Today my blog posts goes real local to my neighborhood in Smithtown, The Pines.
If you live or have lived in the Smithtown/Hauppauge area, you’re probably familiar with The Pines. The area is tucked in between Jericho and Veteran’s Highway with Old Willet’s Path and Wyandanch Boulevard to the east and west.
It’s a neighborhood that I’ve been fortunate to live in for 17 years, and one that I’ve been familiar with since high school when I would visit friends. When the weather gets nice, and I have some free time, I love to take a walk around the neighborhood.
I’m not poetic enough to describe the natural beauty, but sometimes I feel like Snow White lost in the forest. Each street is lined with trees and other greenery sprinkled with gorgeous flowers planted by its residents. The birds are usually chirping away and sometimes geese wander into the area, and a few years ago, I even spotted a couple of foxes running around one morning.
It’s hard to believe The Pines was actually barren at one time due to forest fires, and the area wasn’t named for the lush greenery we see today, but for the scrub pines that began to grow after those fires.
Of course, there are also the hills. They’re not too fun to drive up when there’s a bit of snow or to walk in general, but they add a bit more charm to the area. The first time I actually drove down one of them with a group of friends when I was 18, my first impulse was to cover my eyes.
Smithtown Historian Brad Harris explained the layout of The Pines in an April 2010 article of The Smithtown News. The north and south roads cross over ridges and that’s where you’ll find the adventurous hills, while the streets going east and west follow the natural valleys and swales between those ridges.
According to Harris’s research for The Smithtown News article, development didn’t begin in the neighborhood until 1942. A Samuel Kaplan brought his Dawn Estates homes to what was once known as Section 5. It was Kaplan that built the first homes on Winston Drive, McArthur Lane and Churchill Lane, obviously inspired by WWII leaders. These small homes were 400 square feet with a living room, kitchen, bedroom, bathroom, attic and tiny basement. At the time, the homes that stood on a half an acre of property were just a little over $3,000.
About a year later a real estate developer named Walter Shirley purchased 705 acres that surrounded the Dawn Estates home, and The Pines expanded to what we know the area to be today. Shirley’s Economy Cottages were 24’ x 26’ and had four rooms on the main floor. The name of the developer explains such streets as Walter Court and Shirley Court.
While ranches and high ranches were built throughout the decades and McMansions in recent years, you can still see some of the original capes and cottages that were built decades ago.
So when I take my little walks, a climb up a little hill or two, brings the rewards of connecting with nature. And spotting one of the original homes, takes me back to the beginnings of The Pines. My little neighborhood can turn a nice, quiet day into quite the adventure.
