Infrastructure

The Strauss family immigrants settled in New York; most on Long Island. So, let's look at what life was like on Long Island in these early years.

Great Blizzard of 1888

Joseph, Katherine, and Michael were in New York for about one year when the Great Blizzard of 1888 struck. The photo below shows a scene from New York City but conditions were similar on Long Island, where the Strauss families settled.

Electrification and telephone

In the above photo, notice the wires above the streets. Some carried electricity and others were for telephone. Electricity was introduced to New York City in 1882 and telephones at about the same time. In 1879, Thomas Edison built the first commercial electric power station in Manhattan that provided power for 85 customers. By the end of the 1880s, electric lighting had become common in homes, businesses, and public spaces.

Electrification on Long Island occurred more slowly. By the mid-1880s, several Long Island communities, including Babylon and Northport, had established their own electric lighting companies, but the number of customers was small. It took years to get the infrastructure in place.

The first telephone exchange in New York City was established in 1878 by the American Bell Telephone Company, but telephone service was used only by businesses at first. By the end of the 1800s, there were thousands of subscribers.

Telephone systems on Long Island in the 1800s were more limited. The first telephone exchange on Long Island was established in 1881 in the village of Patchogue and had a small number of subscribers. Additional exchanges were slowly established in other Long Island communities. These exchanges were acquired by the Suffolk Telephone Company and the Nassau Telephone Company. In turn, they were acquired by the New York Telephone Company, a subsidiary of American Telephone and Telegraph (AT&T), in 1907.

Virginia Lubowiecki, daughter of Kinga Strauss, who was born in 1923 in New Hyde Park, New York, recalls always having electric power in her home, but they didn't have telephone service until about 1940, even though it was available years earlier.