Brookville is a

village A village is a human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town with a population typically ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand. Although villages are often located in rural areas, the term urban v ...

located within the Town of Oyster Bay in Nassau County, on the North Shore of

Long Island Long Island is a densely populated continental island in southeastern New York (state), New York state, extending into the Atlantic Ocean. It constitutes a significant share of the New York metropolitan area in both population and land are ...

, in New York, United States. The population was 2,939 at the time of the 2020 census.

History

The geographic Village of Brookville was formed in two stages. When the village was incorporated in 1931, it consisted of a long, narrow tract of land that was centered along Cedar Swamp Road (NY 107). In the 1950s, the northern portion of the unincorporated area then known as Wheatley Hills was annexed and incorporated into the village, approximately doubling the village's area to its present . When the Town of Oyster Bay purchased what is now Brookville from the Matinecocks in the mid-17th century, the area was known as Suco's Wigwam. Most pioneers were English, many of them

Quakers Quakers are people who belong to the Religious Society of Friends, a historically Protestantism, Protestant Christian set of Christian denomination, denominations. Members refer to each other as Friends after in the Bible, and originally ...

. They were soon joined by Dutch settlers from western Long Island, who called the surrounding area Wolver Hollow, apparently because

wolves The wolf (''Canis lupus''; : wolves), also known as the grey wolf or gray wolf, is a canine native to Eurasia and North America. More than thirty subspecies of ''Canis lupus'' have been recognized, including the dog and dingo, though gr ...

gathered at spring-fed Shoo Brook to drink. For most of the 19th century, the village was called Tappentown after a prominent family. Brookville became the preferred name after the

Civil War A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same Sovereign state, state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies.J ...

and was used on 1873 maps. Brookville's two centuries as a farm and woodland backwater changed quickly in the early 20th century as wealthy New Yorkers built lavish

mansion A mansion is a large dwelling house. The word itself derives through Old French from the Latin word ''mansio'' "dwelling", an abstract noun derived from the verb ''manere'' "to dwell". The English word ''manse'' originally defined a property l ...

s in the area. By the mid-1920s, there were 22 estates, part of the emergence of Nassau's North Shore Gold Coast. One was Broadhollow, the spread of attorney-banker-diplomat Winthrop W. Aldrich, which had a 40-room manor house. The second owner of Broadhollow was Alfred Gwynne Vanderbilt Jr., who at one point was president of the Belmont and

Pimlico Pimlico () is a district in Central London, in the City of Westminster, built as a southern extension to neighbouring Belgravia. It is known for its garden squares and distinctive Regency architecture. Pimlico is demarcated to the north by Lon ...

racetracks. Marjorie Merriweather Post, daughter of cereal creator Charles William Post, and her husband Edward Francis Hutton, the famous financier, built a lavish 70-room mansion on called Hillwood. In 1931, estate owners banded together to win village incorporation to head off what they saw as undesirable residential and commercial development in other parts of Nassau County. The first Mayor was W. Deering Howe. In 1947, the Post estate was sold to

Long Island University Long Island University (LIU) is a private university in Brooklyn and Brookville, New York, United States. The university enrolls over 16,000 students and offers over 500 academic programs at its main campuses, LIU Brooklyn and LIU Post on Long I ...

for its C. W. Post campus. The campus is noted as the home of the Tilles Center for the Performing Arts. Also in Brookville is the DeSeversky Conference Center of the

New York Institute of Technology The New York Institute of Technology (NYIT or New York Tech) is a Private university, private research university, research university founded in 1955. It has two main campuses in New York (state), New York—one in Old Westbury, on Long I ...

. The center was formerly Templeton, mansion of socialite and businessman Winston Guest. Templeton was later used as one of the settings for the Dudley Moore film ''

Arthur Arthur is a masculine given name of uncertain etymology. Its popularity derives from it being the name of the legendary hero King Arthur. A common spelling variant used in many Slavic, Romance, and Germanic languages is Artur. In Spanish and Ital ...

''. The Chapelle de St. Martin de Sayssuel, also known as the St. Joan of Arc Chapel where Joan of Arc prayed prior to engaging the English, was moved from

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

to Brookville in the early 20th century. It was acquired by Gertrude Hill Gavin, daughter of James J. Hill, the American railroad magnate. The chapel was dismantled stone by stone and imported from France to her Brookville estate in 1926. The chapel is now located at

Marquette University Marquette University () is a Private university, private Jesuit research university in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States. It was established as Marquette College on August 28, 1881, by John Henni, the first Archbishop of the Roman Catholic Ar ...

Wisconsin Wisconsin ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest of the United States. It borders Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michig ...

