Oyster Bay, New York
Encyclopedia
Oyster Bay is the name of a hamlet and census-designated place
on the North Shore
of Long Island
in Nassau County
in the state of New York
, United States
. The hamlet is also the site of a station on the Oyster Bay Branch of the Long Island Rail Road
and the eastern termination point of that branch of the railroad.
The community is within the Town of Oyster Bay
, New York
, a town which contains 18 villages and 18 hamlets.
The hamlet's area was considerably larger before several of its parts incorporated as separate villages. At least six of the 36 villages and hamlets of the Town of Oyster Bay have shores on Oyster Bay Harbor
and its inlets, and many of these were previously considered part of the hamlet of Oyster Bay; three of those are now known as Mill Neck, Bayville & Centre Island. The Oyster Bay Post Office (ZIP code 11771) serves several of the surrounding areas also, including the villages Oyster Bay Cove, Cove Neck, and Upper Brookville
.
The Oyster Bay-East Norwich Central School District was created on July 1, 1960, by the action of the voters in the former Oyster Bay and East Norwich School Districts. The district's 13.1 square miles (33.9 km²) boundaries include the hamlets of Oyster Bay and East Norwich and the incorporated villages of Centre Island
, Oyster Bay Cove, Cove Neck, and portions of Mill Neck, Muttontown, Laurel Hollow, and Upper Brookville. There are three schools currently in the district: Roosevelt Elementary School (Grades K-2), James H. Vernon Middle School (Grades 3-6), and Oyster Bay High School
(Grades 7-12).
The population of the CDP of Oyster Bay as of the 2010 Census was at 6,707.
Oyster Bay was settled by the Dutch, and was the boundary between the Dutch New Amsterdam
colony and the English New England Colonies. The English, under Peter Wright
, first settled in the area in 1653. The boundary between the Dutch and English was somewhat fluid which led to each group having their own Main Street.
Many Quakers came to Oyster Bay, escaping persecution from Dutch authorities in New Amsterdam. These included Elizabeth Feake and her husband Captain John Underhill who she converted to Quakerism. Other notable Quakers to settle in Oyster Bay were the brothers John Townsend
and Henry Townsend
. Noted dissenter and Quaker George Fox
visited Oyster Bay in 1672, where he spoke with the Wrights, Underhill and Feake at a Quaker gathering on the site of Council Rock, facing the Mill Pond.
During the Revolutionary War, Raynham Hall
was owned by the patriot Townsend family.
For a six-month period from 1778 to 1779, the Townsend home served as British headquarters for the Queen's Rangers led by Lt. Col. John Graves Simcoe
. Simcoe was often visited by British officer Major John Andre. According to legend, on one of these visits Samuel Townsend's daughter Sally Townsend overheard the two officers discussing Benedict Arnold
's traitorous plot to surrender the fort at West Point to the British. The plot was thwarted and prevented what would have been a disastrous defeat to the colonists in the Revolutionary War.
In the 1880s, the LIRR
extended rail service from Locust Valley as a means to establish a connection between New York
and Boston
, via steamboat on the Long Island Sound. On June 21, 1889, the first LIRR train arrived in Oyster Bay. In the following year, service commenced with the train coaches being loaded onto a ferry for a connection to the New Haven Railroad at Norwalk, CT. Service lasted less than a year.
Around the time railroad service was introduced Theodore Roosevelt
, the future 26th President of the United States, chose to make his home at Sagamore Hill, in present day Cove Neck, a neighboring incorporated village (Cove Neck was not incorporated until 1927). Sagamore Hill
was completed in 1886. This is where Roosevelt lived until his death in 1919. His wife Edith Roosevelt
continued to occupy the house until her death, nearly three decades later, in September 1948. On July 25, 1962, Congress established the Sagamore Hill National Historic Site to preserve the house.
