Lindenhurst Digital Photo Collection

Explore some photos from the library’s Local History Collection below. If you have a questions about a particular photo please call the library to speak with Peter Muhr, our Local History Librarian at 631-957-7755 ext.135.

Do you have photos you would like to contribute to the collection? Email localhistory@lindenhurstlibrary.org!

You can find the complete archive of our Local History Blog Posts here!

Bier Hier!: Early breweries of Lindenhurst
Beer has played a prominent role in German …
Lindenhurst High School (1931)
The first high school in Lindenhurst was built …
The School Street School
By 1907, the board of education purchased 14 …
The Second Schoolhouse in Lindenhurst
After a few years, the student population increased …

People of Lindenhurst

Photo Captions

Independence Day parade, Wellwood Ave., ca. 1965 / Taxi stand, 1930 / Cadets of America and Brownies marching in 1959 Memorial Day parade with Fire chief in Oldsmobile car / Bower School Kindergarten class, 1953-54 / & 1st Grade, 1955 / Village Police officer, 1940’s / Frederick Minneker at his wheelwright shop, northwest corner of School St. & Hoffmann Ave, 1910 / Employees of the harness and upholstery shop of Martin J. Boeckh on Wellwood Ave., ca. 1910 / Charles Heling (right) with passengers of his livery stable stage wagon, ca. 1910 / Hearse of the Heling undertaking establishment on Hoffmann Ave, 1915 / Pfingsten (German Pentecost) celebrants disembark at the train depot, ca. 1910 / Funeral procession for Charles Warta Jr., coach driven by Charles Heling, 1914 / Employees of Ewald J.H. Mielke’s lumber company on West Hoffmann Ave., 1910 / 1901 train depot station house ticket window, ca. 1905 / Pfingst Monday celebrants gather at train depot, ca. 1915 /   Employees of Ernest Kaune’s blacksmith shop, corner of School St. & Hoffman Ave., 1910 / First patrons of the new Library, July 1, 1953 / Library employee at temporary storage facility behind building, April, 1968 / Otto F. Eichhammer’s brewery on East John Street, 1915 / Andrew J. Feller in front of his Neguntatogue Inn on Wellwood Ave., 1910 / Charles Thiele with family & employees of his Hoffmann House on East Hoffmann Ave., ca. 1905 / Patrons of Andrew Feller’s Hotel on East Hoffmann Ave., ca. 1895 / Feller’s Hotel family and patrons, ca. 1900 / Entrance of the old Library building, mid 1960’s / Aftemath of fire that destroyed Gleste’s Hotel, southwest corner of Wellwood & Hoffmann Avenues, June, 1912 / Outdoor music program at the old Library, mid 1960’s /  Charles Wild in his barbershop at East Hoffmann & South High Street in 1902 / Barbershop of Marcus J. Zeilner (on right) at northeast corner of School Street & West Hoffman Ave. in 1890 /  George W. Irmisch’s store & post office on West Hoffmann Avenue, ca. 1900 /  Butcher Valentine Goebel (left) with Ed Gleste, ca. 1910 /  Goebel with his meat market wagon, ca. 1910 / Torns, Jr. drives the Central Meat Market wagon, ca. 1910 / August Schmalkuche, 2nd from right, with employees of his Schmalkuche Bakery and Grocery, West Hoffmann Ave., 1892 /  Closing up the old Library for the last time, May, 1969 / Grocer William Wolter with his 6 children, 1910 / Tinsmith and plumber Henry Ramsauer at his Wellwood Avenue shop in 1890 /  Flora Gnilka Gleste, 2nd from left, breaks ground for her husband Edward’s National Theater on Wellwood Avenue, in 1913 /  Library trustees breaking ground for the new Library, 1968 /  Fire department racing team, ca. 1910. 

Lindenhurst Library Through the Years

Photo Captions

Dedication of future Library site, 1947 / Mid 1990’s Library lobby renovation / Early 1990’s Children’s Room Renovation & re-opening ceremony / New Library Reference room, 1969 / Windows on Wellwood celebration parade, 1999 / Children’s fund raising campaign for Windows on Wellwood, 1998 / Reference room scene, early-1990’s / Library time capsule burial, 1969 / Outdoor Library concert, mid-1960’s / Temporary storage trailers behind old Library, mid-1960’s / Installation of new Library sign, 1969 / Old Library Reference room, ca. 1960 / Presentation of new Library design, 1945 / Dedication of new Library site, 1947 / Big Bird in the Children’s Room, 1970’s

