Editing Selden, New York (section)

==History==
===Early settlement===
The farmers who first moved to what is now Selden in the mid-18th century referred to the area as "'''Westfield'''" (or sometimes as '''Westfields'''). One of the better known early residents was Captain Daniel Roe (1740–1820), who fought in the [[French and Indian War]] and served as a captain in the [[American Revolutionary War|Revolutionary War]],<ref>''Register of the Empire State Society of the Sons of the American Revolution'' p. 528 (1899)</ref> and for whom [[County Route 111 (Suffolk County, New York)|Captain Daniel Roe Highway]] is named. Roe built a house in Selden along Middle Country Road before the Revolutionary War.<ref>[http://www.drmott.net/Gallery/photo00.html Mott-Spahr Photo Gallery – Roe Family]</ref> Roe is buried in a small family cemetery south of Middle Country Road behind the Old Westfield shopping center.<ref>{{cite web |title=ROE FAMILY CEMETERY |url=http://longislandgenealogy.com/Cem/RoeSelden/Roe.htm |website=longislandgenealogy.com |access-date=March 7, 2022}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Bailey |first1=Paul |title=Historic Long Island |url=https://nyshistoricnewspapers.org/lccn/sn83031119/1953-12-10/ed-1/seq-7.pdf |access-date=March 7, 2022 |newspaper=[[Long Islander Newspapers|The Long Islander]] |date=December 10, 1953 |at=Section 1; p. 7 |via=NYS Historic Newspapers}}</ref>
[[Image:LocationofSeldenSkirmish-1776.jpg|thumb|250px|left|From The Diary of Captain Daniel Roe, 1806–08 (1904), caption reads: "School house near home of Capt. Daniel Roe. Near the tree, at the right, tradition says the Tory Captain Richard Miller fell from his horse in 1776."]]
Roe sided with the Patriots in the lead-up to the Revolutionary War. In the fall of 1776, Roe was assigned to lead a raid against the [[Loyalist (American Revolution)|Tory]] and [[Hessian (soldier)|Hessian]] detachment near Selden led by his cousin Richard Miller. Miller was a wanted man, and Roe himself had pledged 10 pounds of the bounty offered for Miller's capture. When Miller rode right by Roe's house in uniform, he was confronted by Roe's men and ordered to dismount. Instead, Miller fired his pistol and turned to flee, whereupon he was shot by the militiamen. Miller was then carried into Roe's house, where he died.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Kraus |first1=Andy |title=Miller vs. Miller |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/726315589/ |access-date=March 7, 2022 |work=[[Newsday]] |date=January 18, 1998 |location=LI Life |pages=G12–G15}}</ref><ref name="roe diary">''The Diary of Captain Daniel Roe, 1806–08'' (1904)</ref>

===19th-century farm community===
A school district for the Westfield area was first created in 1815, carved out of the districts for New Village (now Centereach) and Coram. Originally named District 25, it was renumbered as District 12 in 1842,<ref name="Brook1856">Records of the Town of Brookhaven (1796–1856), Port Jefferson, Times Steam Job Print, 1888</ref> which it remained until the formation of the [[Middle Country Central School District]] in 1957.

When a post office was opened in 1852, Westfield had already been taken as a name by a community upstate. Upstate attorney (and later judge) [[Henry R. Selden|Henry Selden]] promised to do "something handsome" if the community named itself after him. The name was adopted, though it is usually said to be unknown whether he ever followed through on his promise,<ref name="newsdayselden">{{cite web|url=http://www.newsday.com/topic/ny-historytown-hist005y,0,2725015.story|title= Newsday: Selden History|access-date=2009-05-29}}</ref> and probably did not.<ref name="baylessketches2">Bayles, Richard Mather. ''Historical and Descriptive Sketches of Suffolk County'' (Port Jefferson, New York, 1874)</ref> While some sources report that the attorney had no known connection to the community, one newspaper reported in 1858 that Selden and attorney Edward Boyle (the namesake for Boyle Road) acquired a large tract of land in the hamlet shortly before the post office opened, and started to develop it.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Bailey |first1=Paul |title=The Name of Selden |url=https://nyshistoricnewspapers.org/lccn/sn83031119/1958-03-06/ed-1/seq-3.pdf |access-date=March 7, 2022 |work=The Long Islander |date=March 6, 1958 |at=Section 1; p. 3 |via=NYS Historic Newspapers}}</ref><ref name="baylessketches2"/>

