Haunted Places: Sweet Hollow Road

Sweet Hollow Road is the site of several ghostly legends. The most tragic among them states that a school bus full of children was driving along the Northern State overpass bridge above Sweet Hollow Road on a snowy day. After its driver lost control, the bus skidded off the bridge, killing everyone inside. It is said that if you stop your car under the bridge and put it in neutral the spirits of the deceased children will push you forward.

Another legend involves a day camp which supposedly existed along the road during the 1930s. Some of the children who went to the camp are said to have been abused or even killed, and their spirits can occasionally be seen walking along the road wearing ‘30s clothing, though they quickly vanish. Sweet Hollow Road is also said to be home to a police officer who was shot and killed. His ghost still patrols the street and will pull motorists over from time to time.

The road is also the subject of one of the Mary’s Grave legends. This version takes place centuries after most of the others, but involves a young woman named Mary who suffered a tragic fate. Mary is said to have gotten into a fight with her boyfriend while driving down the road and was then either pushed out of the car by him or jumped out of it herself; in either event, she was quickly hit by oncoming traffic and died. Some say you can still see a lady in white walking along the side of the road, and that she will jump in front of your car when you pass. Mary’s grave and tombstone are also alleged to be located in a small cemetery on Sweet Hollow Road.

Non-human ghosts are also said to haunt Sweet Hollow Road and include a black Labrador, a horse and a mysterious dog-like creature. The ghostly horse has been seen and chased into the woods near the crossroads of Mount Misery Road and Sweet Hollow. Once it enters the woods, it simply vanishes. In addition, there have been sightings of a dog-like creature who digs along where the woods meet the road, then stands on its hind legs and walks back into the woods.

Sources:

Brosky, Kerriann Flanagan. “Long Island's Legends and Myths - Part III - Sweet Hollow Road.” Stone Mountain-Lithonia, GA Patch, Patch, 12 Nov. 2012, patch.com/new-york/huntington/bp--long-islands-legends-and-myths-part-iii-sweet-hollow-road

“Sweet Hollow Road.” LIHauntedHouses.com, www.lihauntedhouses.com/real-haunt/sweet-hollow-road.html

Sweet Hollow Road, liparanormalinvestigators.com/our-recent-investigations/sweet-hollow-road

Gardiner's Island Mill

Gardiner’s Island Mill in Easthampton was erected on May 23, 1795. It was built by Nathaniel Dominy for Abraham Gardiner for the cost of $773.36. The mill continued to operate until 1900.

The mill stands on a small knoll about three feet above the level of the ground, making it possible to catch some of the wind. This mill is of the hand-operated, top-turning variety, and covered with shingles. It has simple wood batten doors, and shutters on the three stories. A weather vane of sheet metal stands on the roof above the dormer window which has wood shutters hung in a frame, opposite the dormer through which the wind shaft passes.

Grain is taken in on the first floor, and hoisted by hand-windlass through a trap-door in the floor to the second story, where it is fed into hoppers, one for wheat, and the other for corn. This is a "two-stone mill," having the usual two grindstones for each hopper.

It is one of the surviving 18^th and 19^th Century windmills and the least altered. It was rebuilt in 1815 and the work of that time is some of the most advanced technology found in a Long Island windmill.

Sources:

“Gardiner’s Island Windmill.” Historic American Engineering Record. April, 1984

Jaray, Cornell. The Mills of Long Island. Ira J. Friedman, Inc., 1962

“Photographs: Written Historical and Descriptive Data, District No. 4.”  Historic American Buildings Survey. June, 1934