Efforts to honor Theodore Roosevelt in Oyster Bay
have greatly improved the hamlet. These include design of the Theodore Roosevelt Memorial Park
. This beautiful waterfront park gives residents and visitors alike access to the pristine and beautiful Oyster Bay Harbor. Other Roosevelt-related landmarks have been restored including Snouder's Drug Store
- location of the first telegraph in Oyster Bay, Moore's Building
- today the popular Wild Honey restaurant, and proposals to restore the Oyster Bay Long Island Rail Road Station - home station of TR and the Octagon Hotel
- built in 1851 and once home to offices of Governor Roosevelt. A local non-profit, the Oyster Bay Main Street Association
, developed an audio tour of these historic sites and many others called the Oyster Bay History Walk
.
The oysters that give the bay its name are now the only source of traditionally farmed oysters from Long Island, providing up to 90% of all the oysters harvested in New York State.
According to the United States Census Bureau
, the CDP has a total area of 1.6 square miles (4.1 km²), of which, 1.2 square miles (3.1 km²) of it is land and 0.4 square miles (1 km²) of it (23.60%) is water.
For the 2000 census, the CDP was enlarged beyond the boundaries used for the 1990 census.
of 2000, there were 6,826 people, 2,815 households, and 1,731 families residing in the area. The population density
was 5,554.1 per square mile (2,142.7/km²). There were 2,898 housing units at an average density of 2,358.0/sq mi (909.7/km²). The racial makeup of the community was 90.51% White, 3.16% Black or African American
, 0.28% Native American, 1.76% Asian, 0.03% Pacific Islander, 2.17% from other races
, and 2.09% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 12.25% of the population.
There were 2,815 households out of which 26.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 48.3% were married couples
living together, 9.7% had a female householder with no husband present, and 38.5% were non-families. 33.1% of all households were made up of individuals and 13.4% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.39 and the average family size was 3.06.
In the area the population was spread out with 20.7% under the age of 18, 6.4% from 18 to 24, 32.3% from 25 to 44, 23.8% from 45 to 64, and 16.8% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 40 years. For every 100 females there were 92.3 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 89.3 males.
The median income for a household in the area was $57,993, and the median income for a family was $73,500. Males had a median income of $51,968 versus $41,926 for females. The per capita income
for the area was $34,730. About 3.3% of families and 7.8% of the population were below the poverty line, including 5.5% of those under age 18 and 12.1% of those age 65 or over.
Oyster Bay is known for the residence and summer White House of Theodore Roosevelt
, Sagamore Hill
(though that residence is in a nearby area known since 1927 as the Village of Cove Neck
).
Many well-known American celebrities spent their youth in this area; among its better known former residents are musician Billy Joel
, tennis players John McEnroe
and his brother Patrick
, actress Heather Matarazzo
, William Woodward Originator of Cinorama, authors Thomas Pynchon
and Tracy Kidder
, basketball coach Rick Pitino
of Bayville, who attended St. Dominic's School here, and Sonic Youth
guitarist Lee Ranaldo
(Matarazzo, Pynchon and Ranaldo attended Oyster Bay High School
). A less distinguished figure from the hamlet's past is Typhoid Mary, whose contagiousness was discovered following an investigation into her employment at a summer home in Oyster Bay in 1906. Composer John Barry
lived in Oyster Bay until his death in 2011.
It was also the setting of the 2000 movie Meet the Parents
.
Oyster Bay is served by the Oyster Bay-East Norwich Central School District
. Schools in the OBEN CSD include:
There are several private schools in close proximity to Oyster Bay. These include:
was originally located in the hamlet of Oyster Bay. It originally occupied a one-room office in Oyster Bay. At a later time it occupied a brick structure with two stories. In 1994 Acclaim bought a headquarters building in Glen Cove
.