Railroad

Photo Captions

Hoffmann Avenue West across train tracks, Nehring’s Hotel at right, new School Street School in left background, from roof of Gleste’s Hotel, 1910 / Train tracks west across Wellwood Avenue, 1966 /  Train depot facing East, early 20th Century / Depot facing southeast, across Wellwood Ave., early 20th Century / Wellwood Avenue north from Our Lady of Perpetual Help R.C. Church, early 20th Century / Westbound train loading with passengers, early 20th Century / Eastbound train from Wellwood Avenue crossing gates, mid-20th Century /   Late 1960’s scene at depot, looking northwest across Wellwood Avenue crossing / Eastbound train at depot, ca. 1915 /   Original 1870 train depot station house, burned in 1901 / Rebuilt station house which served until 1968 / Depot freight house and baggage cart / Babylon Railroad, an electrified trolley route that operated between Babylon and Amityville from 1910 to 1920 / Trolley storage car barn at Belmont Junction near Great East Neck Road / Eastbound South Shore Railroad steam locomotive stopped at the train depot with Nehring’s Hotel in background, ca. 1875 / Proposal for unrealized Breslau and Fire Island Railroad / Depot station house showing warning sign at Wellwood Avenue crossing / Train depot freight house, later connected to station house / Depot looking southeast with Gleste’s Hotel in background, ca. 1905 / Wider view shows Wellwood Avenue crossing & partially obscured bank building / Depot looking east from Wellwood Avenue crossing, ca. 1905 / Close-up of freight house to the east of the station house / Steam locomotive sits on Westbound track at depot, ca. 1910 / Depot showing eastbound track directly in front / Wide view of train sitting on westbound track in front of depot / Station house showing gas light fixtures, ca. 1905 / Mid-1920’s view looking north from Wellwood Avenue crossing, showing new manually operated crossing gates, traffic signal and World War One monument, with former Nehring’s Hotel on corner / 1968 views of depot in it’s final days / In 1926, the depot station house and freight house were joined together and moved slightly to the east, depicted in this view looking west / Wellwood Avenue crossing looking west, ca. 1967.

Maps and Media

Photo Captions

10 dollar bank notes issues by First National Bank of Lindenhurst, ca. 1907 / 1870 Breslau advertisement / 2 maps of Lindenhurst, from 1888 and 1915, show the exponential growth of the community / Ca. 1871 map shows proposed Breslau & Fire Island Avenue Railroad, divided lots being sold by Thomas Welwood & original name of Wellwood Avenue north of the village (Nequntatogue Road).  Note Welwood’s name spelled correctly on the Avenue here, although it is actually named Wellwood!, / 1873 map showing Breslau station and unrealized proposed Central Railroad extension / 1873 South Side Railroad advertisement from the New York Daily Graphic / 1915 advertisement for opening of the National Theater on Wellwood Avenue / 1947 Newsday article about destruction of the theater by fire / 1870 South Side Signal advertisement announcing opening of the brand new Nehring’s Hotel on the northwest corner of Wellwood and Hoffman Avenues.

