Friday Afternoon in Glen Cove: Morgan Park

After a long week, it was nice to spend an hour or so in one of our favorite spots on the North Shore of Long Island, Morgan Park, at the mouth of Hempstead Harbor and overlooking Long Island Sound.

It was built as a memorial by J.P. Morgan to his late wife.

Acquiring the lands surrounding the former steamboat landing, the estate of another millionaire, and the site of an enormous Civil War-era hotel, Morgan brought some of the most skilled landscape architects in New York to work on the design and construction of the park.

When it was completed in 1932, Morgan leased the park to the residents of Glen Cove and Locust Valley for a period of 999 years -- for one dollar.

Morgan Park is the site of the City of Glen Cove's annual Fourth of July Fireworks and the popular Morgan Park Summer Music Festival, held at the stage during July and August.

There were a handful of people around this afternoon, as well as a large flock of seagulls at the pier and a lot of workers readying the park for summer. We've always loved coming here when we've lived in Locust Valley, as we are now. It's great to walk along the beach, especially after a winter in landlocked Arizona.