Census-designated place
A census-designated place is a concentration of population identified by the United States Census Bureau for statistical purposes. CDPs are delineated for each decennial census as the statistical counterparts of incorporated places such as cities, towns and villages...
on the North Shore
North Shore (Long Island)
The North Shore of Long Island is the area along Long Island's northern coast, bordering Long Island Sound. The region has long been the most affluent on Long Island, as well as the most affluent in the New York metropolitan area, which has earned it the nickname "the Gold Coast." Though some...
of Long Island
Long Island
Long Island is an island located in the southeast part of the U.S. state of New York, just east of Manhattan. Stretching northeast into the Atlantic Ocean, Long Island contains four counties, two of which are boroughs of New York City , and two of which are mainly suburban...
in Nassau County
Nassau County, New York
Nassau County is a suburban county on Long Island, east of New York City in the U.S. state of New York, within the New York Metropolitan Area. As of the 2010 census, the population was 1,339,532...
in the state of New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. The hamlet is also the site of a station on the Oyster Bay Branch of the Long Island Rail Road
Long Island Rail Road
The Long Island Rail Road or LIRR is a commuter rail system serving the length of Long Island, New York. It is the busiest commuter railroad in North America, serving about 81.5 million passengers each year. Established in 1834 and having operated continuously since then, it is the oldest US...
and the eastern termination point of that branch of the railroad.
The community is within the Town of Oyster Bay
Oyster Bay (town), New York
The Town of Oyster Bay is easternmost of the three towns in Nassau County, New York, in the United States. Part of the New York metropolitan area, it is the only town in Nassau County that extends from the North Shore to the South Shore of Long Island. As of the 2010 census, the town population was...
, New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
, a town which contains 18 villages and 18 hamlets.
The hamlet's area was considerably larger before several of its parts incorporated as separate villages. At least six of the 36 villages and hamlets of the Town of Oyster Bay have shores on Oyster Bay Harbor
Oyster Bay (inlet), New York
Oyster Bay, also known as Oyster Bay Harbor, is an inlet of Long Island Sound on the north shore of Long Island in New York in the United States.The bay lies in Nassau County...
and its inlets, and many of these were previously considered part of the hamlet of Oyster Bay; three of those are now known as Mill Neck, Bayville & Centre Island. The Oyster Bay Post Office (ZIP code 11771) serves several of the surrounding areas also, including the villages Oyster Bay Cove, Cove Neck, and Upper Brookville
Upper Brookville, New York
The Village of Upper Brookville is a village located within the Town of Oyster Bay in Nassau County, New York, United States. The population was 1,698 at the 2010 census.The village is named for the brook that one time ran along its main road, Wolver Hollow...
.
The Oyster Bay-East Norwich Central School District was created on July 1, 1960, by the action of the voters in the former Oyster Bay and East Norwich School Districts. The district's 13.1 square miles (33.9 km²) boundaries include the hamlets of Oyster Bay and East Norwich and the incorporated villages of Centre Island
Centre Island, New York
The Village of Centre Island is a village located within the town of Oyster Bay in Nassau County, New York, United States. Its population was 410 as of the 2010 census....
, Oyster Bay Cove, Cove Neck, and portions of Mill Neck, Muttontown, Laurel Hollow, and Upper Brookville. There are three schools currently in the district: Roosevelt Elementary School (Grades K-2), James H. Vernon Middle School (Grades 3-6), and Oyster Bay High School
Oyster Bay High School
Oyster Bay High School is a high school located in Oyster Bay, New York. The school is a part of the Oyster Bay-East Norwich Central School District. A more comprehensive history may be found on the school's website.-History:...
(Grades 7-12).
The population of the CDP of Oyster Bay as of the 2010 Census was at 6,707.
History
The first mention of Oyster Bay comes from Captain David Peterson de Vries, who in his Journal recalls how on June 4, 1639, he "came to anchor in Oyster Bay, which is a large bay which lies on the north side of the Great Island… There are fine oysters here, whence our nation has given it the name of Oyster Bay."Oyster Bay was settled by the Dutch, and was the boundary between the Dutch New Amsterdam
New Amsterdam
New Amsterdam was a 17th-century Dutch colonial settlement that served as the capital of New Netherland. It later became New York City....
colony and the English New England Colonies. The English, under Peter Wright
Peter Wright
Peter Maurice Wright was an English scientist and former MI5 counterintelligence officer, noted for writing the controversial book Spycatcher, which became an international bestseller with sales of over two million copies...
, first settled in the area in 1653. The boundary between the Dutch and English was somewhat fluid which led to each group having their own Main Street.
