The Mystery Behind Long Island's Largest Freshwater Lake Will Give You Nightmares
By Lea Monroe
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Published October 23, 2016
With Halloween on its way, we can’t help but set aside time to visit some of our favorite haunted places in New York. Out on Long Island you can find one of our state’s most famous haunted residences, the Amityville House. But this isn’t the only creepy place out on the island that’s hiding in plain sight. Roughly a half-hour drive from the real life haunted house in Amityville, you can discover the largest freshwater lake on Long Island that has some truly terrifying tales surrounding it.
Right in Suffolk County, Lake Ronkonkoma has a legend that's long been told by locals for quite some time.
Most of the time when you think about visiting one of New York's many lakes, Long Island is one of the last places you'd think to go. What we normally think of as one beautiful long and sandy beach, Lake Ronkonkoma is the largest freshwater lake that you can find in all of Long Island. That lake is a popular place to visit during our warmer months and even features a beach.
The story that surrounds the lake involves a woman by the name of Ronkonkoma, a Native American who fell in love with a settler.
Supposedly taking place during the Colonial Period, the story has gained several variations over the years as it's been passed down from generation to generation.
After Ronkonkoma's father disapproved of her love for the settler, she began paddling out to the middle of the lake every night so the pair could deliver messages to each other.
After having to deal with such a great separation from the man she loved, Ronkonkoma could no longer bare the pain of being without the settler. One night she paddled out to the middle of the lake of the lake and jumped in, taking her life and never returning to the surface again alive. After learning of his lovers death, the settler in an even more upsetting twist of fate also took his own life.
The other variation of the story that you'll also hear told by many is that Ronkonkoma had plans with her lover to meet him in the middle of the lake that night, it wasn't until he never showed up that she grew so upset she would take her own life. It was then out of guilt that the settler would take his own life.
Today, many believe that the spirit of Ronkonkoma is the cause of the many deaths that have occurred on the large lake.
The depressions in this freshwater lake are deeper than you'd ever expect, with some ares of the lake being completely unknown in their depth. Many believe that the deep depressions form an underground tunnel that pours out into the Long Island Sound, the source of the local deaths in the lake. Some locals will even go as far as to tell you that there are monsters that are hiding in this supposed tunnel, taking the lives of those who dare swim or go boating on the lake.
Sadly what many claim to be an annual occurrence, a life has been said to be taken each and every year by the spirit of Ronkonkoma. Many claim that she's attempting to replace the settler who abandoned her, in search of love out on the lake. Others will tell you that it is out of vengeance that so many people go missing on the lake, with Ronkonkoma taking out her anger on innocent civilians.
Today, the area continues to keep the legend of Ronkonkoma alive. In town you'll be able to see a mural on the side of the local strip mall, one that has changed small details over the years but remains mostly the same.
Did you know about this haunted lake on Long Island?… and that it’s not the only haunted lake that’s tucked away in New York! Up in the Adirondacks, you’ll want to read about The Story Behind This Haunted Lake That Will Send Shivers Down Your Spine!
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