MR. WALTER T. SHIRLEY
written by
the Shirley Chamber of Commerce
WALTER T. SHIRLEY
Walter T. Shirley was born on October 9, 1896 in
Brooklyn. At the time of his death on January 29, 1963,
he left behind Rose, his wife of 33 years and his son,
Walter T. Shirley, Jr. The 'Acreage King' also left a
large legacy in the form of the community of Shirley.
Walter Shirley is primarily remembered as a real estate
developer and promoter. With over 40 years in the
business, most of them on Long Island, it is no surprise
that we associate his name with land. A large part of
Shirley's success was due to his being a gambler, willing
to take great financial risks. He saw the value in the
land of Long Island and he took a chance.
However, Shirley's interests were by no means limited to
land development. Throughout his life he was fascinated
by the entertainment industry and he owned a large
collection of celebrity photographs. His fascination
undoubtedly stemmed from his meeting songwriter Irving
Berlin at Camp Upton in Yaphank during World War I.
Shirley was a private who served with the 'Lost
Battalion' in Chateau Thierry in France and he was later
decorated by the French government.
When he was 17, he started to work as a song plugger for
Irving Berlin. Shirley and his piano player, I. Fred
Coots, traveled from movie house to movie house in New
York City, performing Berlin's songs between the movie's
two reels in an effort to promote sales of his music.
In 1922 at the age of 26, Shirley tired of this line of
work. He was employed for a short time at a bond
brokerage house. He began his real estate career by
selling land around Rockville Centre and Oceanside and
his first venture into land development was Mastic Acres.
Walter Shirley promoted more than songs and real estate
During the early 1950's he served as New York City's
Commission of Commerce under Mayor Vincent R.
Impellitteri whose campaign Shirley headed in 1950. His
assignment was to promote New York City as a place in
which to do business. In this capacity he helped procure
millions of dollars worth of defense contracts for New
York City. At times his promotion of Shirley conflicted
with this job, especially when the ads for Shirley
advocated getting out of New York!
Mayor Impellitteri also appointed Walter Shirley goodwill
ambassador for New York City and dispatched him to meet
with the heads of Europe. Shortly before his death,
Shirley was named a director of the New York World's Fair
Corporation. On a local level he was president of the
Shirley Chamber of Commerce and from 1950 to 1963, he was
a member of the board of directors at Security National
Bank of Long Island.
Walter Shirley found pleasure in both work and play. An
acquaintance of his once remarked, 'He had three stated
goals in life: 1) make landowners happy, 2) make a profit
and 3) make himself happy.' For fun there were the
opening nights at the theater and movie premieres to
attend, friendships with celebrities and games of god.
Shirley had a Lincoln Continental equipped with a
telephone and a police and fire radio. When in Manhattan
he and his friends would cruise the Upper East Side
listening to emergency calls and streaking to the scene,
sometimes arriving ahead of the authorities.
Walter T. Shirley undoubtedly made an impact on Long
Island with his real estate promotion. As with any major
developer both supporters and detractors can be found
among his contemporaries and their descendants. Mr.
Shirley's impact on the community can be appreciated or
denounced but it cannot be ignored.