Talk:Bald Hill (Farmingville, New York)

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Notes for Improvements[edit]

Just created this page.

Ski Bowl: There are a number of $$$ NY Times articles out there about the ski bowl from the 60s-70s, but I haven't figured out how to access them yet. --Neighborhoodpalmreader (talk) 21:20, 19 August 2009 (UTC)[reply]

I have gotten a bunch of these articles and plan to expand history section with a subsection on bald hill ski bowl soon! --Neighborhoodpalmreader (talk) 18:27, 24 August 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Elevation: Also, I'd like firmer affirmation of the exact elevation of Bald Hill. Frankly, I am not even sure which of the summits in the area, if any, is "Bald Hill," because I've always heard the whole area referred to by that name. The original name for the area was "Bald Hills", and there are multiple hills there. Was the ski slope hill "Bald Hill"? The markers on the Patchogue-Mt Sinai Rd. overlooks call those two summits "Danger Hill" and "Breakneck Hill." Also, according to the audio interviews with David Overton (former Brookhaven Town historian) cited, he cites 331 feet for "Telescope Hill" as the highest point when discussing Bald Hill, but he hedges on the exact height in his 1995 interview. If you go to http://www.digital-topo-maps.com/ - you can access a cool topo map of the area (probably from the late 1960s, as Nicolls Road is only partially complete) - the "Radio Tower" slightly west of the ski bowl (the ski bowl is marked) is listed as 334 feet, and maybe the same location as Telescope Hill. What would be the top of the old ski run is between 310-320 feet. One of the highway overlooks is marked as 331 ft (the north side, not the one with the Vet memorial on the south, I don't know which is Danger and which is Breakneck). --Neighborhoodpalmreader (talk) 21:20, 19 August 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Per recent edits to article, I found ref to confirm that the height of the southern highway median outlook is 321 feet. --Neighborhoodpalmreader (talk) 18:27, 24 August 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Telescope Hill[edit]

When I worked on this page, I added a reference to Telescope Hill being higher, but didn't say what hamlet it was in. A recent edit (aug 24 09) puts Selden as the location. I thought that was the case as well but the hill (at the end of Tower Hill Ave) is not in the Selden 11784 zip code (see http://maps.huge.info/zip.htm - 11784 dips close to it, but stops the road before Tower Hill), and is not in the Selden CDP either. See http://www.countyofsuffolkny.us/upload/planning/pdfs/cdpBR.pdf -- selden CDP does not dip below mooney pond road). In the 1990s David Overton radio archives discussing Selden, he says that Telescope Hill is in Selden, but there is discussion about people disagreeing on this (the radio host suggests coram, which is wrong though understandable). So, it appears that Telescope Hill is now technically located in Farmingville, though historically it was thought to be in Selden, when there weren't fixed boundaries as such. Any thoughts on how to handle this? I have some articles I have dug up on Telescope Hill (about the firetower that was there from 1919-59/60) and was thinking about adding a section about that to the Selden article, under the historical location justification. I am sure this is far from the only case of location confusion on Long Island. --Neighborhoodpalmreader (talk) 18:20, 24 August 2009 (UTC)[reply]

What are the co-ordinates of Telescope Hill? CDP boundaries are not stable, can change from census to census. Unless mail is delivered there, the ZIP code will be quite hard to establish. GoogleEarth ZIP boundaries differ from source above--JimWae (talk) 19:04, 24 August 2009 (UTC) Is it 40°50'58.30"N 73° 1'4.48"W ? --JimWae (talk) 19:07, 24 August 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Those coordinates are for the Vietnam Memorial at Bald Hill lookout. Telescope Hill is on Tower Hill Ave to the west. 98 Tower Hill Ave pops up in Google maps as Farmingville, NY 11738, when i click on "what's here" on the sattelite image of the tower itself. 24 Crestwood Ave, literally around the corner from the Tower, pops up in Google as a Selden address. --Neighborhoodpalmreader (talk) 19:19, 24 August 2009 (UTC)[reply]

I got those co-ordinates from googlearth for a hill (just metres to the North of the Memorial) that (acc to googlearth) is even higher than where the memorial is. If Bald Hill is not even the 2nd tallest hill on LI, what claim does it have to mention in the Long Island article?--JimWae (talk) 22:33, 24 August 2009 (UTC)[reply]

My thinking is that Bald Hill is very well known to residents Suffolk County, even to the extent of commonly being mistakenly claimed to be the highest point on Long Island (including on wikipedia, though i think we've caught those now), and thus bears mention as a geologic feature. At bottom, its an editorial decision that could go either way; I'm basing it on my perception of importance of the feature. The Long Island article previously included a mention of Bald Hill before the recent mention was added of Jayne's Hill. At the current time, ts not clear to me which hill in the Bald Hill vicinity is "Bald Hill" itself, if any. The name is generally applied to the area, though there are multiple summits of over 310 feet, including the two in the highway median 'park' (also known as Danger Hill and Breakneck Hill), and one at the site of the former Bald Hill Ski Bowl. (Farmingville used to be called Bald Hills.) I aim to get to the bottom of this quandary if I can, but there's no question that both the ski bowl location and the vietnam memorial are referenced as being located at Bald Hill in many many sources. --Neighborhoodpalmreader (talk) 01:54, 25 August 2009 (UTC)[reply]