Editing Middle Island, New York (section)

==History==
The European-American history of Middle Island goes back at least to 1766, when the first [[Middle Island Presbyterian Church|Presbyterian church]] was built. Rev. David Rose, who was also a doctor and a pastor of the [[South Haven, New York|South Haven]] church,<ref>{{cite web |title=The History of the Old South Haven Church |url=http://oldsouthhavenchurch.org/history/history.htm |website=oldsouthhavenchurch.org |publisher=Old South Haven Presbyterian Church |access-date=November 6, 2021}}</ref> covered his immense parish on horseback. He filled his saddle bags with Bibles and medicines to minister to his frontier congregation.<ref>{{cite web |title=Rev. David Rose |url=http://brookhavensouthhaven.org/hamletpeople/tng/getperson.php?personID=I976&tree=hamlet |website=brookhavensouthhaven.org |publisher=Brookhaven/South Haven Hamlets and their People |access-date=November 6, 2021}}</ref> In 1766 the parish opened a cemetery just across from the church.

Around the same time, a veteran of the [[French and Indian War]] named Jonathan Edwards who admired the white pine trees of [[Quebec]] swiped the seedlings for himself and began planting them along what is today Middle Island-Miller Place Road. Many of these pine trees were spread throughout the community. A local farmer named William Dayton swiped some of the pine cones from the site of the original plantings in 1812 and brought them to his farm south of what is today [[New York State Route 25|Middle Country Road]], towards an area of Yaphank-Middle Island Road north of Longwood Road. The area near the William Davis farmstead is now part of Prosser Pines and Cathedral Pines County Parks.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.longwood.k12.ny.us/community/longwood_journey/hamlets/middle_island/w__dayton_house|title=W. Dayton House (Longwood's Journey)}}</ref>

The first schoolhouse was built in 1813 east of the church. In 1837, a new church was built just to the rear of the older one. It served the community for 200 years until the new Christian Education building was built at the Longwood Estate in 1966.

For over 100 years (until it was burned down in 1971), Pfeiffer's Store was a center of activity for Middle Island and surrounding communities.  A nearby lake, known as Corwin's Pond, was renamed "Artist Lake" after painter [[Alonzo Chappel]] settled there in 1869.
[[Image:Artist's Lake Memorial Plaque.jpg|250px|left|thumb|Plaque on [[NY 25]] at Artist Lake commemorating the spot where [[Ralph Johnstone]]'s plane landed on October 27, 1910]]
On October 27, 1910, the International Aviation Tournament was held at the [[Belmont Park]] racetrack in [[Elmont, New York]]. The meet offered $3,750 for the highest altitude, another $1,000 for a world record and a $5,000 bonus for exceeding 10,000 feet. [[Ralph Johnstone]] set a new American [[flight altitude record]] of 8,471 feet.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Striegel|first=Lawrence|date=October 31, 2000
|url=http://www.newsday.com/community/guide/lihistory/ny-past1031,0,6229656.story?coll=ny-lihistory-navigation|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080426015315/http://www.newsday.com/community/guide/lihistory/ny-past1031,0,6229656.story?coll=ny-lihistory-navigation|archive-date=April 26, 2008|title=The Greatest Show Above Earth|work=Newsday}}</ref> During the flight, a gust of wind forced him to fly backwards, and he landed near Artist Lake.

Middle Island gained an influx of [[Estonian Americans|Estonian refugees]] during the 1940s and 1950s mainly around the Pine Lake area.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.longwood.k12.ny.us/cms/One.aspx?portalId=2549374&pageId=2810184|title="The Estonians of Middle Island" by Julie Koello September, 2000 (Longwood's Journey)}}</ref>