This year, the news that Gosman’s Docks went up for sale again hit the streets. The must-stop for visitors to Montauk Point for decades was founded in 1943 by Robert and Mary Gosman. Here we present some crazy and historical facts about Gosman's Dock.
- Robert Gosman was from Amagansett and Mary Gosman was from Ireland
- According to one interview, it was Mary Gosman who first brought over Irish students and housed them at the dock
- At the time it was founded, the Gosmans were fish packers and ‘fishdrummers’ (agents for Fulton Market)
- The Gosmans bought the original property in 1943 from the Bonner Fuel Company
- In 1946 the first restaurant was built, nothing more than a shack
- The Gosman family bought additional properties in 1950 and additional land in 1958
- The restaurant started out as a chowder stand - the chowder cooked by Mary Gosman
- They also sold breakfast to the local fishermen
- They expended the menu eventually to include lobster rolls
- Dan’s Papers reported that the “eight-seat lunch counter, home to a $3 lobster roll served with fries, slaw, and crackers, was immensely popular.”
- According to family history, back then people sat on old fish boxes to eat
- In 1960 the restaurant was expanded with an outside deck
- A bell in the bar has the date May 21, 1968, the day the bar area opened
- Before Montauk Harbor was dredged you could walk from Gosman Dock to Star Island
- There was a free concert series at Gosman's Dock in 1972, including artists like Richie Havens, Ruth Brown, Lee Konitz, Toots Thielemans, and the Heath Brothers
- Robert died in 1983 and Mary in 1997
- The wholesale lobster and fish business and the quality of the seafood encouraged the family (five sons and a daughter) to develop the Gosman's Restaurant and Clam Bar to what it is today
- As the restaurant developed, clothing and gourmet food shops and tourist services were added
- According to an article about the property consists of nine properties on 11.6 acres on Montauk Harbor
- There are four restaurants, six retail stores, a wholesale lobster and fish business and four staff housing properties, totaling 48,145 square feet of space, plus the dock and marina
- The property was previously on the market in 2006 for $55 million
- In 2016, was listed for $52.5 million
- The property almost sold in 2019 but the deal fell through
- Montauk is still the biggest commercial fishing hub in New York State