Hamlet of Copiague (Town of Babylon History Book, Chapter 5)
Town of Babylon History Book - Hamlet of Copiague (chapter 5; April 2025)
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Hamlet
of Copiague
History
Highlights
The name Copiague is reportedly derived
from a Native American term meaning “sheltered place.”[1] The community was also
known as Powell’s, Great Neck and East Amityville, before the name Copiague was
chosen around 1900.
President George Washington visited Copiague, then known as Huntington South, on April 21, 1790, during his tour of Long Island. Washington dined at the home of Zebulon Ketcham,[2] writing in his diary that it was “a very neat and decent one.”[3]
Around 1906, the Sovereign Realty Co. purchased a large tract north of the railroad line known as Brinckerhoff Manor. In 1912, under the direction of real estate developer Giovanni “John” Campagnoli, the neighborhood was renamed “Marconiville.”[4] The predominantly Italian–American settlement was named in honor of his schoolmate, famed wireless communications inventor Guglielmo Marconi. Marconi made two documented visits to Marconiville, on July 15, 1917 and October 16, 1927.[5]
 |
| Guglielmo Marconi (center) and Giovanni Campagnoli (left) at Mr. Campagnoli’s home on Great Neck Road. Image courtesy of Robert LePorte. |
 |
| Great Neck Road Elementary School, circa 1940s. |
The oldest elementary school in the Town of Babylon is the Great Neck Road Elementary School, which was built in 1911 as a two-story wooden schoolhouse.[6]
 |
| A postcard view of American Venice, c. 1926. |
 |
| The country estate of William E. Hawkins, pictured c. 1925. |
The 1920s brought a number of summer and year-round developments to the bay front community, including American Venice, Amity Harbor and Hawkins Estate. The American Venice neighborhood was designed to emulate Venice Italy, complete with gondola rides down the Grand Canal. Hawkins Estate was once the property of William E. Hawkins, whose mansion later became Lakeside Hospital.
 |
| Advertisement for Amity Harbor, published in the Brooklyn Daily Eagle, May 2, 1926. The Amity Harbor development was conceived by George J. Brown, President of the Amity Harbor Corporation and the Stewart Development Corporation. The original development included the 93-acre property that is now Tanner Park. |
What
is a Hamlet?
A hamlet is a community. The Town of
Babylon is comprised of ten hamlets and three incorporated villages. The hamlets are: Copiague • Deer Park • East
Farmingdale • North Amityville • North Babylon • North Lindenhurst • West
Babylon • Wheatley Heights • Wyandanch • And, the barrier beach communities of
Captree Island, Gilgo Beach, Oak Beach, Oak Island and West Gilgo Beach.
Local governments in the state of New York
include counties, cities, towns and villages. The communities within Town
governments are known as “hamlets.” The term “hamlet” does not have a legal
definition under NYS law, but is used to identify communities within Towns
(such as the Town of Babylon) that are not part of incorporated villages,
sometimes referred to as “unincorporated communities.”
A hamlet does not have its own government
and is under the jurisdiction of its Town for municipal services (e.g., garbage
pick-up, building codes). Causing great confusion … hamlets have no official
boundaries. (Outside of the state of New York, the term “hamlet” is rarely
used.)
Generally, the hamlet of Copiague is
bounded on the west by the Village of Amityville, on the east by the Village of
Lindenhurst, and on the south by the Great South Bay. On the north, the
delineation between Copiague and North Amityville is not clearly defined.
Sunrise Highway is sometimes considered the northern boundary of Copiague, but
it can also extend about one-third of a mile north of Sunrise Highway.
When it separated from the Town of
Huntington in 1872, the Town of Babylon had a population of about 3,000 people.
