Wyandanch (, ) is a
hamlet
''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play, with 29,551 words. Set in Denmark, the play depicts ...
and
census-designated place
A census-designated place (CDP) is a concentration of population defined by the United States Census Bureau for statistical purposes only.
CDPs have been used in each decennial census since 1980 as the counterparts of incorporated places, such ...
(CDP) in the
Town
A town is a human settlement. Towns are generally larger than villages and smaller than cities, though the criteria to distinguish between them vary considerably in different parts of the world.
Origin and use
The word "town" shares an ori ...
of
Babylon
''Bābili(m)''
* sux, 𒆍𒀭𒊏𒆠
* arc, 𐡁𐡁𐡋 ''Bāḇel''
* syc, ܒܒܠ ''Bāḇel''
* grc-gre, Βαβυλών ''Babylṓn''
* he, בָּבֶל ''Bāvel''
* peo, 𐎲𐎠𐎲𐎡𐎽𐎢 ''Bābiru''
* elx, 𒀸𒁀𒉿𒇷 ''Babi ...
in
Suffolk County, New York
Suffolk County () is the easternmost county in the U.S. state of New York. It is mainly located on the eastern end of Long Island, but also includes several smaller islands. According to the 2020 United States census, the county's populatio ...
. The population was 12,990 at the 2020 census.
In the past, some or all of Wyandanch was proposed to become part of the never-realized Incorporated Village of Half Hollow Hills and later on proposed incorporating itself as the Incorporated Village of Wyandanch. However, those plans failed and Wyandanch has never been incorporated.
History
Native settlement
This hamlet is named after
Chief Wyandanch
Wyandanch (''c''. 1620 – 1659 was a sachem of the Montaukett Indians in the mid-17th century on eastern Long Island.Strong, pg. 48 Initially he was a minor chief among the Montaukett,Strong, pg. 54 but due to his skillful manipulation of variou ...
, a leader of the
Montaukett
= Montauketts =
An indigenous Native American People.
Name and Identifications
The Montaukett ("Metoac" or Matouwac), currently more commonly known as Montauk. The meaning of the name ''Montauk'' is unknown.
Native Americans living on Long ...
Native American tribe during the 17th century. Formerly known as Half Way Hollow Hills, West Deer Park (1875), and Wyandance (1893), the area of scrub oak and pine barrens south of the southern slope of Half Hollow terminal moraine was named Wyandanch in 1903 by the
Long Island Rail Road
The Long Island Rail Road , often abbreviated as the LIRR, is a commuter rail system in the southeastern part of the U.S. state of New York (state), New York, stretching from Manhattan to the eastern tip of Suffolk County, New York, Suffolk Co ...
(LIRR) to honor Chief Wyandanch and end confusion between travelers getting off at the West Deer Park and Deer Park railroad stations. The history of the hamlet has been shaped by waves of immigrants.
No archaeological evidence of permanent Native American settlements in Wyandanch has been discovered. Native Americans hunted and gathered fruits and berries in what is now Wyandanch/
Wheatley Heights
Wheatley Heights is a census-designated place (CDP) in Suffolk County, New York. The population was 5,130 at the 2010 census. The CDP, located in the Town of Babylon, is named after the hamlet in the same general vicinity.
In the past, some or ...
.
The Massapequa Indians deeded the northwest section of what now is the town of
Babylon
''Bābili(m)''
* sux, 𒆍𒀭𒊏𒆠
* arc, 𐡁𐡁𐡋 ''Bāḇel''
* syc, ܒܒܠ ''Bāḇel''
* grc-gre, Βαβυλών ''Babylṓn''
* he, בָּבֶל ''Bāvel''
* peo, 𐎲𐎠𐎲𐎡𐎽𐎢 ''Bābiru''
* elx, 𒀸𒁀𒉿𒇷 ''Babi ...
to Huntington in the Baiting Place Purchase of 1698. The northeast section of the town of Babylon "pine brush and plain" was deeded to Huntington by the Secatogue Indians in the Squaw Pit Purchase of 1699. What is now Wyandanch is located in the Squaw Pit Purchase area. Lorena Frevert reported in 1949 that in the Baiting Place Purchase the Massapequa Indians "reserved the right of fishing and 'gathering plume and hucel bearyes'."
Colonial settlement and after
Wyandanch (West Deer Park before 1903) evolved out of what was originally known as the Lower Half Way Hollow Hills. The area was first settled by Captain Jacob Conklin after he was given a tract of land in what is now Wheatley Heights by his father, Timothy Conklin, about 1706. Gradually, pioneers from
Huntington began settling along the southern slope of the Half Way Hollow Hills as they purchased farm and forestlands from the Conklins. What is known today as Wyandanch originated with the establishment of the
West Deer Park LIRR station in 1875. The present-day Wyandanch railroad station sits on the site of the 1875 station on the
Long Island Rail Road
The Long Island Rail Road , often abbreviated as the LIRR, is a commuter rail system in the southeastern part of the U.S. state of New York (state), New York, stretching from Manhattan to the eastern tip of Suffolk County, New York, Suffolk Co ...