As of 1885, Selden was home to 88 residents and a Presbyterian church (built in 1857), and noted for producing melons and early garden vegetables from its farms.<ref name="baylessketches2"/><ref>{{cite news |last1=Panter |first1=Laura  |url=http://www.northshoreoflongisland.com/Articles-i-2006-12-14-152629.112113_When_the_country_storewas_the_community_hub.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140717112244/http://www.northshoreoflongisland.com/Articles-i-2006-12-14-152629.112113_When_the_country_storewas_the_community_hub.html |title=When the country store was the community hub |newspaper=[[The Times Beacon Record]] |date=December 15, 2006 |archive-date=July 17, 2014 |access-date=June 8, 2009}}</ref><ref name="bayleshandbook">Bayles, Richard Mather. ''Bayles' Long Island Handbook'' (Budget Steam Print: Babylon, New York, 1885)</ref> Around 1897, the popular cross-island [[Bicycle Path, Long Island|Bicycle Path]] was completed and ran through Selden. A popular stop along the path, "Wheelmen's Rest", was in Selden and run by Albert Norton.<ref name="Overton1994">{{cite web |title=David Overton, Brookhaven Town Historian on Selden |url=http://www.sachemlibrary.org/pages/adult_overton.aspx |website=sachemlibrary.org |publisher=[[WNYG|WLIM]] |access-date=March 7, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131005190331/http://www.sachemlibrary.org/media/overton/Selden_2_2_6_94.mp3 |archive-date=October 5, 2013 |date=February 6, 1994}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Norton's Wheelmen's Res. |url=https://nyshistoricnewspapers.org/lccn/sn88075686/1900-09-08/ed-1/seq-2.pdf |access-date=March 7, 2022 |work=The Port Jefferson Echo |date=September 8, 1900 |page=2}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=TOUR OF THE ISLAND AWHEEL |url=https://nyshistoricnewspapers.org/lccn/sn83031151/1900-05-27/ed-1/seq-41.pdf |access-date=March 7, 2022 |work=[[Brooklyn Eagle]] |date=May 27, 1900 |page=41}}</ref>

===Twentieth century and growth===
[[File:Roe house-from Diary of Captain Roe published in 1904.jpg|thumb|250px|right|The Selden home of Daniel Roe, From The Diary of Captain Daniel Roe, 1806–1808 (1904)]]
In 1916, the Suffolk County Tuberculosis Sanatorium opened on land then considered to be part of [[Holtsville, New York|Holtsville]]. The location, including some of its original buildings, became in 1961 the main (Ammerman) campus of [[Suffolk County Community College]], which today has an enrollment of over 11,000 students.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.northshoreoflongisland.com/Articles-i-2006-10-26-60381.112114_SCC_site_was_once_a_verdant_sanatorium.html |title=SCC site was once a verdant sanatorium |newspaper=[[The Times Beacon Record]] |date=Oct 27, 2006 |access-date=2009-06-17 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140716181910/http://www.northshoreoflongisland.com/Articles-i-2006-10-26-60381.112114_SCC_site_was_once_a_verdant_sanatorium.html |archive-date=2014-07-16}}</ref>

From 1919 to 1959, [[Telescope Hill]] on the south side of Selden was the location of a fire lookout tower. During World War II, a German [[U-boat]] spotted from Telescope Hill was later captured<ref name="laskey">Paul Laskey, ''The Fire Observation Towers of New York State'', p.12 (2003) ({{ISBN|978-0974620404}}) ("This proved true when on Long Island a tower observer on Telescope Hill spotted an enemy sub which was apprehended.")</ref> but not identified.

In 1935, a new public school building was built near the same location as the prior school building, near the intersection of [[Bicycle Path, Long Island|Bicycle Path]] and [[New York State Route 25|Middle Country Road]]. That building was renovated in the 1980s and became a branch of the Middle Country Public Library.<ref name="Overton1993">{{cite web |title=David Overton, Brookhaven Town Historian on Selden 1993 |url=http://www.sachemlibrary.org/media/overton/Selden.mp3 |website=sachemlibrary.org |publisher=[[WNYG|WLIM]] |access-date=March 7, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131005204113/http://www.sachemlibrary.org/media/overton/Selden.mp3 |archive-date=October 5, 2013}}</ref><ref name="Overton1994" />

The main thoroughfare, Middle Country Road, was paved from [[Smithtown (CDP), New York|Smithtown]] and through Selden to [[Coram, New York|Coram]] around 1927–1928. The rural nature of Selden soon began to change, when in 1931 (when it had around 131 residents <ref name="Overton1993" />), real estate agents began marketing small lots to New York City residents as retreats from urban living, in a development called "Nature's Gardens".<ref name="newsdayselden" /> This was located on the south side of Middle Country Road and Evergreen Drive. Suburban development increased in earnest in the early 1950s, and by the early 1970s Selden had become a primarily suburban community.

