Editing Massapequa Park, New York (section)

==History==
The village located on the South Shore of [[Long Island]] shares the early Native American history of [[Massapequa, New York|Massapequa]]. Then in the 19th century, families of German descent relocated from [[Brooklyn]] to what is now Massapequa Park, and the community which was formed was known as Wurtenberg or Stadtwurtemburg. The main attraction and center of activity was the Woodcastle Hotel, a rooming house built in 1868 on Front Street next to the fire department as a summer resort. It was destroyed by fire in 1952 and replaced by houses.{{Citation needed|date=October 2012}}

In 1928, ''[[The New York Times]] ran'' ads for Massapequa Park, a development built by a real estate firm owned by Michael J. Brady, Frank Cryan, and Peter Colleran. The three Irish-Americans described their project as having a bit of Old Erin; the area between Sunrise Highway and Merrick Road still has mostly Irish street names.{{Citation needed|date=October 2012}}

In 1931, Massapequa Park was incorporated as a village to ensure control of land use and other issues.<ref name=":81">{{Cite book |last=Winsche |first=Richard |title=The History of Nassau County Community Place-Names |date=October 1, 1999 |publisher=Empire State Books |isbn=978-1557871541 |location=[[Interlaken, New York]] |pages=}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=About Us {{!}} Village of Massapequa Park|url=https://masspk.com/about-us|access-date=August 13, 2021|language=en-US}}</ref> Several dozen [[Sears Catalog Home|kit houses from Sears Roebuck]] were built in two different areas of the village. These include some of the largest model kit houses offered by Sears.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://kithousehunters.blogspot.com/2015/10/sears-houses-of-massapequa-park-new-york.html|title=Sears Houses of Massapequa Park, New York|date=October 12, 2015 |access-date=December 8, 2015}}</ref>

The village once had its own airport, the Fitzmaurice Flying Field, named in 1929 for [[James Fitzmaurice (pilot)|James Fitzmaurice]], one of a crew of three to be the first to fly a plane from east to west across the Atlantic ([[Baldonnel Aerodrome|Baldonnel, Ireland]] to [[Greenly Island, Canada|Greenly Island]] in Labrador, Canada). An estimated 100,000 people came to the dedication of the field on Spruce Street.<ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.massapequachamber.com/php/showContent.php?linkid=1| title=Massapequa - The City of Homes| publisher=Massapequa Chamber of Commerce| access-date=October 9, 2012| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120717170159/http://www.massapequachamber.com/php/showContent.php?linkid=1| archive-date=July 17, 2012| url-status=dead}}</ref> The field was used by private planes.

The field was eventually closed and became the home for the athletic fields of the 4M Club, a popular youth athletic program founded by Larry Neusse, and supported by a wide range of local residents. Today the site is home to McKenna Elementary School (which used to be a junior high school) and the Nassau County Police Academy (which used to be Hawthorn Elementary School).<ref>{{Cite news |date=June 21, 1953 |title=FITZMAURICE FIELD BOWING TO SCHOOL; ' Cow Pasture' Airport Closed to Permit Expansion of Education in Nassau |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1953/06/21/archives/fitzmaurice-field-bowing-to-school-cow-pasture-airport-closed-to.html |access-date=August 30, 2022 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref>