Bartending School in Mount Sinai, NY

Mount Sinai was founded in the 1660s.

The area now known as Mount Sinai was originally called Nonowatuck, or “stream that dries up”, by the Seatocot family of Native Americans who lived here. The first European settlers were Colonial settlers living in what is now Setauket, who obtained a deed from these local Native Americans in 1664.

The origin of the town’s initial European name, “Old Mans”, is not known. The most prominent telling concerns Major John Gotherson, an elderly Englishman who was supposedly swindled into incorrectly believing he’d bought land in the New World by Captain John Scott, an important leader in Long Island’s early history. After Gotherson sent representatives who were quickly turned away, local residents started to jokingly refer to the land as “the Old Mans”.