BEACH RESORT
Lake Ronkonkoma
Early Settlers
Turn of the Century
Beach Resort
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THE LONG ISLAND RAILROAD
The main line of the Long Island Railroad was built as far as Islip by 1842. In 1844, it was extended to Yaphank and two years later to Greenport. Before the turn of the century, it was to cause an enormous change in the character of Lake Ronkonkoma. From being a sleepy little farming community, Lake Ronkonkoma was destined to become a well-known and fashionable summer resort by the 1900s.
The impact of the railroad was not immediate as the original station was located in a farmhouse in Lakeland. A mere trickle of people came to the lake area for a number of years. A majority of those who came settled close to the station in Lakeland and built modest homes there. A large group moved southward and settles the village of Bohemia. Later, a Hungarian settlement developed in Lakeland.
In 1885, the railroad station was moved to its present site at Ronkonkoma. Maude Adams, the famous actress who lived there, paid for the landscaping and beautification of the station. Many elm trees, lovely lawns, and hedges were planted there making the entrance to the town an impressive one for those people arriving by train.
SUMMER RESORT
Lake Ronkonkoma became known as a summer resort in the late 1800s and early 1900s. There were a few boarding houses in town. One of the better-known hotels on the lake was the Lake Front Hotel. This was where many guests stayed and social events for the summer visitors took place. The Lake Front Hotel situated on twenty-four acres of land on the lakeshore was open from May 1st and January 1st each year.
Most of the original settlers and local residents chose to live away from the lakefront. The land one half mile or so beyond the lake was flatter and better suited for farming. Little by little, the lakefront developed into a fashionable haven for the wealthier people who had summer estates there.
Lake Ronkonkoma became a summer resort but in this first phase, it did not cater to or attempt to attract the masses of people. Instead, it was quite exclusive, a place for the wealthy and famous from New York City.
AMUSEMENT
Life was by no means all work. Each season was important and thoroughly enjoyed, especially by the young people.In the spring when the shad were running in the Nissequogue River, people took time off from work to go fishing.
All summer long there was boating and swimming at the lake. Girls were handicapped by having to wear cumbersome bathing suits, stockings and shoes when they went swimming, but boys often went skinny dipping when they were alone.
For many, the fall was the best season of all. That was when hunting began. Shotguns of various gauges were to be found in just about every house. Hunting was important around the lake area until the 1930s.
When the ice was safe, the young people arranged skating parties on the shore where skaters could warm their hands and feet. A favorite game on the ice was Crack the Whip.
A RESORT TOWN
The perimeter of the lake itself began to change from residential to commercial. As the lake front become less and less exclusive, some of the people sold their homes and moved away. George Raynor, whose family had lived at the lake since the 1840s, bought an estate in 1921. This became the well-known Raynor Beach.
Raynor, whose property was being used for picnics by people who drove out from the city, built a small pavilion and some bathhouses on the beach. Up on the hill, a large building was converted into a restaurant where hot meals were served. The Beach catered to a high-class transient trade.
Lake Ronkonkoma adjusted to a two-season pattern, as resort towns must do. The economy of the town depended on a good season, and the lake itself become a great natural resource that brought work and money to Lake Ronkonkoma residents. At the end of each season, Lake Ronkonkoma returned to the normalcy of a small town with familiar faces being seen everywhere.
CHANGES WITH TIME
Lake Ronkonkoma had been accustomed to having large numbers of people in town, but previously these people had gone away at the end of the summer. But when the people of the city came to stay, the town of Ronkonkoma lost its intimacy.
End of the Pavilions:
The people of Lake Ronkonkoma responded spontaneously to the attack on Pearl Harbor. All those who could enlisted in some branch of the service. The townspeople had neither the heart nor the time to think about tourist trade as they rushed to fill the ranks of the army of men and women needed to help build the war machine.
People in town had not anticipated the changes that were to come about and had expected that after the War the lake would once more be a big attraction. The beaches stayed open, and although there were visitors, it became evident after a while that the momentum had slowed down. World War II with its total war effort and gas rationing had signaled the beginning of the end of an era of pavilions and crowds of summer visitors.
In the 1950s, the original owners began to sell their beaches to others. Many of the pavilions, which were left unattended, burned down. On October 4, 1962, Brookhaven Town purchased land for the first town-owned beach on the lake. The unattended sections of beaches began to deteriorate. Rubbish, tin cans and bottles lined the shores in many places. Since the shoreline lay in between three townships, there was no central control. People were becoming alarmed, and a Tri-Town Committee for the Preservation of Lake Ronkonkoma was formed. The committee agreed that the three towns would treat the pollution problem as a single problem affecting all.
