Oyster Bay, a small picturesque town on a peninsula on the North Shore of Long Island is a destination.  During the summer time, you will see plenty of cars heading north on Route 106 and as a resident here for many years, you wonder where all these people are going.  But it is not a surprise that people flock to this tiown because Oyster Bay has a lot to offer the residents and visitors alike.  Besides the beautiful beaches, Oyster bay has magnificent parks, arboretum, museums - Raynham Hall and Earle-Wightman House of the Oyster Bay Historical Society and the Oyster Bay Festival is one to be reckoned with.

   Oyster Bay is rich in culture and history.  Back in 1639 when a Dutch navigator named David DeVries decided to settle here, he found an abundance of oysters and maybe that is the reason they decided to name the community Oyster Bay.  Another theory is because of the shape of the Oyster Bay Harbor as it was shown in a 1674 map of Long Island.  While DeVries is credited with the naming of Oyster Bay, Peter Wright is considered to be the "Father of Oyster Bay" for leading a group of pioneers from Massachusetts in 1653 to buy land from Chief Mohanes of the Matinecock Indians in what was known as Town Spot which is where the village of Oyster Bay is now.  It is interesting to know that George Washington "slept here" during his tour of Long Island in 1790 as a guest of the Youngs family in Oyster Bay.

The town of Oyster Bay is Teddy Roosevelt town.  Everywhere you look, there is a footprint of Teddy Roosevelt.  There is a park called Theodore Roosevelt Memorial Park and the elementary school is named Roosevelt Elementary School.  Teddy Roosevelt had his summer white house here at Sagamore Hill in Oyster Bay Cove from 1902 to 1908, he worshiped at Christ Church in Oyster Bay, he had an office at the Moore Bldg (the building on the right of the photo with a turret) in Oyster Bay and received phone calls at Snouder's Drug Store (the store on the left with the awnings).  He participated at the Fourth of July parade here on South Street and rode the Long Island Railroad in Oyster Bay. 

There is a bust of Teddy Roosevelt in front of the Town Hall and a TR statue by A. Phiminster Proctor now located in front of the Boys and Girls Club of Oyster Bay which will be moved soon to the triangle piece of land across the Boys and Girls Club and should be in place in time for the weekend of Theodore Roosevelt Association annual meeting on Oct. 26-28 and will include a parade down South Street.  It will be a gateway to Oyster Bay. 

With the migration of people from New York City to the Town of Oyster Bay, the town is changing.  There are still a smattering of old Victorian homes in the village and few new construction but citizens of Oyster Bay are fighting hard against overdevelopment because they want to keep the small, quaint town atmosphere.  It is one of the most attractive places to live, work and play in Long Island, New York.

 Copyright © 2008.  By Rosalinda Morgan, "The Rose Lady".  All rights reserved.. *Oyster Bay - A Pearl of a Place*  Contact Rosalinda Morgan, "The Rose Lady" if you are looking for homes to buy in Oyster Bay and the surrounding areas.