The chart below illustrates the population growth of Copiague and the Town of
Babylon.
|
Decade |
Copiague
Population |
Town
of Babylon Population |
Please note: While the
boundaries of the Town of Babylon are clearly defined and have remained the
same since 1872, the “boundaries” of the hamlets are not clearly defined. In
the census, hamlets are referred to as Census Designated Places (CDP), the
boundaries of which can change from decade to decade. |
|
1920 |
350 ([7]) |
11,315 |
|
|
1940 |
1,125 ([8]) |
24,297 |
|
|
1960 |
14,081 ([9]) |
142,309 |
|
|
1980 |
20,132 |
203,483 |
|
|
2000 |
21,922 |
211,703 |
|
|
2020 |
23,429 |
218,223 |
The
largest and fastest increase in population occurred after World War II,
commonly referred to as the “Suburban Population Boom.” From 1940 to 1960, the
population of the Town of Babylon increased by 485%. The rapid increase of
residents brought an increased need for housing, schools, road improvements,
stores and commercial developments, and employment. In those short decades,
much of the Town of Babylon and its communities changed from rural countryside
to suburban neighborhoods.
 |
| Copiague map, from Atlas of Part of Suffolk County, Long Island, New York, South Side – Ocean Shore, Volume One; Published by E. Belcher Hyde, 1915. The area north of the railroad is identified as “Marconiville,” and the dotted line on Oak Street, Great Neck Road and south of Scudder Avenue denoted the trolley line between Amityville and Babylon. |
Copiague – the Name, the
Zip Code, Etc.
The name Copiague is derived from a
Native American term believed to mean “sheltered harbor” or “sheltered place.”[10] Geographically, the name
Copiague is associated with Copiague Neck (a “neck” is a peninsula of land; see
chapter 2 for more information about the Necks in the Town of Babylon), which
is the body of land that is currently the American Venice community. Land
records recorded by the Town of Huntington referenced the neck with the
spellings Copiag, Copyag and Copiague.
The community was also known as
Powell’s, Great Neck and East Amityville, before the name Copiague was chosen
in 1901 by the Long Island Rail Road for its new depot.
 |
| Announcement of the name “Copiague” for the railroad station. Suffolk County News, April 19, 1901. |
|
|
|
In concrete letters about 4-feet high,
the name “Marconiville” was installed on the north side of the ground-level railroad
tracks, up through the early 1940s. Growth of the Marconiville neighborhood, on
either side of Great Neck Road north of the railroad, led to a 1920s effort to
rename the railroad station and post office as Marconiville.[11] Although petitions were sent
by Marconiville residents to railroad and postal officials, the renaming was
defeated.
 |
| Postcard view of the old Marconi Hotel, which was destroyed by fire in 1925, and the concrete “Marconiville” letters, on the north side of the railroad tracks. |
Not just in the Town of Babylon, but across
Long Island, the assignment of zip codes can cause confusion about “where”
things are located. The Copiague Post Office was established in 1903, with
Joseph C. Howell as Postmaster.[12] Prior to that time, residents most likely
used the post office in Amityville.
Up through the early 1900s, it was common
for residents to retrieve their mail from the post office. For example, in
1905, for example, a letter addressed to “Miss Mary Jackson, Copiague, New York”
was sufficient to have the letter delivered to the Copiague Post Office, where
it would wait for Miss Jackson to pick it up. Residential mail delivery was
established around 1948.[13]
In 2004, the Copiague Post
Office was dedicated to honor Suffolk County Legislator Maxine S. Postal
(1942-2004).[14]
In 1963, the U.S. Postal Service introduced
the basic 5-digit zip code, across the country. The Copiague Post Office was
assigned 11726. Using the digits 11726, mail addressed to Copiague or Copiague
Harbor, will reach its destination, although the Post Office name is just
Copiague. The zip code assigned to addresses is based on the post office
assigned to deliver the mail, but can be confused with all of the other
facilities associated with an address.
