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Mamaroneck 1880-1919: W.D. Daymon's photographs
William Deall Daymon
William Deall Daymon was a very important person in early Mamaroneck’s history. His photographs of people, landscapes, village, sports, etc., are the only record we now have of Mamaroneck’s early history. If it wasn’t for Daymon, we would have no photographic record of what the village looked like from 1880-1919. This record is valuable to us now and will be even more valuable to future generations.
William was born in Mamaroneck in 1861 and was one of 4 children (1 boy and 3 girls, as far as we know). He started his photo business in 1880 at age 18. The business carried on to about 1919, when he was 58 years old. He sold Daymon Studio on May 29, 1919, to Nightingale Studios, and decided to move on.
He then became active in civic affairs as Town Clerk for 2 years. He also was active in real estate, with Judge William A. Boyd. He was a member of the Mamaroneck Fire Patrol Company, a forester and a Mason.
He married Louise Campbell of New York City and lived on Palmer Avenue in Mamaroneck. They had 3 sons, 3 daughters and 4 grandchildren.
An article in the local paper The Paragraph describes Daymon going to NYC to have his appendix removed.
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Photos: Mamaroneck 1880-1919 and now
Use the arrows to move through the gallery. Each W.D. Daymon black-and-white photograph is followed by a view of the scene now. Mobile viewers: Hold the phone horizontally to see larger versions of the images. Tap on a photograph to see a larger version in a new window or tab. On the phone, tap < to return to the gallery.
Then, on April 11, 1912, The Paragraph published this article:
"PUT OFF CAR: RECOVERS $500.00"
A jury in the County Court returned a verdict for $500.00 in favor of the plaintiff, Wm D. Daymon, the Mamaroneck photographer, against the Westchester Street Railway Company.
He sued for $2,000.00 for his ejection from a trolley car on the White Plains and Mamaroneck line. He refused to pay the extra five cent fare and was then ejected. The court found this to be illegal and he won the case.
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Gallery: W.D. Daymon photos of people
W.D. Daymon took many photographs of local and other groups and individuals. Use the arrows to move through the gallery. Mobile viewers: Hold the phone horizontally to see larger versions of the images. Tap on a photograph to see a larger version in a new window or tab. On the phone, tap < to return to the gallery.
Although we don't have names for most of those in the photographs, we do have some, including these:
Thomas Terrell, an early Mamaroneck constable.
Reuben Grigg Brewer (1853-1928), a member of the family that owned the iconic Brewer's hardware store in the village. He assembled the parcels of land along East Boston Post Road on which the hardware store stood. A banker, Reuben Brewer was president of the First National Bank and Trust Company of Mamaroneck, organizer of Union Savings Bank, and Mamaroneck Village's first treasurer after the village's incorporation in 1895. (Video: Jack Brewer reminisces about Brewer’s Hardware)
John W. Goodwin (1851-1937), owner of John W. Goodwin Motor Van & Livery Company, who served on the Mamaroneck Village Board of Trustees and as a police justice. He was also a charter member of the village Fire Department, which was started after an 1883 fire that destroyed stores and dwellings on West Boston Post Road between what is now Library Lane and St. Thomas' Church. The fire's destruction included the new home of Goodwin and his wife, Sarah Ann Nichols, shortly after their marriage.
David Grannells of Mamaroneck and Thomas Grannells of Harrison, both officers in the Foresters of America Court Bonny Brook of Mamaroneck, a fraternity founded in 1894.
James S. Merritt, ex-Sheriff of Westchester County and a onetime Port Chester village trustee and fire chief. His James S. Merritt Association gave an annual clam bake at Rye Beach.
In 1929, Daymon was struck by an auto and was in poor health after. He took his own life on Nov. 2, 1930, at his home. Services were held at his home by the Reverend J.J. Snavely of the Methodist Episcopal Church. Interment was at Greenwood Union Cemetery in Rye.