. Jacob Conklin's 1710 "Pirate House" was the first house built in what became the town of Babylon.
The LIRR built the original West Deer Park railroad station, which incorporated a post office, in May 1875 at the request of General
James J. Casey, a brother-in-law of President
Ulysses S. Grant
Ulysses S. Grant (born Hiram Ulysses Grant ; April 27, 1822July 23, 1885) was an American military officer and politician who served as the 18th president of the United States from 1869 to 1877. As Commanding General, he led the Union Ar ...
. Casey had purchased the Nathanial Conklin estate in 1874, and he wanted a rail depot and post office located closer than the LIRR
Deer Park depot that had opened in 1853. The 1875 West Deer Park/Wyandanch railroad station was demolished in 1958.
The first lots were sold near the station, around the time of a Long Island land boom in 1872. The efforts of a local realtor successfully targeted Germans and German-Americans.
In April 1903, the ex-Conklin estate and historic Conklin family cemetery was sold to Bishop Charles Edward McDonnell of the
Roman Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn
The Diocese of Brooklyn is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Catholic Church in the U.S. state of New York. It is headquartered in Brooklyn and its territory encompasses the New York City boroughs of Brooklyn and Queens. T ...
, who resumed the bottling of spring water from the Colonial Spring. Eventually the McDonnell property became the
Catholic Youth Organization
Catholic Youth Organization (CYO) is an international Catholic youth movement founded by Bishop Bernard Sheil in Chicago in 1930. It would become a major factor in the development of race relations in the US Catholic Church following World War ...
's (CYO) summer camp in Wyandanch. In 2011, 14-year-old Michael Berdon, a descendant of Jacob Conklin, restored the 257-year-old cemetery and laid a brick path approach to the gravesite with the assistance of several local businesses.
On March 8, 1907, the Wyandanch post office was moved from the LIRR depot to Anthony Kirchner's General Store and Hotel on Merritt Avenue diagonally across from the railroad station.
Ethnic developments
Between 1880 and 1955, the dominant ethnic groups in Wyandanch were the
German-American
German Americans (german: Deutschamerikaner, ) are Americans who have full or partial German ancestry. With an estimated size of approximately 43 million in 2019, German Americans are the largest of the self-reported ancestry groups by the Unite ...
s and
Austrian-American
Austrian Americans (, ) are Americans of Austrian descent, chiefly German-speaking Catholics and Jews. According to the 2000 U.S. census, there were 735,128 Americans of full or partial Austrian descent, accounting for 0.3% of the population. The ...
s. The earliest homes built in Wyandanch south of the LIRR were built by German and Austrian-American families. About a hundred "honest and frugal" German and Austrian-American families lived in Sheet Nine of the "City of Breslau" neighborhood as early as the 1880s. Germans and Austrians also worked in the Wyandance Brick and Terra Cotta works; prosperous German- and Austrian-Americans also lived in the hilly, secluded and sylvan Carintha Heights section, west of Conklin Street, which was developed by Brosl Hasslacher after the construction of the
Long Island Motor Parkway
The Long Island Motor Parkway, also known as the Vanderbilt Parkway, Vanderbilt Motor Parkway, or Motor Parkway, was a roadway on Long Island, New York, in the United States. It was the first roadway designed for automobile use only. The parkway ...
.
Beginning in the 1920s and extending into the 1930s, working-class settlers (recently arrived from
County Donegal
County Donegal ( ; ga, Contae Dhún na nGall) is a county of Ireland in the province of Ulster and in the Northern and Western Region. It is named after the town of Donegal in the south of the county. It has also been known as County Tyrconne ...
in Ireland) began building small wood-frame
bungalow
A bungalow is a small house or cottage that is either single-story or has a second story built into a sloping roof (usually with dormer windows), and may be surrounded by wide verandas.
The first house in England that was classified as a b ...
-type homes in the fire-prone pine barrens in Wyandance Springs Park-there were no springs, no park and no roads-and in Home Acres. Irish and Irish-American families built homes on land they had purchased in the 1920s
land bubble in Wyandance Spring Park or Home Acres. The newcomers wanted to escape from the crowded and economically depressed conditions in
Manhattan
Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...
and
The Bronx
The Bronx () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the state of New York. It is south of Westchester County; north and east of the New York City borough of Manhattan, across the Harlem River; and north of the New Y ...
, and yet be within an hour's ride of the "City" on the LIRR. More affluent and prominent Irish-American families in Wyandanch lived nearer the "village" in more prosperous homes with larger plots of land.
