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Lake Ronkonkoma

A Special Lake and a Tourist Magnet

Beginnings: Smithtown founder Richard Smith's original holdings included the headwaters of the Nissequogue River east to a ``freshwater pond called Raconkamuck,'' which translates as ``the boundary fishing place'' in the Algonquian language. What is now known as Lake Ronkonkoma served as a boundary between lands occupied by four Indian communities: Nissequogues, Setaukets, Secatogues and Unkechaugs. It is now owned by the Town of Islip under the terms of the Nichols Patent, while land around it is controlled by three governments - Smithtown, Islip and Brookhaven. That's because different Indian communities gave separate deeds to the land under their control.

The Lake: Long Island's largest freshwater lake was created by a retreating glacier. Over the years it has been the subject of many legends. One had it that the lake was bottomless, another that there were secret underwater connections to L.I. Sound or Great South Bay.

Turning Points: The Smithtown side of the lake was settled by the 1740s, but it was not until the late 1890s that the area gained widespread public attention. That's when boarding houses and hotels were erected to accommodate a growing number of tourists drawn by claims that the lake's waters had special healing powers. By the 1920s, beach pavilions had sprung up. The Long Island Rail Road, which was completed to nearby Lakeland in 1842 (the depot was moved to Ronkonkoma in 1883), helped transform what had been a sleepy farming hamlet.

Claim to Fame: From 1908 to 1910, auto races on William K. Vanderbilt II's 48-mile Long Island Motor Parkway drew international attention. The two-lane concrete speedway stretched from Queens to Vanderbilt's Petit Trianon Hotel on the Islip side of the lake. The hotel was fashioned after an 18th-Century building at the Palace of Versailles in France. It was the site of swank parties enjoyed by Long Island's elite after their drive through the countryside.

And Then There Was Maude: Many theatrical people were attracted by the beauty of the lake. One of the most prominent was Broadway actress Maude Adams, famous for her portrayal of Peter Pan during the Victorian era. In 1898 she bought a farm called Sandy Garth and additional property totaling 700 acres which later became known as The Cenacle, one of the Island's most prominent farms. Sachem High School and Samoset Junior High School were built on part of the land, which was sold to the school district after her death in 1953.

Burning Crosses: The Ku Klux Klan held meetings in Lake Ronkonkoma in the 1920s. Local Klan members focused more on Catholics and Jews than blacks, and burned crosses on the lawns of enemies. The Klan died out by the mid-1930s in that area.

Where to Find More: ``Smithtown, New York 1660-1929'' by Noel J. Gish, 1996; ``Three Waves, the Story of Lake Ronkonkoma,'' by Ann Farnum Curtis, 1976, all at Sachem Public Library, Holbrook.