A recent Newsday article tracing George Washington's 1790 tour of Long Island puts Roslyn at the end of a remarkable four-day journey that began in Manhattan and took the first president east along the South Shore before looping back through the North Shore. Traveling with a small entourage and keeping a detailed journal along the way, Washington noted his breakfast stop at "a Mr. Underdunk's" in Roslyn on April 24th, after passing through what he called "Musqueto Cove," now known as Glen Cove. That property, the Hendrick Onderdonk farmhouse at 1305 Old Northern Blvd., is still standing today and operating as Hendrick's Tavern, where guests can dine in the same rooms that once hosted the president.
Washington's journal, as recounted in the piece, offers a candid portrait of Long Island's landscape in 1790, with observations on soil quality, road conditions, and the hospitality of the households where he lodged. His route took him through Hempstead, West Bay Shore, Sayville, Setauket, and Huntington before the westward return through Oyster Bay and Roslyn. That Roslyn was his final stop before heading back to Manhattan speaks to the village's significance as a North Shore waypoint, and the Onderdonk house stands as one of the most tangible connections to that early national history anywhere on Long Island. Read the full article here.
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