Many Quakers came to Oyster Bay, escaping persecution from Dutch authorities in New Amsterdam. These included Elizabeth Feake and her husband Captain John Underhill who she converted to Quakerism. Other notable Quakers to settle in Oyster Bay were the brothers John Townsend
John Townsend (Norwich)
John Townsend was an early settler of the American Colonies who emigrated from England about 1630. Townsend was a signatory to the Flushing Remonstrance, a precursor to the United States Constitution's provision on freedom of religion in the Bill of Rights...
and Henry Townsend
Henry Townsend (Norwich)
Henry Townsend was an early settler of the American Colonies.-Biography:Disagreement exists surrounding the facts of Henry Townsend's place of birth and his parentage...
. Noted dissenter and Quaker George Fox
George Fox
George Fox was an English Dissenter and a founder of the Religious Society of Friends, commonly known as the Quakers or Friends.The son of a Leicestershire weaver, Fox lived in a time of great social upheaval and war...
visited Oyster Bay in 1672, where he spoke with the Wrights, Underhill and Feake at a Quaker gathering on the site of Council Rock, facing the Mill Pond.
During the Revolutionary War, Raynham Hall
Raynham Hall Museum
Raynham Hall is in Oyster Bay, New York. Home of the Townsend family, one of the founding families of Oyster Bay, on Long Island, New York, and a member of George Washington's Culper Ring of spies, the house was renamed Raynham Hall after the Townsend seat in Norfolk, England, in 1850 by a...
was owned by the patriot Townsend family.
For a six-month period from 1778 to 1779, the Townsend home served as British headquarters for the Queen's Rangers led by Lt. Col. John Graves Simcoe
John Graves Simcoe
John Graves Simcoe was a British army officer and the first Lieutenant Governor of Upper Canada from 1791–1796. Then frontier, this was modern-day southern Ontario and the watersheds of Georgian Bay and Lake Superior...
. Simcoe was often visited by British officer Major John Andre. According to legend, on one of these visits Samuel Townsend's daughter Sally Townsend overheard the two officers discussing Benedict Arnold
Benedict Arnold
Benedict Arnold V was a general during the American Revolutionary War. He began the war in the Continental Army but later defected to the British Army. While a general on the American side, he obtained command of the fort at West Point, New York, and plotted to surrender it to the British forces...
's traitorous plot to surrender the fort at West Point to the British. The plot was thwarted and prevented what would have been a disastrous defeat to the colonists in the Revolutionary War.
In the 1880s, the LIRR
Lirr
Lirr or LIRR may refer to:*Long Island Rail Road, a commuter railroad in Long Island, New York, USA*Lapeer Industrial Railroad, in Lapeer, Michigan*Leeds Inner Ring Road, a motorway and A-road circling Leeds, West Yorkshire, England...
extended rail service from Locust Valley as a means to establish a connection between New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
and Boston
Boston
Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...
, via steamboat on the Long Island Sound. On June 21, 1889, the first LIRR train arrived in Oyster Bay. In the following year, service commenced with the train coaches being loaded onto a ferry for a connection to the New Haven Railroad at Norwalk, CT. Service lasted less than a year.
Around the time railroad service was introduced Theodore Roosevelt
Theodore Roosevelt
Theodore "Teddy" Roosevelt was the 26th President of the United States . He is noted for his exuberant personality, range of interests and achievements, and his leadership of the Progressive Movement, as well as his "cowboy" persona and robust masculinity...
, the future 26th President of the United States, chose to make his home at Sagamore Hill, in present day Cove Neck, a neighboring incorporated village (Cove Neck was not incorporated until 1927). Sagamore Hill
Sagamore Hill
Sagamore Hill was the home of the 26th President of the United States Theodore Roosevelt from 1885 until his death in 1919. It is located at the end of Cove Neck Road in the Incorporated Village of Cove Neck, New York, on Long Island, 25 miles east of Manhattan. Sagamore Hill is located within...
was completed in 1886. This is where Roosevelt lived until his death in 1919. His wife Edith Roosevelt
Edith Roosevelt
Edith Kermit Carow Roosevelt was the second wife of Theodore Roosevelt and served as First Lady of the United States during his presidency from 1901 to 1909.-Early life:...
continued to occupy the house until her death, nearly three decades later, in September 1948. On July 25, 1962, Congress established the Sagamore Hill National Historic Site to preserve the house.
