Town of Huntington, NY - News Details
6/19/2017 - Petrone Helps Unveil Historic Whale Marker in Halesite
Halesite -- Huntington Supervisor Frank P. Petrone helped unveil a historic marker June 17 commemorating the “Hullabaloo in Halesite,” the beaching of a 63-foot whale in 1946 that closed schools and attracted the curious from miles around.
The educational marker was erected in the Town’s Halesite Park, not far from where the black whale beached on October 21, 1946. According to news articles at the time, the whale was such a sensation that schools across Suffolk County, and even some from Nassau County, closed school for the day and ran buses to the scene so students could take look, according to news articles at the time.
It was an event etched indelibly in the memories of those who saw the whale, including Huntington Station resident Anthony Mastrioanni, a Huntington High School junior at the time. His reminiscences in discussions with Brian Hansen, curator of the Huntington School Heritage Museum, provided the impetus for the marker. They enlisted Nomi Dayan, director of the Cold Spring Harbor Whaling Museum, for additional educational details, as well as Town Historian Robert Hughes. The marker was privately funded, with a major donation coming from the Forte family, some of whom attended the unveiling. The marker includes a poem, “Huntington’s Whale Tale,” written Tony Forte, father of two of the attending Fortes.
During a brief ceremony, Supervisor Petrone thanked all of those involved in the effort before turning the program over to Mastrioanni, who asked those assembled to share their recollections before he gave his.
The marker is in the park at 1 New York Avenue, behind the Halesite Firehouse.