ALL IN ALL ... What a Hall! - Southold NY's THALIAN HALL
By Danny McCarthy
The Artistic Achievement of a Rural Community – Southold by Rachel Gleason Brooks that was printed by Long Island Traveler Print Southold, N.Y. 1930 that was exchanged with me by Southold Supervisor Scott A. Russell includes an entry about Thalian Hall on page 19.
I’m going to go “write-on ahead” and quote from that volume:
“This Hall was the upper story of William D. Cochran’s carpenter shop, that stood near the present site of the Universalist Church. It was built probably not far from the year 1837, as Mr. Cochran came to Southold in 1836, and the Universalist Church was built by him in 1837. Thalian Hall was used for rehearsals and entertainments. It might be called the first Play-House of Southold. Later the shop was moved down {the} street to the site next to Belmont Hall. It stands now on the rear of the same lot.”
I went online to the Suffolk Historic Newspapers website and located three out of a total of four matches that are Southold Thalian Hall-related.:
The Long Island Traveler dated January 25, 1895 spotlights R. (Richard/Dick) B. Conklin the owner of the trotter Rarus. Thalian Hall is found listed in this column and “write-fully so!”:
“The Brooklyn Eagle of the 21st. has a poor picture of the late noted horseman, a fair one of ‘Rarus,’ and a very interesting account of both. This calls to mind ‘Dick’s’ early days. In ’34-’35 he came to Southold to learn the carpenter’s trade of Wm. D. Cochran. Always fond of horses, he took great pride in ‘Uncle Joe’s’ grey mare, which he believed, ‘with proper training, would go a level mile in three minutes!’ She was the grandmother of ‘Rarus,’ and one of the team with which ‘Uncle Joe’ and his little son Jess used to lead the house-moving trains of more than fifty years ago. Among the last of these was ‘Thalian Hall,’ which {was} taken from near the Universalist church to its present adjoining of the Gilbert Davis vine-clad floral cottage of former days; the two are now occupied by Postmaster Cochran and Orrin A. Prince. Perhaps the last moving led by the grey mare and others, was that of the historic L’Hommedieu barn to its present resting place near the ‘Anchorage’ {the Reverend Dr. Epher Whitaker’s home! on the Main Road!} on the east corner of Main street and Horton’s lane. The lower part of ‘Thalian Hall’ was Mr. Cochran’s shop, and there ‘Dick’ wrought for many a day. It was {there} that he and others built the famous ‘Big Sleigh,’ which in those lively times was the wonder and delight of youngsters, but very trying to horses of soft flesh. When the L.I.R.R. was first in running order, Dick thought he ‘would like to drive a horse that never tired!’ But he went New York {City} as a stage carpenter, and was so successful{,} that in due time, he formulated the Sound View Stock Farm, of 200 acres, and took a high position among the ‘multitude of noted people who once dwelt in Southold.’ He aimed to ‘beat the world’ and he did it.
Very pleasant are memories of interviews with him at the great horse shows in New York, as well as at his home.”
The ending credit to this column that appeared in that January 25, 1895 Long Island Traveler read as: “D. P. H.” AND that represents David Philander Horton. One of my Linkedin.com posts covers David Philander Horton, and here’s something that is so definitely not that far from a missing link, as it carries my David Philander Horton Linkedin.com post:
https://www.dhirubhai.net/pulse/david-philander-horton-dan-mccarthy-1f/
Rarus is another Linkedin.com post of mine, and just for the sake of it, here’s a DIRECT link to my Rarus Linkedin.com post:
https://www.dhirubhai.net/pulse/something-rare-can-dan-mccarthy/
The Long Island Traveler-Mattituck Watchman dated March 8, 1945 carried a The Scrapbook column:
“William C. Cochran kept an inn in 1835 near the house across from the present Catholic Church which was built by Moses C. Cleveland. Mr. Cochran also built the Southold Collegiate Institute building in 1834, the former Catholic Church, also the Universalist Church, also Thalian Hall in 1836 which stood west of the ‘Corner Church,’ also perhaps, the residence of the late Barnabas H. Booth, second president of the {Southold Savings}bank.”
