Editing Old Bethpage, New York (section)

==History==
{{Further|Bethpage Purchase}}
In 1695, [[Thomas Powell (1641–1722)|Thomas Powell]] bought about {{convert|10000|acre|km2}} from local Indian tribes, including the [[Metoac|Marsapeque, Matinecoc, and Sacatogue]], for 140 English pounds. This land, which includes modern [[Bethpage, New York|Bethpage]], [[East Farmingdale]], [[Farmingdale, New York|Farmingdale]], Old Bethpage, [[Plainedge]], [[Plainview, New York|Plainview]], [[South Farmingdale]], and part of Melville, is known as the ''Bethpage Purchase'' and is approximately {{convert|3.5|mi|km}} east to west and {{convert|5|mi|km}} north to south.

Powell called his land [[Bethphage]], because it was situated between two other places on Long Island, [[Jericho, New York|Jericho]] and [[Wantagh, New York|Jerusalem]], just as the biblical town of Bethphage (meaning "house of figs") was situated between [[Jericho]] and [[Jerusalem]]. The Long Island place formerly called Jerusalem is known as [[Wantagh, New York|Wantagh]] and [[Island Trees Union Free School District|Island Trees]], while the placename Jericho is unaltered.  Over time, ''Bethpage'' was spelled without the second "H". Powell's 14 children divided his purchase and it evolved into several farming communities. The one in this mostly central part of the purchase retained the name "Bethpage".

A railroad spur completed in 1873, named the [[Bethpage Branch]] of the ''Central Railroad of Long Island'',<ref>{{cite news |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1873/08/01/79041421.pdf |title=Railroad Extension |date=1873-08-01 |access-date=2008-04-01 |newspaper=[[NY Times]] }}
</ref> ran to a [[brickworks]] which had opened in the 1860s on what became Battle Row and Bethpage-Sweet Hollow Road.  The railway was built to transport bricks for the construction of [[Alexander Turney Stewart|Alexander Stewart's]] [[Garden City, New York|Garden City]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.plainview-oldbethpage.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=history |title=Plainview-Old Bethpage Chamber of Commerce |access-date=2004-12-11 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050123182141/http://www.plainview-oldbethpage.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=history |archive-date=2005-01-23 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://arrts-arrchives.com/about.html |title=Stewart Line and Stewart Brick Works}}</ref>
For a few years, regularly scheduled passenger traffic also appeared in timetables, with the station named Bethpage. The line was abandoned in 1942. Remnants of a locomotive turntable can be found in the woods of [[Bethpage State Park]] on the east side of Round Swamp Road.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://home.att.net/~Berliner-Ultrasonics/lirrcrr1.html#bethpgbr |title=Central Railroad of Long Island- Bethpage Turntable |access-date=2007-01-26 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070429155140/http://home.att.net/~Berliner-Ultrasonics/lirrcrr1.html#bethpgbr |archive-date=2007-04-29 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://home.att.net/~Berliner-Ultrasonics/limpxpl2.html |title=Long Island Motor Parkway Exploration Continuation Page 2 }}{{Dead link|date=April 2020 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> The brickyard continued operating until 1981, with different sections known as Bethpage Brickworks, Queens County Brick Manufacturing Company, Post Brick Company, and (after Nassau County split from Queens County in 1899) Nassau Brick Company.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://limparkway.webs.com/battlerowcamprev.htm |title=Battle Row Campground |access-date=2010-04-27 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100505060530/http://limparkway.webs.com/battlerowcamprev.htm |archive-date=2010-05-05 |url-status=dead }}</ref> The pitted terrain at the brickworks was used in investigations by [[Grumman]] for digital mapping of Earth.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VafaAgpBZIoC&q=bethpage+%22nassau+brick+company%22&pg=PA133 |title=Moon Stories: A Roadmap to Lunar Exploration and Beyond |first=John |last=Halajian |year=2007 |isbn=9781602475281 |access-date=2010-04-27}}</ref>

In 1908, [[William Kissam Vanderbilt II]] began construction of the [[Long Island Motor Parkway]], one of the country's first highways.  Eventually stretching {{convert|45|mi|km}} from [[Queens]] to [[Lake Ronkonkoma, New York|Lake Ronkonkoma]], [[New York (state)|New York]], a portion of the parkway ran through Old Bethpage. Street names such as "Vanderbilt Lane", "Motor Parkway" and "Toll Place" serve as reminders. Segments of the old roadbed and some bridges can still be seen, including Battle Row Campground, Bethpage State Park, and the Old Bethpage Village Restoration.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://home.att.net/~berliner-ultrasonics/limpkwy7.html |title=Long Island Motor Parkway Page 7 |access-date=2008-04-05 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080311071441/http://home.att.net/~berliner-ultrasonics/limpkwy7.html |archive-date=2008-03-11 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

