The
Woodhull Lodge
I first heard the term "Woodhull Lodge"
this past spring (2002) when I came across this 1926 article in
the New York Times about The Smadbeck Brothers aka Home Guardian
Co. aka to the real estate buying public as The Brooklyn Citizen
newspaper re: their purchase of what would eventually become Section
Three of Mastic Beach. This would be their first purchase onto
the western boundary of The Knapp Estate. This announcement followed
just a few months after their original purchases of the Woodhull
/ Lawrence estate that they developed into Sections 1 & 2
on Knapp's eastern boundary. I thought there might be a house
named Woodhull Lodge over there, but soon abandoned that idea
as the three homes I did know about in that area (Dermody, Muse
& Wetzel) all bore references to either Charles Jefferey Smith
or The Lawrences. Now the Woodhull family was related through
marriage to both Smith and the Lawrences, but I figured perhaps
the Woodhull Lodge was just another name for General Woodhull's
neglected homestead that was falling down over by the Mastic Beach
Clubhouse in Section One. Or if indeed there was a "Woodhull
Lodge" located over in Section 3, perhaps it had burned down
before the West End Fire Department of Mastic Beach was up and
running.
I WAS WRONG
I should of known better. Although
General Nathaniel Woodhull was long gone by the time Charles Jefferey
Smith built the original home in 1850 , I'm betting that it was
Hannah Newbold Lawrence Sherman that named it that, when it came
to her via her Lawrence inheritance in the 1890's. She also named
the road that once led to it Sherman Road. That would have to
be after 1900 when she became Mrs. Charles E. Sherman. and remodeled
and used the Woodhull Lodge as a summer retreat. As of today (Oct
25) I discovered she had it moved (by the Penneys?) to it's present
location where I'm happy to say it's still standing! And along
with that may I present to you, Mr. E. F. Penny's 1897 photograph
of it
As soon as I saw it I sort of recognized
it. Studying it for a few minutes it came to me. What you are
looking at is the North Face (now eastern face it was moved again
in 1960's) of The Robert F. Muse house on Locust Dr. The east
wing must of met with some mis fortune because when Bob's parents
Fred & Emily Muse purchased it in 1948, that wing was reduced
to about 1/3 of the size shown here. Here is the link to the page
of the Muse's fix er upper as it was 1948 which will also lead
you to photos of how grand it looks today.
THE MUSE HOUSE 1948
I am working on a whole lot of newly
discovered (for me) information on the Lawrence family, who were
every bit as influential and important to the development of the
Mastic area as the Smiths, Floyds, and Woodhulls. Remember it
was Frank Mauran Lawrence who grew up in the above house, that
sold the Lawrence estate to J. F. "Dodi" Knapp in 1916.....Stay
tuned
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