Dans Papers - May 25, 2007 - History Happens

Last Tuesday, Dan sent me out to take some photos for his articles. I drove around East Hampton, Sag Harbor and Southampton like a maniac to get the pictures. I was even pulled over for speeding in Sag Harbor. Several hours went by and the battery in the camera I was using died. I then headed back to the office and submitted the photos I took, thinking the images would be fine. But the man with the paper named after him wanted to see me in his office later that evening. I took the walk of shame out of the editorial department and up the narrow staircase that leads to Dan. He was busy getting the paper in order and asked me if I had any more photos. I didn't. He told me I didn't complete one of the assignments, because my photo wasn't up to par. As I left the office that night, I was scared and upset because I let my boss down and didn't know what was in store. I was hoping he'd forget about it.

Thursday would be the next time I would see Dan, since the editorial department stays at work late into the night on Tuesday and gets Wednesdays off. Thursdays are when all of the stories and photo assignments are handed out at the editorial meeting. Half of the meeting went by, so I thought I was going to be in the clear. That was, until Dan had an assignment for me. He told me to take pictures and write a story about the fourteen new informational signs placed all over the town of East Hampton.

This assignment made me extremely nervous, since I spent the majority of my twenty years living in Nassau County, staying at my parents' summer home in Sag Harbor for parts of seven summers. I don't really know the roads in the Hamptons, especially East Hampton. Before I could tell Dan that I might not be the right guy for the assignment, he said, "This way you can redeem your reputation." His only advice on this assignment was to "make sure people can read the signs." Not only did I have the pressure of finding these signs, it appeared that my job was on the line.

I certainly don't want to go back to my old summer job of scooping ice cream, so if Dan wanted photos, that's what he would get.

Friday served as my prep day to figure out all of the fourteen locations. Needing more than harbor and trail names, I knew MapQuest.com and my Hagstrom Suffolk County Atlas were going to be crucial.

On Saturday, the scavenger hunt began. I knew that each harbor had two signs in different locations -- totaling ten -- and that there were four trail signs. I left my house in Nassau County a little after 1 p.m. with directions for three locations from MapQuest, my map and little confidence. With no traffic, the search officially began around 2:30 p.m.

The first destination on the list was Fresh Pond in Amagansett, and the Stony Hill trail sign. The directions said to go through Abraham's Landing Road on the left, over the railroad tracks, past the South Fork Country Club. After half a mile, find Fresh Pond Road on the left and take it a little more than a mile to the intersection of Cross Highway. I had three problems. The first mistake was that I disregarded my directions and made a premature left onto Abraham's Path. I drove for nearly fifteen minutes before I realized my blunder and got back on track. To make matters worse, when I found the correct road -- Abraham's Landing Road -- my head started spinning from reading directions, following the winding roads and going up and down all the hills that East Hampton had to offer. And, oh yeah, my directions just stopped at a random point. A middle-aged man in a black Ford pick-up truck had to bail me out and point me in the direction of the beach down the road. I made it, somewhat successfully, to my first sign, from Amagansett to Amagansett -- aka nowhere -- in just under an hour.

The sign at Stony Hill taught me about Amagansett's history. The hamlet, founded in the 1670s, was given its name by the Montaukett tribe and means "place of good water" in the Algonquian language. The Baker, Schellinger, Conklin and Barnes families were the first to build on the land from 1680 to 1700. The Long Island Rail Road came to Amagansett in 1895. And in 1942, four Nazi saboteurs landed on a beach in Amagansett and were brought to justice after taking a train to New York City. I snapped some shots and was ready for my next history lesson.

My second assignment was to take a picture of the Lake Montauk harbor signs. I've been to Gosman's Dock before, so I had a general idea of the vicinity. I found the light blue sign with the yellow header that says "Lake Montauk," to the left of Gosman's Restaurant. The second Lake Montauk sign, at South Lake Drive, however, was a mystery to me. Driving aimlessly around Montauk, my head continued spinning from reading directions in the car and going up and down. The hills in East Hampton were pint-sized compared to the ones in Montauk. I eventually found South Lake Drive after a little more than an hour in oblivian. I also found out that Lake Montauk used to be the largest freshwater lake on Long Island and that it was permanently opened to the sea in 1924. In 1989, due to the fact that the fishing village at Fort Pond Bay was destroyed by the Hurricane of 1938, Lake Montauk became the largest commercial fishing port in New York State.

