Undeveloped Long Island: Welwyn Preserve (Glen Cove)

Undeveloped Long Island: It is so easy to hate where you’re from. It conveniently holds blame for all the ails of your upbringing. It takes no offense. But it’s other things, you just need to look beyond the paths you’ve worn well. Like anywhere, it can be new and fascinating if you determine this possibility ever-present.

Brooklyn-born Charles Pratt was a big deal in New York City in the late 1800’s. He was an oil man and industrialist, and he founded Pratt Institute, the still-thriving art school in Clinton Hill. So, like many tycoons of the day, he had his mansion built on the North Shore of Long Island on the “Gold Coast.” He also bought land in Glen Cove for his 6 sons and 2 daughters.  Welwyn, the estate of Charles’s son Harold Irving Pratt is now Welwyn Preserve, a 204-acre county park and preserve with beautiful view of the Long Island Sound and diverse plant and animal life. The mansion that was Harold’s home is now Holocaust Memorial and Tolerance Center of Nassau County.

Pictures along the way: The Long Island Sound. There are clear views of Westchester County and a slew of sailboats.

Colorful seashells from the lapping Sound.

The far-sandier than usual coast of the North Shore. The rocks were removed by a previous owner and replaced with sand. 

Wildflowers

Close to the protected Osprey nesting area, salt marsh surrounds the West Pond.

Who on Earth would think that Opuntia humifusa (Prickly Pear cactus!) would be found on Long Island?

Fascinating

Preserved woodlands. There used to be so much more trees.

We stumbled upon some abandoned buildings from the Pratt estate. Graffiti artists have redecorated.

The greenhouse structures were pretty intact. In one section, new wooden beds were installed.

A delightful bit of easy exploration on Long Island’s North Shore.