Bethpage, New York

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Bethpage, New York
Bethpage, New York (New York)
Bethpage, New York
Bethpage, New York
Coordinates: 40°44′48″N 73°29′4″W / 40.74667, -73.48444
Country United States
State New York
County Nassau
Area
 - Total 3.6 sq mi (9.4 km²)
 - Land 3.6 sq mi (9.4 km²)
 - Water 0.0 sq mi (0.0 km²)
Elevation 105 ft (32 m)
Population (2000)
 - Total 16,543
 - Density 4,564.5/sq mi (1,762.4/km²)
Time zone Eastern (EST) (UTC-5)
 - Summer (DST) EDT (UTC-4)
ZIP code 11714
Area code(s) 516
FIPS code 36-06387
GNIS feature ID 0943803

Bethpage is a hamlet and a census-designated place in Nassau County, New York, USA. The population was 16,543 at the 2000 United States Census.

Bethpage is within the Town of Oyster Bay with its own school district. The boundaries of the school district include parts of some surrounding hamlets (such as Old Bethpage and Plainedge). The Zip Code for most of the hamlet is 11714, though the most northeastern part of Bethpage is in the Old Bethpage postal district of 11804. The Town of Hempstead, on its website,[1] includes a small part of Bethpage that is in the Levittown census-designated place.

Contents

[edit] History

NYS Historic Marker for the Grumman Corp.
NYS Historic Marker for the Grumman Corp.
Further information: Bethpage Purchase

The name Bethpage comes from the Bethpage Purchase in 1695. An early name for the northern section of present-day Bethpage was Bedelltown.[2][3]

On maps just before the arrival of the Long Island Rail Road (LIRR), the name Bethpage appears for a community now included in both the post office district and school district of the adjacent community of Farmingdale.[4] In 1841,[5] train service began to Farmingdale station, near a new settlement less than a mile eastward from what had previously appeared on maps as Bethpage. Schedules at that time do not mention Bethpage as a stop, but have a notation "late Bethpage".[6] On an 1855 map,[7] the location identified as Bethpage has shifted slightly westward to include a nearby area now called Plainedge.

From at least 1854,[8] the LIRR stopped within present-day Bethpage at a station then called Jerusalem Station, and on January 29, 1857 a local post office opened, also named Jerusalem Station.[9][10] LIRR schedules listed the station also as simply Jerusalem.[11][12] Residents succeeded in changing the name of the post office to Central Park, effective March 1, 1867 (respelled as Centralpark from 1895 to 1899).[9][13] The Central Park Fire Company was organized in April 1910, and incorporated in May 1911. In May 1923 the Central Park Water District was created.

Following the 1932 opening of nearby Bethpage State Park, the name of the local post office was changed to Bethpage on October 1, 1936. The name Bethpage was, however, already in use by an adjacent community,[2] which resisted suggestions of a merger and instead renamed itself Old Bethpage. The change from Central Park to Bethpage was one of the last complete name changes of Nassau County's post offices.[9]

From 1936 until 1994, Bethpage was home to the Grumman Aircraft Engineering Corporation, which made, among other things, the F-14 Tomcat and the Apollo Lunar Module for moon landings. (Bethpage is thus mentioned in the film Apollo 13.) Cablevision Systems Corporation, a Fortune 500 company, is headquartered in Grumman's former main office.

[edit] Geography

Bethpage is located at 40°44′48″N, 73°29′4″W (40.746699, -73.484318)[14].

According to the United States Census Bureau, the CDP has a total area of 3.6 square miles (9.4 km²), all land.

[edit] Demographics

As of the census[15] of 2000, there were 16,543 people, 5,710 households, and 4,516 families residing in the CDP. The population density was 4,564.5 per square mile (1,764.4/km²). There were 5,788 housing units at an average density of 1,597.0/sq mi (617.3/km²). The racial makeup of the CDP was 94.17% White, 0.29% African American, 0.02% Native American, 2.99% Asian, 1.00% from other races, and 1.54% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 4.75% of the population.

There were 5,710 households out of which 32% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 66.0% were married couples living together, 10.0% had a female householder with no husband present, and 20.9% were non-families. 17.9% of all households were made up of individuals and 11.3% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.89 and the average family size was 3.27.

In the CDP the population was spread out with 22.7% under the age of 18, 6.4% from 18 to 24, 29.0% from 25 to 44, 23.2% from 45 to 64, and 18.8% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 40 years. For every 100 females there were 93.0 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 88.8 males.

The median income for a household in the CDP was $70,173, and the median income for a family was $78,573. Males had a median income of $53,404 versus $36,708 for females. The per capita income for the CDP was $27,850. About 2.1% of families and 3.3% of the population were below the poverty line, including 4.0% of those under age 18 and 4.3% of those age 65 or over.