African-American
African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American ...
s have lived in Wyandanch since the 1920s, when African-American families bought plots of land and built their own homes in the "Little Farms" section of the West Babylon school district between Straight Path, Little East Neck Road and Gordon Avenue. In the Upper Little Farms section bounded by Straight Path, Little East Neck Road and Grunwedel Avenue (now Patton Avenue) in the Wyandanch School District pioneering upwardly mobile African-American families also began building their own homes. Mortimer Cumberbach and Ignatius Davidson opened their C and D Cement Block Corp. on Booker Avenue at Straight Path on December 6, 1928; as late as the mid-1950s, C & D Cement Block was the only large business owned and operated by African-Americans in Suffolk County.
In the 1950s and 1960s, African-American families established homes south of the LIRR in the 1950s and 1960s. Many of these families—both middle class and working class—purchased homes in Wyandanch because they were denied opportunities to move into other fast-developing white housing tracts on Long Island (such as
Levittown
Levittown is the name of several large suburban housing developments created in the United States (including one in Puerto Rico) by William J. Levitt and his company Levitt & Sons. Built after World War II for returning white veterans and their ...
) due to exclusionist real estate practices: steering, restrictive covenants, red-lining or price points. The rapid development of Wyandanch in the 1950s as one of the largest African-American communities in Suffolk County transformed Wyandanch politically into a hamlet which by 1960 voted overwhelmingly
Democratic. In the 1950s and 1960s, the political interest of African-Americans in Wyandanch was mainly focused on winning seats on the Wyandanch Board of Education.
In March 1951, Taca Homes, Inc. offered expandable four-room Cape Cod style homes for sale in Wyandanch on a "non-racial" basis at the Carver Park development at Straight Path and Booker Avenue. The 59 first stage homes with basement, hot-water heat and tile baths sold for $7,200 and were eligible for
Federal Housing Administration
The Federal Housing Administration (FHA), also known as the Office of Housing within the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), is a United States government agency founded by President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, created in part ...
loan insurance. Veterans were told that they only need put $365 down and could have a 30-year 4% mortgage. (See Brooklyn Daily Eagle, April 8, 1951) Carver Park was advertised as "interracial housing". (Brooklyn Daily Eagle, April 8, 1951) Homes in the first and second sections of Carver Park were purchased almost exclusively by African-Americans. These homes required $600 down and veterans only had to pay $58.50 per month. The building of Carver Park and then the construction of Lincoln Park in 1956, with over 400 homes combined, triggered the transformation of Wyandanch from a mostly working class white community in 1950 to a majority working class African-American community in 1960, and in turn this caused
white flight
White flight or white exodus is the sudden or gradual large-scale migration of white people from areas becoming more racially or ethnoculturally diverse. Starting in the 1950s and 1960s, the terms became popular in the United States. They refer ...
: many of the whites who lived south of the LIRR moved and lower middle class African-Americans bought or built modest, individual homes in Wyandanch Springs Park and in the "Tree streets" area east of Straight Path. In the 1960s many whites living in the Wyandanch school district #9 north of the Long Island Railroad in the Wyandanch School District also relocated.
Hispanic-American
Hispanic and Latino Americans ( es, Estadounidenses hispanos y latinos; pt, Estadunidenses hispânicos e latinos) are Americans of Spanish and/or Latin American ancestry. More broadly, these demographics include all Americans who identify as ...
families began to settle in Wyandanch in the late 1940s since the community offered affordable housing and land, within easy commuting distance of nearby defense plants and
Pilgrim
A pilgrim (from the Latin ''peregrinus'') is a traveler (literally one who has come from afar) who is on Pilgrimage, a journey to a holy place. Typically, this is a physical journey (often on foot) to some place of special significance to the a ...
,
Edgewood Edgewood may refer to:
Places Canada
*Edgewood, British Columbia
South Africa
*Edgewood, a University of KwaZulu-Natal campus in Pinetown, South Africa
United States Cities and towns
*Edgewood, California
*Edgewood, Florida
*Edgewood, Illinois, a ...
,
Central Islip
Central Islip is a hamlet and census-designated place (CDP) within the Town of Islip in Suffolk County, New York, United States. The population was 34,450 at the 2010 census.
History and overview
Prior to the arrival of European settlers, the S ...
, and
Kings Park State Psychiatric Centers - where jobs were plentiful.
1967 racial disturbances
The "
Long, hot summer of 1967
The long, hot summer of 1967 refers to the more than 150 race riots that erupted across the United States in the summer of 1967. In June there were riots in Atlanta, Boston, Cincinnati, Buffalo, and Tampa. In July there were riots in Birmingh ...
" included a reaction to racial tensions in Wyandanch. Over the first three nights of August 1967, racial disturbances broke out in Wyandanch as small groups of young African-American adults reportedly smashed windows in three stores, overturned two cars, set fire to the auditorium of the (now named) Martin Luther King, Jr. Elementary School on Mount Avenue, set fires at the Wyandanch VFW Hall and ambulance garage at South 20th Street and Straight Path, threw stones at the Wyandanch Fire House and pelted police officers with rocks and bottles.