Most, if not all, addresses using the 11726
zip code are within the Copiague School/Library district and are served by the
Copiague Fire Department. However, the Copiague School District is larger than
the Copiague postal district. Here are five examples of addresses within the
Copiague School District:
|
Address |
Post
Office |
School/Library
|
Fire
Dept. |
Village
or Town |
|
43
Venetian Promenade |
Lindenhurst |
Copiague |
Copiague |
American Venice community, Hamlet of
Copiague, Town of Babylon |
|
133
Miller Avenue |
Amityville |
Copiague |
North Amityville |
Hamlet of North Amityville, Town of
Babylon |
|
4
Barry Road |
Amityville |
Copiague |
Copiague |
Amity Harbor community, Hamlet of Copiague,
Town of Babylon |
|
102
Ferndale Court |
Copiague |
Copiague |
Copiague |
Hamlet of Copiague, Town of Babylon |
|
1107 Marconi Boulevard |
Copiague |
Copiague |
Copiague |
Hamlet of Copiague, Town of Babylon |
 |
| The Copiague railroad station, 1949. The depot building was constructed around 1901 and was used until the 1960s when the tracks were raised. |
 |
| An electric trolley route operated between Amityville and Babylon from 1910 to 1920. Named the Babylon Railroad, the trolley passed through Copiague, from Amityville, east on Oak Street, then south on Great Neck Road, and then east around the current Florida Avenue, and proceed through Lindenhurst. The fare from Copiague, in either direction, was 5 cents. |
Copiague
School District
Despite
its name, the Copiague School District
is actually comprised of the hamlet of Copiague, the eastern half of the hamlet
of North Amityville, and a western part of the hamlet of North Lindenhurst. It
can be confusing to understand the layout of our present school districts,
particularly in areas where opposite sides of the same street are part of
different school districts.
Most
of our school district boundaries were established in the mid-1800s. The
landscape of our communities changed – from farms and fields to streets and
homes – but school district boundaries largely stayed the same.
Prior
to 1872, the school district was known as Town of Huntington School District
No. 22, after the Town of Babylon separated from Huntington in 1872, it became
known as Town of Babylon School District No. 5,[15] before the name Copiague
Union Free School District was adopted in the early 1900s.
 |
| The Copiague Union School, circa 1911. In 1925, the first of several brick additions was built onto the front of the wooden school. The wooden portion was replaced around 1959, and the school is now Great Neck Road Elementary School. |
 |
| School bell donated to the East Amityville School by Susan C. Morris in 1889, displayed at Great Neck Road Elementary School.[16] |
 |
| “A Gift To A School,” Brooklyn Daily Eagle, January 19, 1890. |
Early
district schools were one-room structures on Montauk Highway, in the mid-1800s.
A school bell donated to the, then named, East Amityville School in 1889, is
now displayed in front of the Great Neck Road Elementary School. The school
bell hung in a small tower at the top of the school, and was rung to alert the
start and end of the school day. In 1911, a two-story wooden schoolhouse was
built on Great Neck Road, which was later expanded to become the current Great
Neck Road Elementary School.
|
School
District Mascot – Eagles
School District Colors – Royal Blue and White
- Great Neck Road Elementary School – opened 1911; expanded in 1925, 1931, and 1954 [17]
- Scudder Avenue School – opened 1950, closed 1979 (demolished c. 1985) [18]
- Deauville Gardens East Elementary School and Deauville Gardens West Elementary School (originally one school named Deauville Gardens Elementary School) – opened 1958
- Susan E. Wiley Elementary School – opened 1964 [19]
- Named for beloved kindergarten teacher Susan E. Wiley who taught at the Great Neck Road School from 1925 until her death in 1952. [20]
- Copiague Middle School (originally, Copiague Junior-Senior High School) – opened 1958
- Walter G. O’Connell Copiague High School – opened 1967
- In 2000, the school was named to honor the high school’s first principal Walter G. O’Connell. He left the position of principal in 1972 and worked as an English teacher until his retirement in 1979. [21]
Copiague
School District Central Offices, 2650 Great Neck Road, Copiague, NY 11726 –
(631) 842-4015 – www.copiague.k12.ny.us
Copiague Memorial Public Library
When the Copiague Memorial Public Library formed in 1960, one of the first
actions made by the Board of Trustees was a resolution naming the new library
“in honor of those residents of Copiague who faithfully served our country in
the past wars.” The library opened in the old auditorium of the Great Neck Road
School in the spring of 1961 (now the school’s library).[22]
 |
| The first location of the Copiague Library was in the old auditorium of the Great Neck Road Elementary School. This c. 1961 image shows the library sign on the left side of the doorway. Image courtesy of the Copiague Fire Department. |
 |
| Groundbreaking ceremony for the Deauville Boulevard site, May 30, 1987. Image courtesy of the Copiague Memorial Public Library. |
In 1965, voters approved moving the library to the old fire department headquarters on Great Neck Road, just a few blocks north of Montauk Highway (now Polish & Slavic Federal Credit Union), and the library moved into its renovated facility in 1969.[23] The current library building opened in 1989 and was formally dedicated in May 1990.[24]
The library serves the Copiague School
District, which encompasses the hamlet of Copiague and the eastern part of the
hamlet of North Amityville.