Efforts to honor Theodore Roosevelt in Oyster Bay
Theodore Roosevelt in Oyster Bay
Theodore Roosevelt spent his first summer in Oyster Bay with his family in 1874. Through the ensuing years as he rose to power, Oyster Bay would frequently serve as backdrop and stage on which many of his ambitions were realized. Several places connected to Theodore Roosevelt in his lifetime...
have greatly improved the hamlet. These include design of the Theodore Roosevelt Memorial Park
Theodore Roosevelt Memorial Park
Theodore Roosevelt Memorial Park is a park in the hamlet of Oyster Bay, New York, honoring President Theodore Roosevelt, 26th President of the United States.- History:...
. This beautiful waterfront park gives residents and visitors alike access to the pristine and beautiful Oyster Bay Harbor. Other Roosevelt-related landmarks have been restored including Snouder's Drug Store
Snouder's Drug Store
Snouder's Drug Store is the oldest operating business in Oyster Bay, New York. The store was first established in 1884. The first telephone in Oyster Bay was installed here, and for several years it remained the only one in town. When Theodore Roosevelt became Governor of New York State and later...
- location of the first telegraph in Oyster Bay, Moore's Building
Moore's Building
Moore's Building is a historic building located in the downtown area of the Hamlet of Oyster Bay and listed on the National Register of Historic Places. First built in 1901, the building gained significance when Theodore Roosevelt had his staff take offices here while he served as U.S. President...
- today the popular Wild Honey restaurant, and proposals to restore the Oyster Bay Long Island Rail Road Station - home station of TR and the Octagon Hotel
Octagon Hotel
The Octagon Hotel, originally built as the Nassau House by Luther Jackson in 1851, was a pre-eminent political and social meeting space in Oyster Bay, New York...
- built in 1851 and once home to offices of Governor Roosevelt. A local non-profit, the Oyster Bay Main Street Association
Oyster Bay Main Street Association
The Oyster Bay Main Street Association is a 501 not-for-profit organization founded in 2001. The mission of OBMSA is to "create and promote a healthy economy and an attractive hamlet, while maintaining historic character and integrity." OBMSA is modelled after the Four-Point-Approach established by...
, developed an audio tour of these historic sites and many others called the Oyster Bay History Walk
Oyster Bay History Walk
The Oyster Bay History Walk is a path through downtown Oyster Bay, New York that leads the walker to 30 historic sites. It is a 1 mile loop and is the first certified American Heart Association Start! Walking Path on Long Island.-Origins and Development:...
.
The oysters that give the bay its name are now the only source of traditionally farmed oysters from Long Island, providing up to 90% of all the oysters harvested in New York State.
Geography
Oyster Bay is located at 40°52′1"N 73°31′55"W (40.867105, -73.532038).According to the United States Census Bureau
United States Census Bureau
The United States Census Bureau is the government agency that is responsible for the United States Census. It also gathers other national demographic and economic data...
, the CDP has a total area of 1.6 square miles (4.1 km²), of which, 1.2 square miles (3.1 km²) of it is land and 0.4 square miles (1 km²) of it (23.60%) is water.
For the 2000 census, the CDP was enlarged beyond the boundaries used for the 1990 census.
Demographics
As of the censusCensus
A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring and recording information about the members of a given population. It is a regularly occurring and official count of a particular population. The term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common...
of 2000, there were 6,826 people, 2,815 households, and 1,731 families residing in the area. The population density
Population density
Population density is a measurement of population per unit area or unit volume. It is frequently applied to living organisms, and particularly to humans...
was 5,554.1 per square mile (2,142.7/km²). There were 2,898 housing units at an average density of 2,358.0/sq mi (909.7/km²). The racial makeup of the community was 90.51% White, 3.16% Black or African American
Race (United States Census)
Race and ethnicity in the United States Census, as defined by the Federal Office of Management and Budget and the United States Census Bureau, are self-identification data items in which residents choose the race or races with which they most closely identify, and indicate whether or not they are...