Suffolk County officials intervened quickly and inventoried problems included joblessness, lack of bus access to area businesses and factories, a lack of recreational facilities for youth, and a lack of African-American representation in the police force.
As a result of the August 1967 disturbances in Wyandanch, governments, private businesses, the Wyandanch School District, community church groups and individuals, residents and non-residents acted to address the numerous problems facing the community. The U.S. Office of Economic Opportunity and its Wyandanch Community Action Center worked to improve bus routes, develop job training programs and assist the indigent with accessing government services.
The Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Company
The Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Company, better known as A&P, was an American chain store, chain of grocery stores that operated from 1859 to 2015. From 1915 through 1975, A&P was the largest grocery retailer in the United States (and, until ...
(A&P) built a modern supermarket in downtown Wyandanch at the corner of Straight Path and Long Island Avenue. Today, this building houses Suffolk County's Martin Luther King, Jr Community Health Center. Genovese Drugs opened a modern new store on the east side of Straight Path north of the Blue Jay shopping center.
Failed incorporation attempts
In the 1950s, some or all of Wyandanch and its neighbors
Dix Hills
Dix Hills is an affluent hamlet and census-designated place (CDP) on Long Island in the town of Huntington in Suffolk County, New York. The population was 26,892 at the 2010 census.
In the past, Dix Hills and some of its neighbors have proposed ...
and
Melville, along with the area known as Sweet Hollow, proposed to incorporate as a single village.
This village would have been known as the Incorporated Village of Half Hollow Hills, would have had an area of roughly , and would have embraced the
Half Hollow Hills Central School District (CSD 5).
The plans were unsuccessful, and each would remain unincorporated hamlets.
Wyandanch also tried incorporating as its own village in the 1980s, citing issues regarding race and neglect from the
Town of Babylon.
This village would have been known as the Incorporated Village of Wyandanch.
However, these plans also failed, and Wyandanch remains an unincorporated hamlet governed by the Town of Babylon.
Demographics
2020 census
''Note: the US Census treats Hispanic/Latino as an ethnic category. This table excludes Latinos from the racial categories and assigns them to a separate category. Hispanics/Latinos can be of any race.''
2010 Census
As of the
census
A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of a given population. This term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common censuses incl ...
of 2010, there were 11,647 people, 2,926 households, and 2,379 families residing in the CDP. The
population density
Population density (in agriculture: standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geographical term.Matt RosenberPopul ...
was 2,588.2 per square mile (1,004.7/km
2). There were 3,157 housing units at an average density of 701.6/sq mi (272.2/km
2). The racial makeup of the CDP was 5.0%
White
White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White on ...
, 65.0%
Black or African American, 1.0%
Native American, 1.2%
Asian
Asian may refer to:
* Items from or related to the continent of Asia:
** Asian people, people in or descending from Asia
** Asian culture, the culture of the people from Asia
** Asian cuisine, food based on the style of food of the people from Asi ...
, 12.3%
some other race, and 4.1% from two or more races.
Hispanic
The term ''Hispanic'' ( es, hispano) refers to people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or Hispanidad.
The term commonly applies to countries with a cultural and historical link to Spain and to Vic ...
or
Latino
Latino or Latinos most often refers to:
* Latino (demonym), a term used in the United States for people with cultural ties to Latin America
* Hispanic and Latino Americans in the United States
* The people or cultures of Latin America;
** Latin A ...
of any race were 28.2% of the population.
There were 2,926 households, out of which 52.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 37.0% were headed by
married couples
Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognized union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children, and between t ...
living together, 33.4% had a female householder with no husband present, and 18.7% were non-families. 12.9% of all households were made up of individuals, and 5.2% were someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 3.95, and the average family size was 4.07.
In the CDP, the population was spread out, with 29.7% under the age of 18, 11.1% from 18 to 24, 29.9% from 25 to 44, 21.4% from 45 to 64, and 7.9% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 30.4 years. For every 100 females, there were 96.4 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 93.6 males.
For the period 2007–2011, the estimated median annual income for a household in the CDP was $54,527, and the median income for a family was $54,223. Males had a median income of $35,262 versus $36,719 for females. The
per capita income
Per capita income (PCI) or total income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. It is calculated by dividing the area's total income by its total population.
Per capita i ...
for the CDP was $17,898. About 11.4% of families and 15.3% of 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 t ...
, including 21.9% of those under age 18 and 9.8% of those age 65 or over.
Transportation
Roads
The original roads in West Deer Park/Wyandanch were Colonial Springs Road and Main Avenue, Little East Neck Road, Upper Belmont Road (now Mount Avenue) and Straight Path. All were established before 1900 by the Conklins or the Belmonts or by real estate developers wanting access to filed lots by buyers. Straight Path in Wyandanch seems to have been developed in the early 1870s by the developers of the "North Breslau" filed lots north of the West Deer Park railroad station. What is now called Long Island Avenue (established in 1895) was originally known as Conklin Street, designed to provide easier access between the village of
Farmingdale and the new real estate sites in the future Wyandanch. A section of
William K. Vanderbilt Jr.'s
Long Island Motor Parkway
The Long Island Motor Parkway, also known as the Vanderbilt Parkway, Vanderbilt Motor Parkway, or Motor Parkway, was a roadway on Long Island, New York, in the United States. It was the first roadway designed for automobile use only. The parkway ...