Copiague Memorial Public
Library, 50 Deauville
Boulevard, Copiague, NY 11726 – (631) 691-1111 – www.copiaguelibrary.org
Copiague
Fire Department
In 1928, the Copiague Fire Department established two firehouses, the
headquarters on Great Neck Road and a station on Dixon Avenue.[25]
Before the fire district was created, fire companies from adjacent Amityville
and Lindenhurst would come to Copiague to fight fires but, of course, it took
longer for those companies to be alerted and get to the scene. The 1925 fire
that destroyed the Marconi Hotel was one of the devastating events that
prompted local residents to establish a dedicated fire district for Copiague.
 |
| The Copiague Fire Department fleet pictured at Tanner Park (notice the old bathing pavilion), in 1992. Image courtesy of the Copiague Fire Department. |
The present Dixon Avenue Station No. 1 was
built in 1954, and the Great Neck Road headquarters opened in 1966. The
original headquarters was later used as the public library until the late 1980s
and further renovated as the present Polish & Slavic Federal Credit Union.
·
Vigilant
Engine Co., est. 1928
·
Eagle
Engine Co., est. 1928
·
Hook,
Ladder & Rescue Co., est. 1947
·
Firematic
Drill Team, the “Yellow Birds,” est. 1971
·
Fire
Police Squad, est. 1937, disbanded 1980s
Copiague Fire Department, 320 Great Neck Road, Copiague, NY 11726 – (631) 842-1100 (non-emergency) – www.copiaguefd.com
Monuments and Memorials
Copiague has a veterans’ post named in honor of a local soldier.
- Veterans of Foreign Wars, Warren Keer Post #9482, 270 Trouville Road, Copiague, NY 11726 • The post was established in 1952 and named for Marine Staff Sgt. Warren L. Keer (1922-1993) who served in World War II.
In addition to these
monuments described below, other veterans’ memorials in Copiague include:
·
The
southeast corner of Great Neck Road and Marconi Boulevard is designated as
Veterans Memorial Plaza. The plaza includes the second, third and fourth
monuments listed below.
·
The
Copiague Memorial Public Library was named in honor of local veterans. When the
library formed in 1960, one of
the first actions made by the Board of Trustees was a resolution naming the new
library “in honor of those residents of Copiague who faithfully served our
country in the past wars.” The library first opened in the old auditorium of
the Great Neck Road School in the spring of 1961.
 |
Veterans’ monument at the northeast corner of Great Neck Road and Scudder Avenue, in front of Great Neck Road Elementary School. The original brick foundation dates back to 1944 when the monument was a WWII Honor Roll located at the north end of the school property.