===Commercial development===
The primary road in the hamlet, and the location of most of the commercial development, is [[New York State Route 25]] (Middle Country Road), which runs east to west. Similar to surrounding communities, Selden has a number of shopping centers along Middle Country Road,<ref name="news05">{{cite news | url= http://getlocalli.com/realestate/profile.php?id=137 | title=Selden: Community Profile | newspaper=[[Newsday]] | author=Lisa Doll Bruno | date=January 28, 2005 | access-date=2009-12-23}} ("A mixture of eateries, services and stores line Middle Country Road, many housed in shopping centers such as College Plaza, Independence Plaza and Selden Plaza.")</ref> which developed as suburban growth spread eastward.

In 1972, the first Westfield Shopping Center opened at the intersection of Middle Country and Blue Point roads, with a [[Hills Supermarkets]] location.<ref name="center list"/>

In 1975, College Plaza opened at the northeast corner of the Middle Country Road and Boyle Road intersection. Its original anchor tenants included [[King Kullen]], [[Builders Emporium]], and [[Genovese Drug Stores]].<ref name="center list">[http://www.co.suffolk.ny.us/upload/planning/pdfs/Retail2006.pdf Shopping Centers and Downtowns Suffolk County, New York], Suffolk County Department of Planning (May 2006)</ref><ref name="collegepoint74">{{cite news | url= http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F20C16FB3B591A728DDDAA0994D8415B848BF1D3| title=News of the Realty Trade | newspaper=[[The New York Times]] | date=October 13, 1974 | access-date=2009-12-23}}("About 145,000 square feet of space in the College Point Shopping Center in Selden, L.I., which is to be completed next month, has been leased.  Three major tenants will be Builders Emporium Department Store, with 65,000 square feet; King Kullen Supermarket, with 30,000 square feet, and Genovese Drugs, 20,000 square feet....  The shopping center, which has space for 1,300 cars is a joint venture of Paul Slayton Company and S&H Shopping Centers, Inc.")</ref>

Selden Plaza, at the intersection of Middle Country and [[County Route 83 (Suffolk County, New York)|County Route 83]] (in [[Coram, New York|Coram]] but within the Selden [[ZIP Code]]), opened in 1978.<ref name="center list"/>

In 1992, a new major shopping center, Independence Plaza, opened at the northwest corner of Middle Country and Boyle Roads, adjacent to College Plaza.<ref name="center list"/><ref name="indy1">{{cite news | url= https://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/newsday/access/102658918.html?dids=102658918:102658918&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&type=current&date=Jul+02%2C+1991&author=Paul+Vitello&pub=Newsday+(Combined+editions)&desc=March+of+Time+Around+a+House&pqatl=google| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20121104111157/http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/newsday/access/102658918.html?dids=102658918:102658918&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&type=current&date=Jul+02,+1991&author=Paul+Vitello&pub=Newsday+(Combined+editions)&desc=March+of+Time+Around+a+House&pqatl=google| url-status= dead| archive-date= November 4, 2012| title=March of Time Around a House | newspaper=[[Newsday]] | author=Paul Vitello | date=July 2, 1991 | access-date=2009-12-23}}</ref><ref name="amici">{{cite news | url=http://www.northshoreoflongisland.com/Articles-i-2007-12-27-169403.112113_Turn_around_and_20_free_pizzas_appear.html | title=Turn around and 20 free pizzas appear | newspaper=[[The Times Beacon Record]] | date=December 27, 2007 | access-date=2009-12-23}}("In 1992 he opened Caffé Amici in the then-newly constructed Independence Plaza")</ref>  As of 2009, plans had been made to develop a town center in and around Independence Plaza. This has significantly increased the popularity of "Downtown Selden" in the past few years attracting more local and national chain businesses.<ref>{{cite news | url=http://www.northshoreoflongisland.com/Articles-i-2009-03-26-79026.112114-sub_A_Smart_future_for_Middle_Country.html | title=	A Smart future for Middle Country | newspaper=[[The Times Beacon Record]] | date=Mar 27, 2009 | access-date=2009-08-26}}</ref>