Bordering Long Island Sound, the bucolic hamlet of Rocky Point emerged as a summer community in the 1920s after the old New York Daily Mirror sponsored lot sales in the area to boost its circulation.

Today, Rocky Point, which sits between Sound Beach and Shoreham, is primarily a year-round community with a 5,000- acre preserve, recreation areas and a business district.

The population began to grow in the mid-1970s when people started to build bigger houses, said resident Eddie Beutel, an agent at Old Orchard Realty.

Densely populated neighborhoods north of Route 25A include several beach associations including Pick Wick, Tides, Terraces and Oak Hills. The largest - the North Shore Beach Property Owners Association, a year-round organization founded in 1928 - has the longest stretch of beach - about 1.18 miles.

An eclectic housing stock ranges from older tiny cottages and log cabins to various ranch styles, capes, Colonials, contemporaries and newer Victorians, priced from $200,000 to about $1.3 million, according to Linda Albo, owner of Albo Agency Inc.

"It's an area where you can still buy on the water for a low price," said John Lucido, business manager for the Real Estate Mall, an affiliate of Century 21 Atrem. He said a vacant lot, which is rare, can be priced in the $400,000 range, but typically waterfront parcels range from $600,000 to $1.3 million.

With little land left to develop, some homes are being renovated or razed for new construction, Lucido added.

While shopping centers, services and eateries dot Route 25A, the downtown is centered around the business 25A bypass and Broadway.

"We are working to become a downtown like Port Jefferson or Northport," said the civic group's former president, Jane Bonner.

The Rocky Point Preserve, south of Route 25A, was once part of the largest radio transmitting facility in the world, owned by RCA. In 1972 most of the land was given to the state. Now it's a pine barrens wildlife management area, with hiking trails.

Annual events include the St. Patrick's Day Parade, one of the Island's largest, hosted by the Friends of St. Patrick Inc.

-Lisa Doll Bruno (4/17/2006)