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Old Town Hall, circa
1940s.
Postcard from the collections of the Town of Babylon, Office of the Town Historian.
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HISTORY
OF OLD TOWN HALL
The Town of Babylon did not have a
centralized town hall or government offices when it was formed in 1872. The
Town Board normally met at hotels in the larger communities of Babylon,
Amityville and Lindenhurst. The old American House, where the first Town of
Babylon Board Meeting took place, was located just east of the first Town Hall,
at the northwest corner of Main Street and Deer Park Avenue.
Most Town Officials maintained offices in
their own homes. The Town Clerk who was responsible for the recordkeeping of
all Town documents, originally kept the records in their home and then later
they were transferred to rented offices in a village near to their home. When a
new Town Clerk was elected, it is possible that the records were transferred to
a new location chosen by the new Clerk.
The safety of Town records was of great
concern. In 1916, the Public Records Division of the NYS Dept. of Education
made an inspection of the Clerk’s records and declared the immediate need for
the erection of a fire proof vault and larger quarters for the Town Clerk. It
was also suggested that the Town Board meet at the Clerk’s office for ease of
access to public records.
The debate to erect a Town Hall had been
going on for years, but the report of the State Public Records officer hastened
the concern. Over the years several locations for a Town Hall had been
proposed. At that time, Lindenhurst had not yet incorporated as a village and
had been a favored location; however, Amityville and Babylon were also eager to
have the Town Seat situated in their communities. Incidentally, Babylon Village
faced the same inspection by the State Public Records Dept., and for a time, a
joint village-town building was proposed.
Just a few months after the State
inspection, the location debate was settled with the gift of property from the
family of David S.S. Sammis, as a memorial to him. Sammis was a prominent
village resident and businessman whose interests included the famous Surf Hotel
on Fire Island. Valued between $10,000 and $15,000, the donated property
covered nearly one-third of the estimated cost of the new Town Hall. The only
condition made by the Sammis family was that the Town of Babylon erect the
building within two years.
During that time, the South Side Signal newspaper reported some friendly competition with
the Town of Easthampton that was also considering the construction of a town
hall. Declaring “old Easthampton won’t be the first to erect a town hall, watch
Babylon!”
The Babylon Railroad trolley line was
still in existence during the construction and opening of the Town Hall. Accessibility
by trolley to Babylon Village from Amityville and Lindenhurst was cited as a
benefit to the Town Hall’s placement in Babylon Village.
The Inter-Village Citizens Town Hall
Committee (IVTHC) was formed to help endorse the town hall project and
encourage voter participation. The Women’s Auxiliary of the IVTHC was formed to
assist is getting women taxpayers to the polls. (Women gained the right to vote
in New York, in 1917.) The Women’s Auxiliary held a public meeting at the
“Babylon moving picture theatre,” showing a series of moving pictures to the
assembled. Town residents voted on and approved a $35,000 petition from the
Town Board for erection of the building.
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“The above is
reproduced from a pen and ink design submitted by Architect Inglee, of
Amityville, to the Nonpartisan Intervillage Town Hall Citizens Committee. The
committee filed a petition with the Babylon Town Board yesterday asking for a
vote by the taxpayers on April 3, 1917, on the proposition to raise $35,000 by
a bond issue, payable within ten years.” South Side Signal, February 9,
1917.
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The week before the election, the South
Side Signal wrote: “The state has repeatedly shown us conclusively
that we must have a fireproof place for the preservation of our town records,
and the calamity of several years ago when many of our town records were lost
in the Velsor fire in Amityville is an object lesson that none can forget.”
(March 30, 1917)
On April 3, town
voters passed the Town Hall proposal 667 to 462. Voters in north and south
Amityville and Copiague were nearly tied, and Lindenhurst voters overwhelmingly
tried to defeat the proposition. However, East Farmingdale, Deer Park and
Babylon Village residents used their majority to pass the ballot. In fact, the
efforts of the Women’s Auxiliary were highly credited with the successful
outcome.