Portraits by W.D. Daymon studios
Here are some of the portraits taken by W.D. Daymon's Mamaroneck studio between 1880 and 1919. We do not have information on the names of the subjects or where they are from, though many are likely from Mamaroneck or nearby. Nevertheless, these clear, detailed images give a good idea of the looks and styles of the era, as well as the technology: Daymon regularly used cameras as props with the subjects. A few of the portraits include the print's original matte frame.
Use the arrows to move through the gallery. Tap on a photograph to see a larger version in a new window or tab. On the phone, tap < to return to the gallery. We have names of a few of the groups and individuals, but most are unknown.
Transportation: How people traveled around
Horse and buggy, trolley, train, boat, and later, automobile. W.D. Daymon captured the way people got around in his day.
The images include Mamaroneck's first train station, which operated from 1848 to 1888 on Depot Place, the aftermath of a train derailment near Mamaroneck in 1893, and early automobiles. Tap on a photograph to see a larger version in a new window or tab. On the phone, tap < to return to the gallery.
Before the Avenue, shoppers flocked to 'the Square'
In the late 1800s and early 1900s, the area around Liberty Square at Mamaroneck Avenue and West and East Boston Post roads was Mamaroneck Village's commercial center. It included shops on the lower end of Mamaroneck Avenue plus shops on both sides of West Boston Post Road as well as on East Boston Post Road off the avenue.
Where the Mamaroneck sewage treatment plant sits now, shops like William T. Herlyn’s Prospect Market lined West Boston Post Road at that time. They treatment plant was built around 1930.
Compare vintage photos from the Mamaroneck Historical Society's collection, most of them from W.D. Daymon, and contributed photos with present-day photos in the gallery below.
Landscape photographs
The Historical Society's collection of W.D. Daymon glass negatives and prints includes many images of streams, shoreline, woods, and other natural features. We do not have definite locations for most of them but they do show Daymon's phoographic technique in capturing quiet scenes and dramatic vistas, even in black and white. Mobile viewers: Hold the phone horizontally to see larger versions of the images. Tap on a photograph to see a larger version in a new window or tab. On the phone, tap < to return to the gallery.
Daymon's photographs - how we created digital images from glass negatives
The Mamaroneck Historical Society's Archives include approximately 150 photos taken by Daymon utilizing glass plate photography. Mike Meaney, a member of the society's Advisory Board as our technology expert, partnered with Archivist Mike Tripicco in transferring the images to digital format.
This involved handling the glass plates with kid gloves, literally, because the black emulsion that creates the image comes off the glass plates very easily. The plate is then placed on a light table and photographed, labeled, and filed digitally.
Share your vintage photos, info
Do you have photographs by W.D. Daymon, or other vintage photos of Mamaroneck or Larchmont, or information about any of the photos we posted?
We’d love to hear from you and consider adding your photos or information.
Email the Mamaroneck Historical Society: mamaroneckhistory@gmail.com.
Include contact information in case we have questions.
From the archives
Spectacular aerial view of Larchmont Acres, the Mamaroneck High School and Junior High School, with Manchester Field between them, Central School, and Mamaroneck Harbor in the distance c.1930.
ST. MICHAEL'S HOME FOR WAYWARD WOMEN, YOU mIGHT KNOW IT AS THE VILLAGE OF MAMARONECK POLICE STATION OR, PERHAPS, THE VILLAGE OF MAMARONECK COURT HOUSE. C.1900.
1978: Take a photo stroll along Mamaroneck Avenue
In 1978, black-and-white snapshots were taken of most of the businesses along the west side (Robert's side) as part of a project documenting Mamaroneck Avenue at the time (There's no photo of Sal's Pizzeria). The snapshots were taped in sequence on a long roll of paper. We've broken them out into a series of individual photographs, but in original sequence, from Boston Post Road to the railroad.
We've added images of street signs to locate you on the avenue as you scroll.
Tap on the arrows to move through the gallery. Tap on a photo to see a larger version in a separate window. On the phone, tap < to return to the gallery.
(See many more current and vintage photos of Mamaroneck Avenue in the Mamaroneck Avenue Nostalgia Tour)
