Garvies Point Museum & Preserve*
Glen Cove, 50 Barry Drive
516-571-8010
Open: Tuesday - Saturday, 10 a.m. – 4 p.m.
Museum Admission: $2, children ages 5 - 12; $3, adults and teenagers; those under 5 years of age are admitted free when accompanied by a parent.
Click here for Google map
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| Parents and children enjoy some of the food displays during one the Museum's many family-friendly programs. |
A MAGNIFICENT 62-ACRE SITE SET ALONG Hempstead Harbor on the scenic North Shore, Garvies Point includes permanent exhibits and
educational programs devoted to regional geology and
Native-American archaeology. In addition, changing exhibits cover a variety of natural history subjects.
Glacial exhibits illustrate that part of Long Island's history and explain the formation of contemporary land features. Dramatic post-glacial changes in climate and sea level are detailed in dioramas to show the evolution of the local landscape over the past 20,000 years. Local leaf fossils and concretions (Native-American paint-pots) are also on display.
The archaeological exhibits begin with the migration of humans from Asia to the New World and their subsequent cultural evolution. A series of exquisite dioramas illustrates Native-American life scenes from Long Island, while numerous prehistoric Indian artifacts are displayed. Other exhibits deal with the initial European contacts and the ultimate demise of Native-American culture. The science of archaeology is the subject of several exhibits, including a model of an excavation.
Most of the present property was formerly part of the estate of Dr. Thomas Garvie, a Scottish immigrant born in 1775 who moved to Glen Cove in the early 19th century and was one of only two physicians in northern Glen Cove. Details on his early life and education are unknown; however, an extract from the records of the Associated Presbytery of Perth shows that in 1797 he was studying for the Presbyterian Ministry. For an unknown reason, he abandoned that direction and in May of 1800 was appointed candidate for a diploma at the Royal College of Surgeons in Edinburgh.
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| The Museum includes a variety of exhibits relating to regional geology and Native American life on Long Island. |
Dr. Garvie's property spanned the north shore of the creek in Glen Cove, to the point that now bears the family name. Much of it is included in the present Garvies Point Preserve, acquired by the County in 1963. The creek, opening on a wide, reed-lined harbor that gave Glen Cove its original name, was probably the community's first center for maritime activity.
The preserve, acquired by the County in 1963,consists of 62 acres of glacial moraine covered by forests, thickets, and meadows. There are about five miles of marked natured trails including trails for the blind. Wooded areas, which exhibit various stages of succession, contain 60 tree species as well as numerous shrubs, vines and wildflowers. High cliffs along the shoreline display erosional features such as alluvial fans, talus slopes and slumping caused by ancient multicolored clays oozing from the beach.
Life forms typical of the North Shore are abundant along the rocky shoreline. The woods and meadows, with their varied plant life, attract more than 140 species of birds, notably, scarlet tanagers and many varieties of warblers.Woodchucks, opossums and raccoons can occasionally be seen in the woods or along a meadows edge. A trail guide to the preserve is available at the museum.
Click here for the Garvies Point Museum and Preserve Website.
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Garvies Point to Open New "Woodland Village" Discovery Room on May 21st
Nassau County Executive Ed Mangano announces that the Garvies Point Museum and Preserve in Glen Cove will hold a ribbon-cutting ceremony to introduce its new “Woodland Village” exhibit, on Saturday, May 21, at 12:30 p.m.
Woodland Village is an interactive “discovery room” that conveys the lifestyle of Native Americans on Long Island prior to European contact. The hands-on exhibit includes depictions of food gathering on land and sea; planting of the three sisters, (corn, beans and squash); the process of tanning and making clothes; a model of an indigenous domicile; and a depiction of the construction of a wigwam.
In addition, interactive displays show the role children played in everyday life in the community, as well as the names and locations of the 13 Long Island tribes.
“We’re very pleased to open this new exhibit at the Garvies Point Museum, which will enhance the museum’s mission of interpreting Native American life on Long Island,” says County Executive Ed Mangano. “It is yet another example of the dozens of targeted improvements we are making to revive our parks system for the benefit of the public.”
Garvies Point Museum Presents New Exhibit Exploring "The Story of Crystals"
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| Visitors review the mineral collection at Garvies Point. |
Did you ever wonder how crystals form? Why they are shaped geometrically and what they are made of? The Garvies Point Museum and Preserve answers those questions and more in its new exhibit about crystals.
The exhibit includes items used in everyday life, along with the minerals that are mined in order to produce them, as well as gemstones and jewelry with the natural mineral types from which they are made.
A “mineral of the month” birthstone will be a regular feature of the exhibit. As part of the exhibit, museum geology curator George Allgaier has also assembled diagrams and photos of unique but lost geologic
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