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WESTBURY/CARLE PLACE GUIDE • OCTOBER 7 - 13, 2015
Carle Place Celebrates Rich Past & Bright Future Built on community pride, Frog Hollow marks 100 years
BY BETSY ABRAHAM
BABRAHAM@ANTONMEDIAGROUP.COM
This year, the bright hamlet of Carle Place celebrates its 100 year anniversary. The proud, tight-knit community has commemorated the momentous occasion with a kick-off party, carnival and movie night, and has several other events planned for later this year. Not many know the story behind Frog Hollow and the people who were instrumental in its founding. But the zealous and hardworking spirit of the community’s founders are still evident today in the current residents who are full of Carle Place pride. Carle Place’s history traces back to the 1800s, when a New York City merchant named Silas Carle—a descendant of the Hicks family and owner of a thriving pharmaceutical practice—purchased 220 acres of farmland in the rural area, wanting a reprieve from the hustle of city life for him and his wife. In 1835, he built a home on the land, which extended from across what is currently Jericho Turnpike to the Carle Place train station. The home soon became known for its beauty and known to local townspeople as “The Carle Place.” Though the estate was sold in 1883, the home still stands at the corner of Jericho Turnpike and Old Westbury Road and is worth about $2.5 million. In the early 1900s, the Carle Place area was officially known as Mineola Park, but referred to by longtime residents as Frog Hollow, a nickname that came from the large population of bullfrogs in the area. The Carle Place Fire Department, originally known as Mineola Park Hook and Ladder Company No. 1, was established by 11 men in 1910. With horses and wagons, they moved a farm building from Old Westbury from the Treadwell estate to the Northeast corner of Rushmore and Westbury avenues. They rang the fire bell from that location and used a horse-drawn carriage that carried buckets of water and ladders to put out blazes. In 1915, at the urging of residents, the hamlet officially adopted the name Carle Place. That year also saw the formation of Carle Place’s first official school and establishment of the school district. Known as the Roslyn Avenue School, the building housed four classrooms with four teachers under the leadership of Principal Priscilla K. Archibold. She held the
Carle Place High School in the late 1950s.
post until 1950 and is honored with continued to grow and develop. a poetry collection memorial in the Westbury Avenue, Carle Place’s major Rushmore Avenue School library. thoroughfare, has seen the addition of In 1916, the first class post office several new businesses and eateries, was established for Carle Place. and the area has become a major Residents picked up their mail at the attraction for young families looking office until 1950, when they finally to settle down in a community with an began to receive home delivered mail excellent school district. after many changes were made to Though the area has changed duplicate drastically street over the names years, going and house from rural numbers. farmland to In 1923, developed a second suburbia, class train the sense of station small-town was added community to the pride has community, remained. making it Carle Place an attractive is marked option for Carle Place’s original firehouse was the Tredwell Barn. The by its people who barn was moved from Guinea Woods Road to Westbury close-knit worked in and Rushmore Avenues to be used by the firefighters. commuthe city, yet nity and wanted the peace and quiet of living residents are quick to lend a helping in a rural area. In 1945, returning hand to their neighbors. World War II veteran William Levitt Sharon Froehlich has been a lifepurchased 19 acres of land and began time resident of Carle Place and said building 600 affordable “Levitt”-style she’s seen many changes over the last homes. Levitt rapidly assembled several decades, especially in terms of low-cost homes on small pieces development. of land near the Carle Place train “There’s been a lot of changes station. This housing development with the houses, there’s not much led to a huge population explosion. room left in Carle Place,” Froehlich Rushmore Avenue School was built said. “Everything is being built on in 1949, followed by Cherry Lane and and houses are being ripped down the Carle Place Middle/High School and mini mansions are being built in 1953 and 1956, respectively. in their place. And there’s so many Since then, the small hamlet has shopping centers—big ones, small
ones, strip malls.” She added that everything had changed pretty much for the better, and in the future, she hopes Carle Place retains its community feel. “I hope it keeps the small-town community feel and camaraderie,” she said. “That’s something that’s often lost in today’s society, and it’s a great thing to be a part of.” Joe Funk has lived in Westbury his whole life but went to the Carle Place School District and still remains actively involved in the community. He said that despite the development and population growth, the area is still pretty much the same as far as people go. According to him, the community revolves around the schools and the church, and that’s a good thing. “It’s a comfortable place to live and I love the feeling of community,” he said. “People feel so much for the area, it’s like a big family.” John Heslin, president of the Carle Place Senior Center and a resident of the area for 48 years, said a lot of businesses have come and gone over the years and now the area has seen a boom in restaurants. He said he’s happy to see so many young people moving to the community, a trend he hopes will continue. “The schools are bringing the young people back to the community,” Heslin said. “I want to see the community continue to grow like it is.” Whatever the next 100 years brings, there’s no doubt that Frog pride will continue to prevail and that the tightknit community will help preserve Carle Place as a great place to live.