Fourth of July in Wantagh, 1890's and Early 1900's

Wantagh residents celebrated the holiday with fireworks and celebrations at the turn of the century, but things were a little different. Fireworks were legal and there was even a resident, George A. Barker, who distributed free fireworks to the local children. They were encouraged to call at his home in the morning to secure their supply. In 1898, of course, there were no fireworks displays staged by the town or a corporation, at least not in our little village, but we had some local residents that took care of that. In 1898, George A. Barker put on a big fireworks display in the evening at his home on Jerusalem Avenue. By 1901, there were other residents with note-worthy pyrotechnic displays, Thomas J. Dailey and A. DeWild, who each attracted a large crowd to witness their exhibitions. During this same time period, Mrs. Waring had a store near the railroad depot, where she sold confectionaries, toys, notions, ice cream, temperence drinks, and also had a stock of of fireworks and candles for the" sweet footed".

The beach was another favorite place to celebrate the holiday, just as it is now. The beach experience was quite different then. There was no Jones Beach State Park and no causeway or bridges to travel on. There were a number of boats to take residents and visitors down to High Hill Beach, located near present day Zach's Bay. In 1898, the Organette Club held a beach party on the Fourth and Capt. Emeigh's sloop, "Maggie", took a party of twenty five to High Hill Beach, where they enjoyed dancing and a dinner. By 1909, it was reported that on the holiday weekend, over 2,000 people were brought over to High Hill Beach. There were a number of private excursion boats from Bellmore, Wantagh, Seaford, Massapequa, and Amityville. All of the cottages at High Hill were filled. There was entertainment at Wilmarth's Pavilion. The newspaper, Nassau County Review, reported the following:

"At Willmarth's, Professor  Joseph  Mc Nichol is giving an exhibition of his ability as a versatile entertainer of the best kind. He is excellent as a comedian with new jokes and songs, all of which are of the “clean” kind; he also gives an exhibition of fancy skating and winds up with a number of tricks performed by a very small dog that is almost human. So many people watched him perform Monday that part of the pavilion started to give way under the load. Willmarth immediately shored it up and no damage was done."

For those who were not beach lovers, there were also picnics held on the Fourth, sometimes even with a brass band for entertainment.