Van and Mary Field and ‘The Illustrated History of the Moriches Bay Area’

“…each of us is a bridge from our historic past to the future of man.”

Van and Mary Field’s brief introduction, “Hands Across the Ages,” frames the couple’s rationale for the photographic chronicle of life the couple hoped to preserve when they published “The Illustrated History of the Moriches Bay Area,” in 1983, and revised in 2003.

Inspired by their shared love of the community they’d called home throughout their lives, and efforts made by friend and local insurance agent, August Stout, to publish historic photographs and secure buildings like the Havens house, Van and Mary started their journey with family photographs, many dating to the late 19th century, some preserved on glass plates instead of film.

A project Mary proposed as a shared activity following Van’s retirement, the family’s collection of images and memories soon drew upon the contributions of neighbors and friends, who brought with them knowledge and stories that spanned generations. By the time they were finished, the book numbered 288 pages, most of them featuring annotated photographs, including details drawn from personal memories of those around them. In short, it was a community’s love letter to its past.

Starting with “Early Deeds/History” and touching on everything from maps, the importance of local waterways and beaches to its growth, the risks and rewards of ships, to the inevitable changes brought by progress—automobiles, electric lights, steam engines, telephone service, wireless radio—each section brings focus to the land and its people as they prospered along the water’s edge.

Photographs trace the water’s prominence on local development across centuries.  Creeks, inlets, and rivers afforded opportunities to fish, ship goods and lumber.  Water powered mills that ground grain, made paper and sawed logs. From mills to fishing boats to duck farms to tourism, area waterways have contributed to the growth of the Moriches. 

Photographs record the duality of this relationship and dependence on the water, as well as when many ships wrecked off our coast, their cargo lost, crewmen lost at sea or freezing to death on lonely beaches.  A veteran of service in the U.S. Coast Guard during WW II, Van Field had a special interest in the origins of the first ad-hoc network of local farmers and fishermen, who clambered into their boats in early rescue efforts to a gradual formal service of lifesaver stations positioned at four-mile intervals along Long Island’s South Shore, the forerunner to the current United States Coast Guard.

The rail system’s arrival in 1881 brought its own benefits and losses.  While The Brooklyn and Montauk Railroad offered easy access and transport of freight and passengers between NYC and Center Moriches, it also posed a threat to local life.

Originally, tracks ran through town at grade level, crossing at the west end of Main Street into the village.  Soon after service began, the Hutching family—husband, wife, and their young daughter—and their horse were killed, struck by a train at this crossing. In 1918, the trestle overpass was built to reduce risk to the community.  Today, it continues to prompt concerns as it is often struck by trucks heedless of its low height.

The book includes many other notable local landmarks, many still standing thanks to the efforts of people like Stout, a charter member of The Moriches Bay Historical Society, established in 1966, who was instrumental in helping to save and relocate the Havens House, where it serves as the society’s meeting house, and whose “Pictorial Memories of the Moriches Area” inspired their interest in continuing his work. It is thanks to people like them, as well as Bert Seides and many supporters who helped found and support the Ketcham Inn Foundation, a nonprofit 501(c)(3), that charm and a sense of the past have been preserved by the Moriches Historic District since 2000.

Among its many noteworthy anecdotes and images: the John Ross house built at the intersection of Montauk Highway and Barnes Road in 1837; the Moriches Methodist Protestant Church; the story of Abraham Perdue, born a slave in 1808, who, after he was freed, lived at 67 Red Bridge Road and who founded the Bell AME Zion Church on Railroad Avenue; the LI Hotel in 1892, with a barn in back and a dirt road in front; the East Moriches Public School built in 1906; floodwaters coursing through Main Street in Center Moriches following the hurricane in 1938; A. Zarcone’s Butcher Shop built in 1930; and a view of Memorial Day in 1946, the year troops returned from the war.

In a cheeky bit of humor “The Illustrated History of the Moriches Bay Area” concludes with that most universal of images from the past: a shot of an outdoor privy and a note of appreciation.

The Fields’ efforts to record even this small, though significant, aspect of the human experience say much about their commitment to history, to their humanity, and to their power of observation. Having begun their exploration as a bridge between our historic past and the future ahead, they concluded, “modern plumbing, indeed a welcome innovation. The End.”