THE JONES BEACH MARKER

We’ve arrived at the end of our blogging path, following the markers erected by the Historical Society of the Massapequas along Merrick Road, north through Massapequa Park, west to North Massapequa and then back along the north side of the Long Island Railroad tracks. Chronologically, the most recent marker was erected last November on Seaford Avenue, at the extreme west end of the Massapequas, to commemorate the Red House, an imposing structure that fronted on Merrick Road from the 1860s until 1964 and reflected the fact that our area was settled and controlled by a few very wealthy large landowners until well into the twentieth century.

The first marker created by the Historical Society, ironically, was not set in the Massapequas, but is, in fact, located at Jones Beach. It was set into the pavement on the south side of the circle surrounding the Jones Beach Tower in 1985. Historical Society Trustees felt it appropriate to highlight the well-known beach's connection to its namesake Thomas Jones, the first white settler of this area. Jones was a Major in the British army who emigrated to America and became a privateer (licensed pirate), amassed a significant fortune and settled in Rhode Island in 1692. While there, he met Thomas Townsend, whose family owned land throughout Oyster Bay. He married Townsend’s daughter Freelove and was given the southern part of Oyster Bay.

An affable, enterprising and energetic man, Jones eventually became the king's appointee over then Queens County, which today includes Nassau County. He continued to operate as a privateer, but eventually moved to more legitimate pastimes, becoming Sheriff and Ranger General of Queens County.  He also became the Chief Vestryman of the Anglican Church for the entire area. By the time of his death in 1713, he had amassed over 6,000 acres of what contemporaries with much less foresight called "a wild and barren waste."

Among his holdings were several scattered islands that acted as barriers between the Long Island coastline and the Atlantic Ocean. Jones established a whaling station at the highest point, near today’s East Bathhouse, and profited from this lucrative trade. After his death in 1713, whaling operations petered out and the area remained sparsely settled, mostly by fishermen and hermits. In the late 1800s a United States Lifesaving Service was established near the East Bathhouse and a summer colony, High Hill Beach, grew on the east shore of Zach's Bay. High Hill became a popular resort, attracting as many as 1,000 summer vacationers in the first three decades of the twentieth century

It should be emphasized that Jones Beach in those days looked nothing like it does today. The area was really a thin strand of beach that was breached several times, creating islands that rejoined and separated as subsequent storms moved the sand along the shore. It took the herculean efforts of another driven, daring and successful leader to create the beach that the Historical Society honored. Robert Moses had become Secretary of the New York State Association (an obscure position that cloaked his close political affiliation with Governor Al Smith and Mayor Jimmy Walker) in the early 1920s and was obsessed with improving the lives of New Yorkers, both in the City and throughout the state, by creating a transportation network and a series of parks and recreation areas. He moved to Babylon and took many trips around Long Island, looking for an appropriate target for his ideas. He finally settled on the former Jones holdings, by then owned by New York State.

Robert Caro, in his monumental book The Power Broker, describes how Moses connived with local politicians and business leaders and cajoled nearby residents to allow him to create roads that would lead to a beach he felt would dwarf any that existed, anywhere. He filled in the inlets that often opened along the shoreline, creating a six-mile stretch of pure white sand. He built bathhouses grander than any ever seen before, a boardwalk along the entire length of the beach, playgrounds, huge parking lots, restaurants and snack bars and a beach large enough to accommodate several hundred thousand visitors. By 1928 his vision became reality and the Jones Beach we all know today opened to huge crowds, grateful to escape from the crowding and heat of New York City in the summer.

Had Thomas Jones seen the result of Moses' efforts, he would have understood how ambition can drive people to go far beyond acceptable limits. These two men were remarkably alike in their daring and determination to make something out of what appeared to be nothing. The Historical Society recognized Jones’ accomplishments by placing its first marker at the entrance to the beach in 1985. Arlene Goodenough was the President and the inspiration for the marker’s placement at “Thomas Jones’ Beach.”