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Hallock State Park Preserve (formerly Jamesport State Park) is a state park and
New York State Parks: Hallock State Park Preserve
State parks of New York (state) Parks in Suffolk County, New York Riverhead (town), New York Southold, New York 2005 establishments in New York (state) Protected areas established in 2005 {{SuffolkCountyNY-geo-stub
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 o ...
located in the towns of Riverhead and Southold in Suffolk County, New York. The park is situated on Long Island's north shore, with nearly of beachfront facing Long Island Sound.
History
The property that was to become Hallock State Park Preserve was formerly used forillegal sand mining
Sand theft or unauthorised or illegal sand mining leads to a widely unknown global example of natural and non-renewable resource depletion problem comparable in extent to global water scarcity. Beach theft is illegal removal of large quantities ...
during the 1960s, and was once intended to host a nuclear power plant planned by the Long Island Lighting Company
The Long Island Lighting Company, or LILCO "lil-co" was an electrical power company and natural gas utility for the communities of Long Island, New York, serving 2.7 million people in Nassau, Suffolk and Queens Counties. ...
during the 1970s. KeySpan Energy took ownership of the land in 1998.
It was purchased by New York State from KeySpan Energy in 2002 for $16 million; the purchase also included an additional adjacent to the future park land. Although the park officially opened as Jamesport State Park in 2005, legal access to the undeveloped park was restricted until official trails and a welcome center could be constructed.
A master plan was adopted for the park in 2010, at which time the park's name was changed from Jamesport State Park to Hallock State Park Preserve. The name change was intended to address the fact that the park was not located in nearby Jamesport; instead the park was named after a pond on the property.
Impending development of the park's facilities was announced in 2014 after $3 million in funding was secured in the state's budget. The state funds joined an additional $3.9 million of development money that was received from selling the adjacent parcel as protected farmland.
Park description
The park contains woodlands, open areas and a rare coastal perched pond, in addition to a beach along Long Island Sound. It is intended to serve as anature 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 o ...
in addition to allowing passive recreation such as hiking, fishing, non-motorized boating, and seasonal horse-riding and scuba diving. There is a park office and nature center, trails, and a road that passes farmland leading to an upper parking lot and trails to Hallock Pond and the Sound. The park boasts commanding views of the Long Island Sound.
See also
* List of New York state parksReferences
External links
New York State Parks: Hallock State Park Preserve
State parks of New York (state) Parks in Suffolk County, New York Riverhead (town), New York Southold, New York 2005 establishments in New York (state) Protected areas established in 2005 {{SuffolkCountyNY-geo-stub