Town Focus: Day 2 in Northport

Early Wednesday morning, I got a small taste of the Cow Harbor 10K Race. And by that I mean I slowly trailed behind 10 dedicated veteran runners as they walked five miles of the route.

The scenic views, great company and early-morning workout made for quite the experience. Look for more on the walking club in a story we’ll post Thursday.

After that, I met with Heather Johnson, director of the Northport Historical Society, who gave me a taste of Northport’s history through the society's exhibits on display: “Our Stories: The History of a Community” and “The Lives and Works of Northport’s Early Photographers.”

“The people who helped build the community of Northport were extraordinary,” Johnson said. “The ‘Our Stories’ exhibit allows their stories of accomplishment to tell our history. The other exhibit provides black-and-white photos of Northport taken by local and visiting photographers during the 1800s and 1900s.”

In the mid-19th century, Northport entered its golden age of shipbuilding, according to Johnson. Jesse Carll became Northport's master shipbuilder, opening a shipyard that once built record-breaking vessels where the village’s gazebo now stands.

If you’re interested in learning more about Northport’s beginnings, check out this story on the village’s history, originally published as part of Newsday’s 1998 series “Long Island: Our Story.”

And, at lunch, I met Debi Triola, president of the Northport Chamber of Commerce, and she filled me in on the downtown scene.

“The last five years have been tough on small businesses, but we’ve weathered the tough economic storm, and our biggest problem is parking,” said Triola, who owns Fashion in Flowers in Northport. “But that’s good. It means businesses are busy.”

Look for a feature related to Tim’s Shipwreck Diner on Thursday. It wasn’t just its most popular dish, homemade cheese blintzes, that caught my attention. Now stationary between two buildings, it used to be a functional trolley car in the 1900s.

As always, it would be especially nice to have your help learning more about Northport during the rest of my week here. You can easily reach me by email at brittany.wait@newsday.com.

Stay in the loop during my travels this week and into the weekend by looking for my frequent updates, or follow me on Twitter and Instagram.