In 1932, under the auspices of Long Island State Parks Commissioner [[Robert Moses]], Bethpage State Park was opened.  The park and its {{convert|1400|acre|km2}} is almost entirely within the hamlet of Old Bethpage. In 1936, the adjacent hamlet of Central Park changed its name to [[Bethpage, New York|Bethpage]].<ref>{{cite news |url= http://select.nytimes.com/mem/archive/pdf?res=F00F14F6345B1B7B93C1A9178BD95F428385F9 |title=Metropolitan Area Loses One of Its Central Parks |newspaper= NY Times |format=$ PDF $ |date=1936-10-03}}</ref> Following the name change, the hamlet originally called Bethpage resisted suggestions that it merge with the new Bethpage, and got approval from the post office to change its name to ''Old Bethpage'', though it did not have its own post office until 1965.<ref name="Hop Skip Jump">{{cite news |url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9A07E0D71431F93BA2575BC0A960958260&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=all |title=A Hop, Skip and Jump to Life's Amenities |newspaper= NY Times |date=1996-08-18 |access-date=2008-04-01 | first=Vivien | last=Kellerman}}</ref> Bethpage State Park retained its name, leading some to mistakenly believe that the park is located mostly in Bethpage.
[[File:OB Sign.jpg|right|250px|Entry sign into Old Bethpage]]

Old Bethpage was home to at least two grand estates, the Benjamin Franklin Yoakum Estate and the Taliaferro Estate.
* The former estate of railroad tycoon [[Benjamin F. Yoakum]] included land in both Old Bethpage and the Lenox Hills neighborhood of Farmingdale Village. It was this estate that was transformed into Bethpage State Park.
* The Taliaferro Estate is the site of Country Pointe Plainview, located between the split of Old Country Road and Round Swamp Road, and was once home to the Nassau County Sanitarium, a tuberculosis ward.  The sanitarium was authorized by the [[Nassau County, New York|Nassau County Board of Supervisors]] in 1930, and was completed in the early part of the same decade.<ref>[http://www.nassaulibrary.org/bethpage/cphs/cphs-n.html Encyclopedia of the Unincorporated Village of Bethpage] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080517112652/http://www.nassaulibrary.org/bethpage/cphs/cphs-n.html |date=2008-05-17 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://select.nytimes.com/mem/archive/pdf?res=FB0911F83C5A13738DDDAC0994DC405B828FF1D3 |title=$5,000,000 Bonds For Nassau County |author=Unknown |date=1932-04-14 |access-date=2008-03-31 |newspaper=[[NY Times]]}}</ref> As tuberculosis was brought under control, the complex of [[Georgian style]] buildings was closed in the 1960s.<ref name=Rehab>{{cite news |url=https://select.nytimes.com/mem/archive/pdf?res=FB0911F83C5A13738DDDAC0994DC405B828FF1D3 |title=Beyond the Drunk Tank |author=McMorrow, Fred |date=1976-11-07 |access-date=2008-04-03 |newspaper=[[NY Times]]}}</ref> Following its closure, the facility was given over to mixed use, including the establishment of a drug and alcohol rehabilitation center in 1976, and a branch of the [[Cornell University|Cornell Cooperative Extension]].<ref name="Rehab" /><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ny-camping-review.com/?id=302775&n=nassau+county+ofcs+%26+institutions+-+cornell+cooperative+extension+of+nassau+county&t=hotel |title=NY Camping Review |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110714215134/http://www.ny-camping-review.com/?id=302775&n=nassau+county+ofcs+&+institutions+-+cornell+cooperative+extension+of+nassau+county&t=hotel |archive-date=2011-07-14 }}</ref> In 1999, [[Charles Wang]], founder of [[Computer Associates]] purchased the {{convert|144|acre|km2|adj=on}} property from the county for $23 million.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.newsday.com/topic/ny-bzwang0601,0,6017383.story |title=Newsday article on Wang purchase}}</ref> Included in the purchase was 1535 Old Country Road, which housed the corporate offices of the [[New York Islanders]] and [[New York Dragons]], both of which were owned by Wang.  In addition, the building was home to the Wang-created Plainview Chinese Cultural Center.<ref>{{cite web|title=Charles Wang Foundation Donates Plainview Chinese School to Enrich Asian Cultural Offerings For Long Islanders|url=http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/01-18-2001/0001406814&EDATE=}}</ref> In 2015, the Oyster Bay board voted to approve a condominium on the same grounds. The land is known as Country Pointe Plainview and is maintained by Jericho-based Beechwood Homes; the property consists mostly of senior condos and retail space.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Town Gives The Go Ahead To Country Pointe|url=https://plainviewoldbethpageherald.com/2015/05/21/town-gives-the-go-ahead-to-country-pointe/|last=Bethpage|first=Plainview Old|date=2015-05-21|website=Plainview Old Bethpage Herald|language=en-US|access-date=2020-06-01}}</ref>

In 1960, responding to Nassau County's rapid suburban expansion, the county announced the development of the Nassau County Fire Service Academy.  Located on Winding Road, the academy provides training to all Nassau County fire departments.<ref>{{cite news| url=https://select.nytimes.com/mem/archive/pdf?res=F20D14FE3B5A1A7A93C3AB178CD85F448685F9 | work=The New York Times | title=Nassau Starts Fire School | date=1960-07-21}}</ref>