, signifying Nassau Point and its contiguous waterways as a Game Preserve. Its mission was to stock the Point with ducks and pheasants, to protect and feed such birds, to protect and cultivate natural cover and feed, to guard against and punish any trespass detrimental to the preservation, feeding, and propagating of these birds. The land was posted as a Bird Sanctuary and signs were put up. Those of us who lived here in the early forties remember seeing gorgeous male pheasants strutting about and hearing their haunting, bell-like calls.

On August 5, 1945 the Caretaker's Association discussed the possibility of "extending the association to a more flexible and stronger organization." The Game Farm Association was asked to contribute funds.

In September 1945 the Nassau Point Association was incorporated. By 1946 the Minute Book calls it the Nassau Point Property OwnersAssociation. Its purposes were to "protect, maintain and promote the property values of Nassau Point, to foster a cooperative spirit among the residents, to secure public service commensurate with taxes paid, to promote, foster and maintain an adequate degree of service in the following fields - police and fire protection, health and sanitation, roads and transportation, light, power and communication, education, zoning and ordinance regulations...to foster an interest in civic and social affairs a Board of Directors of not less than 9 persons shall have right of control."

By 1947 the population had grown so much that Nassau Point no longer could qualify as a Preserve. Also a gaming license was now necessary. August 23, 1947 it was decided to drop the use of the name Game Farm Association, except for posting purposes, and to main- tain all funds in one account.

In 1948 the residents of Nassau Point were becoming very concerned about the privacy of their beaches. How to keep Nassau Point from being a public playground? By 1949 it was thought that the solution might be to make the Point an incorporated village. Committees studied this possibility in depth for two years, then concluded that it was much too complicated and much too expensive.

During these studies in 1948 Mr. Alfred J. Ungerland looked at a great many property deeds to see what restrictions existed as to rights of usage. He found a myriad of differences, some deeds having no restrictions at all. Because the Causeway Beach was particularly vul- nerable to misuse by the public, he and Mr. Walter Proom purchased it from Broadwaters Realty Co. (Mr. Walter ]ohnson) on November 4, 1948 for $11,000. They wished to preserve it from commercialization until the incorporated village of Nassau Point became a reality.

July 29, 1951 the NPPOA called a meeting to discuss the purchase of the Causeway Property. It was stated that the Town of Southold wanted to buy it for a public beach. This might mean bathhouses, hot dog stands, and other concessions which would be detrimental to our residents and would affect our property values. Mr. Ungerland and Mr. Proom said they wanted no profit from their 1948 purchase and were happy to sell it to the Nassau Point Causeway Association for the sum they had paid, $11,000. On the above date the Nassau Point Causeway Association was incorporated to take title to the beach. $100 bonds were issued to the extent of $14,9000 secured by a mortgage held by the North Fork Bank and Trust Company. Included in this package was the sum of $92,500 paid to Walter ]ohnson for the purchase of certain Nassau Point Club Properties' rights, still held by that organization. It had been pointed out by Mr. Ungerland that most of the deeds on the Point referred back to this club and through certain clauses in the deeds the club had the right to make changes in them and sell rights of way. The rights purchased were the title to rights of way and roads, and jurisdiction over deeds.

The purposes of the NP Causeway Association were as follows: "To organize, equip and operate a beach, yacht and country club...To encourage boating, rafting and other sports, to promote the science of seamanship and navigation, to maintain a suitable clubhouse, anchorage, bathing beach, bath houses, tennis courts or any other means of recreation which its directors may consider advisable..."

(sounds like Mr. Wilson at his best!) NPPOA agreed to pay the NP Causeway Association $2,500 a year rent for use of the beach.

Three rights of way - 17, 24 and 27 - had been retained by Nassau Point Club Properties so that that organization could continue to be a property owner if there were any future negotiations'

November 20, 1956 Helen Johnson Crisp announced that she was selling the corporation known as Nassau Point Club Properties Inc. The NP Causeway Association thus bought Nassau Point Properties Inc. It was through this sale of stock that the Causeway Association acquired RWS 17-24-27. The notes of the 3/4/76 meeting state that "the possibility exists that these may have been sold between 9/27/51 and 11/20/56". This seems improbable as Nassau Point Club Properties was defunct (Mrs. Crisp was the sole representative). There is no word in the minutes of any communication from her until 11/20/56." Right of way 17 is off West Cove. Right of way 24 is off Little Peconic and right of way 27 is off Wunneweta. Are they now private property?

The Southold Town Tax map dated April 22,1974 identifies 37 rights of way. (It is to be found on file in the Suffolk County Property Tax Office.) Their average width is 25 ft., 22 of them are under 500 ft. in length, varying from 115 ft, to 425 ft, the average length approximately 300 ft. 15 of them are 500 or more feet in length, varying from 500 feet to 1,032 ft, the average length approximately 735 ft.

The Van Tuyl map of 1922 lists the following rights of way as having been sold:

• Right of Way 9: off Nassau Point Road

• Right of Way 12: portion West of Bayberry

• Right of Way 13: Private Drive, Ahems, Cooke, and Bayles

• Right of Way 23: Off Vanston Road

• B/T Right of Ways 24&26: Path disappeared in preparation of tax map

• Right of Way 28: Extension of Bayberry Road (now a private driveway)

• Rights of Way 30, 31, 32: Bridge Lane and Island

• Right of Way 35: Aborn Lane - West of NP Road (now a private driveway)

• B/t Right of Ways 98,99,100a; Private Road

The right of way running from Little Peconic Bay to Wunneweta Pond was eliminated in the development of Sailors' Lane. Anew right of way shown on the Tax Map is a private road for residents of Sailors Lane.

Landing Road does not belong to Soutbold Town. It is a Nassau Point right-of-way. General access to rights of way is conferred to property owners on Nassau Point and their guests and over the years any maintenance of them has been assumed by bordering property owners and/or regular users. Some rights of way accommodate motor vehicles, some are mere footpaths. Some are indistinguishable. About one half are used by homeowners as driveways. Rightd of way to the beaches are used by people who live nearby and know about them. Only a few are used actively. The NPPOA has specific details in its files, all of which are available to all members.

There follows the position of the Board of Directors of the NPPOA: Because of the great expense of clearing rights of way and installing steps to the beach the organization currently limits financial help to $1,000 per renovation.