Point O'Woods, New York
| Point O' Woods | |
|---|---|
| Hamlet | |
| Nickname(s): POW | |
 Point O' Woods
|
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| Coordinates: 40°39′05″N 73°07′43″W / 40.65139°N 73.12861°WCoordinates: 40°39′05″N 73°07′43″W / 40.65139°N 73.12861°W | |
| Country | United States |
| State | New York |
| County | Suffolk |
| Time zone | Eastern (EST) (UTC-5) |
| • Summer (DST) | EDT (UTC-4) |
Point O' Woods is a hamlet that consists of a private vacation retreat on Fire Island, New York, in Suffolk County. Although it resembles a village or small town, with services such as a ferry port, a general store, church and fire department, it is open exclusively to members and their guests, who are the only persons allowed in through the hamlet's gate, or allowed to use the private ferry which runs to Point O' Woods from Bay Shore on Long Island.
Point O' Woods is located between Ocean Bay Park and Cherry Grove; immediately to the east is the Sunken Forest, a park situated below mean high tide level.
Point O' Woods is not a municipality and has no government as such. Like a few other Fire Island enclaves, it is a privately owned parcel of land. It lies under the political jurisdiction of Brookhaven Township in Suffolk County; local law enforcement is the duty of Suffolk County Police Department's Marine Bureau. The beaches themselves, however, are (a) open to the public, and (b) regularly patrolled by state and local police as well as by the National Park Service and US Coast Guard.
It is said to have been the first settlement on Fire Island, though Cherry Grove also makes that claim. It was originally organized in 1894 for religious retreats, some from the Chautauqua assemblies. In approximately 1898, the Chautauqua group went bankrupt, and ownership passed to the Point O' Woods Association, which administers it today.
Today Point O' Woods serves as a summer vacation retreat for Association members and their families. This vacation spot has many people from the East coast, but also from the West coast. The hamlet is opened by the Association in the mid-Spring, and closed in early autumn each year.
As on much of Fire Island, cars are not permitted in Point O' Woods and bicycles are the principal means of wheeled transport. Despite this restriction, the community uses its private railroad, a half-mile long, 3 ft (914 mm) narrow gauge line to transport freight from the dock to key buildings in the town. It is not used for passenger service. In addition, the community uses a small number of motor vehicles for maintenance, recycling and pest control.
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Wikipedia