Not that I knew it at the time, but my last stop on this balmy Saturday was going to be at Gann Road dock. As the light was fading, I drove past Dan, who I saw looking out the window of his house and found the Three Mile Harbor sign. Three Mile Harbor, I learned, was formed by a glacial advance and is currently fed by both freshwater from Tanbark Creek and saltwater from the bay.

Unfortunately, as the sign explains, some areas of Three Mile Harbor are closed to shellfishing due to poor water quality.

As the sun went down, my chances of taking more pictures did as well. I continued the search on Sunday and found the Northwest Woods hiking sign in record time, since I actually knew where I was going. The sign stood out on the northbound side of Route 114, as trees and shrubs had been cleared to make room for the sign. The hiking sign, which is bigger than the harbor ones, tells the history of the northwest area and how Isaac Van Scoy was a prominent player in its affairs throughout the Nineteenth Century. Today, the East Hampton Trails Preservation Society has trails that link all of the northwest's major parks and preserves. I also found, thanks to MapQuest, the second Three Mile Harbor sign at Maidstone Park.

After driving around the town of East Hampton for more than five hours over the past two days, I figured I had a grasp of the area and decided to find Northwest Harbor. My attempt failed, as I ended up in Cedar Point. I never made it to the Northwest Harbor sign, which is supposed to be at the end of Northwest Landing Road. The second sign for the Northwest Harbor has not been put up, so I was off the hook for that one -- making my total of photos for the harbor signs drop from ten to nine.

Not knowing where to go next, I walked into the East Hampton Emergency Communications building for directions to my final four harbor destinations. A kind woman printed out two maps for me - one leading to Landing Lane, where the only remnant of the sign is the base, as the light-blue informational portion is missing. The other map led me to Accabonac Harbor at Louse Point. Both places had beautiful views. I understood how the sign at Landing Lane could have fallen victim to vandalism, as seven teenagers hanging out in two different cars asked me if I had any "shrooms" so they could "trip." I made sure to take a picture of the metal stake as proof that I had been at Landing Lane.

At Accabonac Harbor, residents' emotions were mixed about the new sign. "I'm of two minds," former Amagansett resident, Carl Austin said. "I've always enjoyed the signs in Montauk. They explain but are not intrusive. My immediate reaction was -- I was taken aback. But I think the educational purpose far outweighs the minimal impact."

However, Amagansett resident Chris George had a different take on the Louse Point sign. "While it's good to inform people of the beauty before them, the sign is just an intrusion." When George found out a sign was already stolen, he joked, "It's quite ugly. I can see why one was taken." Adding about the design, "It looks like a placemat in a diner." His wife, Gina, said the signs make the area seem like a tourist attraction rather than an environmental sanctuary.

After speaking with the Georges about the history of the area, I was off to Montauk to complete my last two photo assignments. I went too far trying to find the Lazy Point boat ramp and was put in the right direction by a man washing his car at the Hither Hills West Overlook. He told me to go down by Cyril's Fish House and it would be in that area, over the railroad tracks. I took his advice and made the first right after Cyril's. It wasn't Lazy Point, but it wound up leading me to the Napeague Harbor sign by the Walking Dunes. I kept driving and found the second set of railroad tracks off of Napeague Meadow Road, completing my assignment as I took a picture of the Napeague Harbor sign at Lazy Point. I later discovered a more convenient way to get to Lazy Point, by taking Cranberry Hole Road.

After spending more than nine hours in and out of my car, making a myriad of U-turns and bothering people for directions, I was able to complete my mission, having taken pictures of ten out of the thirteen signs that are currently on display. As someone with little knowledge of East Hampton, I was able to learn a little history and navigate the roads -- even with the street landmarks being long, narrow, white poles with medium-sized letters just big enough to read as you drive past them.