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Lloyd Neck

Location

Lloyd Harbor, NY

Anchor Site(s)

Caumsett State Historic Park Preserve

About the Site

This Stewardship Area is comprised of Caumsett State Historic Park Preserve, a 1500-acre park which sits on Lloyd Neck, a peninsula that extends into Long Island Sound. The Preserve is made up of open meadows, beaches, hardwood forest, dunes, saltwater marsh, and a freshwater pond near the Sound. This variety of habitat makes the Stewardship Area a valuable environmental, scientific, and cultural resource. Caumsett State Historic Park Preserve is home to native Long Island grasslands, one of the most rapidly disappearing habitats in the region. The preserve was once the Caumsett Farms Dairy, until the mid-1900s when the land was bought by Marshall Field III, heir to the Marshall Field department store fortune. Now, the passive use of the preserve and environmentally diverse habitat makes this site a treasure on the North Shore of Long Island.

Ecological Importance
  • The preserve is designated as a Bird Conservation Area as well as a Significant Coastal Fish and Wildlife Habitat and home to several species that are listed on New York’s endangered, threatened, and of special concern species lists.
  • This preserve has the largest and most diverse coastal forest on the North Shore of Long Island. Other habitat types include coastal oak-hickory forest, oak tulip tree forest, tidal mudflats, a maritime beach, mature woodlands, a freshwater pond, bluffs, and open fields.
  • This preserve is the site of a grassland restoration project, partially funded by the Long Island Sound Futures Fund, to remove invasive plant species and replace them with native plant species.
  • The native meadows of the park act as the first confirmed breeding site on Long Island for the Baltimore checkerspot butterfly.
  • The bird conservation area of the park is home to endangered, threatened, and special concern species of birds, such as the osprey, piping plover, common tern, least tern, common loon, bald eagle, golden eagle, peregrine falcon, and short-eared owl, among other species.
Recreational Opportunities
Dive Deeper
Places to Visit
  • Target Rock National Wildlife Refuge is located just two miles east of Caumsett State Park Preserve. This 80-acre refuge protects piping plover, least tern, and common tern along its rocky shore.
Get Involved/Events
Field Notes
  • Fishing and cross country skiing are allowed at the preserve. For hours of operation and contact information, click here.
Credits
  • Suzanne Feustel, Caumsett Foundation’s Environmental Committee. Field visit and interview in 2012.
  • Ariana Newell, Natural Resource Steward and Biologist for the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation. Field visit and interview in 2012.

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Did You Know?
  • Marshall Field III, heir to the Marshall Field department store fortune, purchased the land in 1921 and his estate and grounds still remain as part of the preserve. Field III gave the land its current title, Caumsett, which means “place by a sharp rock”.
  • “Caumsett” was the name used for the area by the Native Americans, and Marshall Field officially named it that.
  • The invasive species called “mile-a-minute” can be found in highly concentrated areas throughout the park, and New York State Parks is working to remove and control this invasive plant.
  • The native grasslands of the park act as the first confirmed breeding site on Long Island for the Baltimore checkerspot butterfly. It is believed that the Baltimore checkerspot butterfly was blown across the Long Island Sound from Connecticut to the North Shore of Long Island.
  • During the Revolutionary War, British troops occupied the area and used most of the timber as firewood.

Caumsett State Historic Park Preserve

A Baltimore Checkerspot butterfly in Caumsett State Park on Long Island.

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