(LIMP) toll road (1908) had two concrete overpass bridges crossing hollows at Little East Neck Road and Colonial Springs Road (across from the Wheatley Heights Post Office). The parkway (abandoned in 1938) was dug up and the bridges demolished in the early 1960s to make room for the Westwood Village housing estate in Wheatley Heights.
Working class Wyandanch was sandwiched in between the wealthy estates of the Belmonts, the Corbins and the Guggenheims in
North Babylon, and the Dr. Herman B.Baruch estate in
Wheatley Heights
Wheatley Heights is a census-designated place (CDP) in Suffolk County, New York. The population was 5,130 at the 2010 census. The CDP, located in the Town of Babylon, is named after the hamlet in the same general vicinity.
In the past, some or ...
. What is now known as Wheatley Heights was mapped out as real estate sub-divisions of Wyandanch (including Wheatley Heights Estates, and Harlem Park) by
Bellerose developer William Geiger (as in Geiger Lake park and pool) in 1913 following the development of the Long Island Motor Parkway. The filed lot sub-divisions south of the LIRR and east of Straight Path were known as the Colonial Springs Development Corp property. These lots ran from Straight Path to the Carlls River.
In 1941, Robert Moses'
Southern State Parkway
The Southern State Parkway (also known as the Southern State or Southern Parkway; abbreviated as SO on Road signs in the United States, signage) is a limited-access highway on Long Island, New York (state), New York, in the United States. The pa ...
was opened to
Belmont Lake State Park
Belmont Lake State Park is a day-use state park located in North Babylon, New York on Long Island.
History
Belmont Lake State Park was established in 1926 on land that was formerly part of the " Nursery Stud Farm", a Thoroughbred horse farm owne ...
in North Babylon. Wyandanch residents were able to enter and exit the parkway at Exit 36 at Straight Path in
West Babylon
West Babylon is a census-designated place (CDP) in the Town of Babylon in Suffolk County, New York, United States. The population was 43,213 at the 2010 census.
Geography
West Babylon is located at (40.713399, -73.357106).
West Babylon is bo ...
.
Railroad
In 1875, a station was built in Wyandanch on the
Long Island Rail Road
The Long Island Rail Road , often abbreviated as the LIRR, is a commuter rail system in the southeastern part of the U.S. state of New York (state), New York, stretching from Manhattan to the eastern tip of Suffolk County, New York, Suffolk Co ...
. It was demolished in June 1958 and replaced with a station building that was, in turn, replaced in 1986. The station was completely rebuilt in 2018 as part of the Double Track Project on the LIRR's
Ronkonkoma Branch.
Buses
Wyandanch is served by several bus routes operated by
Suffolk County Transit:
* 2A: Wheatley Heights – Bay Shore
* 2B: SUNY Farmingdale – Bay Shore
* S23: Walt Whitman Mall – Babylon
* S33: Hauppauge – Sunrise Mall
Government services
To combat the danger of frequent
forest fire
A wildfire, forest fire, bushfire, wildland fire or rural fire is an unplanned, uncontrolled and unpredictable fire in an area of Combustibility and flammability, combustible vegetation. Depending on the type of vegetation present, a wildfire ...
s, the Wyandanch Volunteer Fire Company was established in 1925 and incorporated in 1928. A new fire station was built in 1959, and a second one was added in 1964. Water wells were drilled in the 1950s.
Ambulance
An ambulance is a medically equipped vehicle which transports patients to treatment facilities, such as hospitals. Typically, out-of-hospital medical care is provided to the patient during the transport.
Ambulances are used to respond to medi ...
service began in 1951 with the community-formed Wyandanch Ambulance Club. Other volunteer squads operated as well, and in 1980 the non-profit Wyandanch-Wheatley Heights Ambulance Corps was formed.
The Martin Luther King Jr. Medical Center, a community health center, was opened in 1968, and moved into a new building in 1978.
As late as 1980, hundreds of homeowners in Wyandanch were not served by the public water mains of the Suffolk County Water Authority but relied on private water wells. After community action, public water was extended to thousands of home in Wyandanch, West Babylon and North Babylon by the late 1980s.
In October 2011, a sewer pipe was being laid down on Straight Path from the Southern State Parkway into Wyandanch as part of the "Wyandanch Rising" program to upgrade downtown Wyandanch.
Education
The
Wyandanch Union Free School District
The Wyandanch Union Free School District (also known as Union Free School District No. 9 and often abbreviated as WUFSD) is a public school district headquartered in and serving the community of Wyandanch, in Suffolk County, Long Island, New York ...
operates the community's public schools, including LaFrancis Hardiman/Dr
Martin Luther King Jr.