Dedicated to the Men and Women of Copiague Who Served in World War I – World War II – Korean Action – Vietnam – Persian Gulf – Iraq – Afghanistan ________________________ |
 |
World War II Chaplains’ memorial, at Veterans Memorial Plaza, Great Neck Road and Marconi Boulevard. Brotherhood – One Nation Under God, Indivisible, With Liberty & Justice for All Honoring the Four Heroic Chaplains who gave their life jackets that four soldiers might live, the S.S. Dorchester was torpedoed February 3, 1943. As it sank the four were seen linked arm in arm, heads uplifted in prayer. Lt. George L. Fox, Protestant Lt. John P. Washington, Catholic Lt. Alexander D. Goode, Jewish Lt. Clark V. Poling, Protestant Monument rededicated by VFW Post No. 9482 and American Legion Post No. 1015. ________________________ |
 |
| ||||||
________________________
| |||||||||||||||
Historical Markers within the Hamlet of
Copiague
|
Marker
Name and Location |
Text |
Notes |
|
Babylon
Railroad Co. - Trolley Route -- Commemorates the electric trolley route between Amityville
and Babylon. Located on the west side of Great Neck Road, between Oak Street
and Scudder Avenue.[26] |
In 1909, the South Shore
Traction Co. established an electrified trolley line, extending over six
miles Amityville to Babylon, passing through along Oak Street to Great Neck
Road and then west toward Lindenhurst. |
Dedicated by the Town of Babylon, on June
11, 2010, to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the trolley route. |
|
Bethel A.M.E. Church -- Commemorates the oldest Black church
on Long Island. Located
on Simmons Street, near the church. |
Historic Church -- Bethel A.M.E. Church
Founded in Amityville 1815. This Building Dedicated 1967. |
Dedicated by the Town of Babylon Historic
Commission in 1986. |
|
Drive-In
Theatre -- Commemorates Johnny’s All-Weather
Drive-In. Located
on the south side of Sunrise Highway, along
entrance to Home Depot & Target shopping center. |
Drive-In Theatre -- 285 Acre
All-Weather Drive-In Opened Here 1957. Cafeteria, Tally-Ho Train, Indoor
Seating & Amusement Park. One of the Nation's Largest. |
Dedicated in 2016, as part of the
“Booming 1950s” project, funded by a grant from the William G. Pomeroy
Foundation. |
|
Great Neck Road School -- Commemorates the oldest existing elementary
school in the Town of Babylon (in continuous use as an elementary school
since 1911). Located
on the east side of Great Neck Road, north of
Scudder Avenue, in front of Great Neck Road Elementary School, at the school
bell monument. |
First built as a wooden schoolhouse in
1911, the Great Neck Road School is the oldest elementary school in the Town
of Babylon. Brick extensions were added to the original schoolhouse in 1925,
1931 and 1954, to accommodate Copiague’s growing population. |
Dedicated by the Town of Babylon in 2012,
to commemorate the school’s 100th anniversary. |
|
South Side R.R. -- Commemorates the railroad line that has
operated through Copiague since 1867. Located on the east side of Great Neck Road, north of railroad,
at Veterans Plaza.[27] |
South Side R.R. -- Railroad
Line Built 1867. LIRR Assumed Line in 1876. First Depot Built 1901 Named
Copiague. Failed Attempt to Rename Marconiville 1920s. |
Dedicated in 2018, funded by a grant from
the William G. Pomeroy Foundation. |
Books
About Copiague History
Local history titles include:
·
Copiague
(Images of America), by
Mary Cascone, Arcadia Publishing, 2010
·
Intimate
Portraits of Old Copiague or A Boyhood Journey Through Old Copiague, by Angelo Vacca Jr., Lulu.com, 2009
·
Gardens of Eden: Long Island’s Early Twentieth-Century
Planned Communities, edited by Robert B. MacKay,
W.W. Norton & Co., 2015 (chapter about American Venice, “Gondolas in Copiague”)
·
From
Steerage to Suburb: Long Island Italians, by Salvatore J. LaGumina, Center for Migration Studies of New
York, Inc., 1989 (a large part of the book discusses the Italian-American
community of Marconiville)
 |
| The All Weather Roll ‘N’ Ice was located on the north side of Sunrise Highway, across from the All Weather Drive-In Movie Theatre. Roll ‘N’ Ice offered ice skating on the first level and roller skating on the second floor. (Today, the drive-in is the Target/Home Depot Shopping Center and the Roll ‘N’ Ice is a car dealership.) |
Town of Babylon Parks and Recreational Facilities
Veterans
Plaza, Great Neck Road and Marconi Boulevard
The plaza contains several monuments, including a
list of local World War I soldiers. The list of soldiers was originally located in a garden wall at the home of Giovanni
“John” Campagnoli, the founder of the early 1900s Marconiville neighborhood.
