Storified by newsday · Tue, Sep 18 2012 15:07:33
Had some fun hanging out (read: dodging ping pong balls) at the #Moriches Community Center this afternoon. Look for a story tomorrow!
Time to head to the #Moriches Community Center. Before I go, meet Rotarian Muriel Corcoran http://www.newsday.com/long-island/towns/long-island-now-1.1732330/east-moriches-resident-discusses-rotary-s-dedication-to-special-needs-camp-1.4013916
Post-WWI, WWI were population waves. Soliders from Camp Upton, Westhampton air base, or the coast guard liked the area and stayed. #Moriches
When Field, who moved to Center #Moriches in the 1930s, was in elementary school, Annie Oakley, 70+ by then, taught them to perform skits
At the turn of the 20th century, people flocked from Manhattan, including the famous. Annie Oakley eventually moved to #Moriches permanently
Fast forward to 1881 when the Center #Moriches Railroad station was built. Tourism increased, hotels and boarding houses became popular
In the late 1700s, Thomas Jefferson and James Madison stayed at the Ketcham Inn (81 Main St., Center #Moriches) while visiting William Floyd
Field: "In 1852 when the Ketchams lived here, there were only 11 houses between the Ketchams and the Floyd House," [in Shirley]. #Moriches
blacksmiths/tin smiths were the first given land grants from England because they attracted others. Farmers, etc. needed their skill
Other "first families" included Smith, Havens and Floyd. All owned more land on one parcel than they could manage to visit.
The first white man in #Moriches was Samuel Terrell, a tin smith, who got a land grant for large parcel from Terrell River to Senix Creek.
Native Americans first lived in the #Moriches thousands of years before white settlers. Evidence found through archeological digs
Leaving the historical society with a wealth of information on #Moriches. I'll give you some tidbits as I go through my notes.