, 0.28% Native American, 1.76% Asian, 0.03% Pacific Islander, 2.17% from other races
Race (United States Census)
Race and ethnicity in the United States Census, as defined by the Federal Office of Management and Budget and the United States Census Bureau, are self-identification data items in which residents choose the race or races with which they most closely identify, and indicate whether or not they are...
, and 2.09% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 12.25% of the population.
There were 2,815 households out of which 26.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 48.3% were married couples
Marriage
Marriage is a social union or legal contract between people that creates kinship. It is an institution in which interpersonal relationships, usually intimate and sexual, are acknowledged in a variety of ways, depending on the culture or subculture in which it is found...
living together, 9.7% had a female householder with no husband present, and 38.5% were non-families. 33.1% of all households were made up of individuals and 13.4% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.39 and the average family size was 3.06.
In the area the population was spread out with 20.7% under the age of 18, 6.4% from 18 to 24, 32.3% from 25 to 44, 23.8% from 45 to 64, and 16.8% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 40 years. For every 100 females there were 92.3 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 89.3 males.
The median income for a household in the area was $57,993, and the median income for a family was $73,500. Males had a median income of $51,968 versus $41,926 for females. The per capita income
Per capita income
Per capita income or income per person is a measure of mean income within an economic aggregate, such as a country or city. It is calculated by taking a measure of all sources of income in the aggregate and dividing it by the total population...
for the area was $34,730. About 3.3% of families and 7.8% of the population were below the poverty line, including 5.5% of those under age 18 and 12.1% of those age 65 or over.
Notable past residents
Theodore Roosevelt
Theodore "Teddy" Roosevelt was the 26th President of the United States . He is noted for his exuberant personality, range of interests and achievements, and his leadership of the Progressive Movement, as well as his "cowboy" persona and robust masculinity...
, Sagamore Hill
Sagamore Hill
Sagamore Hill was the home of the 26th President of the United States Theodore Roosevelt from 1885 until his death in 1919. It is located at the end of Cove Neck Road in the Incorporated Village of Cove Neck, New York, on Long Island, 25 miles east of Manhattan. Sagamore Hill is located within...
(though that residence is in a nearby area known since 1927 as the Village of Cove Neck
Cove Neck, New York
The Village of Cove Neck is a village located within the town of Oyster Bay in Nassau County, New York, United States. The population was 286 at the 2010 census.-History:...
).
Many well-known American celebrities spent their youth in this area; among its better known former residents are musician Billy Joel
Billy Joel
William Martin "Billy" Joel is an American musician and pianist, singer-songwriter, and classical composer. Since releasing his first hit song, "Piano Man", in 1973, Joel has become the sixth best-selling recording artist and the third best-selling solo artist in the United States, according to...
, tennis players John McEnroe
John McEnroe
John Patrick McEnroe, Jr. is a former world no. 1 professional tennis player from the United States. During his career, he won seven Grand Slam singles titles , nine Grand Slam men's doubles titles, and one Grand Slam mixed doubles title...
and his brother Patrick
Patrick McEnroe
Patrick John McEnroe is a former professional tennis player and the former captain of the United States Davis Cup team.Born in Manhasset, New York, he is the younger brother of John McEnroe...
, actress Heather Matarazzo
Heather Matarazzo
Heather Amy Matarazzo is an American actress. Her breakthrough role was as a geeky girl in the film Welcome to the Dollhouse . She played Lilly in The Princess Diaries and The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement...
, William Woodward Originator of Cinorama, authors Thomas Pynchon
Thomas Pynchon
Thomas Ruggles Pynchon, Jr. is an American novelist. For his most praised novel, Gravity's Rainbow, Pynchon received the National Book Award, and is regularly cited as a contender for the Nobel Prize in Literature...
and Tracy Kidder
Tracy Kidder
John Tracy Kidder is a Pulitzer Prize-winning American writer of the 1981 nonfiction narrative, The Soul of a New Machine, about the creation of a new computer at Data General Corporation...