Gateway
Park, southwest corner Great Neck Road and Dixon Boulevard
A pocket park for several years, the park was named Gateway Park in 2019.[28]
Tanner Park and
Spray Park, Kerrigan Road
The
93-acre park includes a skate
park, a children’s tree-house themed spray
park, a band shell for summer concerts, and a bathing
pavilion, with restaurant. Along with
fishing piers and athletic fields, the park includes the Tanner Park
Senior Citizen Center.
|
The parkland was originally part of the Amity Harbor
development that started in 1926. During the 1930s economic depression, Amity
Harbor developer George J. Brown sold many properties at reduced prices but had
to relinquish the parcel of land between Kerrigan Road and the Great South Bay
to satisfy unpaid taxes. Mr. Brown’s unfortunate loss became a benefit for Town
of Babylon residents as a bay-front park. Tanner Park is the largest park in
the Town of Babylon.
The
park was named for Richard “Dick” Tanner (1895-1971)[29]
around 1962. Born
in Brooklyn, Tanner moved to Copiague in
the 1930s and became active in the community. He was a member of the Copiague
Fire Department, served on the Copiague
Board of Education, and worked for the
Town of Babylon Highway Department. He was the local GOP leader from
1937-1970, and was also a member of various local civic associations.
Park facilities include baseball, junior baseball and softball
fields, turf fields for football/soccer, tennis and bocce courts. This facility
also includes a boat launching ramp, fishing pier, picnic area, playground,
restrooms, beach swimming, Spray Park, food services, Senior Center, and free
Wi-Fi access. The Spray Park is a Resident Only bay beach facility with
interactive spray park, restrooms, playground, concession, fishing pier, band
shell, and Wi-Fi access.
Tanner Park Senior
Center
Here seniors
take in the beautiful waterfront sights that the location provides. Next to the
pavilion, the Tanner Park Senior Center provides easy access to the nearby
beach and spray park. This great location provides seniors the option of
getting their daily exercise on the walk bridge or relax outside and watch the
boats go by. [30]
[1] The Indian Place-Names On Long Island and Islands Adjacent, with Their
Probable Significations, by William Wallace Tooker, G.P. Putnam’s Sons: New York, 1911.
[2] Zebulon Ketcham
(1740-1823) served as a lieutenant in the First Regiment of the Suffolk County
militia during the American Revolution; as published on page 34 of Lineage
Book National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution. XVIII, by Louise Pearsons Dolliver,
Harrisburg Publishing Company, 1904. He and wife Hannah (Conklin) Ketcham
(1744-1826) are interred at Amityville Cemetery, Harrison Avenue, North
Amityville, NY.
