On 2/22/04 (6:39:19 PM MST), in a posting to the Nassau County Ancestry Board that was 'gatewayed' to NYNASSAU-L@rootsweb.com, Barbara O. Rowley (borowley@ptd.net) asked, "St. Mary's Church in Roslyn was built in 1872. Does anyone know which church Catholics in Roslyn most likely attended before 1872?" For questions such as yours, you may want to contact either or both the Diocesan Archivist of the R.C. DIOCESE OF ROCKVILLE CENTRE or the Bryant Library: Ms. Jean Walsh, Diocesan Archivist Diocesan Archives R.C. DIOCESE OF ROCKVILLE CENTRE Seminary of the Immaculate Conception 440 West Neck Road Huntington, NY 11743 Tel: 631/423-0483, ext. 109 Fax: 631/423-7922 eMail: archives@drvc.org http://www.drvc.org/ The Bryant Library 2 Paper Mill Road Roslyn, NY 11576 Tel: 516/621-2240 Fax: 516/621-7211 eMail: ????? http://www.nassaulibrary.org/bryant/ Roslyn is one of those communities on Long Island where the majority of the places with a Roslyn mailing address are not in Roslyn. The pertinent geography: Roslyn is a village (incorporated in 1932) in the center-east part of the Town of North Hempstead, in the north-central part of Nassau County. There are 30 villages (incorporated municipality) and 18 hamlets (unincorporated areas) all or partly in the Town of North Hempstead. There are 2 cities and 3 towns in Nassau County. (I'm including after my name a NYS Geographic Glossary with the NYS definitions of county, city, town, village, hamlet and postal zone.) Beginning on the north and moving in a clockwise direction, the Village of Roslyn in the Town of North Hempstead is bordered on the north by the Village of Flower Hill, the Hamlet of Port Washington, Port Washington Harbor and the Village of Roslyn Harbor; on the east by the Village of East Hills; on the south by the Hamlet of Roslyn Heights; and, on the west by the Villages of Roslyn Estates and Flower Hill. And, as occurs in all but one of Nassau County's 136 communities (2 cities, 64 villages and 70 hamlets), the Village of Roslyn has a different border than does the "Roslyn, NY 11576" postal zone (i.e., a place can have a Roslyn mailing address and not be in Roslyn). ..................................................area .....Village of Roslyn.....................381 .....Roslyn, NY 11576................3,496* * This includes 234 acres in the Town of Oyster Bay. Thus, about 9 out of every 10 places with a "Roslyn, NY" mailing address are NOT in the Village of Roslyn and one out of 15 are NOT in the Town of North Hempstead. Quickly eyeballing the map overlay of the "11576" postal zip code versus village and hamlet borders, the following communities seem to be at least partially within the borders of the "Roslyn, NY" postal zone and hence have a "Roslyn, NY" mailing address (if the community is a village, its year of incorporation is shown inside the parenthesis): ......Village of Roslyn Harbor (1931) ......Village of East Hills/Town of North Hempstead (1931) ......Village of East Hills/Town of Oyster Bay (1931) ......Hamlet of Roslyn Heights ......Village of Roslyn Estates (1931) ......Hamlet of Searingtown ......Village of North Hills (1929) ......Village of Flower Hill (1931) Also, complicating the matter even more, the "Roslyn, NY 11576" postal zone is a bifurcated postal zone, with noncontiguous areas separated by the "Roslyn Heights, NY 11577", the "Albertson, NY 11507" and the "Manhasset, NY 11030" postal zones. For those who have their copy of the 2002 or earlier edition of the LI Population Survey or have already downloaded the report from the Long Island Power Authority web site (eMail me directly if you need instructions on how to access and download the report), you'll find the Village of Roslyn (incorporated in 1932) in the Town of North Hempstead, Nassau County on pages 5 & 6 (map) and 7 (population estimate). I hope this information is useful or, at least, interesting. Regards, Walter Greenspan . Cities, Towns, Villages, Hamlets and Postal Zones in New York State New York State is divided into counties. County A county is a municipal corporation, a subdivision of the state, created to perform state functions; a "regional" government. All counties are divided into cities, towns and Indian reservations. City A city is a unique governmental entity with its own special charter. Cities are not sub-divided, except into neighborhoods, which are informal geographic areas. Town A town is a municipal corporation and encompasses all territory within the state except that within cities or Indian reservations. Towns can be sub-divided into villages and hamlets. Village A village is a general purpose municipal corporation formed voluntarily by the residents of an area in one or more towns to provide themselves with municipal services. The pattern of village organization is similar to those of a city. A village is divided into neighborhoods, which are informal geographic areas. Hamlet A hamlet is an unincorporated area in one or more towns that is governed at-large by the town(s) it is in. A hamlet is divided into neighborhoods, which are informal geographic areas. Postal Zone "City" and "Town" A postal zone "City" and "Town" is an administrative district established by the U.S. Postal Service to deliver the mail. Postal zone "City" and "Town" may not (but are encouraged to) conform to municipal or community borders. Thus, postal zone location does not always determine city, village or hamlet location. Please be aware: In many areas of New York State, the problem of non-conforming postal zones leads to a situation where the majority of places have a different community name in their mailing address than the community where that place is actually located.