South Beach. 21 



woodland and field have been washed away. History 

 says the Elm Tree lighthouse received its name from a 

 tree of this kind growing, in 1840, beyond the end of the 

 present dock, which extends about four hundred feet into 

 the water. On an old map, published in 1797, this tree is 

 depicted as one of the landmarks, and before the days of 

 the lighthouse it served to guide vessels into the harbor. 

 On the map is written this inscription beside the figure of 

 the tree : " Large Elm tree Standing by the Shore a 

 Mark for Vessels leaving and going from New York to 

 Amboy, Middletown and Brunswick." Further along the 

 shore we have been shown two cedars in front of which 

 the old men used to play ball when boys, but the trees now 

 stand near the edge of the bank, which is crumbling away 

 a little each year. 



It was not long ago that the boulevard was built, a 

 little up from the high-tide mark, and New Creek was 

 bridged, but in many places only a trace of the road now 

 remains. New Creek is very erratic as regards at least a 

 portion of its course, and previous to the winter of 

 1883-84 emptied a quarter of a mile or more to the south- 

 west of its present mouth. There was a great point 

 formed by its winding course, on which the ribbed Pecten 

 shells occurred in numbers. Each year this point grew 

 longer, until at last the stream flowed so slowly that in the 

 winter mentioned it froze up, and the upland became 

 flooded. When spring came the water broke through 

 straight to the ocean, and now another point is being 

 slowly formed. 



In 1797 the creek is portrayed as emptying straight to 



