Stories of Shelter Island’s special places

Ever wondered who was the Louie of “Louie’s Beach,” and how it became Crescent Beach?  Did you know that an enslaved man called Caesar lived at Cedar Hill in Menantic and was one of the first, and certainly the oldest, enslaved man ever to be photographed?

“This Land is Your Land,” published by the Shelter Island History Museum, tells the story of 32 Shelter Island properties designated by the Town for preservation over the past 50 years. Now amounting to over 40% of the Island’s 8,000 acres, the lands were donated by generous Islanders, purchased with funds generated by the 1998 Community Preservation Fund program (the 2% tax paid by purchasers of property) and acquisitions of The Nature Conservancy, Peconic Land Trust, and Sylvester Manor. The 250-page book is lavishly illustrated with maps, images, facts and stories that span a panorama of Shelter Island’s landscapes.

The book was a Herculean task, and Nanette Lawrenson, Executive Director of the History Museum, said it came out of a need expressed by many visitors to the History Center. “People have been asking for years for a book about the Island, a substantial book with stories.”

She said the project began with a successful exhibit at the History Center in 2021 of 15 properties on Shelter Island that had been preserved by the Community Preservation Fund.

The deceptively simple idea of turning the content of that exhibit into a book, turned out to be a four-year process, not least because of the inclusion of three new CPF acquisitions and nine properties that are owned by the Town and managed by the Conservation Advisory Council (CAC).  

The additional properties included were either Peconic Land Trust (PLT) and the Nature Conservancy (TNC).

The book came about with research and writing from Ed Shillingburg, and Cathy Ann Kenny, writing and editing by Maggie Murphy, Janet Junod and Tim Purtell, and book design by Louise O’Regan Clark. Bran Dougherty Johnson walked every property, researching maps for the book.

Some of the Island’s best photographers contributed, including Eleanor Labrozzi, Adam Bundy, Don Bindler, Lorin Klaris, Lora Lomuscio, Chris Tehan and Jim Colligan.

Kathleen Gooding led the entire operation. Guiding the logistics of gathering, writing, editing, and organizing a moving mass of words and images and turning them into a 250-page, cocktail-table-ready book, she labored for four years.

“It’s been Kathy’s baby, and now it is born,” said Ms. Lawrenson. A celebration of the birth will be held at the History Center on Saturday, August 9.