!12StonyBrook2

An historic village struggling to maintain its dignity. A colonial shopping center (the first in the United States), a village green, 23 historic properties and 80 acres of wetlands are beautifully preserved, managed and maintained not by a municipality with taxpayers dollars, but rather by a “private trust”, the Ward Melville Heritage Foundation (formerly known as the Stony Brook Community Fund.) Unfortunately, this very unique community is often second-guessed, taken for granted, and not always fully appreciated by the local residents.

The first two images are of the Village Center today and as it was. The third is the Figurehead of Hercules which graced the bow of the battleship USS Ohio from 1820 to 1884. The fourth picture is a photo of the Gamecock Cottage at Shipman's Point, the entrance to Stony Brook Harbor and the fifth is a Joe Reboli painting of it. The last two photos show the Stony Brook Grist Mill, the oldest, running Dutch-built Mill on Long Island.

Old Stony Brook

                Let Summer paint our Village Green,
                A warm and pleasant, peaceful Scene;
                Quaint Shops, an Inn, much In-between,
                Such Gentlefolk who there convene.
                From Upper Ponds to Swan packed Rill,
                We watch both Hercules and Mill;
                O’er Salt Marsh Views or better still,
                Historic Homes, in tense Goodwill.

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