[3] Excerpt from “The Diaries
Of George Washington Volume VI: January 1790–December 1799,” edited by Donald Dean Jackson and Dorothy Twohig, University
Press of Virginia, 1976. (Accessed on the Library of Congress website, www.loc.gov, 2022.) Diary entry for April 21, 1790: “Wednesday 21st. The Morning
being clear & pleasant we left Jamaica about Eight O'clock, & pursued
the Road to South Hempstead passing along the South edge of the plain of that
name—a plain said to be 14 miles in length by 3 or 4 in breadth witht, a Tree
or a Shrub growing on it except fruit trees (which do not thrive well) at the
few settlemts, thereon. The Soil of this plain is said to be thin & cold
and of course not productive, even in Grass. We baited in South Hemstead (10
Miles from Jamaica) at the House of one Simmonds, formerly a Tavern, now of
private entertainment for Money. From hence turning off to the right we fell
into the South Rd. at the distance of about five miles where we came in view of
the Sea & continued to be so the remaining part of the days ride, and as
near it as the road could run for the small bays, Marshes and guts, into which
the tide flows at all times rendering it impassible from the height of it by
the Easterly Winds. We dined at one Ketchums wch. had also been a public House
but now a private one receivg. pay for what it furnished. This House was about
14 Miles from South Hemstead & a very neat & decent one. After dinner
we proceeded to a Squire Thompsons such a House as the last, that is, one that
is not public but will receive pay for every thing it furnishes in the same
manner as if it was. The Road in which I passed to day, and the Country were
more 65 mixed with sand than yesterday and the Soil of inferior quality; Yet
with dung wch. all the Corn ground receives the land yields on an average 30 bushels
to the Acre often more. Of Wheat they do not grow much on acct. of the Fly but
the Crops of Rye are good.” After dining at the Ketcham home which was in the
area that is now Copiague, the President proceeded to “Squire Thompsons” house,
which is now known as Sagtikos Manor, in Bay Shore.
[4] “[A] tract of land to the
north of Copiague, has named it Marconiville, and which title is set forth in
glistening white letters to all railroad passengers near the Long Island
tracks.” South Side Signal, May 3, 1912,
p. 5.
[5] “Marconi Honored in
Marconiville,” New York Herald, July
17, 1917, p. 13; “Senator Marconi Feted by Community Named for Him,” Amityville Record, October 21, 1927, p.
1; “La
Visita Di Marconi A Marconiville,” Il Corriere Italiano (Buffalo,
NY), August 9, 1917, p. 4
[6] In 1924-1925, a brick
addition with four classrooms, an auditorium, library and bathrooms was built
onto the front of the original wooden schoolhouse. The school was further
expanded in 1931 and 1954. In 1959, the original wooden section was replaced
with a brick wing.
[7] Population estimate from
"Suburban Long Island: The Sunrise Homeland," published by the Long
Island Rail Road and Long Island Real Estate Board, 1922.
[8] Population estimate from
"Long Island, The Sunrise Homeland," published by the Long Island
Association, Inc., 1942.
[9] Population from
"Historical Population of Long Island Communities, 1790-1980: Decennial
Census Data,” compiled and edited by State University of New York at Stony
Brook Library and Long Island Regional Planning Board, August 1982.
[10] The Indian Place-Names On Long Island and Islands Adjacent, with Their
Probable Significations, by William Wallace Tooker, G.P. Putnam’s Sons: New York, 1911. Please note: Spellings and pronunciations
of Long Island Native American words and names are subjective and typically
determined by community residents. The Native Americans had a spoken language,
and records kept by Colonists, starting in the 1600s, contained interpretations
of the Native American language. The European settlers typically used phonetic
spellings, which often differed among documents and writers. The meanings of
Native American words can also differ among historians and researchers.
[11] “Object to ‘Marconiville’
– Italians Not Liking Copiague Have Adopted A New Name,” Brooklyn Daily Eagle, June 28, 1913, p. 5; “Copiague and
Marconiville, Once Bitter Rivals, Strive Now for United Interests,” Brooklyn Daily Eagle, January 27, 1925,
p. 18.
[12] “Copiague,” South Side Signal, March 14, 1903, p. 3;
Ancestry.com. U.S.,
Appointments of U. S. Postmasters, 1832-1971 [database on-line]. Lehi,
UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010.
[13] “Lions Seek Mail
Delivery; RR Station Improvements,” Newsday,
March 18, 1948, p. 4.
[14] “Ceremony set to dedicate
Copiague Post Office in name of Maxine Postal,” by Carolyn James, Amityville Record, September 9, 2004. "H.R.3917 -
108th Congress (2003-2004): To designate the facility of the United States
Postal Service located at 695 Marconi Boulevard in Copiague, New York, as the ‘Maxine
S. Postal United States Post Office.’" Congress.gov, Library
of Congress, 25 June 2004, www.congress.gov.
