Week of July 24

July 15, 1876 – 150 YEARS AGO

Rockland County Journal

SAD DISASTER — THE YACHT, MOHAWK, CAPSIZED, AND VICE-COMMODORE GARNER, HIS WIFE AND A LADY FRIEND DROWNED

[Image: William Thorn Garner, courtesy of FindaGrave.com.]

        The well-known yacht Mohawk was capsized in a squall on Thursday, in New York bay, and William T. Garner, his wife, and Miss Adele Hunter were drowned. Three of the crew were also drowned, making a total loss of six lives, caused by the carelessness or incompetency of the sailing master, Rawlings, who acted in a cowardly manner when the disaster occurred. The Commodore made a gallant effort to save his wife, and failing in the attempt perished with her. Mr. Louis B. Moutant, one of the guests on board, rescued at the peril of his own life, Miss Edith May and two other guests. Mr. Gardner G. Howland and Mr. Schuyler Crosby narrowly escaped with their lives.

        Vice-Commodore Garner was the proprietor of the print works in Haverstraw, besides those of several other places, and his death is lamented in every part of our county. A gloom rested over Haverstraw village when the sad news reached there on the evening of the disaster. 

July 22, 1926 – 100 YEARS AGO

Nyack Evening Journal

UPPER NYACK IS SHOCKED BY NUDE BATHING AT HOOK – MAIN STREET BUSINESSMAN RETURNING EARLY THIS MORNING DISCOVERS TWELVE MEN AND GIRLS DOING BACK TO NATURE STUNT IN MOONLIGHT

         Residents of this exclusive residential community were more than shocked to learn this morning that late motorists had discovered groups of young men and girls bathing at Hook Mountain beach this morning in the nude.

        At four o’clock this morning, with only the golden beams of the moon lighting the beach, this group arrived from back in the country. It is suspected they are from Rockland Lake, where this particular form of summer amusement has been participated in during past summers.

        A Main street merchant, returning from New York, went as far as Hook Mounting to get a breath of air before going to his home. As he went down the hill the headlights of his car revealed the back to nature students.

July 22, 1976 – 50 YEARS AGO

The Journal News

“SURF’S UP” AGAIN ON THE STREETS OF ROCKLAND

        Skateboarding, the landlubber’s answer to surfing, is coasting on a new wave of popularity in Rockland. After taking the country by storm about 10 years ago and then disappearing, skateboards have popped up again in the county as part of a national trend.

        The statistics are impressive. In 1965, the height of the last boom, national sales of skateboards reached $25 million, according to statistics from Skateboarder magazine. This year, projected sales are expected to reach $300 million.

        Rockland stores report high skateboard sales started last April. Korvettes in Nanuet has sold more than 500, ranging in price from $11.99 to $30, and Cleats ’n Sneaks in Nanuet has sold about 100 in the same price range.

        “Young teens, around ages 12 to 15, are buying them,” said John Haring, a sporting goods salesman at Korvettes. “About three-quarters of them are boys, the rest girls. They just like to ride them down the streets.

        Kids, speaking to the point, say they skateboard because “I like it” and “It’s fun.”

        “It’s easier than riding a bike because it has four wheels instead of two,” said Jeanette Sullivan, 10, of West Nyack, a skateboard veteran of three weeks.

        “When I started, I went out on flat land first, and put my arms out for balance,” said Scott McCue, 10, of New City. “Now I can go down hills.”

        Balancing, maneuvering turns, stopping, and doing wheelies when the skateboarder leans on the back two wheels of the board, causing the front to go up are the basics that most skateboarders know.

        But it takes semi-professionals like Melvin Cooper, 14, and David Smith, 12, of Nyack, to go on to “tricks,” as they call them.

        The two are among several ambitious skateboarders who have worn a dirt path down the steep hill near their Waldron Terrace apartments in Nyack, where they skateboard with bravado.

        They also skate off platforms, a la Evel Knievel, do 360-degree spins, zig zag up and down slanted curbs on the side of the road, and do handstands on their skateboards.

        David began skateboarding just before last Christmas on a board he made himself from rollerskate wheels and wood. He soon graduated to a plastic skateboard his father brought for him.

        By the middle of winter he was practicing platform jumps, which he says are his specialty, and he was racing with Melvin.

        “We’ve raced a couple of times, but it’s always a photo finish,” David said.

        Didn’t he ever get hurt while practicing all his tricks? Surely a fall or two preceded that first successful handstand run.

        “No, I just jumped down real quickly,” he said.

        Melvin confessed to several cuts on his legs and falls on his rear end acquired in his year of skateboarding. The about-to-be freshman at Nyack High School has five skateboards and is the local expert in handstanding on a board, according to David.

        “It took me about two weeks to learn, but it’s not hard,” Melvin said, shrugging.

        Melvin uses a plastic, rather than fiberglass or wood, board because he says it’s best for tricks. “Wood is no good on the road, and your foot slips off the fiberglass boards,” the young expert said. “With plastic you can keep your foot steady.”

        Skateboarders might have a chance to do more than zig zag around their neighborhoods if the skateboarding boom keeps up

        A newly formed organization, National Skateboard Show, Inc. drew 40 young skateboarders to a two-day exhibition and competition at the Nassau Coliseum last month, and the group plans to hold another show next spring.

        “There seem to be local competitions going on around the metropolitan area,” said Elaine Goldstein, the show’s producer. “I just got a call from Co-op City in the Bronx, which wants us to run a competition there.”

        So keep practicing those handstands, Melvin. The future is yours.

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.