On 6/13/04 (6:37:02 AM MDT), in a private eMail, Richard Clark (rgclark@bellsouth.net) asked, "I have a couple of more questions: Where is Great Neck,Hempstead or Great Neck,Long Island City?\ Where is Cow Neck,Hempstead" Currently, Great Neck is a peninsula (and a village of the same name on the Great Neck peninsula) in the Town of North Hempstead, but prior to April 1784, the Town of North Hempstead was part of the Town of Hempstead. Currently, Cow Bay is called Port Washington, and it, too, is in the Town of North Hempstead, which prior to April 1784 was part of the Town of Hempstead. The pertinent geography for Great Neck: Great Neck is a village (incorporated in 1921) in the northwest part of the Town of North Hempstead, in the northwest part of Nassau County. There are 30 villages 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 Great Neck in the Town of North Hempstead is bordered on the north by the Village of Kings Point; on the east by Hempstead Harbor; on the south by the Hamlet of Great Neck Gardens, the Villages of Great Neck Estates and Saddle Rock; and, on the west by the Hamlet of Saddle Rock Estates and the Village Kings Point. And, as occurs in all but one of Nassau County's 136 communities (2 cities, 64 villages and 70 hamlets), the Village of Great Neck has a different border than does the "Great Neck, NY" postal zone (i.e., a place can have a Great Neck mailing address and not be in Great Neck). ....................................................acres .........Village of Great Neck..............866 .........Great Neck, NY...................6,022* * This includes the 4 postal stations (branches) that are part of the Great Neck Post Office: .........Great Neck, NY 11020...........1,405 .........Great Neck, NY 11021...........1,314 .........Great Neck, NY 11023...........1,098 .........Great Neck, NY 11024............2,205 Thus, more than 8 out of every 10 places with a "Great Neck, NY" mailing address are NOT in the Village of Great Neck. Quickly eyeballing the map overlay of the "11020 through 11024" postal ZIP codes versus village and hamlet borders, the following 13 communities (9 villages and 4 hamlets) seem to be at least partially within the borders of the "Great Neck, NY" postal zone and hence places in these communities can have a "Great Neck, NY" mailing address (if the community is a village, its year of incorporation is shown inside the parenthesis): .......................................................acres Village of Great Neck (1921).................866 Village of Great Neck Estates (1911).....489 Hamlet of Great Neck Gardens................* Village of Great Neck Plaza (1930)........199 Hamlet of Harbor Hills.............................* Village of Kensington (1921)..................156 Village of Kings Point (1924)...............2,125 Village of Lake Success (1927)...........1,205 Village of Russell Gardens (1931)..........109 Village of Saddle Rock (1911)................169 Hamlet of Saddle Rock Estates...............* Village of Thomaston (1931)..................270 Hamlet of University Gardens...................* * The Hamlets of Great Neck Gardens, Harbor Hills, Saddle Rock Estates and University Gardens total 596 acres. The pertinent geography for Port Washington: Previously known as Cow Bay (the NYS legislature officially changed the name to Port Washington in 1857), Port Washington is a hamlet (an unincorporated area) in the northeast part of the Town of North Hempstead, in the northwest part of Nassau County. There are 30 villages (municipal corporations) and 18 hamlets 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 Hamlet of Port Washington in the Town of North Hempstead is bordered on the north by the Villages of Baxter Estates, Port Washington North and Sands Point; on the east by the Port Washington Harbor on the south by the Village of Flower Hill; and, on the west by the Village of Plandome Manor and Hempstead Harbor. And, as occurs in all but one of Nassau County's 136 communities (2 cities, 64 villages and 70 hamlets), the Hamlet of Port Washington has a different border than does the "Port Washington, NY 11050" postal zone (i.e., a place can have a Port Washington mailing address and not be in Port Washington). .....................................................acres .........Hamlet of Port Washington.....2,570 .........Port Washington, NY 11050....6,652 Thus, about 3 out of every 5 places with a "Port Washington, NY" mailing address are NOT in the Hamlet of Port Washington. Quickly eyeballing the map overlay of the "11050" postal ZIP code versus village and hamlet borders, the following 6 communities (5 villages and 1 hamlet) seem to be at least partially within the borders of the "Port Washington, NY" postal zone and hence places in these communities can have a "Port Washington, NY" mailing address (if the community is a village, its year of incorporation is shown inside the parenthesis): .........................................................acres Village of Sands Point (1932)..............2,743 Village of Port Washington North (1932)...315 Village of Manorhaven (1930)...................326 Village of Baxter Estates (1931)..............109 Hamlet of Port Washington..................2,732 Village of Flower Hill (1931).....................427* * The Village of Flower Hill has a total area of 1,095 acres, and this is the area serviced by the "Port Washington, NY 11050" postal zone. The Village of Flower Hill's other 668 acres are in the service areas of either the "Manhasset, NY 11030" or the "Roslyn, NY 11576" postal zones. For those who have their copy of the 2003 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 Great Neck (incorporated in 1921) and the Hamlet of Port Washington 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.