[15] “Renumbering the School
Districts of Babylon,” South Side Signal,
March 30, 1872, p. 2.
[16] “Amityville,” South Side Signal, January 18, 1890, p.
3; “A Gift To A School,” Brooklyn Daily
Eagle, January 19, 1890, p. 9
[17] “Copiague Votes For New
School,” South Side Signal, January
6, 1911, p. 1; “Flag For Copiague School,” Brooklyn
Daily Eagle, December 26, 1911, p. 7; “New $70,000 School Building Is
Dedicated At Copiague,” Brooklyn Daily
Eagle, June 2, 1926, p. 22; “Award Copiague School Contracts,” Brooklyn Times Union, January 24, 1931,
p. 29; “School Bonds Sold By Copiague Board,” Newsday, January 28, 1954, p. 28. In 1924-1925, a brick addition
with four classrooms, an auditorium, library and bathrooms was built onto the
front of the original wooden schoolhouse. The school was further expanded in
1931 and 1954. In 1959, the original wooden section was replaced with a brick
wing.
[18] “Copiague P-TA Convenes
Sept. 19,” Newsday, September 9,
1950, p. 10; “Floods a problem in Lake Ronkonkoma,” by Jerry Cassidy, Daily News, March 8, 1979, p. BNL1; “Oil
Fumes Force Transfer of Pupils,” by Linda Field, Newsday, March 8, 1979, p. 30; “School-Sale Hearing Set,” Newsday, April 7, 1981, p. 25.
[19] “Opening Rites For
Grammar School Today,” Daily News,
November 22, 1964, p. B44; “Dedication,” Newsday,
November 25, 1964, p. 15C.
[20] “So Far School Is Just A
Party,” Newsday, September 15, 1950,
p. 41; “Heart Attack Kills Copiague Teacher,” Newsday, April 9, 1952, p. 21. A former student of Miss Wiley,
Angelo Vacca Jr. wrote “I Remember Miss Wiley – A Pupil’s Fond Recollection” in
his book Intimate Portraits of Old
Copiague, Or A Boyhood Journey Through Old Copiague (2009).
[21] “Walter G. O’Connell,
longtime principal,” by Andrew Stickler, Newsday,
April 26, 2007, p. 56.
[22] “Voters Are Urged To Back
Library Budget in Copiague,” Amityville
Record, April 27, 1961, p. 1.
[23] “Copiague’s Proposed
Library,” Amityville Record, June 10,
1965, p. 1; “Voters Beat Library Plan,” Amityville
Record, June 24, 1965, p. 1; “Copiague’s Library Plan Is Approved,” Amityville Record, September 30, 1965,
p. 1.
[24] “About.” Copiague
Memorial Public Library, 27 Jan. 2022, https://copiaguelibrary.org/about/.
[25] “Copiague Starts Second
Fire Body,” Brooklyn Times Union,
December 4, 1927, p. 15; “Increased L.I. Fire Protection,” Daily News, December 16, 1927, Brooklyn section p. 7; “Copiague
Firemen Call For $80,000,” Brooklyn Times
Union, March 2, 1928, p. 11.
[26] “A trip to Babylon’s
past,” by Denise M. Bonilla, Newsday, June 12, 2010, p. A10.
[27] “Leaving their Markers,” by Denise M. Bonilla, Newsday, May 8, 2018, p. A25.
[28] Town of Babylon
Resolution No. 545, August 7, 2019, Authorizing the Ceremonious Naming of Park
Located at the Southwest Corner of the Great Neck Rd. and Dixon Avenue
Intersection As “Gateway Park.”
[29] “Obituaries – Richard H.
Tanner,” Newsday, May 17, 1971, p.
28.
[30] Tanner Park Senior
Center | Babylon, NY - Official Website,
https://www.townofbabylon.com/275/Tanner-Park-Senior-Center. Accessed November
1, 2022.
