Islip’s Second Town Hall
By Robert H. P. Finnegan
In the late 1890’s the Town was renting office space for the Town Clerk; it was utilized for daily activities with the public, meetings and storage of Town documents, official records, maps, etc. The Clerk’s office was located on the north side of Islip Hamlet’s Main Street. The Town was still renting and using the Union Hall location for Town Board meetings, public hearings, voting, court proceedings, etc.. The Islip Meridian Lodge was also a co-tenant of the Hall for their fraternal meetings and ceremonial occasions.
The Great Fire of 1905 destroyed the Lennon and Vail block of buildings including retail, apartments, sheds and barns on the north side of Islip Main Street. The Town Clerk’s office was among those properties lost. As reported in the February 11, 1905, Port Jefferson Echo, “. . . destroyed were . . . Village Library of 2600 books, many very rare; . . . Many maps and other town papers too bulky to place in the safe in the Town Clerk’s office have been destroyed.”
Subsequently, as reported in February 17, 1905 issue of the Suffolk County News, Islip Town Supervisor Hauser and Justice Smith Wright, ” . . . have purchased a new Diebold safe weighting about four tons to replace the pasteboard affair which was recently destroyed, together with part of its contents, . . . in the Islip fire. The new strong box cost about $325. And, a temporary structure is being built on the north side of Main Street, in which to place the Town Clerk’s records until a more substantial building can be erected.” In addition, at the February 25, 1905 Town Board meeting, the Board voted to issue bonds for up to $10.000 “to find a site and build a fireproof building in Islip Village.” Eventually, this fireproof building was the ‘Second Town Hall‘ located at 577 Main Street.
Clarence Birdsall of Bay Shore, was selected by the Town Board as architect for the new Town Hall. Plans were prepared and approved and bids solicited for a contractor to build the new Town Hall.
The first motion adopted by the Board was the preference for a corner lot. The second motion selected the lot offered by Charles L’Hommedieu at the corner of Locust Avenue and Main Street over the corner lot at Monell Avenue. The vote of the Board was 4 to 1 in favor of purchasing the Locust Avenue site. The Board also wanted a corner building with an alley-way between this building and any structure east. The building was to be constructed of brick, steel ceilings, and other fire prevention related improvements for that time.
The Board also adopted a resolution establishing a Building Committee. This Committee was chaired by the Supervisor Julius Hauser and included Justices of the Peace Frederick Wright and Leonard Young, as well as Town Clerk H. Clayton Haff. The Town Board purchased the new Town Hall site at the June 10, 1905 meeting. At the July 12, 1905, the Board awarded the contract to the lowest bidder – W.S. Velsor for $7,357.
A review of the Town Board minutes indicates that the Board was actively involved in every detail of construction including whether the eave brackets should be spruce or yellow pine, the selection of an iron ceiling, type of hinges for Town Hall doors, etc.
The Town Board took formal possession of the new Town Hall at the August 10, 1906 Board meeting.
Additional items added to the new Town Hall list included The Clerk’s office, new voting booths concrete gutters and sidewalks, hoods for Town Hall areas on the north side building, jury room, locks, etc. Subsequently, with all items resolved, the Board accepted the gracious donation of a chandelier by Mr. Hollins, East Islip, to be placed in the Town Clerk’s office. In the 1920’s, The Town Board accepted the flagpole in front of Town Hall which was donated by the Islip branch of the Ladies of the Klan according to Robert Caro in his book, “the Power Broker”.
Recollecting his youth in Islip Village, Edward Van Sicklen wrote numerous installments as a writer/reporter for the Islip Bulletin. Van Sicklen in describing the “old Town Hall”, stated,
“Located on Main Street, corner of Locust Avenue, it was a two-story brick building, used later as an Assessor’s office. Still in use. In the rear of this building on Locust Avenue there was a door behind which was the town jail. As children, this was rather a curiosity; we really wanted to see inside. It contained some sort of a single bed. . . . Oh, for the days when the old town hall was large enough to serve all our government needs, including a court and a jail. This was when our popular town clerk on many occasions held out against the councilmen and won his point-maybe pigheaded was the term used against him, but honest. The job paid so little he gave it up and went back on the bay fishing and often on the ocean alone in a might small sailboat.”
As the population of Islip Town continued to grow nearly tripling to 33,000, so did the demands of the public for local laws e.g. health, building, roads, parks, etc. resulted in various administrative functions and enforcement responsibilities. Accordingly, the Town Board decided on the purchase of land and construction of the new Town Hall on the Vail property during the economic catastrophe of the Great Depression.
Even with the completion of the new Town Hall at 655 Main Street, the deepening economic impact of the Stock Market Crash is reflected in Havemeyer’s comment:
The Great Depression hit Suffolk County as hard as it did other parts of the country. The land boom ended and home building slowed to a trickle. Unemployment went way up and labor became much cheaper as those who could find work were willing to do so at very low wages. Public spending projects, such as Robert Moses Parkways and parks and the Town of Islip’s new town hall, did provide some work.”
”. . . Valuable information concerning about 1,500 cases – all strictly confidential – has already been complied in a Central Index. . . . Occupying the former Town Clerk’s office we find the clothing room in charge of Mrs. Donald Belford. Suits, dresses, underwear, shoes, and other articles given by the Red Cross and by private individuals or stores. . . . Across the hall, in what was formerly the Tax Receiver’s room are stored potatoes supplied by the Social Service Committee. The old lockup nest to it houses bags of flour supplied by the Red Cross . . . Upstairs, where Town Board members used to meet, there is a toy room. Here volunteers workers . . . repair damaged toys and wrap them up. The Boy Scouts will help distribute the toys before Christmas to children of needy families.”
At the same meeting on May 11, 1932, the Board sold the jail cells from the ‘old’ Town Hall to Supervisor Tuttle of Shelter Island for the price of $50. Tuttle had to take down and remove the cells at his expense, they added.
Another practical example of the extent of the impact to the local economy was the Town Board resolution granting the use of the 'old' Town Hall (Locust Avenue and Main Street) to the Emergency Work Relief Committee. The Bay Shore Sentinel's December 22, 1932 issue describes the relief activities in the 'old' town hall,