Hempstead Harbor (also known as Hempstead Bay) is a bay hugging the northern coast of

Long Island Long Island is a densely populated island in the southeastern region of the U.S. state of New York (state), New York, part of the New York metropolitan area. With over 8 million people, Long Island is the most populous island in the United Sta ...

, New York. Located off of the

Long Island Sound Long Island Sound is a marine sound and tidal estuary of the Atlantic Ocean. It lies predominantly between the U.S. state of Connecticut to the north and Long Island in New York to the south. From west to east, the sound stretches from the Eas ...

, it forms the northernmost portion of the political border between the Nassau County towns of Oyster Bay on the east and

North Hempstead North Hempstead is one of three towns in Nassau County, on Long Island, in New York, United States. The population was 237,639 at the 2020 census. History The area was first settled by Europeans around 1643 and became part of the town of Hemps ...

on the west, as well as the western border of the city of Glen Cove.

History

Before

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, shacks were built on the marsh flats in the town-owned Hempstead Bay wetlands. They served as shelters for duck hunters, fishermen and weekend campers. Over time the summer cabins became cottages passed down through generations. Until 1970, folk singer

Burl Ives Burl Icle Ivanhoe Ives (June 14, 1909 – April 14, 1995) was an American musician, actor, and author with a career that spanned more than six decades. Ives began his career as an itinerant singer and guitarist, eventually launching his own rad ...

, spent occasional summer weekends in a cottage near the Hempstead Town Dock. Storms and erosion have taken their toll, and North Hempstead officials and conservationists came to consider them an intrusion. Ultimately, the Town stopped granting new leases in 1964. From the early days of colonization until the 20th Century, many farms were located in the area (such as the Hewlett farm in Flower Hill, on the western shore of Hempstead Harbor). Goods produced in the area would be brought to the docks along the harbor in Roslyn (along with ports along

Manhasset Bay Manhasset Bay, New York, is an embayment in western Long Island off Long Island Sound. Description Manhasset Bay forms the northeastern boundary of the Great Neck Peninsula and the southwestern boundary of Cow Neck (Port Washington Peninsula ...

Manhasset Manhasset is a hamlet and census-designated place (CDP) in Nassau County, on the North Shore of Long Island, in New York. It is considered the anchor community of the Greater Manhasset area. The population was 8,176 at the 2020 United States ce ...

and Port Washington), and from there, they would be shipped to destinations in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

and beyond. Hempstead Harbor fr West Shore Rd hill jeh

Environmentalists have also long expressed concern over pollution in the harbor. One of the sources of this pollution came from sewage being directly released into the water from the former Roslyn Sewage Treatment Plant. This led to the creation of the Coalition to Save Hempstead Harbor in 1986. Then, in the 1990s, then-Assemblyman

Thomas DiNapoli Thomas Peter DiNapoli II (born February 10, 1954) is an American politician serving as the 54th and current New York State Comptroller since 2007. A member of the Democratic Party, he was previously the New York State Assemblyman for the 16th dis ...

and Ted Blackburn (the Mayor of

Sea Cliff Seacliff or Sea Cliff or Sea Cliffe may refer to: ;Places ''Australia'' *Seacliff, South Australia, suburb of Adelaide *Seacliff Park, South Australia, a suburb of Adelaide *Sea Cliff Bridge, in Illawarra, New South Wales ''New Zealand'' *Seacli ...

at the time) came up with the idea for the Hempstead Harbor Protection Committee; this organization was ultimately born in 1995.

Sand mining, 1865 - 1989

From 1865 until 1989, the Western shore of Hempstead Harbor saw a significant amount of

sand mining Sand mining is the extraction of sand, mainly through an open pit (or sand pit) but sometimes mined from beaches and inland dunes or dredged from ocean and river beds. Sand is often used in manufacturing, for example as an abrasive or in conc ...

take place. The sand mined along the harbor would often be used in the construction of much of

's infrastructure. The sand that was mined in the area would be brought to Hempstead Harbor, and from there would be shipped to destinations in

and points beyond. By the time sand mining operations stopped in 1989, a total of of sand were minded along Hempstead Harbor.

Parks and recreation

Notable parks and recreational facilities located along Hempstead Harbor/Hempstead Bay include: * Bar Beach & Hempstead Harbor Parks - A recreational beach park owned by the Town of North Hempstead, on the west shore of the harbor in Port Washington, located immediately west and north of Bar Beach. The complex is also known as Bar Beach and North Hempstead Beach Park. A fireworks display takes place there every

Memorial Day Memorial Day (originally known as Decoration Day) is a federal holiday in the United States for mourning the U.S. military personnel who have fought and died while serving in the United States armed forces. It is observed on the last Monda ...

. * Cedarmere - Located in Roslyn Harbor, this preserve consists of the former estate of

William Cullen Bryant William Cullen Bryant (November 3, 1794 – June 12, 1878) was an American romantic poet, journalist, and long-time editor of the ''New York Evening Post''. Born in Massachusetts, he started his career as a lawyer but showed an interest in poetry ...

. * Tappen Beach - A beach owned by the Town of Oyster Bay. It is located off of Shore Road in Glenwood Landing.

Transportation

The William Cullen Bryant Viaduct (also known as the Roslyn Viaduct) crosses the southernmost section of Hempstead Harbor, carrying Northern Boulevard (NY 25A) between West Shore Road (CR 15) and Bryant Avenue at its eastern end. It serves as a bypass of Roslyn, and more specifically Old Northern Boulevard (CR 25A) - which was NY 25A's previous alignment through the area. The original bridge was opened by Governor Thomas E. Dewey in 1949. Between 2005 and 2012, this bridge was replaced at a cost of $127 million; the original bridge was structurally-obsolete and in a state of disrepair.

In popular culture

* The proposed

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

seaplane tender USS ''Hempstead'' (AVP-43) was named for Hempstead Bay, but the contract for the ship's construction was cancelled in 1943 before construction began.

References

Sources

* (ship namesake paragraph for AVP-43)

External links

Hempstead Harbor Protection Committee
{{Authority control Bodies of water of Nassau County, New York Bays of New York (state) Glen Cove, New York Town of North Hempstead, New York Oyster Bay (town), New York Long Island Sound Beaches of Nassau County, New York Parks in Nassau County, New York