There are very few roads on Long Island that have a magical feel to them.
Roslyn Road is one such road. When one heads north on Roslyn Road beyond the expressway and then past Roslyn High School on the right you begin your long slow descent down to the harbor.
You will begin to see those pre civil war Greek Revival style homes and you have a sense you are taking a trip back to the oldest America.
When you get to Gerry Park and there’s a random stop sign that seems to be whispering “Welcome back to the 17th Century.”
The history of Roslyn began when two English Puritans,
John Carman and Rev. Robert Fordham sailed into the calm deep waters of Hempstead Harbor, which at that time was occupied by Native American Indians.
Carman and Fordham traveled up the Indian path which is now called Roslyn Road and eventually settled on the Hempstead plains.
The harbor became a thriving center where British ships could come and safely deposit goods without risking the high waves on the south shore of Long Island.
Roslyn was first called Hempstead Harbor but to avoid confusion with other townships they changed the name to Roslyn because the topography reminded Mr. Cairns of Roslyn, Scotland.
By the 1800s Roslyn was a thriving port with grist mills and shops along its main street.
There are now 50 buildings in town that are protected by the National Register of Historic Places. The Ellen J. Ward Memorial Clock Tower was built in 1895 and the Obadiah W. Valentine House was built in 1833.
We all have fond memories of Roslyn.
My favorite was when I saw the Lovin’ Spoonful perform in a little bar on main street back in 1966. I recall them singing “Do You Believe in Magic” and the sheer loudness of band almost knocked me over.
Last weekend I decided to cruise down to Gerry Park and take a few photos.
Gerry Park actually has three different ponds that lead down to the water. Lots of geese eating grass and lounging in the sun.
Not to be outdone by the geese I decided to sit down on a bench on the dock and do some lounging myself. I noticed all those tall reeds and willow trees to my right and as the breeze picked up I could hear the rustling of the wind through the bulrushes.
I thought of the famous missing chapter 7 in Kenneth Grahame’s “Wind in the Willows.” The chapter was titled “Piper at the Gates of Dawn.”
The chapter was pulled from the book because the publisher felt it would be above the heads of their child readers. That’s too bad because it’s by far the best chapter in the book.
The Irish singer songwriter Van Morrison even wrote a song about it.
The chapter is about how Mole and Rat traveled on the river all night to find the otter’s missing son Portly, how they heard pipe music on a little island in the middle of the river and how they came to meet the god Pan.
The chapter is really all about how we were once able to find magic and beauty and meaning in nature.
Pan is an important god because his death marked the end of the power of Greek mythology and the rise of theology about 2,000 years ago.
All this is a roundabout way of me saying that there are still a few towns on Long Island that have magic in them.
Roslyn is one of America’s oldest towns’ and it has a main street that is the container of our American history. And it has ponds and parks that still contain wonder and beauty.
The Lovin’ Spoonful believed in the ‘magic of a young girl’s heart’ and Kenneth Grahame believed in the magic found in nature and the wind. And as Long Islanders we can believe in the magic of this beautiful gem of a town with the sweet name Roslyn.
And lucky us, we don’t have to be pioneers like Carman and Fordham who braved the high seas in order to get here.
All we have to do is get in our car, head north on Roslyn Road and gently slide down the hill, park the car next to Gerry Park and listen to the wind in the willows.
Try it, you’ll like it.
