Southaven County Park - Long Island TU County Park “Along the Carman’s River” Beginning as a...
Transcript of Southaven County Park - Long Island TU County Park “Along the Carman’s River” Beginning as a...
Southaven County Park
“Along the Carman’s R
iver”
Beginning as a sm
all stream
in Middle
Island, the Carm
an’s R
iver flows
southward to the
eastern end of the G
reat South Bay.
This river, once know
n as the C
onnecticut River,
winds through the
Pitch Pine - Oak
woodlands of central
Suffolk, yet the vegetation in the w
etlands along its banks is different from
the open Pine Barrens of the
upland areas. Red M
aples grow in
moister places closer to the river and the
thick shrub layer along the banks includes the sw
eetly perfum
ed Sweet
Pepper Bush and tasty
High B
ush B
lueberries. Deer
browse the vegetation
and red fox hunt small m
amm
als in the upland areas, w
hile the lower part of the
river provides a haven for migrating and
wintering w
aterfowl.
People have always been attracted to
rivers and the Carm
an’s is no exception.
Evidence indicates that native Am
ericans cam
ped and hunted in this area. Later, the shape of the river itself w
as changed as people settled at several points along its course.
In the mid 1700’s dam
s were built in three
places and mills constructed below
the mill
ponds. Upper Lake and Low
er Lake in Yaphank are m
ill ponds as is Hard’s Lake
further south. In the northernmost section of
Southaven Park, north of the Long Island Expressw
ay, are some of the rem
ains what
was once know
n as Millville. Som
e of the buildings still stand although the m
ills built by the H
oman fam
ily and later owned by the
Gerards are long gone.
Mordecai H
oman built a saw
mill, a grist m
ill and a fulling m
ill (for shrinking and thickening w
ool) just north of the “goin’ over” -- the ford about w
here Montauk
Highw
ay is now. These mills changed hands
several times com
ing back to other Hom
ans and then to Sam
uel Carm
an who m
arried into the H
oman fam
ily. Samuel C
arman, Jr. ran a
tavern in part of his large house which, in the
early 19th century, was a stage stop on the
route from B
rooklyn to Easthampton. The
South Haven or C
arman’s M
ills operated until
1910 and the mill stood until 1958 w
hen Sunrise H
ighway w
as extended through the area. A
t that time a new
dam w
as constructed north of the new
highw
ay and the historic South H
aven church was
moved to
Brookhaven.
The large trout in the Carm
an’s River
were a draw
for some notable fisherm
an. In 1827 D
aniel Webster rented som
e land above the South H
aven mill pond
with fishing rights for him
self and a few
friends, including Martin Van B
uren, later the 8th president. This w
as the forerunner of the Suffolk C
lub organized by A
ugust Belm
ont in 1858. The Suffolk C
lub bought a 1500 acre shooting and fishing preserve and raised trout to stock the river. Theodore R
oosevelt was one
of the Club’s m
ost famous m
embers.
Finally, Anson H
ard bought up all the other shares and used the area as a private hunting preserve, raising pheasants and keeping a herd of European Sitka deer.
Today, people hike and canoe along the river, picnic and cam
p, hunt and fish, ride horses on upland trails and row
boats in the m
ill pond. Now
that Southaven is a county park all Suffolk residents can respond to the lure of the river and enjoy the uplands and w
etlands of its 1320 acres.
Dire
ctio
ns fo
r Cam
ping
:Fr
om S
unris
e H
ighw
ay, t
ake
exit
58 n
orth
. As
you
ent
er
Will
iam
Flo
yd P
arkw
ay, p
repa
re to
turn
wes
t ont
o V
icto
ry
Aven
ue. F
rom
Vic
tory
Ave
nue
turn
righ
t on
Riv
er R
oad.
Pa
rk e
ntra
nce
will
be
on th
e le
ft.
Dire
ctio
ns fo
r Boa
ting,
Picn
ics, M
ain
Park
Are
a:Fr
om S
unris
e H
ighw
ay, t
ake
exit
58 n
orth
. As
you
ente
r W
illia
m F
loyd
Par
kway
, pre
pare
to tu
rn w
est o
nto
Vic
tory
Av
enue
. Fol
low
sig
ns to
mai
n en
tranc
e to
par
k on
you
r rig
ht.
Dire
ctio
ns fo
r Hor
seba
ck R
idin
g and
LI L
IVE
Stea
mer
s:Fr
om S
unris
e H
ighw
ay, t
ake
exit
58 n
orth
. As
you
ente
r W
illia
m F
loyd
Par
kway
, pre
pare
to tu
rn w
est o
nto
Vic
tory
Av
enue
. Fr
om V
icto
ry A
venu
e tu
rn r
ight
ont
o G
erar
d R
oad.
Par
k en
tranc
e is
on
your
righ
t.
Impo
rtan
t Pho
ne N
umbe
rs
Emer
genc
y: 9
11Su
ffolk
Cou
nty
Park
Pol
ice:
(631
) 854
-142
2Su
ffolk
Cou
nty
Park
s Adm
inis
tratio
n: (6
31) 8
54-4
949
Sout
have
n C
ount
y Pa
rk O
ffice
: (63
1) 8
54-1
415
Sout
have
n C
ampg
roun
d O
ffice
: (63
1) 8
52-1
391
43-0
105p
2/1
2ry
Faci
litie
s
Cam
ping
Ther
e ar
e 13
0 ca
mps
ites
avai
labl
e fo
r in
divi
dual
s an
d re
serv
ed g
roup
s. Fu
ll sa
nita
ry f
acili
ties.
Cal
l 85
4-14
18 fo
r inf
orm
atio
n.
