August 19, 1876 – 150 YEARS AGO
Rockland County Journal
AROUND HOME
☞ The ladies connected with the Piermont Baptist Church desire to heartily thank the public for their kind attendance and liberal patronage at the Concert and Tea Party, on the evenings of the 9th and 10th insts.
☞ Remember the “Summer Meeting” at the Spring Valley Driving Park next Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, 22d, 23d and 24th insts. Everything will be done in the best possible manner, as A. Furman is manager.
☞ Some persons of taste have expressed the wish that all of the Ulster overcoats left over from last winter will be destroyed by moth or lightning, so that a more sensible style will prevail during the coming cold season.
☞ Mr. Michael Cook has received the appointment of Principal in our Public School. The other teachers will be Misses Maggie Burd, Mary Dickey, Gussie Tremper, Addie Bertholf, Ella Webster, and Lizzie Demarest, of Nyack; Miss Sanford, of the Oswego Normal School, and Mrs. Wilcox, of Long Island.
August 21, 1926 – 100 YEARS AGO
Rockland County Times
BOYS SWIM HUDSON
Four of the boys out of the camping parties that have been holding forth in Grassy Point for the last two weeks performed an aquatic stunt Saturday that would rival Miss Ederle’s effort, swimming from the Grassy Point dock to George’s Island on the Westchester shore. Had the parents of any of the participants been aware of what was going on, there would have been nervous prostrations in as many homes. The trip was made by Masters Henry May, Joseph (Buddy) Reilly, Everett DeBaun and John Murray. In order, as he said, to see that no harm befell his companions, Master McCabe accompanied the party in the Hannigan rowboat.
PIONEERS AND PILGRIMAGE
[Image: Tappan Reformed Church, ca. 1930. Wallace MacKenzie Collection of the HSRC]
Shatemuc Chapter, Daughters of the American Revolution, are to participate in a pilgrimage to Tappan this Saturday afternoon. The meeting place is at the Old Dutch Reformed Church at three o’clock, from which they will proceed to other places of Revolutionary historical interest. Miss Cornelia F. Bedell of Nyack is in charge and is assisted by Harry Ryerson of Tappan.
AUTO TIRE STOLEN
Even modern burglar proof patent locks with other devices intended to save automobile owners and drivers from petty thievery proves no avail when the strong-armed easy money artist finds opportunity to get in his fine work. This, Mr. David Osmansky learned when he went to get his car the other morning to find that thieves had pried open the patent lock with a crowbar and made a safe getaway with a brand-new tire and rim.
August 20, 1976 – 50 YEARS AGO
The Journal News
2 ROCKLAND YOUTHS HELD IN “BURGLARY RING” PROBE
Two Rockland teenagers have been charged in connection with what Stony Point town police called a “burglary ring” that looted several private homes of more than $20,000 in jewelry, assorted valuables, and weapons.
Much of the stolen property has been recovered, but an investigation will continue, according to Stony Point Police Chief Stephen Scurti.
Police of the town department’s Special Investigative Unit (SIU) arrested a 15-year-old Stony Point youth and a 17-year-old New City youth late Wednesday night, according to Sgt. Frank Tinelli, chief of the special unit.
Tinelli said he would not identify the 15-year-old because he will be treated as a juvenile under current laws. He would not name the 17-year-old because of his eligibility for youthful offender treatment in court.
The 15-year-old, charged with juvenile delinquency, was sent to Family Court on Thursday. The 17-year-old, charged with two counts of burglary in connection with the thefts at two private homes, was ordered held at a juvenile center pending a future court hearing by Stony Point Town Justice Vincent A. Clark.
Items stolen from the two homes were valued at more than $4,000. The special unit is still probing burglaries that have occurred over the past several weeks in at least a dozen other homes in the town. The burglaries in the other homes totaled more than $15,000 in valuables, Tinelli said.
Among the items recovered by police were watches, cameras, radios, tape decks, a gold necklace, a gold antique pendant, quantities of liquor and several high-powered rifles and shotguns. Two of the shotguns police recovered had the barrels cut off close to the stocks making them easy to conceal, according to Tinelli.
In addition to the jewelry and other items, youths working as what Tinelli termed a “burglary ring” also stole amounts of cash, a coin collection and furs. Among valuables still missing are furs, including a mink coat and a mink jacket, he said.
The Special Investigative Unit was formed in April to combat major felonies such as large-scale burglaries robberies and sex crimes.
This Week in Rockland (#FBF Flashback Friday) is prepared by Clare Sheridan for the Historical Society of Rockland County. © 2026 by The Historical Society of Rockland County. #FBF Flashback Friday may be reprinted only with written permission from the HSRC. To learn about the HSRC’s mission, upcoming events or programs, visit www.RocklandHistory.org or call (845) 634-9629.