Shelter Island Heights Historic District

Shelter Island Heights is a resort community of roughly 105 acres on the north side of Shelter Island, New York. It began in 1872 as a Methodist camp meeting, and Boston landscape architect Robert Morris Copeland laid it out with curving streets, parks, waterfront walks and building lots sited for views. Within a decade it had become a summer resort. About 70 cottages were built between 1872 and 1880, many in a Gothic style with scroll-work verandas and elaborate trim. Later houses added Stick Style, Queen Anne, Colonial Revival and Bungalow designs. The district also includes churches, a yacht club, a firehouse, a ferry terminal and commercial buildings along Grand Avenue. Of 175 resources, 142 contribute to its character. The Prospect Hotel was lost to fire in 1942, but its site survives as a park. The district was recognized for its architecture, landscape design, planning and recreational history between 1872 and 1930.