On 9/25/02 (10:26:03 AM MDT), as part of an eMail, Sharilyn Whitaker ([email protected]) asked, "I have tracked a person of great interest to me to "Cowneck, Long Island, New York", which was "in the vicinity of the present towns of Manhasset and Port Washington on the north shore of Long Island". Her brother Benjamin Snyder was later active in Episcopal Church affairs in Fishkill, Dutchess County, and the mother church for this effort was St. George's Episcopal in Hempstead. I used Map Quest to determine that Port Washington and Monasset (sic) were north and west of Hempstead, but there was no way to determine the distance. Can anyone tell me how far that is?" Also, is there a historical society in the generally close environs of Cowneck, where I might find some help, particularly in determining the closest Episcopal Church? Answering your last question first: There is the Cow Neck Peninsula Historical Society, and they have a web site: http://www.cowneck.org/ Now, answering your first two questions: First, Manhasset and Port Washington are hamlets (unincorporated areas) in the Town of North Hempstead. Hempstead is a village (municipal corporation) in the Town of Hempstead. Second, I estimate that it's about 15 to 20 miles from the Village of Hempstead to the Hamlets of Manhasset and Port Washington. Both Manhasset and Port Washington are two of many communities on Long Island where the majority of the places with a Manhasset or a Port Washington mailing address are not in either Manhasset or Port Washington. The pertinent geography: Manhasset is a hamlet (unincorporated area) in the central part of the Town of North Hempstead. There are 30 villages (incorporated municipalities) 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 Manhasset in the Town of North Hempstead is bordered on the north by the Villages of Plandome Heights, Flower Hill and Munsey Park; on the east by the Village of Roslyn Estates; on the south by the Village of North Hills; and, on the west by the Villages of Lake Success, Thomaston, Kensington and Great Neck. And, as occurs in all but one of Nassau County's 136 communities (2 cities, 64 villages and 70 hamlets), the Hamlet of Manhasset has a different border than does the "Manhasset, NY 11030" postal zone (i.e., a place can have a Manhasset mailing address and not be in Manhasset). .....................................................acres .........Hamlet of Manhasset.............1,592 .........Manhasset, NY 11030............4,424 Thus, about 2 out of every 3 places with a "Manhasset, NY" mailing address are NOT in the Hamlet of Manhasset. Quickly eyeballing the map overlay of the "11030" postal ZIP code versus village and hamlet borders, the following 7 communities (7 villages and 0 hamlets) seem to be at least partially within the borders of the "Manhasset, NY" postal zone and hence places in these communities can have a "Manhasset, NY" mailing address (if the community is a village, its year of incorporation is shown inside the parenthesis): Village of Plandome Manor (1931) Village of Plandome (1911) Village of Plandome Heights (1929) Village of Munsey Park (1930) Village of Flower Hill (1931) Village of North Hills (1929) Village of Thomaston (1931) For those who have their copy of the 2001 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 Manhasset in the Town of North Hempstead, Nassau County on pages 5 & 6 (map) and 7 (population estimate). Port Washington is a hamlet (an unincorporated area) in the northeastern part of the Town of North Hempstead. There are 30 villages (incorporated municipalities 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, like almost every community in either Nassau or Suffolk Counties, the hamlet and the postal zone that use the same name, have much different borders: .....................................................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 7 communities (5 villages and 2 hamlets) 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 Hamlet of Northern Port Washington........162 Village of Port Washington North (1932)...315 Village of Manorhaven (1930)...................326 Village of Baxter Estates (1931)..............109 Hamlet of Port Washington..................2,570 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 2001 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 Port Washington in the Town of North Hempstead, Nassau County on pages 5 & 6 (map) and 7 (population estimate). Hempstead is a village (incorporated in 1853) in the north-center section of the Town of Hempstead, Nassau County. There are 22 villages (municipal corporations) and 36 hamlets (unincorporated areas) all or partly within the Town of 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 its northern border and proceeding clockwise: The Village of Hempstead in the Town of Hempstead is bordered on the north by the Village of Garden City and the Hamlet of East Garden City; on the east by the Hamlets of East Garden City and Uniondale; on the south by the Hamlets of Baldwin and South Hempstead; and, on the west by the Hamlet of West Hempstead. And, as occurs in all but one of Nassau County's 136 communities (2 cities, 64 villages and 70 hamlets), the Village of Hempstead has a different border than does the "Hempstead, NY 11550" postal zone (i.e., a place can have a Hempstead mailing address and not be in the Village of Hempstead). ....................................….......acres .....Village of Hempstead…...2,327 .....Hempstead, NY 11550….2,652 As you can see from the above, about 12.5% of the places that have a "Hempstead" mailing address are not in the Village of Hempstead. (Portions of the Hamlets of East Garden City and South Hempstead have Hempstead, NY mailing addresses.) For those who have their copy of the 2001 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 Hempstead (incorporated in 1853) in the Town of Hempstead, Nassau County on pages 5 & 8 (map) and 9 (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.