January 11, 1964 0945 hours A Brentwood man was arrested and charged with setting fire to the famous Riverside Inn on Jericho Turnpike. The fire, which started in a wastepaper basket in a third floor storage room, was brought under control by the Smithtown Fire Department quickly.
Arrested and charged with starting the fire was Charles H. Lobb, 31 of 26 Yarnell Street in Brentwood, a dishwasher employed at the restaurant. Detectives from the Suffolk County Arson Squad said that Lobb also admitted to starting four other small fires in an outside shed at the inn.
Fire Chief Harold Luttman, who led his department to the scene, noticed that the storage room had been broken into by dismantling a padlock. He summoned detectives from the arson squad to further investigate the cause of the fire, which was considered suspicious.
Mrs. Burke, owner of the restaurant , told detectives that the fire was the fifth such blaze of suspicious origin at the nationally known hostelry within the past three months. Others, she revealed, occurred in an outside shed. In all of the cases, the were quickly extinguished before any damage was done.
After investigating the employees at the inn, the detectives said that Lobb was held because he appeared “extremely nervous” under questioning. He later was reported by police as admitting to setting Saturday’s fire and also that he had started the others, the detectives confirmed.
No apparent reason was given for Lobbs actions.
Patrolman Jack Sheriff of the 4th precinct, who also investigated the incident, said that the vamps from Smithtown confined the fire before it spread to other parts of the building. He said that it was a “good bit of fortune” that the fire was detected so quickly.
Lobb appeared on January 17th before Babylon District Court Judge Ernest L. Signorelli on charges of second degree arson. Released on $1,000 bail, he will re-appear January 20th in Commack District Court.
Islip Bulletin 1-16-1964
Some history on the Riverside Inn:
Smithtown in 1878. In the center of the photo is the Riverside Hotel, which would eventually become Friede’s Riverside Inn. The famous stopover was run by Frank Friede and his wife, Thelma. After Frank’s death in 1954, Thelma ran the Inn until 1969, where it changed hands many times thereafter. The Riverside was very well-known by many of the elite and after additions were added onto the original building, it boasted one of the most elegant dining rooms to host special dinners. Famous guests of the Riverside included Judy Garland, the Duke and Duchess of Windsor, the Bouviers, and the Gabor sisters. During the years of prohibition, the Inn ran as a popular speakeasy, involving itself with gambling and also stocking boats with illegal spirts to distribute west to New York City and northeast to Martha’s Vineyard in Massachusetts. The boats would travel north up the Nissequogue River to the Long Island Sound. Unfortunately, the Inn suffered from years of neglect- especially the upper floors and was totally lost to a fire on December 12, 1981. (Uncolored & unrestored photo: Brainerd, George B. – Collection; Brooklyn Museum Archive; Restored & colored photo: ChrisKlugCollection)
Be First to Comment