Veterans Fishing Station, a/k/a The Clam Bar, Cold Spring Harbor

Photo courtesy of Jeff Springsteen,
used by permission

Do you remember those days hanging out at the Village Green?
Engineer boots, leather jackets and tight blue jeans

--Billy Joel,

"Scenes From an Italian Restaurant"

Last week I had the pleasure of seeing two lithos of my mother's at the financial services firm Deloitte U.S. in Rockefeller Center (below). One is an image of the Veterans Fishing Station in Cold Spring Harbor, a/k/a The Clam Bar, next to the Village Green that Billy Joel sings about. The Whalers Inn across the street is now the Harbor Mist restaurant. Many thanks to Huntington town historian Robert C. Hughes for identifying the site and to Jeff Springsteen for sharing the photo of his friends from 1978-79 ("I Grew Up in Cold Spring Harbor" Facebook page).

The lithos were sold in 1982 to Touche Ross by an interior designer and family friend for display in the firm's offices at World Trade Center. My mother and I thought the lithos were lost or destroyed, but this spring I contacted Deloitte, which merged with Touche Ross in 1989, and they kindly arranged for me to see the lithos in their office last week. 

Here is a scan of the original pen & ink from my mother's collection.

Veterans Fishing Station, Cold Spring Harbor ca. 1982 Barbara Boyd Carter
pen & ink, 7.5 in. x 10.5 in.

Veterans Fishing Station, Cold Spring Harbor ca. 1982 Barbara Boyd Carter
watercolor, 12 in. x 17 in.

I wanted to go back and take a photo of the Veterans Fishing Station as it looks today but I was sorry to hear it was lost in a fire in 1988. A new building is in its place at the site of Powles Marina. If someone has a picture of the marina or fishing station, past or present, feel free to share it in the Comments section.  

Top photo courtesy of Jeff Springsteen, used by permission.

Contact: Debbie Carter, VillagerExpat@aol.com, (212) 925-3721