Greenlawn

With a Gardiner's Help, Pickles Thrived

Scene at Greenlawn (Photo from "Long Island To-day" by Frederick Ruther, 1909)

Beginnings: The community, originally called Old Fields, was included in the First Purchase of Huntington by Richard Houldbrock, Robert Williams and Daniel Whitehead from the Matinecocks in 1653. The land was initially used as pasture by settlers in Huntington, but by 1780, farm families with prominent names like Brush, Wick, Jarvis, Kissam and Whitman had settled in the area. The first commercial building was the general store built in the 1860s and owned and operated by Hezekiah Howarth. The structure still stands on Broadway.

Turning Points: The Long Island Rail Road arrived in 1868 and transformed the hamlet. The first post office was established with Howarth as postmaster. Hotels were erected, and a stagecoach ran from the station north to Centerport. And the railroad brought a name change. The station initially was called Centerport but the railroad changed it - over the objections of residents - to Greenlawn-Centerport in 1870 and eventually just Greenlawn. The present station was built in 1910.

Claim to Fame: Pickles made Greenlawn famous. One of the first farmers to see the benefit of growing small cucumbers was Alexander Gardiner, a descendent of the famous East End family. Gardiner, who had a 600-acre estate west of the hamlet, encouraged other farmers to grow cucumbers and built a pickle works adjacent to the railroad in the 1880s. Samuel Ballton, a former slave from Virginia who escaped to Union lines during the Civil War and fought in two regiments, came to Greenlawn in 1873 and entered the pickle business. He was said to have produced a million and a half cucumbers for pickles in one season and was dubbed the Pickle King of Greenlawn. The industry was killed off by ``white pickle blight'' in the 1920s, though the plants continued to convert cabbage into sauerkraut into the 1930s.

Brush With Disaster: The Columbia Hook and Ladder Co. was organized in 1902 and built a firehouse in 1905 near the railroad. In 1908 the fire department raised enough money to build an opera house next to the firehouse on Gaines Street so vaudeville performers who lived in the hamlet could perform with local amateurs. Only a few performances had been held before Oct. 31, 1909, when a fire started in the firehouse and quickly spread to the adjoining opera house and hotel. The entire west side of the block was destroyed along with all the firefighting equipment.

Where to Find More: ``The History of Centerport and Greenlawn - A Brief Outline'' by the Greenlawn-Centerport Historical Association.