The April vote
also brought the election of a new Town Supervisor, Babylon Village resident,
John Clinton Robbins. Shortly after the vote, the designs of architect Lewis
Inglee were chosen over those of E. Post Tooker. Inglee was an Amityville
resident whose other public building projects included the Marion G. Vedder
School in North Babylon, the Lindenhurst Middle School and the former
Amityville Village Hall.
When the Town called for bids for the new building, not one bid was received.
The high cost of materials, particularly the proposed marble, was too
expensive. Inglee made modifications to the plans and of the six bids for the
building construction, Moses R. Cornwell of Rockville Centre was chosen by the
Town Board. The original plans called for wooden columns on the front porch,
but that was not considered in order for a “fireproof” town hall. In order to
save money, it was decided to delay the finishing of the second floor, so that
“Donaldson Roman stone” could be used instead. | |
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Supervisor Robbins, accompanied by other
town officials, marked the commencement of the building project by turning the
first shovel of dirt, on September 4, 1917. At the end of 1917, when the
construction of the building was taking shape, and the United States entered
into World War I, the South Side Signal declared it “fortunate
that the matter [of a town hall] was pushed to a successful issue before the
severe war strain came upon us.”
The building
cornerstone is inscribed “1917.” The original date scheduled for the
cornerstone dedication was December 28, 1917, however, the day proved to be too
cold and the dedication was rescheduled to March 13, 1918, which was the 46th anniversary
of the creation of the Town of Babylon. Supervisor Robbins dedicated a
time-capsule that contained copies of the South Side Signal newspaper,
the “Brooklyn Times” newspaper, coins and other souvenirs. After the ceremony,
the gathered officials assembled at Casey’s hotel (formerly the Sherman House),
to honor the occasion.
By September
1918, the town board instructed the contractor to lay a “marbloid floor” on the
second floor, using the proceeds of dog licenses ($1,115.98) to cover the
cost.
The Town
Clerk and other town offices moved into their new quarters at the end of
October. The following month, the town board approved funds to complete the
second floor and the first board meeting was held in the new building on
November 6, 1918. December 28, 1918 was designated “Dedication Day,” with plans
for an automobile and vehicle parade “in which every machine and vehicle in the
township, it is hoped, will be in the line.”
The final part of the building to be completed was the basement
lockup. The town board awarded an $800 contract to move the men’s jail cell
bars, from Grove Place to the town hall basement. On March 7, 1919, the
“Babylon Leader” proclaimed that “the cells are in the new Town House, ready to
receive the first victim.” By July 1919, the “Babylon Leader” declared the
“Town House Nearly Complete.”
The
building was the seat of Town government until the fall of 1958, when the new
Town Hall on Sunrise Highway was completed. The need for a new Town Hall had
been debated for several years, as a result of the growing population, and the
increase of Town offices, services and records storage needs. The old Town Hall
was then used by the Motor Vehicles Bureau, until 1963.
On January
1, 1964, the District Court System took effect in the five western towns of
Suffolk County. All of the towns which adopted the new court system were
required to provide court facilities. Then Supervisor Lauder and the Town Board
chose to make modest renovations to the Old Town Hall for the court rather than
constructing a new facility, a cost saving move.
At its inception,
the second floor board room was used by the new District Court Judge, Ernest I.
Signorelli, of Copiague. On the main floor, the former Motor Vehicle office was
refurbished to house Justice of the Peace Gilbert Hanse. Justice Hanse had two
more years on his term as JOP, so for a short time, the Courthouse accommodated
two court systems. The Courthouse was used until 1979 when the building was
sold to William Higgins, who operated a photography studio in the building for
nearly 25 years.
On April 13,
2004, through Resolution #299, the Babylon Town Board reacquired Old Town Hall
for town use. On October 5, 2005, the majestic building was honored with
placement on the National Register of Historic Places.
The historic
building was faithfully restored, inside and out, and an extension was made to
the northeast corner of the building allowing the construction of an elevator,
providing access to all floors. On June 11, 2010, the Old Town Hall was
rededicated as the Town of Babylon History Museum.