The Poggatticut

    Mr. Raymond always knew what he wanted in his dealings over ferry service with the Town: Equity. First, if the Town wanted double ended ferry service from a slip in Dering Harbor in the Winter months, then the Town had to build it and maintain it. Second, if, by contract, the Ferry company was required to provide nighttime service year round, then it did not want competition in the Summer.
    Throughout the period of the negotiations, Charles H. Smith was supervisor, Edgar P. Baldwin was Town clerk, and Frederick H. Tasker of Greenport was the Town attorney. Town Board members were the justices of peace, Irving Clark, W. Roscoe Cartwright, John B. Morrison, and Peter E. Nostrand.
    In 1920, the ferry company board was Mr. Raymond, H. H. Halterman, Charles A. Angell, and Charles A. Otis. E. J. Clark was general superintendent.
    On December 26, 1919, the Suffolk Times reported that the hotel in the Heights, formerly known as The Prospect, was undergoing "general improvement of the entire plant, with new bathrooms, repairs, repainting and refurbishment." It was to be called the Poggatticut. There was also to be a new double ended ferry.    
     By early January 1920, construction of a new ferry boat, also named the Poggatticut, was well under way.  According to the January 9 issue of the Suffolk Times, she was to be 65 feet long with a beam of 26 feet and a draft of 5 1/2 feet. “The motive power is to be a 50 h.p. Automatic engine, built by the Automatic Machine Co. She will be propeller driven, with a flywheel and clutch at end.” The paper reported that James W. Hussey was the boat’s designer. "Each end of the boat will be built in a V shaped bow, to serve as an ice-breaker in the winter and underneath the V at each end will be a concave surface, causing the boat to push aside the broken ice, rising up and over and upon the huge cakes of ice, which heretofore have proven such a formidable obstruction to winter navigation in this harbor."

The Poggatticut, named after the sachem when the Sylvesters arrived in 1652, was launched in 1920 and was plying between the Island and Greenport by August 1920. With her impending arrival, the Winter reidents saw, for the first time, the opportunity for proper ferry service year-round.
     She was 72 tons and built by the Greenport Basin and Construction Company for $11,000. She was made of wood and powered by gasoline. She carried two life boats and life jackets for 105 adults and 12 children, and two ring life buoys. She could hold eight cars. She required a licensed captain and one crew member. She was financed by a loan for the entire amount with an interest rate of 6% from George M. Boardman, an important and influential member of the Heights community. In late May, the Menantic began her regular trips between Shelter Island and Greenport and the new boat, the Poggatticut, had been launched.
    In the Spring of 1920, Nathan P. Dickerson began a building campaign on either side of the road that connected State Road and the bridge across Chase’s Creek, that would soon resemble the backbone of what is today Bridge Street.
    The May 4, 1920 Town Board minutes report that it "moved and carried that the petition to dredge the Ferry Slip be accepted and put on file." Apparently, members of the community had collected signatures on a petition asking the Town to build a ferry slip to accommodate the new double ended ferry. At the same time the chairman appointed a committee "to obtain estimates of cost and consult with the Ferry Co. as to its feasibility." The members were W. Roscoe Cartwright, John Morrison, and Edgar Baldwin.
    On May 7, the Suffolk Times reported "Traffic is again becoming heavy on the North Ferry and the need of a large boat is being felt. The scows are constantly in use for autos and both Prospect and Neptune are kept very busy. All are looking forward eagerly to the time when the Poggatticut will begin her trips."
    On June 3, Town Board minutes state that "The Committee on the Ferry question reported progress and were authorized to get plans and specifications and estimates as to the cost of construction" of a ferry slip.
    On July 2, the Town Board met and determined that the cost of the ferry slip and necessary dredging would be about $4,000.
    On July 6, on Shelter Island Securities Corporation (owners of the Shelter Island and Greenport Ferry Company) stationary, Howard Raymond wrote to the Town Board of Shelter Island the following letter:
Gentlemen:
    Referring to the suggestion of your Mr. J. B. Morrison that the town of Shelter Island might be willing, at its own cost, to build a slip for a double end type ferry boat, at or near the town dock, and dredge, maintain and keep open a channel in Dering Harbor sufficient in depth and width to accommodate the new ferry boat Poggatticut, with the understanding that suitable arrangement will be made by the Shelter Island and Greenport Ferry Company to schedule its regular landings during the period of October 1st to May 1st at said slip.
    I beg to advise that the Board of Directors have authorized me to state on their behalf that if the town will so construct and maintain, upon notification to that effect, it is prepared to enter into an agreement that will embody mutually fair requirements, and go into detail at the time.

The captain of the Prospect was Moses Griffing whose income were her receipts. She plied the route between the Town dock at Dering Harbor and Greenport day and evenings year round. It was competition in the Summer months to which Mr. Raymond objected.
    The July 23 issue of the Suffolk Times reported that an airplane owned by the Aero Marine Company was flying between New York and Boston with stops in Southampton and Shelter Island, landing in front of the Poggatticut Hotel.
    On August 5, the Town Board determined that "the committee on slip and approach at the Town Dock be authorized to consult with counsel as to calling [a] Special Town Meeting, and ascertain from the Shelter Island Securities Corporation whether or not they will maintain the slip and its approach if same is constructed by the Town."
    On August 6, the Suffolk Times reported: "The Poggatticut is now on the route between Shelter Island and Greenport and is giving good service. The old express office is being made into a waiting room. Part of it has been partitioned off for a ticket office. The old ticket office has been removed completely." The Menantic was taken off the route and was officially for sale.
    On August 13, Frederick Tasker, the Town lawyer, sensing potential disaster, wrote to Mr. Raymond:
    Last evening Mr. Moses Griffing conferred with me in reference to the proposed Ferry Slip at the Town dock in Dering Harbor, and this morning I was consulted by a Committee of the Town Board .... in reference to the same.
    It appears to me that neither side has been approaching this matter in the proper form and that it would be unfortunate for any action to be taken in such manner as to leave an opening for a taxpayers action to restrain or prevent the work.
    He suggested that the Ferry Board and the Town Board get together at a time that was convenient for all parties.
    On August 14, Mr. Raymond responded to Mr. Tasker that it would be best to meet sometime after August 23rd when the Securities Corporation would have its annual meeting and elect new board members.
    The Suffolk Times reported on August 20: "The Poggatticut met with an accident to the rudder the first of the week so the Menantic took her place for a few days. The rates have been raised for autos and wagons so that the charge is now one dollar. A special rate however for a round-trip the same day at $1.25 has been made. There is no change in the passenger rate. The Poggatticut is capable of carrying eight cars and has a very comfortable passenger cabin in the center."

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