Out on Long Island

This blog post is the first in a series, that is part of a project funded by The Robert David Lion Gardiner foundation to assess and improve access to archival collections in our holdings that relate to Long Island. It was written by Catherine Jonas-Walsh, an assessment archivist working on the project.

“It is a goodly sight to see, what heaven hath done for this delicious land,” begins Out on Long Island, an illustrated travel guide published by the Long Island Railroad Company (known today as the Long Island Rail Road), in 1889. The “delicious land” that this quote from the poetry of Lord Byron was used to describe was the terrain of Long Island, which would now be made even more accessible to the rest of New York City, thanks to a merger between with the Long Island Railroad Company, Mauntauk Railroad, and Brooklyn Railroad that same year.  Initially, the Long Island Railroad Company facilitated transportation between New York City and Boston. However, the company soon pivoted to focus on transportation between New York City and Long Island, providing a link between the urban streets of Manhattan and rural farmland and beaches out on the island (including  Brooklyn and Queens, which would not be consolidated into the five boroughs of New York City until 1898). As the Long Island railroad expanded its reach, travel guides like this one are an important historical guide to why the railroads thought this was an investment worth making, and how they tried to convince city dwellers to pay the fare, board the train, and experience Long Island firsthand.

The Long Island Railroad Company targeted the guidebook Out on Long Island towards the “tired workers and pleasure seekers of New York and Brooklyn” The book presented Long Island as an affordable, tranquil escape from the frenzy of New York City. The book, which does not list any authors or contributors, makes a case for homeownership out on Long Island, boasting that “there is no need that citizens of New York and Brooklyn should live within crowded tenements or waste half their livings on expensive rents, when for a small sum a home can be bought or built in some one of the many towns of Long Island.” The guide also tempted would-be city vacationers, promising that “summer boarding places can be found within easy distance of the cities at moderate cost, and men can go to and fro at small expense of time and money.”  Keeping in line with late-19^th century theories that fresh air and ample light was a safeguard of good health, the authors of the book further note that living on Long Island is beneficial for peoples’ health, citing (but not naming) “an observing physician of national repute” who remarked that Suffolk County was one of the two counties in the whole of the United States “most remarkable for health.” By presenting Long Island as a scenic vacation spot, and an affordable alternative to the crowded tenements, and a haven for health, the guidebook advertises the towns of Long Island as much as it does the Long Island Railroad itself.

To do this advertising, Out on Long Island is divided into chapters and subsections, each devoted to a particular town or regions, featuring rich written descriptions of the history and notable landmarks, and what opportunities await visitors. Chapters include “Nearby Seaside Resorts” (primarily in Brooklyn and Queens), “The South Shore” (with a focus on the Great South Bay), “From Moriches to Sag Harbor” (with waterfront illustrations of Tiana Bay,” "Suburban Towns,” and the North Shore (Roslyn to Oyster Bay and Coldspring to Port Jefferson). Each chapter also includes illustrations created by Fleming, Brewster, and Ally printing and engraving company. These intricate visuals depict famous landscapes, ornate buildings, and tranquil beaches of Long Island. They juxtapose the crowded, dirty streets of New York City (especially considering the lack of sanitation and building regulations during the Gilded Age).

The guidebook seems to have been favorably received, with the Brooklyn Times Union printing in June 1889 that it was “one of the most attractive hints for summer travel and quiet ever published.” Ads for the guidebook ran in the “summer resorts” section of area newspapers, pressing readers to stop by the Flatbush Avenue Depot in Brooklyn or to send five cents of postage to their traffic manager, who would then send them a copy.
 

Out on Long Island reminds us that the groundwork for post-WWII suburbanization was laid half a century earlier. The Long Island Railroad Company provided reliable and affordable transportation between New York City and the surrounding towns and counties, solidifying the connection between these areas. These transportation opportunities, and the boosterism facilitated by the railroad, helped build the framework for residential and cultural growth outside Manhattan, thus changing the demographics of New York City. The book states, “The time is not far distant when the entire island will be a suburban New York and Brooklyn, and if one is missed from his accustomed place in the great city the answer to the question, ‘Where is he?’ will bring the response, ‘out on Long Island.’”
 

The popularity of Long Island did indeed boom after the second World War. The 1944 Servicemen’s Readjustment Act (also known as the G.I. Bill) not only provided jobs, educational opportunities, and benefits for veterans, but it also allowed veterans and their families to buy homes with low interest and no down payment. It’s important to note that Black and other non-white veterans were deliberately excluded from receiving many of these G.I. Bill benefits. Suddenly, real estate became more affordable to millions of white Americans. Many returning soldiers chose to move to  the suburbs instead of living in cities, due to the lower prices and greater space. Perhaps parents’ and grandparents’ impressions about the bucolic and healthful opportunities out on Long Island, facilitated in part by guide books like these, would have bolstered these choices. Ironically, in response to the demand, some of Long Island’s natural beauty was pushed out to make way for the housing boom. In Hempstead, Long Island, Levitt and Sons real estate company constructed a new suburb, Levittown, on top of potato fields. Returning veterans who moved their families into these residential development would take the Long Island Railroad into Manhattan for work, then return home in the evenings, giving rise to a whole new workforce of commuters during this era. Out on Long Island shows that the pathway to such suburbanization occurred over a much longer period than is often acknowledged.

The Long Island Railroad played a crucial role in linking Long Island to New York City and helped to create the sprawling suburbs of the metropolitan area. Out on Long Island highlights the rich history, breathtaking views, and charming towns on Long Island that hastened the railroad’s expansion. The guidebook is an important artifact that showcases the role that corporations played in selling the suburbs, both in New York and beyond.

This blog post and research was made possible thanks to the generosity of The Robert David Lion Gardiner Foundation.