Caumsett State Historic Park Preserve is a

state park State parks are parks or other protected areas managed at the sub-national level within those nations which use "state" as a political subdivision. State parks are typically established by a state to preserve a location on account of its natural ...

on Lloyd Neck, a peninsula extending into the

Long Island Sound Long Island Sound is a marine sound and tidal estuary of the Atlantic Ocean. It lies predominantly between the U.S. state of Connecticut to the north and Long Island in New York to the south. From west to east, the sound stretches from the Eas ...

, in the Village of

Lloyd Harbor Lloyd Harbor is a village in the Town of Huntington in Suffolk County, on the North Shore of Long Island, in New York, United States. As of the 2010 census, the village's population was 3,660. History In 1654, the Matinecock Native America ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

. It is operated by the

New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation The New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation (NYS OPRHP) is a state agency within the New York State Executive Department Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation Law § 3.03. "The office of parks, recreation a ...

. The park covers the former

Marshall Field III Marshall Field III (September 28, 1893 – November 8, 1956) was an American investment banker, publisher, racehorse owner/breeder, philanthropist, grandson of businessman Marshall Field, heir to the Marshall Field department store fortune, a ...

estate that was developed in the 1920s, and was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

in 1979. Much of the park is today managed as a

nature preserve A nature reserve (also known as a wildlife refuge, wildlife sanctuary, biosphere reserve or bioreserve, natural or nature preserve, or nature conservation area) is a protected area of importance for flora, fauna, or features of geological or o ...

, with a focus on protecting high-quality bird habitat.

History

bought the property in 1921 and had an estate house built in 1925, one of the largest estates of the

Gold Coast Gold Coast may refer to: Places Africa * Gold Coast (region), in West Africa, which was made up of the following colonies, before being established as the independent nation of Ghana: ** Portuguese Gold Coast (Portuguese, 1482–1642) ** Dutch G ...

mansions. an
''Accompanying 16 photos, exterior and interior, from 1975 and 1976''
Field named the property "Caumsett", after the Matinecock tribe's original name for the peninsula meaning "place by a sharp rock". The Marshall Field III estate was purchased by New York State for $4 million on February 3, 1961, and became a state park. The former estate was listed on the

in 1979. In May 1961, plans were made to create

Caumsett State Parkway The Bethpage State Parkway (or simply the Bethpage Parkway) is a parkway in Nassau County on Long Island, New York, in the United States. It begins at a trumpet interchange with the Southern State Parkway in the village of North Massapequa an ...

, a northern extension of

Bethpage State Parkway The Bethpage State Parkway (or simply the Bethpage Parkway) is a parkway in Nassau County on Long Island, New York, in the United States. It begins at a trumpet interchange with the Southern State Parkway in the village of North Massapequa and s ...

, to provide access to the park. Although right-of-way was acquired, the parkway was never built. A portion of this land was later used to create Cold Spring Harbor State Park and Trail View State Park.

Park description

The historic buildings within Caumsett State Historic Park Preserve are used for a variety of activities; former polo barns are used for

equestrian The word equestrian is a reference to equestrianism, or horseback riding, derived from Latin ' and ', "horse". Horseback riding (or Riding in British English) Examples of this are: * Equestrian sports *Equestrian order, one of the upper classes i ...

education and services, while other buildings host environmental education programs and the Lloyd Harbor Historical Society. Much of the remainder of the park is maintained as a

, with a focus on conservation of bird habitat. The "Caumsett Bird Conservation Area" was established in 2006 and comprises approximately of the state park, two-thirds of which is forested. The remainder includes a variety of habitats, such as

salt marsh A salt marsh or saltmarsh, also known as a coastal salt marsh or a tidal marsh, is a coastal ecosystem in the upper coastal intertidal zone between land and open saltwater or brackish water that is regularly flooded by the tides. It is dominated ...

and maritime beach. The designated area protects high-quality habitat that supports breeding populations of several species listed as threatened or endangered in New York State, including

piping plover The piping plover (''Charadrius melodus'') is a small sand-colored, sparrow-sized shorebird that nests and feeds along coastal sand and gravel beaches in North America. The adult has yellow-orange-red legs, a black band across the forehead from e ...

common tern The common tern (''Sterna hirundo'') is a seabird in the family Laridae. This bird has a circumpolar distribution, its four subspecies breeding in temperate and subarctic regions of Europe, Asia and North America. It is strongly migratory ...

s, and

least tern The least tern (''Sternula antillarum'') is a species of tern that breeds in North America and locally in northern South America. It is closely related to, and was formerly often considered conspecific with, the little tern of the Old World. Oth ...

s; many additional migratory species also make use of the protected landscape. The park allows for recreation such as horse-riding, fishing, jogging, hiking, biking, and cross-country skiing. Scuba diving is also allowed by permit.

References

External links

New York State Parks: Caumsett State Historic Park Preserve
* ttp://www.caumsettfoundation.org Caumsett Foundation*

Historic American Buildings Survey Heritage Documentation Programs (HDP) is a division of the U.S. National Park Service (NPS) responsible for administering the Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS), Historic American Engineering Record (HAER), and Historic American Landscapes ...

(HABS): ** ** ** ** ** {{authority control Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in New York (state) New York (state) historic sites Huntington, New York State parks of New York (state) Parks in Suffolk County, New York Houses in Suffolk County, New York National Register of Historic Places in Suffolk County, New York

History

Park description

See also

References

External links