Places throughout Lindenhurst

Photo Captions

1871 Bank Building, south side of Hoffmann Avenue just west of Wellwood Avenue, as it appears today /  Irmisch’s Corner, southwest corner of Wellwood & Hoffmann Avenues, ca. 1930 / The same corner, ca. 1910 with the 1870 Gleste’s Hotel (burned 1912) and the 1871 Bank Building (still standing, along with the building to its left) / Further west on Hoffmann Ave. / The 1919 World War One Veterans’ monument on Wellwood Ave., just south of Hoffmann Ave. right after completion / Wellwood Avenue north from present site of Lee Avenue, with just completed 1930 High School on the east side / December 1945, looking south down Wellwood Avenue from Hoffmann Avenue, with banner welcoming home veterans of World War 2 / Wellwood Avenue looking south from south of Hoffmann Avenue, early 20th Century / View looking northeast from roof of recently completed School Street School (opened 1910) showing School Street on the far right & the intersection with East John Street / the Scheide residence (with tower) & steeple of St. John’s Evangelical Lutheran Church / Restoration Kitchen, opened in 2018 in the former Breslau Lodge No. 524 of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows built in 1910 at the corner of Travis Street and Hoffmann Avenue.  The initials “I.O.O.F.” can still be seen at the top of the building /  The old Village Hall Municipal Building on the west side of Wellwood Avenue, next to the firehouse, housed government offices and the  Village Police Department before its use as a museum & home of the Lindenhurst Historical Society & eventual move to Irmisch Park on South Broadway where it stands next to the former train depot station house / Northwest view from the top of the just completed 1930 High School (now the Middle School) with the former Nehring’s Hotel building in the upper right corner / Wellwood Avenue, north of John Street, mid-20th Century / Wellwood movie theater (former National Theater, built 1913) after 1947 fire that destroyed building / and earlier as a popular filmgoing venue / Row of stores at the northeast corner of Hoffmann and Wellwood Avenues ca. 1990 before being destroyed by fire several years later, including the original Bailey’s Comics and the old Shuffle Inn, currently the site of the Gazebo park / The former Waldbaum’s supermarket, under construction ca. 1991, viewed from the train station / St. John’s Lutheran Church on East John Street, built 1872, in an early 20th Century view east from Wellwood Avenue.  The congregation has since moved across Wellwood Avenue, but the building still exists without its steeple / The former Linden Brewery, built ca. 1934 by Johanna & Frank Graser, in a still existing building at the corner of Lincoln Avenue and Montauk Highway / Northeast corner of Hoffmann & Wellwood Avenues, looking southeast from just north of the train tracks, showing row of stores where the gazebo park is now / Lindenhurst Movie Theater, northeast corner of Wellwood Ave. & Montauk Highway, 1986 / Southeast corner of Hoffmann & Wellwood Avenues, showing Gleste’s Hotel and the Bank Building, early 20th Century, 3 views of the American Venice real estate development, 1926 / 1968 architect’s model of current Library building / Home of Philip & Charlotte Strack, Wellwood Avenue, between Dover & Easton Streets, late 109th Century / 1901 train depot station house being moved to Irmisch Triangle on South Broadway, November, 1968 / Heling’s Livery Stable on East Hoffmann Avenue North of the tracks, late 19th Century / Moving of the train depot station house / Dittmann Bros., housemovers & truckmen, north side of East Hoffmann Ave, opposite the train freight depot, early 20th Century T / Thomas H. Roulston’s grocery store on Wellwood Ave., with the Dittmann Bros. storefront next door / Wessel’s Hotel at Linden Beach, now Gilgo State Park, early 20th Century / The Lindenhurst Manufacturing Company (later the Button Factory) on Smith Street & West Gates Ave., early 20th Century / Fred G. Bohne’s Hoffmann Avenue bicycle chop and auto garage, early 20th Century / Architect’s drawing of original Library, 1946 (built 1953) / Original parlor of Timothy and Johanna Neville in the former Wellwood home, renamed Warwick House, early 20th Century / The home of Lindenhurst co-founder Charles S. Schleier on South 5th Street formerly Bismarck Ave., late 19th Century / Gleste’s Hotel, southwest corner of Hoffmann & Wellwood Avenues, during ownership of Edward Gleste, son of the builder / The hotel, also known as Hunter House, shown just after completion by George Gleste in 1870 / Edward and Flora Gleste’s Wellwood Ave. home after destruction by fire in 1914, with the brick bank building next door that kept the fire from spreading south / George Gleste at his hotel bar in 1894 / Andrew J. Feller’s South Side Hotel on East Hoffmann Ave. in 1891 / Otto Krueger’s Wellwood Ave. farm, near the present Library, later the Otto Eichhammer homestead, early 20th Century / The John Dietz Hotel, on West Hoffmann Ave., west of North 6th St., destroyed by fire in 1916 / John Feller’s Central Hotel & bowling alley, late 19th Century, on the southeast corner of North Wellwood Ave. & Dover St., late 19th Century / Charles Gnilka’s Hoffman House, formerly the South Side Hotel on East Hoffmann Ave., early 20th Century / Breslau Cemetery, dedicated in 1875 on land donated by Thomas Welwood, late 19th Century / The home of the soda-producing Sheide family, on the west side of School St., just south of West John Street, early 20th Century / St. John’s Evangelical Church, later St. John’s Lutheran Church, under construction on West John St. in 1872, with the 1st Breslau school in the foreground / 1968 drawing by Charles Koetzner of new Library / The home of Jesse & Temperance Ketcham built in 1780 near the northeast corner of Montauk Highway & Wellwood Ave., the 1st home built in Lindenhurst, demolished 1956, pictured late 19th Century / The home of Anton & Catherine Langsdorf, west side of Wellwood Ave. north of John St., late 19th Century / The homes of Conrad & Juliana Lerch (left) & Henry & Christina Waldau (right) on Travis Ave. in 1873 / The farmhouse of Jared & Sarah Barto, 1900 / The home of Joseph & Elizabeth Burchard (pictured with children Theresa & Edward) on N. 7th St., early 20th Century / Postcard looking south on South 1st St., formally Van Nostrand Ave., early 20th Century / The home of Frank & Helena Karpp (left) pictured with daughter & son-in-law Helena & Otto Burchard, late 19th Century / Adam & Eva Jommes, pictured with their children, at home on North 8th St. in 1885 / North 5th St. home Elizabeth & Reinhardt Heger, Sr., late 19th Century / Pauline & William Kurdt, Sr. and family at their 39th St. home in 1896 / Anna Jaeger & sons at the New York Avenue home they shared with her husband, Alexander, early 20th Century / South Wellwood Ave. summer residence of Dr. Alfred & Elizabeth Pfeiffer of Manhattan, late 19th Century / George & Kate Torns & children at home in 1892 / Emil & Julia Enz with children Walter, Eleanor & Arthur at home on North 6th St on July 5, 1915 (note flag in window) / Charles and Minnie Hohlbein at home on South 6th St. in 1920 / The blacksmith shop of Ernest Kaune, northwest corner of School St. & West Hoffman Ave. in 1910 / The harness & upholstery shop of Martin J. Boeckh in the Anton Langsdorf building on North Wellwood Ave, early 20th Century / The 1871 bank building on the south side of Wellwood Ave just east of Hoffman Ave., shown just after completion with Gleste’s Hotel on the left / & again in 1907 when the First National Bank of Lindenhurst was established / The new First National Bank of Lindenhurst, opened in 1912 on the west side of south Wellwood (1893-1897 Avenue / The grocery store of Angelo & Albina Pollini, shown with their children Edmund, Mario, Santina & Felix, on the northeast corner of Auburn St. & Wellwood Ave.. in 1896 / The cigar and tobacco shop of George W. Irmisch, which included the post office, on West Hoffman Ave. just west of South Wellwood Ave., late 19th Century / William F. Wild (left) at his plumbing & heating business on the northwest corner of Wellwood Ave. & John St. with the steeple of St. John’s visible behind, early 20th Century / Carl Voelker’s plumbing & heating shop on Hoffman Ave., early 2oth Century / The carriage factory of Frederick O. Schneider on Wellwood Ave., late 19th Century / The residence of Charles & Elizabeth Warta on South Wellwood Ave. in 1911, also the Town Clerk’s office during Warta’s tenure as Town Clerk (1911-14) / Valentine Heling’s morturary on Hoffman Ave. just east of Wellwood Ave., late 19th Century / Fred Kienle with his daughter Margaret at his dry goods store with living quarters above, on the west side of Wellwood Ave., ca. 1910. Destroyed by fire in 1914 / Home of postmaster Ferdinand Beschott on East Hoffman Ave., also served as post office (1879-1885) / The West Hoffman Ave. cigar shop of George W. Irmisch, served as the post office during his time as postmaster (1893-97) /