Martin Luther King Jr. (born Michael King Jr.; January 15, 1929 – April 4, 1968) was an American Baptist minister and activist, one of the most prominent leaders in the civil rights movement from 1955 until his assassination in 1968 ...
Elementary School,
Milton L. Olive Middle School, and
Wyandanch Memorial High School
Wyandanch (, ) is a hamlet and census-designated place (CDP) in the Town of Babylon in Suffolk County, New York. The population was 12,990 at the 2020 census.
In the past, some or all of Wyandanch was proposed to become part of the never-real ...
.
Wyandanch was part of the Deer Park school district until 1923. Deer Park built the first permanent school building in Wyandanch, on Straight Path at 20th Street, in 1913. A modern Wyandanch grade school opened in September 1937, built for $120,000, $54,000 of which was provided by the New Deal Public Works Authority.
In 1967, seven Wyandanch parents petitioned Dr. Gordon Wheaton, the Third Supervisory District principal, to dissolve the Wyandanch School District No. 9. The parents, supported by the
NAACP
The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) is a civil rights organization in the United States, formed in 1909 as an interracial endeavor to advance justice for African Americans by a group including W. E.&nb ...
, also asked Dr. Wheaton to order the 2,295 students in the Wyandanch schools (86 per cent of whom were African-American) to be divided equally into the more affluent and predominantly white surrounding Half Hollow Hills, Deer Park, North Babylon, West Babylon and Farmingdale school districts. The Wyandanch school board (consisting of five African-Americans and one white man) opposed, and noted that the recently hired Superintendent of Schools had proposed a "$1,000,000 program designed to make Wyandanch a model school district." The superintendent noted that "the uprooting of culturally disadvantaged students to schools where the educational program is planned for the middle class would have damaging effects on our community's children." Rather than wait for a decision by Dr. Wheaton, the NAACP appealed directly to Dr. Allen, the chief of the State Education Department. On July 24, 1968, Allen rejected the petition to dissolve the Wyandanch School District; he told ''The New York Times'' that "serious obstacles imposed by existing law" prevented "dissolution of the district," which the ''Times'' reported "is now 91.5 per cent non-white."
A
liberal arts college
A liberal arts college or liberal arts institution of higher education is a college with an emphasis on undergraduate study in liberal arts and sciences. Such colleges aim to impart a broad general knowledge and develop general intellectual capac ...
was started in Wyandanch, with evening classes for over 200 students, in early October 1969, but soon closed.
Following the August 1967 disturbances, the Wyandanch Day Care Center was opened on Commonwealth Boulevard. The Wyandanch school district first provided space for 35 children in a classroom in the Straight Path Elementary School and later provided room in an empty building adjacent to the Milton L. Olive Elementary School. Ground was broken for the new center on September 13, 1970, and the Wyandanch Day Care Center opened on February 25, 1973. The two-story, red brick, eight-classroom
day care
Child care, otherwise known as day care, is the care and supervision of a child or multiple children at a time, whose ages range from two weeks of age to 18 years. Although most parents spend a significant amount of time caring for their child(r ...
center was constructed with a $1 million loan from the New York State Social Services Department.
On March 12, 2012, ''Newsday'' reported that the Town of Babylon will be building a larger, more modern
Head Start facility at 20 Andrews Avenue in downtown Wyandanch. The new Head Start building, financed by $850,000 in State of New York funding and $1 million in U.S. Community Block Grant funding, will be larger than the current facility on Long Island Avenue near the LIRR station, which serves about 100 pre-schoolers. Head Start has served the children of Wyandanch since the late 1960s.
Public library
![Wyandanch library](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/06/Wyandanch_library.jpg)
In April 1974, the construction of a public library was approved. Initially operating from two rented portable classrooms, the permanent building eventually opened in 1989.
Geography
According to the
United States Census Bureau
The United States Census Bureau (USCB), officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the U.S. Federal Statistical System, responsible for producing data about the American people and economy. The Census Bureau is part of the ...
, the CDP has a total area of , all land.
Wyandanch is a suburb of
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 ...
. It is served by Exit 36 on the
Southern State Parkway
The Southern State Parkway (also known as the Southern State or Southern Parkway; abbreviated as SO on Road signs in the United States, signage) is a limited-access highway on Long Island, New York (state), New York, in the United States. The pa ...
and Exit 50 on the
Long Island Expressway
Long may refer to:
Measurement
* Long, characteristic of something of great duration
* Long, characteristic of something of great length
* Longitude (abbreviation: long.), a geographic coordinate
* Longa (music), note value in early music mensur ...
.
