Editing Port Washington, New York (section)

== History ==
Much of the Port Washington area was settled by colonists in 1644, after they purchased land from the people of the [[Matinecock (tribe)|Matinecock Nation]].<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 Port Washington – Port Washington Chamber of Commerce|url=https://www.pwcoc.org/port-washington|access-date=September 27, 2021|website=www.pwcoc.org}}</ref>

In the 1870s, Port Washington became an important [[Sand mining|sand-mining]] town; it had the largest [[sandbank]] east of the [[Mississippi River]] and easy barge access to [[Manhattan]]. Some 140 million cubic yards of local sand were used for concrete for [[Architecture of New York City|skyscrapers in New York City]] (including the [[Empire State Building|Empire State]] and [[Chrysler Building|Chrysler]] buildings), in addition to the [[New York City Subway]].<ref name=":22">{{Cite web|last=|first=|date=|title=Sand Mining|url=https://www.cowneck.org/sand-mining|access-date=January 11, 2021|website=Cow Neck Peninsula Historical Society}}</ref> In 1998, the sand mines were redeveloped as Harbor Links – a golf course for North Hempstead residents.<ref name=":3">{{cite web|title=Harbor Links|url=http://www.harborlinks.com/|website=harborlinks.com}}</ref>

In 1930, Port Washington tried to incorporate itself as a city, which would have had the same boundaries as the [[Port Washington Union Free School District]] – excluding [[Sands Point, New York|Sands Point]], which had already incorporated itself as a village several years prior.<ref name=":812">{{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=33–34}}</ref> This plan ultimately failed when the bill was killed after [[Baxter Estates, New York|Baxter Estates]], [[Flower Hill, New York|Flower Hill]], and [[Manorhaven, New York|Manorhaven]] incorporated themselves as villages in order to retain [[Home rule in the United States|home rule]] over their respective areas.<ref name=":812" />

The [[United States Post Office (Port Washington, New York)|Port Washington Post Office]] – commissioned by the [[Federal government of the United States|United States Government]] as part of the [[New Deal]] – opened in 1935.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Post Office – Port Washington NY |url=https://livingnewdeal.org/sites/post-office-port-washington-ny/ |access-date=December 13, 2024 |website=Living New Deal |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Kahofer |first=Kurt |title=Building-Structure Inventory Survey: Port Washington Post Office |date=November 1989 |publisher=[[Town of North Hempstead]]}}</ref>

In the late 1930s, prior to the opening of the [[Marine Air Terminal]] at [[LaGuardia Airport]], Port Washington was [[Pan-American World Airways|Pan-American World Airways']] [[New York Seaplane Airport|New York base]] for their Yankee Clipper [[Boeing]] [[Boeing 314|B-314]] [[flying boat]]s; the waters of [[Manhasset Bay]] were ideal for flying boat operations.<ref name=":02">{{Cite book|last=Stoff|first=Joshua|title=LaGuardia Airport|publisher=Arcadia Publishing|year=2008|isbn=978-0-7385-5799-1|series=Images of Aviation|pages=31 & 32|lccn=2008924409}}</ref> Common destinations served included London, [[Southampton|Southampton (UK)]], [[Azores|the Azores]], and [[Bermuda]].<ref name=":02" />