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.