88 LONGISLANDPRESS.COM • SEPTEMBER 2018
PRESS BUZZ: DESTINATIONS GLEN COVE:
By BRENDAN MANLEY
Thanks in part to an ideal location
on the Long Island Sound, the community
once called Musketa Cove
that eventually became the City of
Glen Cove was a haven for English
colonists from the late 1600s onward,
and before that hosted numerous
Native American tribes. It was the
city’s turn-of-the-century Gold Coast
era, however, that would define the
character of this opulent seaside
playground, with multiple industrial
tycoons building massive estates on
Glen Cove’s majestic shoreline from
the late 1800s through the 1920s.
Today, many of those Gold Coast
estates are public property, freely enjoyed
by all. From the rolling lawns
and prime oceanfront of Morgan
Memorial Park (once the grounds of
the J.P. Morgan estate) to the wooded
splendor of the Welwyn Preserve
(the Harold Pratt estate) to the scenic
trails and fascinating museum
at Garvies Point, former home of the
Garvie family, the Glen Cove of today
is both in touch with its past and with
its present and future. Few locations
on Long Island offer such a rich combination
of natural beauty, cultural
heritage and manmade artistry.
“Glen Cove has such a rich history
and has so much to offer to its residents
and visitors,” says Lauren Wasserfall,
chairperson of the Glen Cove
350 Anniversary Heritage Garden
program, as part of the city’s 350th
birthday celebration. “There’s the
Holocaust Museum, Garvies Point,
Webb Institute, Welwyn Preserve,
the Glen Cove Mansion, our Garvies
Point microbrewery and so much
more. The downtown area has some
really wonderful restaurants and
places to shop, with the convenience
of a large free municipal parking lot.
If you’re looking to have a fun day on
the North Shore of Long Island, then
Glen Cove is the place to put on your
list of ‘must dos.’”
Glen Cove is in the midst of celebrations
(glencove350.com) honoring
its formal founding in 1668 as
Musketa Cove Plantation, adopting
the word Musketa, meaning “place
of rushes,” from the native Lenape
language. Already an active port,
in 1668 it became an independent
hamlet led by five plantation owners,
who’d purchased 2,000 acres from
the Matinecock tribe. From 1680
onward, the community was run by
the Town of Oyster Bay, until 1917,
when it became a city. Along the way,
in 1834, residents changed the name
to Glen Cove, purportedly due to the
negative association between “Musketa”
and “mosquito,” and by 1850 the
village was already a thriving resort
destination for city dwellers.
Centuries later, Glen Cove remains
an ideal spot for a getaway, whether
you’re from out of state, or just a
different exit on the parkway. Some
recommended diversions include:
HISTORICAL HAPPENINGS
Today, you can retrace some of the
city’s earliest roots at the Garvies
Point Museum and Preserve (50
Barry Dr, 516-571-8010, garviespointmuseum.
com), on the grounds of the
former Garvie family estate, dating
to the early 1800s. This captivating
oasis is now a center for research
on Long Island geology and Native
American archaeology, set in a lush
62-acre waterfront preserve covered
by forests, thickets and meadows,
with some five miles of marked nature
trails. The museum features multiple
permanent and temporary exhibits
(including a model archaeological dig)
and conducts numerous educational
Prybil Beach in Glen Cove is a popular Long Island Sound swimming spot.