Bethpage

Bethpage
—  CDP  —
Bethpage
Coordinates: 40°44′48″N 73°29′4″W / 40.74667°N 73.48444°W / 40.74667; -73.48444
Country	United States
State	New York
County	Nassau
Administrative divisions of New York#Town	Oyster Bay
Area
- Total	3.6 sq mi (9.4 km2)
- Land	3.6 sq mi (9.4 km2)
- Water	0.0 sq mi (0.0 km2)
Elevation	105 ft (32 m)
Population (2000)[1]
- Total	16,543
- Density	4,564.5/sq mi (1,762.4/km2)
Time zone	Eastern (EST) (UTC-5)
- Summer (DST)	EDT (UTC-4)
ZIP code	11714
Area code(s)	516
FIPS code	36-06387
GNIS feature ID	0943803

Bethpage is a census-designated place (CDP) that roughly corresponds to the hamlet (unincorporated community) by the same name in the town of Oyster Bay in Nassau County, New York, United States. The CDP's population was 16,543 at the 2000 United States Census.^[1]

The hamlet is served by its own school district, the boundaries of which include parts of some surrounding hamlets including Old Bethpage and Plainedge. The ZIP code for most of the hamlet is 11714 except for the most northeastern portion which lies in the Old Bethpage postal district of 11804. The town of Hempstead, on its website, includes a small part of Bethpage hamlet that is in the Levittown census-designated place.^[2]

History

NYS Historic Marker for the Grumman Corp.

The name Bethpage comes from the Quakers, who named the area after the Biblical town Bethphage, which was between Jericho and Jerusalem in the Holy Land. The area was defined by the Bethpage Purchase in 1695. An early name for the northern section of present-day Bethpage was Bedelltown.^[3][4]

On maps just before the arrival of the Long Island Rail Road (LIRR), the name Bethpage appears for a community now included in both the post office district and school district of the adjacent community of Farmingdale.^[5] In 1841,^[6] train service began to Farmingdale station, near a new settlement less than a mile eastward from what had previously appeared on maps as Bethpage. Schedules at that time do not mention Bethpage as a stop, but have a notation "late Bethpage".^[7] On an 1855 map,^[8] the location identified as Bethpage has shifted slightly westward to include a nearby area now called Plainedge.

From at least 1854,^[9] the LIRR stopped within present-day Bethpage at a station then called Jerusalem Station, and on January 29, 1857 a local post office opened, also named Jerusalem Station.^[10][11] LIRR schedules listed the station also as simply Jerusalem.^[12][13] Residents succeeded in changing the name of the post office to Central Park, effective March 1, 1867 (respelled as Centralpark from 1895 to 1899).^[10][14] The Central Park Fire Company was organized in April 1910, and incorporated in May 1911. In May 1923 the Central Park Water District was created.

Following the 1932 opening of nearby Bethpage State Park, the name of the local post office was changed to Bethpage on October 1, 1936. The name Bethpage was, however, already in use by an adjacent community,^[3] which resisted suggestions of a merger and instead renamed itself Old Bethpage. The change from Central Park to Bethpage was one of the last complete name changes of Nassau County's post offices.^[10]

From 1936 until 1994, Bethpage was home to the Grumman Aircraft Engineering Corporation, which made, among other things, the F-14 Tomcat and the Apollo Lunar Module for moon landings, and for this reason Bethpage is mentioned in the film Apollo 13. Cablevision Systems Corporation, a Fortune 500 company, is headquartered in Grumman's former main office.

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the CDP has a total area of 3.6 square miles (9.4 km²), all land.

