During the Roaring Twenties of the last century, thousands of city-dwelling New Yorkers left crowded, rented apartments to own their own homes. It was a time of phenomenal growth in Nassau County, where the “suburb” emerged on a large scale, largely as a result of improved railroads and roads. The days of the weekday commute had arrived.
Before 1920, Glen Head was essentially farmland, with scattered homes and estates. Developers envisioned a different future for the area. In 1910, a map of Park Villa on the Hills was drawn up. When completed, this subdivision would become known as The Promenade. On a Saturday afternoon during the late 1920s, 500 lots surrounding the site of the newly-built Glen Head Elementary School were auctioned off at the nearby railroad station. Combined, these two suburban neighborhoods make up a large portion of the present-day Hamlet of Glen Head, including the sites of both the current and future Gold Coast Public Libraries.
A recently-published book, “Making Long Island,” by Lawrence R. Samuel, documents the history of growth on the entirety of Long Island. It is available for loan at the library. The Park Villa map and documents related to the residential auction are part of the library’s Local History collection.
Ask a librarian how you can learn more about the history of our library district.