Bayport, New York: Cement Sphinx

It was rumored that the original owner use to sit on a bench near the front of the Sphinx and pass the lazy afternoons with friends. If by chance a lovely young lady would pass by, and be enticed to climb the Sphinx by its legend, he and his friends might catch a glimpse of her undergarments! This was fun in the early 20th century.

My parents, Anthony Sr. and Helen Ferri, bought the Anchorage Inn after it burned down, and built a small gas station. My father kept the Sphinx intact and had it behind his station until we moved in 1972. My brother-in-law, Lou Fontana, asked to move it to his cement business -- hence where she rests today. Small fact you may not know: actress Mae West was looking to buy the Inn before it burned down some time in the early 1900s.

If you want to get a good photo with the Sphinx you need to go when the company is open, otherwise it is locked behind a gate. We went on Sunday and the company was closed. They close earlier on Saturday at 1pm.

The Sphinx can be seen on the south side of Route 27a in Bayport, Long Island. It's right in front of the Fontana Cement Co., where it has been since moved here in 1974. It was originally parked at the Anchorage Inn in Blue Point, and was there at least as far back as 1911.

The inscription along the Sphinx's base reads: "She who climbs to the Sphinx's head, a millionaire will surely wed."