In the summer of 1983, television executives looked at the success of Dallas, Dynasty, Falcon Crest, and Knots Landing and came to what seemed like […]
Category: Crazy Facts About Long Island
The Shinnecock Canal: The 1892 Waterway That Linked Two Bays and Created a Geography Oddity
We all know that the Hamptons are an island unto itself. But with the Shinnecock Canal, the Hamptons might have literally separated the South Fork […]
Long Island Railfans: Big Boy No. 4014, the World War II-Era Steam Giant, Is Heading East This Summer
For Long Islanders interested in trains, railroad history, or simply seeing one of the largest machines ever put on rails, this summer offers a rare […]
Orient Point Light: A “Spark Plug” Lighthouse Standing Between Long Island and Plum Island
Orient Point Light stands on Oyster Pond Reef in Plum Gut, the narrow passage between Orient Point and Plum Island. The cast-iron lighthouse was first […]
How a Knitting Needle Helped Name Mount Sinai
Tucked between Port Jefferson and Miller Place, the hamlet known now as Mount Sinai was known locally by another name entirely many years ago. Long […]
Long Island Researcher Who Decoded Centuries-Old Place Names
Long Islanders already know names like Ronkonkoma, Massapequa, Setauket, and Patchogue came from Native American languages. What is less widely known is that Sag Harbor […]
When Hampton Bays Was Called Good Ground
Long before it became Hampton Bays, the South Fork hamlet had a very different — and much older — name. For generations, the area was […]
The 1922 Shooting Case That Stunned Huntington
A front-page article published in The Port Jefferson Echo on Dec. 2, 1922 detailed a murder-suicide in Huntington that began with a broken engagement and […]
The $6 Million Camp Upton Fraud Lawsuit of 1922
In December 1922, The Port Jefferson Echo reported that the federal government had begun legal action tied to alleged fraud in the construction of Camp […]
Before Busytown, Children’s Author Richard Scarry Drew This Charming 1947 Map of Long Island
Long before Richard Scarry became famous for Busytown, Lowly Worm, and generations of children’s books, he drew Long Island. In June 1947, Holiday magazine published […]