The Oyster Bay Historical Society’s free exhibit, “19th Century Oyster Bay: Artifacts from the Oyster Bay Historical Society,” examines the town’s past and present industries. It is on display until the end of March at 20 Summit St.
The exhibit features artifacts from the town’s rich history, including oystering nets, typewriters, vials from Snouder’s Drug Store and carpentry tools.
“What makes this exhibit stand out is that it’s focusing and concentrating on the industry and the commerce of the town,” said historical executive director Denise Evans-Sheppard.
Aptly named, Oyster Bay has a deep history with the shellfish industry, which is highlighted in the exhibit with 19th-century fishing tools. Evans-Sheppard said many seasonal shellfish harvesters came to the town from other states, such as Maryland and Virginia, “to have access to the docks.”
Oyster harvesting wasn’t the only industry to grow in the town, however.
The exhibit also recognizes shoemakers Andrew Megeman McQueen, hatter John William Gould, and carpenter Daniel Underhill Cashow, among others. It displays their tools from the 1800s.
“All these figures are prominent in the town and the development of the town,” Evans-Sheppard said. She said the exhibition shows how technology has changed in the centuries since then.
Typewriters and embossers are displayed to showcase the town’s publishing industry, which has been recorded in the “Oyster Bay-Glen Cove Record Pilot” and “Oyster Bay Guardian,” Evans-Sheppard said.
Evans-Sheppard said her family has lived there since the 1700s and that her great-uncle worked as an editor at the “Oyster Bay Guardian.”
She said the paper’s office was in the basement of the historic Snouder’s Drug Store building and said the staff would deliver messages to Theodore Roosevelt from Washington D.C., sent to the town’s first telephone, which was housed in the building.
The pharmaceutical industry is also highlighted, with original Snouder’s Drug Store vials and medicinal guide. Advertisements from the drug store, which offer cigarettes as a treatment for asthma and hay fever, are displayed on the walls.
The exhibit also highlights Rev. Marmaduke Earle, who worked in a Baptist Church in the town.
Earle is an especially fitting person to highlight in the exhibit because part of the museum is the Earle-Wightman House, which is operated by the society. Originally built in 1720, the building belonged to Earle in the 1800s and was later donated to the town by the Earle family in 1966, Evans-Sheppard said.
In addition to the rotating exhibit, the house displays a historic colonial room, minister’s parlor, 1940s kitchen and gift shop.
The display runs through the end of March and is free to the public. The historical society is open Tuesdays through Fridays from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m., Saturdays from 11:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m., and Sundays and Mondays by appointment.
Evans-Sheppard said the next exhibit, which will focus on the region’s horse and farming industry, will be unveiled in April. For more information, visit oysterbayhistorical.org.
