A place apart . . . Teatown Lake Reservation is the largest not-for-profit nature preserve and education center in Westchester County. Forty miles north of New York City, it extends over seven hundred fifty rural acres within the boundaries of four towns: Cortlandt, Yorktown, New Castle, and Ossining. Open to the public year-round without charge, Teatown welcomes all and offers much: nature programs, exhibits, summer camp, annual festivals, environmental conferences, fourteen miles of hiking trails through meadows and forests, and a thirty-three-acre lake with a wildflower-laden island. It is a peaceful place apart. Teatown Lake Reservation, an informal history of a unique community resource, traces the development of the Teatown area from its geologic origins through Native American habitation and early European settlement up to the present time. It explains how the reservation came to be, why it is named Teatown, and how it has developed into a landmark in the fields of environmental education and nature preservation.