Shep Jones Lane is notorious for being considered one of Long Island’s most haunted spots. The road begins paved before petering out, leaving one seemingly in the middle of nowhere, and actually passes through the Avalon Preserve in Stony Brook, as well as property belonging to the Nature Conservancy. Hikers and strollers alike are common […]
Long Island
Concerning the Battle of Setauket: a tale of two churches, a minor battle in the American Revolution and the village green today
The 19th century artist William Sydney Mount came from Setauket, and would return back frequently to paint there, claiming it had the best light anywhere. The light is still there on Setauket Village Green, one of the best preserved greens to be found in New York. The Setaukets refer to the villages of Setauket and […]
Einstein at the Belvedere on Long Island
The Belvedere, c. 1860, Peconic, Suffolk County, North Fork of Long Island, New York. Click here to view larger and more images from the east end of Long Island Albert Einstein was a life-long pacifist, till the rise of fascism in Europe in the 1930′s when he fled to the United States. As a physicist, […]
Old Westbury Gardens: An English estate on Long Island’s Gold Coast
Above: Westbury House, Old Westbury, New York. In a case of mistaken identity, Roger Thornhill was taken at gunpoint from a posh Manhattan eatery and driven out to a mansion on the north shore of Long Island, and plied with copious amounts of alcohol before escaping in a perilous, intoxicated drive through the winding roads […]
Daily Life in the American Colonies: Sleeping Patterns in the Pre-Industrial Era
Modern technology sounds a death knell for old ways. This has been true since the stone age gave way to the iron age I’m sure. But is it possible that modern conveniences screw us up, as much as help? Old Bethpage Village Restoration on Long Island holds Candlelight Evenings each December. While most of the […]
Daily Life of the 19th Century: Clothes on the Line
Some things we took for granted, and among them was drying clothes on a clothes line. Certainly not the speediest method, but there’s a charm to the process that isn’t matched by a dryer. Time didn’t seem as pressing back then. People had patience. Our lives weren’t timed in fifteen minute increments. When you hang […]
Long Island’s Jamesport Manor Inn: An insider’s story
You can get used to about anything, living at the Jamesport Manor Inn on Long Island. A former dishwasher who was also a tenant before it burned and was restored, proved it one afternoon as he was at his sink, doing his job. A waitress, who was also familiar with the specter of what people […]
Tales of Old Stony Brook II: Of William Sidney Mount, spirits and Spiritualism
The Hawkins Mount House. In Richard Matheson’s classic novel from the 1970s, Hell House, a team of investigators are sent to spend a week in a haunted house to provide definitive proof of life after death. Almost immediately, a conflict breaks out between the scientist, who while not doubting the existence of the supernatural, or […]
Tales From Head of the Harbor & St. James Part IV: A True Ghost Story from Head of the Harbor
Top: The Carman-White House. Samuel Carman was a wealthy landowner in Head of the Harbor, New York in the 19th century. Following the death of his wife in 1888, his unmarried daughters built on Moriches road, a two story house in the Victorian style, in the same neighborhood as the other Carmans of the area. […]
The Legends and Myths of Mount Misery and Sweet Hollow Road, Part III. Mary takes another swing with her bloody hatchet on the big screen
It’s approaching Halloween and we have another film based on the legend of Mary Hatchet of Sweet Hollow Road and Mount Misery. Blood Night: The Legend of Mary Hatchet is a hatchet job on the legends, which we look at in detail in this look at one of Long Island’s most popular Urban Legends in the Gothic Cabinet of Curiosities and Mysteries.
The Ghosts of Old Bethpage Village Restoration
Top: In The Attic of the Kirby House. Any town or village has its haunted house. Old Bethpage Village Restoration has its share, and like most villages, most are urban legends which sprang up over the years. Nearly all the buildings in the village were once located elsewhere, and some, like the Noon Inn, brought their […]
The Legends and Myths of Mount Misery and Sweet Hollow Road Pt. II: Of Native Americans, Mothmen, M.I.B.s and UFOs
Mount Misery and Sweet Hollow’s Road big-time debut came in the book the Mothman Prophecies by John Keel, but the legends stretch back further. Lost and confused in the history of the native Americans of Huntington and Plainview, we try to untangle the mysteries of the mothman, M.I.B. and UFOs in this haunted area. From the Gothic Curiosity Cabinet
