Lake Ronkonkoma

Lake Ronkonkoma is Long Island’s biggest and deepest freshwater lake - it also has an eerily long list of recorded deaths by drowning and a plethora of legends surrounding it.

A number of drownings have occurred at this lake. Some may say they were accidental, while others are believed to be linked to it being haunted.

Ghost stories surrounding this lake include reports of seeing a skaters atop the lake, but upon closer look, they are dressed in clothing not of this era and the lake was not even frozen. There's also the famous legend of the daughter of a Native American chief who rowed a canoe to the center of the lake and drowned herself by tying a rock to her body. She vowed to drown one young man in the lake every year before throwing herself into the lake to drown. Legend has it that she fell in love with a white colonist and had planned to marry him, but was prevented from doing so. Grief stricken, she took the route of killing herself.

The lake is believed to not have a bottom, just an abyss of darkness that is endless. As the largest lake on Long Island, it would be impossible for a human being to reach the bottom without assistance since it is 100 feet (30 m) at its southeastern side. Something that feeds into this tale is how the water level of Lake Ronkonkoma seems to rise and fall with no relation to rainfall.

Author of “The Curse of Lake Ronkonkoma," Michael R. Ebert, delved into these allegations and found that, "One study showed that over 7 years in the early 1900s, the rainfall on Long Island was below the usual average by about 52 inches, yet the lake rose 7 feet."

Another eerie story about Lake Ronkonkoma has to do with the bodies of people who have drowned in the lake. Bodies have been found washed up in Connecticut and out in the Long Island Sound fueling claims that Lake Ronkonkoma has many hidden caverns, passageways and tunnels leading out to different locations. Other bodies have never been found.