STONE WALLS TELL TALE

Footnotes to Long Island History

Stone Walls Tell Tale

February 28, 1957

Thomas R. Bayles

Old stone walls are not as familiar a sight on Long Island as they are in New England, but there is one in Mt. Sinai that serves as one of the best examples of the skilled workmanship of men in the years gone by. This wall is located on the Pipe Stave Hollow Road leading towards Cedar Beach.

Stone walls were a part of the orderly pattern of country living, especially in Connecticut and Rhode Island, where may be seen miles of these old walls separating the tilled land from the meadows, the house lot from the fields and orchards. These ancient walls were not built for ornaments but from the necessity of clearing the land for more efficient use.

No longer are these stone walls made, but still may be seen countless miles of them in New England, giving evidence to the hours and weeks of toil and skill in putting them up.

A great deal of respect is due the builders of these ancient stone walls, and the lasting qualities of their labors are proof beyond doubt of the skill and pride with which each stone was carefully chosen and fitted into its proper place.

The old wall in Mt. Sinai is typical of the skill and care with which these stone walls were built by the early settlers, when labor and time were not so valuable as now, and country living went along at a more leisurely pace.

Sturdy Symbol of an older and slower civilization is this old stone wall in Mt. Sinai. The New England farmers who built this wall of rocks torn from stubborn soil did not have history in mind when the performed this task. They had to clear their fields – time and labor was no object to them.