The community was formerly known as Half Way Hollow Hills, West Deer Park (beginning in 1875), and Wyandance (in 1888). Topographically, Wyandanch's nutrient-poor
loam
Loam (in geology and soil science) is soil composed mostly of sand (particle size > ), silt (particle size > ), and a smaller amount of clay (particle size < ). By weight, its mineral composition is about 40–40–20% concentration of sand–sil ...
and sandy soils are part of the
outwash plain
An outwash plain, also called a sandur (plural: ''sandurs''), sandr or sandar, is a plain formed of glaciofluvial deposits due to meltwater outwash at the terminus of a glacier. As it flows, the glacier grinds the underlying rock surface and ca ...
which was formed as the last glacier melted about 10,000 BCE. The outwash plain slopes gently towards
Belmont Lake State Park
Belmont Lake State Park is a day-use state park located in North Babylon, New York on Long Island.
History
Belmont Lake State Park was established in 1926 on land that was formerly part of the " Nursery Stud Farm", a Thoroughbred horse farm owne ...
from the Half Way Hollow Hills
terminal moraine
A terminal moraine, also called end moraine, is a type of moraine that forms at the terminal (edge) of a glacier, marking its maximum advance. At this point, debris that has accumulated by plucking and abrasion, has been pushed by the front edge ...
and from Little East Neck Road.
In the mid and late 20th century, the Wheatley Heights area (Half Hollow Hills School District) developed as a separate community (due to class and racial dynamics) but is still served by the Wyandanch Fire Department and the US Postal Service.
Agriculture and industry
The early history of Wyandanch was mainly agricultural. There was a large peach industry, but in 1854,
seventeen-year locusts so devastated the peach trees "that cultivation on any extensive scale has not been attempted since."
Water from the Colonial Spring in West Deer Park (now Wheatley Heights) was bottled in small blue embossed "West Deer Park" water bottles by the Colonial Springs Mineral Company between 1845 and 1854. The bottlers claimed it had "special medicinal properties." When Dr. George Hopkins of
Brooklyn
Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...
ran the Colonial Springs bottling works, "A bottling house was built and the springs were welled in with enameled brick and covered with glass tops."
Millions of building
brick
A brick is a type of block used to build walls, pavements and other elements in masonry construction. Properly, the term ''brick'' denotes a block composed of dried clay, but is now also used informally to denote other chemically cured cons ...
s were molded and baked at the Walker & Conklin and W.H. and F.A. Barlett brickyards using the
Cretaceous
The Cretaceous ( ) is a geological period that lasted from about 145 to 66 million years ago (Mya). It is the third and final period of the Mesozoic Era, as well as the longest. At around 79 million years, it is the longest geological period of th ...
clay and fine sand found in the area. The bricks were shipped out by railroad using a LIRR spur which ran along what is now North 23rd Street. In October 1888 the Wyandance Brick and Terra Cotta Corp. was organized on the site of the abandoned Walker and Conklin brickyard to produce solid and hollow building bricks. In 1893, the plant was destroyed by a forest fire.
The Conservative Gas Corporation established a
propane
Propane () is a three-carbon alkane with the molecular formula . It is a gas at standard temperature and pressure, but compressible to a transportable liquid. A by-product of natural gas processing and petroleum refining, it is commonly used a ...
bottling business in Wyandanch in 1929. Today it operates as
Amerigas
AmeriGas Partners, L.P. is the largest retail propane distributor in the United States based on the volume of propane gallons distributed annually. It serves over 1.7 million residential, commercial, industrial, agricultural, wholesale and motor ...
Propane LP. In 1947, Joseph F. Walsh established a paper box factory in Wyandanch, and Ignatius Davidson and Mortimer Cumberbach expanded their C & D Cement Block factory, making it the largest African-American-owned business in Suffolk County.
Fairchild Fairchild may refer to:
Organizations
* Fairchild Aerial Surveys, operated in cooperation with a subsidiary of Fairey Aviation Company
* Fairchild Camera and Instrument
* List of Sherman Fairchild companies, "Fairchild" companies
* Fairchild Fa ...
Guided Missiles established a large factory in Wyandanch in 1951–1952 and built the Lark anti-aircraft missile and the Petral anti-sub and ship missile for the U.S. Navy. Fairchild Stratos left Wyandanch in 1963 and was replaced by
Grumman
The Grumman Aircraft Engineering Corporation, later Grumman Aerospace Corporation, was a 20th century American producer of military and civilian aircraft. Founded on December 6, 1929, by Leroy Grumman and his business partners, it merged in 1994 ...
