304 



AMERICAN HOMES AND GARDENS 



August, 1 9 10 



EARLY twenty-five years ago, thinking that pretty village of Mt. Sinai, formerly known by the Indian 



it was not always valuation, or name, that name of Nonowantuck. To the right of the bay's opening 



gives a place its greatest interest, the into the Sound (the harbor's mouth) stretches a wide, clean 



writer with a friend sought for some sand bar about three-quarters of a mile long, known as the 



spruce little village on the shores of Long Sound Beach. 



Island Sound, where we could have sum- From any hill about the bay, one sees to the north the 



mer rest and recreation. We found a magnificent "Belt" with glimpses of Bridgeport and New 



pretty and a salubrious site, almost unknown to city folk, Haven over twenty miles away, and the Middle Ground 



in one of the most 

 charming sections 

 near New York, in 

 the country adja- 

 cent to Port Jeffer- 

 son. As we ap- 

 proached the sta- 

 tion and with only 

 here and there a 

 glimpse of a cot- 

 tage, it was hard 

 thoroughly to real- 

 ize that it was but 

 fifty-eight miles 

 from the city. Here 

 we took a stage 

 and rode north 

 down a long steep 

 hill into the village, 

 where there were 

 houses and lights 

 and a twilight view 

 of the beautiful 

 Port Jefferson Bay, 

 which is almost sur- 

 rounded by hills, 

 and a safe anchor- 

 age for yachts and other craft. Be- 

 yond the bay, to the north, was Long 

 Island Sound, known on very old maps 

 as "The Devil's Belt." 



In the morning we started in a con- 

 veyance to search the surrounding 

 country. The shacks we did not find, as 

 they had been destroyed, but we were 

 charmed with the scenery; its spots of 

 almost primeval simplicity and beauty, 

 its wooded hills and valleys, its 

 bays and coves with clean, clear 

 water. 



Eastward of Port Jefferson and 

 separated from it by Oakwood 

 (now Belle Terre) is Mt. Sinai 

 Bay, a shallow but beautiful and 

 safe sheet of water, and also the 



Mr. Otto Reiner's bungalow 



BfcTj "Room 



l-H 



I/IVING Rooi- 



-^ 



Bap Roc 



=■= 



-«= 



Plan of bungalow 



and other light- 

 houses. 



So pretty, peace- 

 ful and quiet was 

 this village of Mt. 

 Sinai that we hired 

 a house and with 

 friends glad to be 

 with us, had a sen- 

 sible and a refresh- 

 ing summer outing. 

 We were among 

 the first city folk to 

 discover the village, 

 but there are now 

 several urban fam- 

 ilies who live there 

 the year round. 



There is a tradi- 

 tion that Mt. Sinai 

 received its name in 

 this way. Nono- 

 wantuck was a lone 

 name to soell and 

 a letter miscarried. 

 On the complaint of 

 the inhabitants the 

 government was willing to change 

 the name, if one could be found 

 not already in use in the State of 

 New York. So a school teacher 

 selected Mt. Sinai. It is a pity 

 that the Indian name did not con- 

 tinue, but Biblical names were 

 popular on the island — for in- 

 stances, Babylon, Jericho, Canaan, 

 Jerusalem, Mt. Ararat, etc. 



Desirous of having a summer 

 home for mothers and feeble chil- 

 dren, in June, i888, I leased and 

 occupied Crystal Brook Neck or 

 "The Neck" (as it was called by 

 the country folk , a triangular 

 piece of land in the village of Mt. 

 Sinai projecting into Mt. Sinai Bay 