The bicycle shop of William F. Wild at the northwest corner of West John St. & Wellwood Ave. (St. John’s church is next door) was also the post office during Wild’s tenure as postmaster (1913-1922). The building is virtually unchanged since the time of this postcard photo / This brick post office opened in 1929 on the east side of South Wellwood Ave., just south of the Catholic church with Clarence E. Hirsch as postmaster / Louis Edelman’s clothing & department store on the northeast corner of Wellwood & East Hoffman Ave., early 20th Century / The west side of Wellwood Ave. on July 5, 1915, showing the National Theatre, First National Bank of Lindenhurst, Kienle’s Dry Goods store (newly rebuilt after previous year’s fire), & Lindenhurst Candy Kitchen / Bologna John’s, a restaurant owned by John Benkert at 38th St. & New York Ave., was a popular speakeasy during prohibition. Pictured ca. 1930, it was destroyed by fire in 1956 / Breslau’s 1st school, formed in the old Welwood Station railroad depot which was moved to the east side of School Street, just south of West John St., in 1870 & pictured in 1874 / The same building in recent years, greatly altered as a private residence & owned for years by the Sheide family. The original building is on the right / Looking east along the railroad tracks in 1871, the Wagner building & Nehring’s Hotel are on the left (north) side of the railroad. At right are the depot, Gleste’s Hotel & the bank building / The Lindenhurst Manufacturing Company, also known as The Button Factory on the northwest corner of South Smith St. & W. Gates Ave., built in 1909, closed ca. 1970 & destroyed by fire ca. 1980 / The new Lindenhurst Movie Theater, opened in 1948, shown here in 1949 showing “The Set-Up” / Damaged photo of the National Theater on the west side of South Wellwood Avenue, next door to the bank, opened in 1913 as a combination theater and movie house, destroyed by fire in 1947 operating solely as a movie house / The old Linden Brewery, built in 1934 by Johanna & Frank Graser on the corner of Lincoln Ave. & Montauk Highway, closed in 1948, with a bottle & coaster of their manufacture, building still exists / The old 1st schoolhouse on the west side of School St. just south of West John St. as a private residence in the late 19th Century / Upper Wellwood Ave. looking north toward Hoffman Ave., ca. 1935, showing 1919 World War I monument with the former Nehring’s hotel building directly behind & manually operated train track crossing gates / the same intersection, late 19th Century, showing train tracks, Nehring’s Hotel on the left and the Washington Hotel, corner of Auburn St. & North Wellwood Ave., on the right.

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