Did You Know West Hempstead

Colonists in the West Hempstead area declared their loyalty to George III in 1775.

Poet and writer Walt Whitman briefly served as schoolmaster at the first school in what is now West Hempstead.

WEST HEMPSTEAD

In 1956, the government purchased the Hall’s Farm and estate to construct Cornwell Avenue School.

In 1897, a tornado touched down in what is now Lakeview.

In 1975, a referendum was held to change the name of West Hempstead to “Mayfair Park,” which failed.

Norwood Chapel was built and began holding services in

1890, for decades as the sole location for public assembly. Prominent businessmen, politicians and artists, established opulent mansions and estates at the eastern end of Cornwell Avenue in the early 1900s.

West Hempstead was given its name in

1891 by LIRR president Austin Corbin. The George Washington School was named in 1932, honoring

the bicentennial of

Washington’s birth, and commemorating his tour of Long Island in 1790. The present West Hempstead Public Library building was opened at 500 Hempstead Avenue in 2007.

In 2013, Heather Senti was elected Lakeview Fire Department chief, the first female fire chief in the history of Nassau County.