Long Island Sights - A through L
I am a Long Island native, and there is plenty to do here. In this context, by Long Island I am referring not to the geographical fish-shaped island of Long Isand, but rather Nassau and Suffolk Counties, i.e. not Brooklyn and Queens (New York City).
American Airpower Museum (Farmingdale)
8/25/2006
Arthur Kunz County Park (Smithtown)
8/28/2022
Avalon Nature Preserve (Stony Brook)
6/16/2023
Bailey Arboretum (Locust Valley)
9/11/2021
Bayard Cutting Arboretum State Park (Great River)
Bethpage State Park
Blydenburgh County Park (Smithtown)
6/10/2022
7/30/2023
Brookhaven National Laboratory (Upton)
8/5/1990
Caleb Smith State Park Preserve
Caumsett State Park
Clark Botanic Gardens (Albertson)
8/26/1995
Cold Spring Harbor State Park
Cold Spring Harbor Fish Hatchery and Aquarium
8/20/1995
Connetquot River State Park
Cordwood Park (St. James)
7/31/2022
Cradle of Aviation Museum (Garden City)
6/9/1990
8/22/2009 Drove to Cradle of Aviation Museum at Mitchell Field. Very nice exhibits on old days, Grumman and other LI companies, etc. Saw good IMAX film “Under the Sea” and had sandwich lunch in the cafe.
Cranberry Bog Nature Preserve (Riverhead)
6/27/2021
Cutchogue Village Green (Cutchogue)
10/23/2010 ... drove with the family to Cutchogue and the Old House NHL on the Cutchogue Village Green. We checked out the 1649 house, known as one of the most distinguished surviving examples of English domestic architecture in America. After photoing that and the other historic houses on the green ...
David Weld Sanctuary (Nissequogue)
7/10/2022
Downs Farm Preserve (Cutchogue)
7/31/2013 Stopped at Downs Farm Preserve in Cutchogue. This area protects woodland and wetland habitat and also provides education on the Corchaug Indians as it encompasses Fort Corchaug Archeological Site NHL. This is an archaeological site showing evidence of 17th century contact between Native Americans and Europeans, the Fort itself being a log fort built by Native Americans. We had a quick picnic snack, then walked around the main loop trail through the woods. There wasn’t all that much to see, although it was pleasant. We could see Down’s Creek and into the lake beyond. We did come across the skeleton of a tee-pee used for education talks, and passed along one of the area vineyards.
Fire Fighter National Historic Landmark (Greenport)
4/27/2013 Drove through the north fork villages and vineyards out to Greenport and parked near the docks. A short walk brought us to the Fire Fighter NHL, recently moved from Staten Island and previously listed by us as “can’t visit”. Fire Fighter is a fireboat serving the FDNY; the most powerful diesel-electric fireboat when built in 1938 she has fought more than 50 fires, including pumping water from the Hudson River into Ground Zero on 9/11. We were pleasantly surprised on how much access we had, being able to wander all over the boat from down in the impressive engine room to up on the top deck with all the pumps and sprayers.
Fire Island National Seashore
First Presbyterian Church National Historic Landmark (Sag Harbor)
8/16/2012 Traffic not bad early in the day, and we first stopped at the First Presbyterian Church NHL in Sag Harbor. Also known as Old Whaler's Church, this is an historic and architecturally notable Presbyterian church built in 1844 in the Egyptian Revival style, although original steeple was destroyed by the Great New England Hurricane of 1938. We got a little lucky here in that the church was open and we met a guy who was working there, who gave us a little tour and told stories about the church. He told us about repairs on the steeple that resulted in it not being secured to the church (other than by sheer weight), perhaps contributing to the loss.
Fort Massapeag Archeological Site National Historic Landmark (Massapequa)
8/2/2013 Headed a few minutes southwest to Fort Massapeag Archaeological Site NHL in Massapequa. This is the location of a mid-1600s fort used during the period when the Massapeag Indians first encountered the Europeans. Today nothing is left but a slightly rolling roughly quarter acre square lot with a commemorative sign. We took a few photos, Googled the site to learn the little we could, and that was it.
