Point Lookout

Unpaved Streets, and Proud of It

Beginnings: Point Lookout sits on the eastern tip of what was for many years little more than a jumbo-sized sandbar off the South Shore. That changed at the turn of the last century after William Reynolds dredged the channel that bears his name and built the city of Long Beach. The eastern end of that island was occupied by a collection of shacks on wood pilings. Inhabited only during summer, it was known as Nassau-by-the-Sea and was accessible only by ferry from Freeport. The community burned to the dune some time before World War I, but gradually snug bungalows reappeared for summer residents, this time under the community name of Point Lookout, apparently because of its location at the end of a peninsula. Streets remained unpaved into the 1940s, and residents were happy to keep it that way. In 1936, they objected, in vain, to the Town of Hempstead establishing a public park there, complaining that it would attract people from elsewhere in the town.

Turning Point: The Loop Parkway was completed in 1934, finally making it easy to get to Point Lookout, though it was not until the 1950s that summer bungalows were renovated and expanded into permanent homes in significant numbers and a tiny business district appeared. Streets were paved, and the post office arrived. In time, Point Lookout had almost 2,000 year-round residents and about 3,500 during the summer. But as in the days when it was Nassau-by-the-Sea, the main attraction of the place was ocean and the relative isolation.

Brushes With Fame: Among the celebrities who maintained unpretentious summer homes at Point Lookout were actress Marlene Dietrich and bodybuilder Charles Atlas.

Where to Find More: In the Point Lookout file at the Long Island Studies Institute at Hofstra University, Hempstead.