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Page 12 text:
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THE HISTORY OF EAST ROCKAWAY East Rockaway, called Near Rockaway until 1869, had its early beginnings in the 17th century when it began to develop as a seaport. East Rockaway inlet, then Hog inlet, gave the village the distinction of being the only spot of the locality connected with the Atlantic. Naturally enough, a trading center developed here. Farm and sea products were shipped via packet boat to New York and staples were brought back to the farmers. A grist mill was set up by Joseph Haviland at the head of the East Rockaway channel in 1688. The mill prospered and passed through various hands until it came into possession of the Davison family who have held it for over a century. Education was not forgotten, however, in this busy little town for prior to the Revolution, a school was built on the site of the present village hall. The booming shipping trade threatened to make Near Rockaway the largest village on the South Shore. The peak of development came in Civil War times. There were four general stores, a hotel, a mill, a lumber yard, a coal yard, ship yard and close to forty buildings in the business area. In 1869, an attempt was made to change the name to Atlantic, but duplication was discovered and the compromise name of East Rockaway was decided on. About a half century ago the Montauk division of the Long Island Railroad was built and East Rockaway was left high and dry. Other villages prospered; East Rockaway declined commercially. The shipping trade fell to almost nothing and it was not until the Long Beach division came through that the village began to recover. Then summer residents and commuters started to come and were responsible for much of the later development. In 1900 the village incorporated with Lloyd Johnson as president and progressed 8
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Page 13 text:
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steadily from that point on with the greatest building development coming during the 1920-1930 boom. Stories of Near Rockaway's people provide interesting information and amusing lore about the early village, but a few men in particular, were unique. Joseph Haviland, the original mill owner, was given a grant of town land and the liberty to erect a grist mill at Rockaway swamp to grind the town's corn for 1 12 part thereof . Alexander Davison was the original trader of East Rockaway; he started off with nothing but an empty boat and came back with a ship full of lumber and supplies. Alexander and his crew often put out from the village dock with an empty ship, anchoring in the bay until they had a load of oysters and clams. They then proceeded to New York to trade part of the shellfish for staples, and sailed on up the Hudson to Albany to trade the remainder of the shellfish and the staples for lumber. The town's rugged individualist in the Revolution was Colonel Richard Hewlett of the Queen’s Royal militia, the only resident of Near Rockaway to fight on the loyalist side. For his valor, Colonel Hewlett was accorded the general treatment for Loyalists, confiscation of all his holdings and property. He then went to Canada, but in 1795 his wife and sons came back and regained possession of their property. In general, the outstanding characteristics of the founders and those who followed them in the development of this village were: courage to face problems, canniness in business matters, and confidence in their ability to succeed. Turning now to consideration of the members of our Senior Class, we hope that they, too, will be able to draw upon these same inner resources in finding places for themselves in this new world of today. 9
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