, basketball coach Rick Pitino
Rick Pitino
Rick Pitino is an American basketball coach. Since 2001, he has been the head coach at the University of Louisville. He has also served as head coach at Boston University, Providence College and the University of Kentucky, leading that program to the NCAA championship in 1996...
of Bayville, who attended St. Dominic's School here, and Sonic Youth
Sonic Youth
Sonic Youth is an American alternative rock band from New York City, formed in 1981. The current lineup consists of Thurston Moore , Kim Gordon , Lee Ranaldo , Steve Shelley , and Mark Ibold .In their early career, Sonic Youth was associated with the No Wave art and music scene in New York City...
guitarist Lee Ranaldo
Lee Ranaldo
Lee M. Ranaldo is an American singer, guitarist, writer, record producer, and visual artist, best known as a co-founder of the alternative rock band Sonic Youth...
(Matarazzo, Pynchon and Ranaldo attended Oyster Bay High School
Oyster Bay High School
Oyster Bay High School is a high school located in Oyster Bay, New York. The school is a part of the Oyster Bay-East Norwich Central School District. A more comprehensive history may be found on the school's website.-History:...
). A less distinguished figure from the hamlet's past is Typhoid Mary, whose contagiousness was discovered following an investigation into her employment at a summer home in Oyster Bay in 1906. Composer John Barry
John Barry (composer)
John Barry Prendergast, OBE was an English conductor and composer of film music. He is best known for composing the soundtracks for 12 of the James Bond films between 1962 and 1987...
lived in Oyster Bay until his death in 2011.
It was also the setting of the 2000 movie Meet the Parents
Meet the Parents
Meet the Parents is a 2000 American comedy film written by Jim Herzfeld and John Hamburg and directed by Jay Roach. Starring Robert De Niro and Ben Stiller, the film chronicles a series of unfortunate events that befall a good-hearted but hapless male nurse while visiting his girlfriend's parents...
.
Points of interest
- Theodore RooseveltTheodore RooseveltTheodore "Teddy" Roosevelt was the 26th President of the United States . He is noted for his exuberant personality, range of interests and achievements, and his leadership of the Progressive Movement, as well as his "cowboy" persona and robust masculinity...
(26th President of the United StatesPresident of the United StatesThe President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....
) is buried in Oyster Bay at Youngs Memorial CemeteryYoungs Memorial CemeteryYoungs Memorial Cemetery is a small cemetery near the hamlet of Oyster Bay, New York in the United States of America. It is located approximately one and a half miles south of Sagamore Hill National Historic Site...
. - Planting Fields Arboretum, a 400 acres (1.6 km²) arboretumArboretumAn arboretum in a narrow sense is a collection of trees only. Related collections include a fruticetum , and a viticetum, a collection of vines. More commonly, today, an arboretum is a botanical garden containing living collections of woody plants intended at least partly for scientific study...
and botanical gardenBotanical gardenA botanical garden The terms botanic and botanical, and garden or gardens are used more-or-less interchangeably, although the word botanic is generally reserved for the earlier, more traditional gardens. is a well-tended area displaying a wide range of plants labelled with their botanical names...
including Coe Hall near Oyster Bay. - Sagamore Hill National Historic Site, is the historic home of Theodore Roosevelt, who was the 26th President of the United States.
- Raynham Hall MuseumRaynham Hall MuseumRaynham Hall is in Oyster Bay, New York. Home of the Townsend family, one of the founding families of Oyster Bay, on Long Island, New York, and a member of George Washington's Culper Ring of spies, the house was renamed Raynham Hall after the Townsend seat in Norfolk, England, in 1850 by a...
, home of the Samuel Townsend family and a British headquarters during the American RevolutionAmerican RevolutionThe American Revolution was the political upheaval during the last half of the 18th century in which thirteen colonies in North America joined together to break free from the British Empire, combining to become the United States of America...
