On 4/25/04 (4:27:20 PM MDT), as part of a posting to NYBROOKLYN-L@rootsweb.com, Barb (MmeScarlett@aol.com) wrote, "The poem "When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloomed" was inspired by his home in LI, around Huntington ... Now, all we need is Walter Greenspan to put this geographic tilt on this, and Joy to add her lit slant." Walt Whitman grew up in the Hamlet of West Hills (Huntington Station P.O.), in the Town of Huntington in Suffolk County. For more information about the Walt Whitman Birthplace State Historic Site, please go to: http://nysparks.state.ny.us/cgi-bin/cgiwrap/nysparks/historic.cgi?p+28 West Hills is one of those many communities on Long Island where none of the places in West Hills have a "West Hills, NY" mailing address. The pertinent geography: West Hills is a hamlet (an unincorporated area) in the southwest part of the Town of Huntington, in the northwest part of Suffolk County, along the Nassau/Suffolk County line. There are 4 villages (municipal corporations) and 15 hamlets all or partly in the Town of Huntington. There are no cities and 10 towns in Suffolk County. There are 2 Indian reservations in Suffolk 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 West Hills in the Town of Huntington is bordered on the north by the Hamlet of Cold Spring Harbor and the Hamlet of Huntington Station; on the east by the Hamlet of Huntington Station and Hamlet of South Huntington; on the south by the Hamlet of Melville; and, on the west by the Hamlet of Woodbury in the Town of Oyster Bay, Nassau County (the Suffolk/Nassau County line and the Huntington/Oyster Bay Town line). And, as occurs in every one of Suffolk County's 156 communities (0 cities, 31 villages and 125 hamlets), the hamlet and the postal zone that use the same name, have much different borders: In this case, there is no "West Hills, NY" postal zone and hence there are no places with a "West Hills, NY" mailing address. The places in West Hills have either a "Cold Spring Harbor, NY 11724", "Huntington, NY 11743", "Huntington Station, NY 11746", or "Melville, NY 11747" mailing address. 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 Hamlet of West Hills in the Town of Huntington, Suffolk County on pages 14 & 16 (map) and 17 (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.