[edit] Schools

See Bethpage Union Free School District

[edit] Bethpage Little League

Bethpage Little League is a volunteer organization, operating under charter of Little League Baseball and Softball, whose purpose is to provide a Little League Baseball and Softball Program for the Community of Bethpage.They are named bbai which stands for bethpage baseball association.They are part of an organization called P.A.L.That stands for police activity league. Established in 1952, Bethpage Little League is a non-profit organization run entirely by volunteers (board of directors, managers, coaches and all other duties). The league is dedicated to the principle of providing a safe, fun environment in which the children can enjoy learning the rules and playing baseball or softball. The League boundaries are specified by the Little League National organization. Bethpage Little League is part of Little League New York District 32.

[edit] Football

Bethpage has become famous among New York high school varsity football teams for being the home of an outstanding football program, having won 10 Nassau County and 5 Long Island Championships since 1984 when the playoffs expanded to four teams. The tradition of Bethpage football started in 1952 when Howard C. Vogts created the first team, and he has since become New York State’s all-time winningest high school varsity football coach. Vogts' remarkable career record stands at 342-114-10 mark in 53 seasons. One of Bethpage's most notable records was a 60-game home unbeaten streak (59-0-1) between 1989 and 2004. It ended on October 23, 2004 when the Golden Eagles lost 27-0 to the Wantagh Warriors, led by senior quarterback Pete Houck. Since that loss, Bethpage has won 11 straight at home.

[edit] Other points of interest

Bethpage Business Park.
Bethpage Business Park.


Bethpage was the home of the Grumman plant that produced the Apollo Lunar Modules, or LEMs.

Bethpage State Park offers five golf courses to choose from. One of them, the black course, was the site of the U.S. Open in 2002 and will again be the site for the upcoming event in 2009. Tiger Woods won the event in 2002. While much of the park and its five golf courses are located within Bethpage and Old Bethpage, the offices are within the neighboring Farmingdale postal district.

Bethpage Water District was announced as the best tasting drinking water in New York State at the state fair in Syracuse in 2006. [1]

Congressional Medal of Honor recipient, Stephen Edward Karopczyc, lived in Bethpage. [16] The former Karopczyc School in Levittown (part of the Island Trees Union Free School District) was renamed for him. The school now houses the Island Trees Public Library.

[edit] Footnotes

  1. ^ Town of Hempstead Map.
  2. ^ a b 1873 map of Town of Oyster Bay. New York Public Library. Retrieved on 2008-04-07.
  3. ^ LIRR timeline: 1898 map used as background.
  4. ^ Geological map of Long & Staten islands with the environs of New York. New York Public Library (1842?). (The location marked Bethpage is near Merritts Road, just north of Hempstead Turnpike. An unbounded area further east in Suffolk County is marked Hardscrabble. The map is dated 1842 with a question mark. Neither Farmingdale nor Hicksville appears on the map. The Hicksville LIRR station opened in 1837, and its absence suggests an earlier date for the map. The LIRR also had taken a different route east of Hicksville, arriving in Farmingdale in 1841.)
  5. ^ Early LIRR History.
  6. ^ 1841 Brooklyn Eagle LIRR timetable. Brooklyn Eagle (1841-11-02). (Whether "late Bethpage" is meant to indicate a flag stop at the community near Merritts Road, or that the area near the Farmingdale LIRR station had lately been called Bethpage has not yet been determined.)
  7. ^ 1855 Colton map.
  8. ^ "RAILROADS", New York Times, 1854-04-13, pp. p7. Retrieved on 2008-04-07. 
  9. ^ a b c David Roberts. Nassau County Post Offices 1794-1879. Retrieved on 2007-12-23. John L. Kay & Chester M. Smith, Jr. (1982). New York Postal History: The Post Offices & First Postmasters from 1775 to 1980. American Philatelic Society. 
  10. ^ Jerusalem was a community to the south, now called Wantagh. One of the reasons later given for changing the name from Jerusalem Station was that residents wanted to establish an identity of their own that did not depend on their being a station for another community.
  11. ^ 1863 LIRR timetable. Retrieved on 2008-04-07.
  12. ^ The schedule shows the stop is 2 miles from Farmingdale and 3 miles from Hicksville, the same distances for the existing Bethpage LIRR station as of 2008.
  13. ^ Central Park in Manhattan had opened in 1859.
  14. ^ US Gazetteer files: 2000 and 1990. United States Census Bureau (2005-05-03). Retrieved on 2008-01-31.
  15. ^ American FactFinder. United States Census Bureau. Retrieved on 2008-01-31.
  16. ^ Medal of Honor.com- Stephen E. Karopczyc

[edit] External links

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