. Townshend's son, Robert, was a member of the Culper Spy RingCulper RingThe Culper Ring was a spy ring organized by Major Benjamin Tallmadge under the orders of General George Washington in the summer of 1778 during British occupation of New York City at the height of the American Revolutionary War. Their name was derived from the aliases taken by two of its main...
. - The WaterFront CenterThe WaterFront CenterThe WaterFront Center is a non-profit community center for marine education and recreation in Oyster Bay, New York. Each year WFC provides educational and recreational programs and events to over 10,000 youth and adults...
a non-profit center for marine education and recreation offering sailing lessongs and environmental education programs. It also owns the Sloop ChristeenChristeen (sloop)Christeen is the oldest oyster sloop in the United States and was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1992.She was built in 1883 in Glenwood Landing, New York as a gaff-rigged sloop. She had several homes including Essex, Connecticut, but in 1992 she arrived back in the hamlet of Oyster Bay,...
which it uses for sails around the harbor. - Matinecock Lodge Temple and Matinecock Historical Society Building on West Main Street. Theodore Roosevelt and Quentin Roosevelt II were both members of Matinecock Lodge, No. 806. The original Lodge building burned down in October 2003 and has since been re-built through the efforts of the members of the Lodge and the citizens of Oyster Bay and the surrounding community.
- Beekman Beach
- Sagamore Rowing Association
Education
Oyster Bay-East Norwich Central School District
Oyster Bay-East Norwich Central School District is a school district headquartered in Oyster Bay hamlet in the town of Oyster Bay, New York, United States.The district covers areas in Long Island.-Schools:...
. Schools in the OBEN CSD include:
- Oyster Bay High SchoolOyster Bay High SchoolOyster Bay High School is a high school located in Oyster Bay, New York. The school is a part of the Oyster Bay-East Norwich Central School District. A more comprehensive history may be found on the school's website.-History:...
, within the hamlet, is the sole public high school. - James H. Vernon School
- Theodore Roosevelt Elementary School
There are several private schools in close proximity to Oyster Bay. These include:
- St. Dominic High SchoolSt. Dominic High School (Oyster Bay, New York)St. Dominic High School is a private, Roman Catholic high school in Oyster Bay, New York. It is located within the Roman Catholic Diocese of Rockville Centre.-Background:St. Dominic was established in 1928...
- East Woods SchoolEast Woods SchoolEast Woods School is a relatively small private school in Oyster Bay, Long Island, New York. The school serves students from many local communities, including Oyster Bay, East Norwich, Centerport, Cold Spring Harbor, Locust Valley, Huntington, Glen Cove, Syosset and Muttontown.-About The East...
Economy
Acclaim EntertainmentAcclaim Entertainment
Acclaim Entertainment was an American video game developer and publisher. It developed, published, marketed and distributed interactive entertainment software for a variety of hardware platforms, including Sega's Mega Drive/Genesis, Saturn, Dreamcast, and Game Gear, Nintendo's NES, SNES, Nintendo...
was originally located in the hamlet of Oyster Bay. It originally occupied a one-room office in Oyster Bay. At a later time it occupied a brick structure with two stories. In 1994 Acclaim bought a headquarters building in Glen Cove
Glen Cove, New York
Glen Cove is a city in Nassau County, New York on the North Shore of Long Island. As of the United States 2010 Census, the city population was 26,964....
.
See also
- Oyster Bay History WalkOyster Bay History WalkThe Oyster Bay History Walk is a path through downtown Oyster Bay, New York that leads the walker to 30 historic sites. It is a 1 mile loop and is the first certified American Heart Association Start! Walking Path on Long Island.-Origins and Development:...
- Theodore Roosevelt in Oyster BayTheodore Roosevelt in Oyster BayTheodore Roosevelt spent his first summer in Oyster Bay with his family in 1874. Through the ensuing years as he rose to power, Oyster Bay would frequently serve as backdrop and stage on which many of his ambitions were realized. Several places connected to Theodore Roosevelt in his lifetime...
- List of Town of Oyster Bay Landmarks
- National Register of Historic Places listings in Nassau County, New York