Demographics

As of the census of 2000, there were 16,543 people, 5,710 households, and 4,516 families residing in the CDP. The population density was 4,564.5 per square mile (1,764.4/km²). There were 5,788 housing units at an average density of 1,597.0/sq mi (617.3/km²). The racial makeup of the CDP was 94.17% White, 0.29% African American, 0.02% Native American, 2.99% Asian, 1.00% from other races, and 1.54% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 4.75% of the population.^[1]

There were 5,710 households out of which 32% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 66.0% were married couples living together, 10.0% had a female householder with no husband present, and 20.9% were non-families. 17.9% of all households were made up of individuals and 11.3% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.89 and the average family size was 3.27.^[1]

In the CDP the population was spread out with 22.7% under the age of 18, 6.4% from 18 to 24, 29.0% from 25 to 44, 23.2% from 45 to 64, and 18.8% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 40 years. For every 100 females there were 93.0 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 88.8 males.^[1]

The median income for a household in the CDP was $70,173, and the median income for a family was $78,573. Males had a median income of $53,404 versus $36,708 for females. The per capita income for the CDP was $27,850. About 2.1% of families and 3.3% of the population were below the poverty line, including 4.0% of those under age 18 and 4.3% of those age 65 or over.^[1]

Schools

See Bethpage Union Free School District

• Briarcliffe College - Bethpage

Sports

Bethpage Baseball

Bethpagebaseball.org

Bethpage Baseball Association is a volunteer organization, whose purpose is to provide a youth Baseball and Softball Program for the Community of Bethpage. Established in 1952, Bethpage Baseball is a non-profit organization run entirely by volunteers (board of directors, managers, coaches and all other duties). The league is dedicated to the principle of providing a safe, fun environment in which the children can enjoy learning the rules and playing baseball or softball. The League runs several tournaments including the Eileen Murphy Spring Blast, The Independence Day Open, and The Bethpage Fall Classic.

Football

Bethpage has become famous among New York High School Varsity football teams for being the home of an excellent football program, having won ten Nassau County and five Long Island Championships since 1984 when the playoffs expanded to four teams. The tradition of Bethpage football started in 1952 when Howard C. Vogts created the first team, and he has since become New York State’s all-time winningest high school varsity football coach. Vogts' remarkable career record stands at 342-114-10 mark in 53 seasons. Their last Long Island Championship was won in 2003, when lead by Quarterback Joe Secchio and Running Backs Rich Festante and Jordan Levine Bethpage defeated Hungtington in a close game. One of Bethpage's most notable records was a 60-game home unbeaten streak (59-0-1) between 1989 and 2004. They lost to the Wantagh Warriors to end that streak. It ended on October 23, 2004 when the Golden Eagles lost 27-0 to the Wantagh Warriors, led by senior quarterback Pete Houck. Since that loss, Bethpage won another 11 straight at home, until yet again losing to the Wantagh Warriors again 22-15 in 2007.

Other points of interest

Bethpage Business Park.

Bethpage was the home of the Grumman plant that produced the Apollo Lunar Modules, or LEMs.

Bethpage State Park offers five golf courses to choose from. One of them, the black course, was the site of the U.S. Open in 2002 and 2009. Tiger Woods won the event in 2002. While the park and its five golf courses are located almost entirely within Old Bethpage and its offices are located within the neighboring Farmingdale postal district, it is easily accessed from Bethpage.

Bethpage Water District was announced as the best tasting drinking water in New York State at the state fair in Syracuse in 2006. [1]

Congressional Medal of Honor recipient, Stephen Edward Karopczyc, lived in Bethpage. ^[15] The former Karopczyc School in Levittown (part of the Island Trees Union Free School District) was renamed for him. The school now houses the Island Trees Public Library. Popular Photography's Technical Editor Philip J. Ryan was also born in Bethpage. Former MLB pitcher Joe Sambito graduated from Bethpage High School.

Notes

External links

• Bethpage Community
• Newsday article on Bethpage
• Encyclopedia of the Unincorporated Village of Bethpage
• More Bethpage History
• 1903 map showing Bethpage as Central Park - includes Bethpage Junction of LIRR, and a creek from area that emptied into the Atlantic
• Briarcliffe College - Bethpage
• Powell family in 1880 Census Click on Next Household to see others. Start from [2] to [3]
• first Bethpage Bedell family in 1880 census click on Next Household to look for more