Garvies Point Museum and Preserve (Glen Cove)
5/14/2021
Grumann Memorial Park
7/22/2023
Hallock State Park Preserve
Hallockville Museum Farm (Riverhead)
7/23/2021 Took some time on a beautiful Friday for an outing. Mom came over at 8:30 and we headed past Riverhead to Northville to the Hallockville Museum Farm. We parked and had a morning snack in the car, then did our tour. The place (free for outside touring) is set up really well. Their story- “Hallockville Museum Farm was created to preserve and interpret the history of farming on the North Fork of Long Island. The Museum got its start with the preservation of the Hallock Homestead. The original portion of the homestead was built in 1765 by Ruben Brown. Ezra Hallock bought the farm and lived in the house sometime after the Revolution. In 1801, Ezra sold the sixty-acre farm and buildings to his brother Captain Zachariah Hallock (1749-1820) for his son Zachariah Hallock 2nd (1776-1854). Zachariah 2nd was married in 1800 and he and his descendants lived in the homestead until 1979 when his great-granddaughter Ella Hallock moved out at age 95 to a nursing home in Riverhead where she died at the age of 100 in 1985.” We walked around the old buildings (dwellings, barns, etc.) on a path defined by a series of panels. On each panel, there was a context photo from the period of the farm, some text, and a bar code for the phone. These linked to web pages that had an audio presentation by actors playing the roles of family and others from the farm. We were very impressed and learned a lot.
Heckscher State Park
Hither Hills State Park
Holtsville Ecological Center (Holtsville)
8/20/2023
Jackson Pollock House National Historic Landmark (East Hampton)
8/16/2012 On the road again back to the north part of East Hampton and the Jackson Pollock House NHL. The artist and his wife Lee Krasner moved to the wood-frame house in 1945, and he started using the nearby barn as his studio in 1946. We first toured the house, which served as the original studio for Pollock and then Krasner, and had many artworks throughout to enjoy. We then went over to the barn, where we put on little foam slippers and were able to walk around the large interior on the original paint-covered plan floors covered in paint from Pollock’s unusual style of painting.
Jones Beach State Park
Kings Park Unique Area (Kings Park)
7/30/2023
Lakeland County Park (Islandia)
5/30/2022
8/6/2023
Long Island Aquarium (Riverhead)
7/1/2004 [visited as Atlantis Marine World]
Long Island Maritime Museum (West Sayville)
4/29/2012 What would a birthday celebration for Ken be without NHLs? The family met at my house and we immediately headed out to the Long Island Maritime Museum in West Sayville on a really beautiful, cool spring afternoon. In the museum building we got a longer-than-desired history talk by the museum guy, then looked at the exhibits on boat-building, sea rescues and other things of local interest. We then headed outside for the real destination – NHLs. First was the Rudolph Oyster House. This small, simple building is typical of the many oyster culling houses which once lined the Great South Bay waterfront, providing work for hundreds of predominantly Dutch immigrant local residents. We checked out the nice exhibits inside, seeing piles of oyster shells and the tools of the trade. Back outside at dockside we found the recently restored Priscilla NHL. From 1888 to 1963, the classic oyster dredging sloop Priscilla was owned and operated by several oystermen from Connecticut and New York, successful because she could dredge well in both light and heavy winds. After a few photos we walked over to a very large building which housed numerous small and midsized boats of all types, power and sail. One interesting boat was a very small (two man) but fully functional square-rigged boat, used for training and having a gazillion sheets. Not something for Ken and Bill in the Nissequogue! Our last quest was for the Modesty NHL. Modesty is a gaff-rigged oyster sloop built in 1923, modeled after a catboat believed to be the last sailing scallop dredger built on Long Island. We knew she was out of the water, undergoing restoration. We found her crowded into the building next to the Oyster House. As the building was not open, we peered into the windows around all the mess inside, and took the best photos possible.
Long Island Museum (Stony Brook)
7/15/2022