. The Brookville Reformed Church, one of the oldest existing church congregations in the country, calls Brookville its home. The Brookville Church was founded by 17th century Dutch settlers. The James Preserve is a nature preserve in Old Brookville and is the only tract of land showing the natural appearance of the village before development. Although it is in Old Brookville, it is connected to Greenvale. In 2009, ''

BusinessWeek ''Bloomberg Businessweek'', previously known as ''BusinessWeek'' (and before that ''Business Week'' and ''The Business Week''), is an American monthly business magazine published 12 times a year. The magazine debuted in New York City in Septembe ...

'' dubbed Brookville the wealthiest town in America.

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the village has a total area of , all land. The village lost territory to the adjacent Incorporated Village of East Hills between the 1960 census and the 1970 census.

Demographics

As of the

census A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...

of 2000, there were 2,126 people, 631 households, and 569 families residing in the village. The population density was . There were 648 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the village was 89.75%

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...

, 1.16%

African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...

, 3.16% Asian, 0.56% from other races, and 1.36% from two or more races.

Hispanic The term Hispanic () are people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or broadly. In some contexts, Hispanic and Latino Americans, especially within the United States, "Hispanic" is used as an Ethnici ...

or Latino of any race were 6.68% of the population. There were 631 households, out of which 49.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 82.9% were

married couples Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognised union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children (if any), and b ...

living together, 4.9% had a female householder with no husband present, and 9.8% were non-families. 7.9% of all households were made up of individuals, and 4.6% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 3.35 and the average family size was 3.49. In the village, the population was spread out, with 32.8% under the age of 18, 4.4% from 18 to 24, 26.0% from 25 to 44, 25.1% from 45 to 64, and 11.8% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 39 years. For every 100 females, there were 97.8 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 90.7 males. The median income for a household in the village was in excess of $200,000 – as was the median income for a family. Males had a median income of over $100,000 versus $60,238 for females. The

per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or average income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. In many countries, per capita income is determined using regular population surveys, such ...

for the village was $84,375. None of families or the population were below the

poverty line The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line, or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for ...

, including none of those under age 18 or those age 65 or over. In 2009, Brookville topped ''BusinessWeek's'' list of America's 25 wealthiest towns based on average income and net worth.

Government

As of August 2021, the Mayor of Brookville is Daniel H. Serota, the Deputy Mayor is Caroline Z. Bazzini, and the Village Trustees are Caroline Z. Bazzini, John A. Burns, Edward J. Chesnik, and Robert D. Spina. The village is protected by the Brookville Police Department, which was established in 2022.

Education

K-12 education

Brookville is primarily served by the Jericho Union Free School District, though portions are served by the Locust Valley Central School District. The Long Island Lutheran Middle and High School is also located within the village.

Higher education

Half of the

's Old Westbury campus is located in the Village of Brookville. The village is also the home of LIU Post, which is the largest campus of the private

system.

Notable people

* Winthrop W. Aldrich, U.S. ambassador to the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

. *

Marc Anthony Marco Antonio Muñiz (born September 16, 1968), known professionally as Marc Anthony, is an American singer and actor. He is the top selling salsa artist of all time. A four-time Grammy Award, eight-time Latin Grammy Award and twenty-nine-tim ...

, singer.Jennifer Lopez & Marc Anthony Own $5.75 Million Worth Of Property In New York: Who Will Get It?
Retrieved September 5, 2014 * Arthur Scott Burden, president of Burden Iron Works. * Joseph E. Davies, second U.S. ambassador to the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

. *

Angie Dickinson Angie Dickinson (born Angeline Brown; September 30, 1931) is an American retired actress. She began her career on television, appearing in many Anthology series#Television, anthology series during the 1950s, before gaining her breakthrough rol ...

, actress. * Alfred I. du Pont, inventor, philanthropist. * Prince Felix and the Royal Family of

Luxembourg Luxembourg, officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, is a landlocked country in Western Europe. It is bordered by Belgium to the west and north, Germany to the east, and France on the south. Its capital and most populous city, Luxembour ...

. * C. Z. Guest, socialite. * Frederick Edward Guest, British Cabinet minister. * Edward Francis Hutton, co-founder, E. F. Hutton & Co. * Mary McFadden, fashion designer, writer. * Dina Merrill, actress. * Marjorie Merriweather Post, philanthropist. * Cynthia Roche, socialite. * Diego Suarez, garden designer. * Percy Uris, real estate investor/builder. * Alfred Gwynne Vanderbilt Jr., owner of the Belmont and

racetracks.

References

External links

Official website

Pictures of Brookville's Historic Estates

Brookville Church

Greek Orthodox Church of the Holy Resurrection

Village Residents Party
a political action committee
Brookville Taxpayers Association, Inc.
a civic association {{authority control Oyster Bay (town), New York Villages in New York (state) Villages in Nassau County, New York 1931 establishments in New York (state)