Picn
icki
ngSo
utha
ven
has
a la
rge
picn
ic
field
th
at
can
acco
mod
ate
over
1,0
00 p
eopl
e, a
nd t
here
are
an
addi
tiona
l 22
grou
p pi
cnic
are
as.
Hik
ing
The
Bro
okha
ven
Trai
l, a
foot
path
tha
t, w
hen
com
plet
ed, w
ill ru
n fr
om sh
ore
to sh
ore
in C
entra
l B
rook
have
n tra
vers
es th
e pa
rk.
Can
oein
g an
d R
owbo
atin
gC
anoe
ists
alo
ng t
he C
arm
an’s
Riv
er o
ften
pass
th
roug
h So
utha
ven
Park
, ho
wev
er a
ll ca
noei
sts
mus
t ch
eck
in a
t ro
wbo
at a
rea
befo
re l
aunc
hing
. R
owbo
ats
can
be re
nted
at t
he p
ark
for t
hose
who
w
ant t
o re
lax
on th
e w
ater
s of
Har
d’s
lake
.
Fish
ing
and
Hun
ting
Fres
hwat
er f
ishi
ng f
or t
rout
, ba
ss a
nd p
erch
is
avai
labl
e al
ong
the
Car
man
’s R
iver
, in
the
lake
and
th
e po
nd.
A N
ew Y
ork
Stat
e fis
hing
lic
ense
is
requ
ired
and
all p
erso
ns m
ust r
egis
ter a
t the
Boa
t H
ouse
. Wat
erfo
wl h
unte
rs m
ay u
se s
ites
alon
g th
e ea
st s
ide
of th
e riv
er in
sea
son.
Hor
seba
ck R
idin
gB
ring
your
ow
n ho
rse
and
enjo
y th
e tra
ils t
hat
mea
nder
thro
ugh
the
park
, per
mit
requ
ired.
Bird
watc
hing
Sout
have
n Pa
rk is
a p
opul
ar sp
ot fo
r bird
wat
chin
g,
espe
cial
ly i
n th
e w
inte
r be
caus
e of
the
abu
ndan
t w
ater
fow
l.S
teven
Bello
ne
Su
ffo
lk C
ou
nty
Execu
tive
Well-known
Figures Along the
Carm
an’s River
In late 1780 Benjam
in Tallmadge told
General G
eorge Washington that he w
ould like to cross the Long Island Sound from
C
onnecticut to destroy a British supply
collection point at Coram
and while on
Long Island raid the British occupied Fort
St. George (St. G
eorge’s Manor).
Tallmadge and his com
pany of 80 men
landed at what is now
Mt. Sinai and
marched south along the east side of the
Carm
an’s River to St. G
eorge’s Manor
where they captured 54 prisoners. W
hile m
ost of the company m
arched the prisoners back to their boats, Tallm
adge took a small
group to Coram
to destroy the British
supplies.
Daniel W
ebster occasionally came to fish
in the Carm
an’s River. O
ne well-know
n tale has it that in the spring of 1827 W
ebster was staying at C
arman’s tavern in
South Haven and attended the Sunday
morning service across the street in the
South Haven
Presbyterian C
hurchs. During
Rev. Ezra K
ing’s serm
on, Carm
an’s boatm
an slipped into the church and w
hisp ered to Carm
an and Webster w
ho prom
ptly tiptoed out. Know
ing what w
as up, other w
orshippers began to get up and leave. Finally, the R
ev. Ezra King, him
self an ardent fisherm
an, stopped preaching, pronounced the benediction and w
ent off to the river w
ith the others to watch W
ebster bring in his long sought quarry -- a 14 1/2 pound trout. The outline of the fish w
as traced on C
arman’s tavern and the next day
the shape (but 1/3 larger) was transferred
to wood and cut out to create a
weathervane for the church. W
ebster was
so pleased with his visit that shortly
thereafter he rented land along the C
arman’s R
iver.
Guidelines for
park visitorsSuffolk C
ounty parks are for the use of residents of Suffolk C
ounty and their guests.
Please do not disturb the plants and anim
als.
Please keep your dogs on a leash at all tim
es.
You may not bring in alcoholic
beverages except with a perm
it.
Please carry your waste out w
ith you or use the trash receptacles provided.
No Sw
imm
ing.
Please obey all traffic signs.
For further information, request a
brochure on park rules and regulations.
Along the R
iverJust a few
yards away from
the river sandy trails pass through low
huckleberries and thin pines. B
ut that narrow band along the
river is quite a different world.
The moist soil supports several shrubs that
have sweetly fragrant flow
ers in the spring and sum
mer. Soft green m
osses grow at
the base of trees that lean out over the w
ater. In early autumn the leaves on the
trees lining the river banks begin turning bright red.
A curious clapping noise over the river
turns out to be a swan’s w
ings hitting the w
ater as it takes off. Further upstream
even a quiet approach to the river’s edge m
ay cause a series of “plops” as frogs or turtles jum
p into the water.
In quiet spots along the river bank circles that look like rain drops hitting the w
ater are actually caused by w
ater striders -- insects -- skating on the surface. Their dark bodies and long legs are nearly invisible against the shady, dark w
ater. A flash of sunlight
illuminates little golden-brow
n dragonflies cruising low
over the w
ater in search of mosquitoes to
eat.
The river’s edge is a narrow strip
with som
e of Long Island’s most
exciting sensory experiences.
LEGEN
D1.
Field Trial Area2.
Large Upper Picnic Area
3. Playground
4. Activity Field
5. M
ain Bathroom6.
Main Parking Field
7. Fam
ily Picnic Area8.
Playground9.
Bathroom10. Boat H
ouse11. M
ain House
12. Hatchery
46 12
7
1211
10 98
35