Glory days and new horizions

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Taking a Look at the Past, Present and Possible Future of Hempstead, Long Island

Contents

Background

When many Long Islanders think about taking a step back in time, perhaps they consider planning a trip to colonial Williamsburg, an excursion to Plymouth Rock, or even Philadelphia, PA.

One place that may not jump immediately to mind is Hempstead, Long Island. However, with its past number of celebrity residents, historic status as a major fashion capital of Long Island, major transportation center and other places of interest, Hempstead may be a major, though possibly unlikely place for Long Islanders to connect to our earlier roots.

Hempstead Demographics

Hempstead Village (or the Incorporated Village of Hempstead) is located in the Town of Hempstead, Long Island. To differentiate itself from the entire town of Hempstead, Hempstead is named in the census as "Hempstead Village."

As per the 2000 census, the most recent taken of Hempstead Village, and located at [http://factfinder.census.gov/servlet/SAFFFacts?_event=ChangeGeoContext&geo_id=16000US3633139&_geoContext=&_street=&_county=hempstead+village&_cityTown=hempstead+village&_state=04000US36&_zip=&_lang=en&_sse=on&ActiveGeoDiv=geoSelect&_useEV=&pctxt=fph&pgsl=010&_submenuId=factsheet_1&ds_name=DEC_2000_SAFF&_ci_nbr=null&qr_name=null&reg=null%3Anull&_keyword=&_industry=, most residents (27,519) are female, as opposed to 27,035 males living in the area. Most are over the age of eighteen (41,701 residents), and the area is predominantly African American (29,678 residents) and Hispanic/Latino (17,991 residents). 37.4% of the community speaks a language other than English at home, and most of the Hempstead population over age 25 have a high school degree or higher (66.6% of residents)

Economically, according to the census, 14.4% Families living in Hempstead fall below the poverty level, as do 17.7% of individual residents. Most residents between 18-65 are not married, and 31.9 percent of grandparents are the primary caregiver of their grandchildren.

Historical Hempstead

As per both http://www.newsday.com/community/guide/lihistory/ny-history-hs312a,0,5846972.story and (http://www.carman.net/rev__walworth.htm), in 1643 a “committee” of settlers from Stamford, CT was sent across the Long Island Sound to what is now the village of Hempstead, to purchase Aborigine native land, in hopes that “Long Island would provide a safe haven from Connecticut's increasingly belligerent Indian tribes. ” http://www.newsday.com/community/guide/lihistory/ny-history-hs312a,0,5846972.story. Among the land purchased was Hempstead Plains, (where the main area of Hempstead is centered around today, including the heavily trafficked Front Street as well as both of the entire Hempstead and North Hempstead areas as they are known today.


Interesting Facts and Landmarks

According to http://longislandgenealogy.com/StGeorge/GeorgesIndex.html, St. George’s Church, “at 319 Front Street in Hempstead Village is among Long Island's earliest Episcopal (originally Anglican) congregations.” It was founded in 1702 and received its charter in 1735 from King George. Still standing today, the church was reconstructed in 1822, after being destroyed. The site also boasts that 

“  During the American Revolution, Hempstead was a hotbed of British sympathizers or Tories, as they were known.  The British attempted to occupy Hempstead after the Battle of Long Island and used St. George's as a headquarters as well as a place to worship.  Local folklore has it that the rooster weathervane atop the steeple has sixteen bullet marks placed there by Hessian mercenaries who used it for target practice.”


Once home to Eleanor Roosevelt, and actor, director, writer and composer Lionel Barrymore, President George Washington even stopped overnight in Hempstead to visit Sammis Tavern, and in 1704 Hempstead watered and welcomed the horses of the first stage coach on Long Island. (http://www.hempsteadchamber.org/php/subFrame.php?linkid=3&hm_user=299d4063024e0d23a440c632446409af)

“Glory Days"

According to the Hempstead, Long Island Chamber of Commerce, "All roads lead to Hempstead" and Hempstead was always the "Hub" at one time in Hempstead history. Once a farm and merchant town, Hempstead boasts that by 1843 it was the “principal place of mercantile and mechanical business in this part of the country” On May 6, 1853, it became the “first community in Nassau County” to be incorporated, and was mostly comprised of immigrant families from the Mayflower that migrated in the spring of 1644 from the Long Island Sound to Hempstead harbor and gradually to the Village of Hempstead to officially settle. ALL INFO FROM HEMPSTEAD CHAMBER OF COMMERCE: (http://www.hempsteadchamber.org/php/subFrame.php?linkid=3&hm_user=299d4063024e0d23a440c632446409af)


In addition, prior to the opening of Roosevelt Field mall in 1956 “before there were malls, there was Hempstead,” and for decades, ``the Hub was the center of transportation and shopping on Long Island, supporting not just Arnold Constable and A&S, Grant's and Woolworth's, but scores of mom-and-pop operations in an era when Mom and Pop still mattered.” “Even more important, Hempstead housed the county's largest bus terminus, making it a quick trip from as near as Garden City (before Garden City took over the carriage trade) and as far as Jamaica (whose own downtown dominated Queens).” ( All info fromhttp://www.newsday.com/community /guide/lihistory/ny-history-hs801c,0,6961089.story?coll=ny-lihistory-navigation)


A Change in the Tide

``You have to remember how important the bus was, says Hempstead Village historian James York. ``When Nassau started to expand, many GIs didn't have a job, much less an automobile. But as the bus gave way to the car and the downtown gave way to the mall, shopping began to change. By the 1960s, though, no downtown could compete with the malls' ever-growing array of card stores and shoe stores, their parking fields and their newfangled traditions (the department store Santa-turned-mall Santa, the indoor arts-and-crafts shows)” ( all info from http://www.newsday.com/community/guide/lihistory/ny-history-hs801c,0,6961089.story?coll=ny-lihistory-navigation)

Referencing wikipedia, the closing of Mitchel Air Force Base on Long Island might have also participated in the alteration of Hempstead. The base, apparently responsible for protecting all of Long Island during WWII, was eventually closed according to Wikipedia for safety reasons.– WAITING FOR CONFIRMATION FROM LI AIRBASE EXPERTS (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mitchel_Air_Force_Base)

Other Information

Hempstead is home to two gangs: MS-13 (La Mara Salvatrucha) http://www.knowgangs.com/gang_resources/profiles/ms13/ and Salvadorians With Pride (SWP) http://www.police.nassaucountyny.gov/pdf/TAG%20GANG%20AWARENESS.pdf - a gang started in response to MS-13.

Possibly New Horizons for Hempstead

Recently, there have been plans to bring large, new commercial projects to Hempstead, such as “500 condominiums priced at market rates”, and even a Costco in Hempstead Village. (http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=940CE3DF103EF936A15751C0A9619C8B63&n=Top%2fClassifieds%2fReal%20Estate%2fLocations%2fNew%20York%2fLong%20Island)

Being that it is a main center of public transportation from New York City and other points of the island (both the MTA bus station and LIRR stations are in the heart of Hempstead Village), Hempstead remains a very urban area. Due to the large Hispanic influence in the past decade, culturally the area is alive with many types of Hispanic restaurants, bodegas (small convenience stores), shopping establishments and bi-lingual businesses.

My Proposal

  • With all this rich cultural Long Island history, it is intriguing to consider that Hempstead has received a rather declining reputation from a place of status and beauty to a place some feel doesn’t fit with a ritzy, cultured, lifestyle due to a decrees in economic status along with a rise in poverty levels and immigrant diversity.
  • My proposal includes researching where Hempstead has been and where it is going, how it has been influenced by various factors, and what the current opinions of it are. I plan to interview Hofstra students, professors, Hempstead residents and local retailers to discuss the changing atmosphere of Hempstead as well as local trends in the area and get a jist for what people outside as well as inside are saying about the community. I intend to focus on sources of community pride, and how Hempstead residents feel they relate to the rest of Long Island.



External Links

For additional opinions regarding Hempstead and Long Island in general from some internet users can be found at http://www.city-data.com/forum/new-york/45965-why-long-island-sucks-9.html


  • Newsday’s Historical Research Featuring Hempstead, NY.

http://www.newsday.com/community/guide/lihistory/ny-ourtowns-nassau,0,7301539.storygallery?coll=ny-lihistory-navigation

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