The Long Island Traveler-Mattituck Watchman dated February 17, 1955 included a Spreading Chestnut Tree column by Bob Smith:
“… Now, here’s a little sticker for those who go for Southold history. Where and what was Thalian Hall? The place was built prior to 1837, and in common with most dwellings and buildings in this town {that} didn’t stay on its original site. This is the house-movingest place I ever was in. …”
On page eight in the May 2015 The Peconic Bay Shopper there is a continuing portion of a Becky Terry Universalist Nostalgia October 1985 article where Thalian Hall is listed:
"W. D. Cochran’s carpenter shop stood near the church, and its upper floor was used for rehearsals and entertainments. This building, called Thalian Hall was moved and stands today as the rear section of Leisurely Yours shop. Many Universalist social functions were also held at Peconic Hall and Belmont Hall."
Aha! PECONIC HALL {?}
https://www.dhirubhai.net/pulse/all-again-what-hall-peconic-nys-dan-mccarthy/
I’M ‘RE-SIGNING’ MYSELF:
Just because I resigned as archives assistant at the Southold Historical Society November 2017, know that I reinstated my S.H.S. membership this year. Part of my time at S.H.S. was being able to compose an archives column for the S.H.S. Quarterly Newsletters.
The link below carries the Spring 2014 Southold Historical Society Newsletter. Download that link and scroll down for my archives column with “my take on Belmont Hall {!!!}.:
https://docs.wixstatic.com/ugd/f19472_2fd6cd202d624d36ac3c6ed1036d50bb.pdf
BY THE WAY …
North Fork Nostalgia is a book that honors Peconic Bay Shopper contributor Becky Terry. Becky Terry wrote articles, like that Universalist Nostalgia article, and that article was in the October 1985 The Peconic Bay Shopper. North Fork Nostalgia includes that Universalist Nostalgia article on page 85.
JUST FOR THE SAKE OF IT …
Here’s a link carrying my post regarding the Southold First Universalist Church discussing some of the background {history} of the Southold First Universalist Church:
https://www.dhirubhai.net/pulse/whether-we-take-vain-our-liberty-southold-first-church-dan-mccarthy/
HERE TOO … ABOUT SENATOR {EDWARD} FORD …
https://www.dhirubhai.net/pulse/speaking-senator-edward-ford-again-dan-mccarthy/
Friendly, Theatrically, and Historically Speaking …
“In 1884, J. Henry Cochran owned a great building located on the Main Road across the street from where the Southold Free Library now stands and it was called Belmont Hall. It was named after Perry Belmont, who then represented the First District in Congress. Belmont Hall was also referred to as Community Hall, and later as Southold Playhouse. Town meetings and lectures were held there. Theater productions and dances were also scheduled. Veteran Vaudevillian “Senator” (Edward) Ford was a summer resident who invited members of the Southold Playhouse to the Southold Hotel to a sit-down dinner where he “passed around cigars with his name on them, played host in a most generous way, and endeared all the hungry actors to him forever.” Among some of the performers who appeared in the Southold Playhouse included: Jack Warden, Anne Meara, Walter Matthau, and oh so many more stellar talent. Vinnette Carroll was there too. (She conceived the book and also directed the Broadway rousing gospel song and dance show Your Arms Too Short To Box With God.) Since there were financial struggles to keep the building standing, it meant “curtains” for the facility, and it was torn down in 1954. As the Joni Mitchell ballad Big Yellow Taxi goes: “They paved paradise And put up a parking lot!” — Dan McCarthy”
Among Other Credits …
Senator {Edward} Ford was known to be a participant in the Forty-Third Annual Tournament of the Suffolk County Volunteer Firemen's Association held August 26, 1931 at Southold. For the cover of the program for the July 3, 1940 Southold 300th Anniversary Celebration, Senator Ford graced the cover of that program with his drawing of The First {Southold} Academy! THE CHAFF COLUMN WAS AMONG JUST ONE of the columns by Senator Ford that appeared in various editions of The Long Island Traveler-Mattituck Watchman in the late 1900s!
https://brooklyneagle.com/articles/2012/01/27/on-this-day-in-history-january-27-a-comedic-senator-from-brooklyn/
Aha! – SENATOR FORD -
I LOCATED A THALIAN HALL CENTER FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS North Carolina website. “The-powers-that-be” at this establishment honestly deserve so much more than recognition. Here’s the link to the website - I'm networking again {!!!}: