Huntington History

Early in the last century there were two businesses on Wall Street operated by Huntingtonians named Thomas Gorman.  One was born in 1884; the other was born in 1887.  At one time they each conducted business from the store directly behind the First National Bank building, which was at the northeast corner of Wall and Main Streets.  Each man’s paternal grandfather was named Daniel Gorman.  One was a tinsmith; the other sold fish.

Thomas Henry Gorman, the tinsmith, was the son of William and Anna Mullen.  His father had been in the fruit and vegetable business.  He had four sons and three daughters.  His son Thomas found employment in William H. Stoyle’s tinsmith store on Main Street.  In 1918, after 20 years with Stoyle, Thomas started his own business at 6 Wall Street (an addition to the back of the First National Bank building).  His business eventually occupied the upper two floors of the building comprising nearly 2000 square feet in addition to the 13’ x 18’ storefront.  Ten years later, the business grew to such an extent that Thomas needed a bigger building.  He purchased land across the street at 13 Wall Street and built a brick structure.  The new facility was considered the largest sheet metal works east of New York City.

In addition to repairing and cleaning stoves, ranges and heaters, Thomas installed metal work, such as gutters, tin ceilings and ventilating ducts at construction projects throughout the Island.  Local projects included Huntington High School, the Lowndes Avenue School, Central High School and the Hotel Huntington.  Thomas’ two brothers, Walter and Joseph, joined him and  in 1929 incorporated as Thomas H. Gorman Brothers, Inc.

In 1935, the business moved to Thomas’ home at 102 Woodbury Road, where he died in 1959.

The other Thomas Gorman was the son of Peter J. Gorman.  During the 1890s, Peter worked at the Cold Spring Harbor Fish hatchery.  In 1899, he purchased the saloon of James Garity on Wall Street.  James Garity’s wife was the sister of Peter Gorman’s wife.  The 1900 census identifies Peter as a saloon keeper.  In 1910, he was listed as working at a saw mill—in 1915 there was a notice that he had retired as an engineer at the Brookside Mill, which was a steam mill on the west side of New York Avenue, north of Main Street.  In 1920, Peter’s occupation was given as day labor; and in 1930 as a fish market dealer.  His sons, Daniel and Thomas meanwhile were identified as masons and later as plasterers. (In the 1915 New York State census, Daniel was identified as a trolley car conductor).

But in 1919, Thomas and Daniel Gorman purchased the Wall Street Fish Market.  A photograph of Gorman’s Lobster Grill shows an address of 6 & 8 Wall Street, meaning that the fish store was in the same building as the tinsmith shop.   It should be noted that the picture probably dates to after 1934 because italso advertised that there was “Beer on Draught.”  The 1922 Sanborn insurance map shows three stores in that location:  closest to Main Street is “Fish,” next is “Rest’rt,” and the northernmost store is “tin shop.”

Thomas F. Gorman of the fish market was a World War I veteran.  He, his brother, two sisters, his brother’s daughter and his mother lived in the brick house at the top of Carver Street.  Thomas continued to live there until the late 1960s when he moved to Walnut Creek, California, where his niece lived.  Thomas died in 1970.

The First National Bank building, which included the fish market and tin shop was torn down in the early 1950s.

Because their paternal grandfathers had the same name and they operated their businesses in the same building, it may be thought that the two Thoamses were related.  Perhaps their fathers—Peter and William—were brothers, making the two Thomases first cousins.  But the 1870 census, when William was 13 years old, does not list Peter, who was 5 years old that year.  Moreover, Peter’s mother’s name was Ellen; William’s mother’s name was Ann.   It seems just a coincidence that Thomas H. Gorman and Thomas F. Gorman shared a name, a grandfather’s name, and a business address.