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OCEANSIDE/ISLAND PARK ALMANAC
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HISTORY OF ISLAND PARK The small island between the mainland of Long Island and Long Beach has been known by many names: Hog Island, Barnum Island, Jekyll Island and finally it is known today as Island Park. Like so many other parts of Long Island, there are whispers and reminders of Native American activity that date back centuries. Most notable are the huge heaps of unused wampum shells that lay along the area where Long Beach Hospital is today. The early English settlers who came in the late 1600s raised hogs on the drier parts of the Island — hence the early name Hog Island. Much like their counterparts throughout New York, the Hog Island Indians were stricken with disease and faced heavy oppression from the white newcomers. Those who lived through the onslaught of musketballs and smallpox moved eastward. During the American Revolution, Hog Island became a strategic stronghold over which many battles were fought. The Battle of Brooklyn gave Long Island to the British and the patriots undertook many efforts to get it back. All in all, the patriots made four landings at Hog Island and fought against the Tories. Each time, they failed to establish a foothold that would give them any strategic advantage. After the war ended, Oceanside and Hempstead farmers brought their hogs to the island to graze. In addition to hog-farming, oyster farming became a prosperous industry. Until the late 19th century, it was possible to get to the areas surrounding Hog Island by boat only. Hog Island quickly lost its isolation in 1870 when the Long Island Rail Road laid tracks from Lynbrook to Long Beach. Trains ran only in the summer months and there were two stations in Island Park. One was where Kildaire Road is today. The other stood at the southern end of the island. In the late 19th century Hog Island changed its name to Barnum Island. It has been said that the great man of circus and hoax, P.T. Barnum, bought the land to serve as a winter headquarters for his circus. In 1893, the tale continues, he removed his circus to Bridgeport, Connecticut. His frail sister, Phoebe Anne, lived on the island for a few years afterward. As Barnum himself would have said...”suckers!” In actuality, a man by the name of Peter C. Barnum gained ownership of the southeastern lands of Long Island over a period of several years. In 1874, his widow purchased Hog Island for $13,000. The island became the home of Nassau County’s poor farm and smallpox hospital. In honor of her altruistic actions, Hog Island was renamed Barnum Island. There were plans at the beginning of the 20th century to develop Barnum’s Island into the “Venice of the United States” complete with canals running throughout the island. The explosion of World War I cancelled those plans and the land was bought by the Island Park-Long Beach Corporation and Barnum’s Island was renamed Island Park. An easy enough name to choose, since the land was completely surrounded by water. Early ambitions saw Island Park as a resort center. The Island Park-Long Beach Corporation dredged the Island Park Canal and the Island Park Bay to fill in the low lying marshlands. Mud was pumped in until it was 5 feet deep and
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when it dried, it is said Island Park resembled a “large desert.” This filling operation took over a year and once completed, electric and water works were established at the end of Kildaire Road. Fifteen homes were built along Kildaire Road near the railroad tracks and were supplied with water all day and with electricity six hours a night. In the 1920s a minor building boom started at the southern end of the island, and the railroad station was relocated from the northern end of the island to the present site on Long Beach Road. This section soon became a haven for small businesses. Summer bungalows were being rapidly built due to the spectacular coastline and water activities. In fact, most of the island was developed for recreational beach, boating and fishing activities. Most beach fanatics had homes in other areas and worshiped the sun in Island Park. When the Village of Island Park was incorporated in 1926, there were fewer than 1,000 property owners. Eventually, people began to live there year round and today the population is 4,655 within the incorporated borders. Today, Island Park is made up of three areas. Beyond Island Park and to the west is Harbor Isle. It is made up mostly of one-family homes and a marina and is joined to the Village by bridges on Island Parkway and Warwick Road. The incorporated Village of Island Park lies between the canal and the Long Island Rail Road tracks. It is made up of bungalows, year-round homes and apartment houses. There are several stores on Long Beach Road, and a full range of community and religious services. Barnum Island is the land situated between the Long Island Rail Road tracks and Shell Creek. Barnum Island is the site of many industrial businesses, restaurants, private homes and the Lincoln Orens School.