Aircraft, which fabricated custom-built
fiberglass
Fiberglass (American English) or fibreglass (Commonwealth English) is a common type of fiber-reinforced plastic using glass fiber. The fibers may be randomly arranged, flattened into a sheet called a chopped strand mat, or woven into glass cloth ...
and
Plexiglas
Poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) belongs to a group of materials called engineering plastics. It is a transparent thermoplastic. PMMA is also known as acrylic, acrylic glass, as well as by the trade names and brands Crylux, Plexiglas, Acrylite, ...
sections and
nacelle
A nacelle ( ) is a "streamlined body, sized according to what it contains", such as an engine, fuel, or equipment on an aircraft. When attached by a pylon entirely outside the airframe, it is sometimes called a pod, in which case it is attached ...
s for U.S. Navy aircraft. Grumman left the community in 1977. Max Staller built the first supermarket and shopping center in Wyandanch in 1955. All these businesses were located near the Long Island Rail Road track in Wyandanch. Beginning in the 1950s and 1960s, light industrial factories were established in Wyandanch in the northern section of the Pinelawn Industrial Park in southwest Wyandanch and on the east side of Straight Path between two African-American housing estates.
Parks and recreation
In July 1945, land located between Long Island Avenue and Grand Boulevard on the border between Wyandanch and Deer Park was donated by William Geiger to the Town of Babylon to be developed as a recreational site for residents of the Town of Babylon. The Babylon Town Board voted $3,500 to improve the "small lake." In 1946, Babylon cut the brush around the lake, dredged and cleared it, and rehabilitated "a sturdy log cabin" into concession and comfort stations. The Geiger Lake Town Beach and picnic grove was opened to the public on July 21, 1946. Geiger Memorial Lake was so popular that by 1948 "many houses" had been built on Elk Street on land with lake views. The town spent $156,000 refurbishing the Geiger Lake Pool in Wyandanch in the summer of 1989. The Town of Babylon demolished the Wyandanch pool in 2011. A new children's spray park has been built and opened in July 2013. All other recreational facilities have been removed from the park including basketball courts (built less than 5 years prior), the children's playground, ball field and tennis courts. The William Geiger memorial monument regarding his donation and desires for land use has been removed.
One of the major complaints voiced by young adults in Wyandanch after the August 1967 unrest was the lack of positive recreational activities. A youth center opened in January 1974, and in 1984 the Wyandanch Youth Services, Inc. (WYS) was formed. Since 1998 WYS has operated a full service from a new purpose-built youth center.
Religion
Until the early 1930s,
Catholics
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
from the area worshiped at St. Kilian's in
Farmingdale. The first Mass to be celebrated in Wyandanch took place in June 1932 in a real estate building, with fund-raising eventually allowing construction of the Little Mission Chapel of the Our Lady of Miraculous Medal Roman Catholic parish, completed on June 28, 1936. An adjacent
parish hall
A church hall or parish hall is a room or building associated with a church, generally for community and charitable use. opened in 1941, followed in 1950 by an additional wing and a
rectory
A clergy house is the residence, or former residence, of one or more priests or ministers of religion. Residences of this type can have a variety of names, such as manse, parsonage, rectory or vicarage.
Function
A clergy house is typically ow ...
.
The Franciscan Brothers moved their novitiate from
Smithtown to the Wyandanch parish in 1949.
Lutherans
Lutheranism is one of the largest branches of Protestantism, identifying primarily with the theology of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German monk and reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Catholic Church launched ...
in Wyandanch held their first services from August 1934 in the Republican Hall. In June 1938, the Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church was opened on South 20th Street.
Notable people
*
Geoffrey Canada
Geoffrey Canada (born January 13, 1952) is an American educator, social activist and author. Since 1990, Canada has been president of the Harlem Children's Zone in Harlem, New York, an organization that states its goal is to increase high scho ...
, Activist and Educator
*
Rakim
William Michael Griffin Jr. (born January 28, 1968), better known by his stage name Rakim Allah or simply Rakim (), is an American rapper and record producer. One half of golden age hip hop duo Eric B. & Rakim, he is widely regarded as one of t ...
, Rapper
*
Daryl Mitchell, actor
Delores E. Jenkins Educator
Delores E. Jenkins Ave
*
Soul for Real
Soul for Real (also known as Soul 4 Real and Soul IV Real) is an African-American R&B group from Wyandanch, New York, currently living in Atlanta, Georgia made up of brothers Christopher Sherman Dalyrimple a.k.a. Choc (born April 30, 1971), And ...
, R&B Group
*
Alexis Skyy, Reality Television Personality
*
Keith Murray
Keith Omar Murray (born May 29, 1974) is an American rapper from New York. Murray grew up on Carleton Ave, in Central Islip, which is located on the South Shore of Long Island in Suffolk County. Murray was a known member of a local rap collec ...
, Rapper
References
Further reading
* Roy Douglas, "Pine Barren Pioneers," ''Long Island Forum'', October, November, December 1982 (West Islip Public Library)
* Verne Dyson, 195
''Deer Park-Wyandanch History'' Deer Park Public Library.
* Richard Koubeck, "Wyandanch: A Political Profile of a Black Suburb", Institute for Community Studies, Queens College, 1971 (Wyandanch Public Library).
{{Authority control
Babylon (town), New York
Census-designated places in New York (state)
Hamlets in New York (state)
Census-designated places in Suffolk County, New York
Hamlets in Suffolk County, New York