Hi Christine Cotton, Prior to January 1, 1899, the Hamlet of Oyster Bay in the Town of Oyster Bay was in Queens County, and following that date became part of Nassau County, as the eastern three-quarters of Queens County, the part that did not become part of New York City a year earlier, on January 1, 1898, seceded and became Nassau County. For questions such as yours, you may want to contact the Oyster Bay-East Norwich Public Library (the library can suggest which local newspaper might have this information and other possible sources of information), as well as the Oyster Bay Historical Society: Oyster Bay-East Norwich Public Library 89 East Main Street Oyster Bay, NY 11771 Tel: 516/922-1212 Fax: 516/922-6453 eMail: ??????? http://www.nassaulibrary.org/oysterbay/Newsite/index.html The Oyster Bay Historical Society P.O. Box 297 20 Summit Street Oyster Bay, NY 11771-0297 Tel: 516/922-5032 Fax: 516/ 624-7291 eMail form: http://www.servenet.com/cgi/mail?OBHS http://www.oysterbayhistory.org Oyster Bay is one of those many villages and hamlets on Long Island where most of the places that have the community name as part of their mailing address are not in the hamlet. It is important to know that there are 3 "Oyster Bays" (from smallest to largest, in order of acreage): 1. There is the Hamlet of Oyster Bay (763 acres); 2. There is the "Oyster Bay, NY 11771" ZIP Code postal zone (7,002 acres), and it includes the Hamlet of Oyster Bay and parts of 7 villages (municipal corporations) and 1 other hamlet (unincorporated area) within its service area; and, 3. There is the Town of Oyster Bay (70,908 acres), and it includes 18 villages and 18 hamlets as well as the "Oyster Bay, NY 11771" ZIP Code postal zone and all or parts of 27 other ZIP Code postal zones, within its borders. The pertinent current geography: Oyster Bay is a hamlet (an unincorporated area) in the north most part of the Town of Oyster Bay, in the northeast part of Nassau County. There are 18 villages (municipal corporations) and 18 hamlets (unincorporated areas) all or partly in the Town of Oyster Bay. 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 Oyster Bay in the Town of Oyster Bay is bordered on the north by Oyster Bay Harbor; on the east by the Village of Oyster Bay Cove; on the south by the Hamlet of East Norwich; and, on the west by the Village of Upper Brookville and the Village of Mill Neck. For the map of the Hamlet of Oyster Bay: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/7/75/Oyster-bay-map.gif And, as occurs in all but one of Nassau County's 136 communities (2 cities, 64 villages and 70 hamlets), the Hamlet of Oyster Bay has a different border than does the "Oyster Bay, NY 11771" ZIP Code postal zone (i.e., a place can have an "Oyster Bay, NY 11771" mailing address and not be in the Hamlet of Oyster Bay). .............................................acres .....Hamlet of Oyster Bay............763 .....Oyster Bay, NY 11771........7,002 .....Town of Oyster Bay..........70,908 Thus, you can readily see that 9 of every 10 places with an "Oyster Bay, NY 11771" mailing address are NOT in the Hamlet of Oyster Bay. These places may be in the Village of Centre Island, the Village of Cove Neck, the Village of Oyster Bay Cove, the Village of Laurel Hollow, the Hamlet of East Norwich, the Village of Muttontown, the Village of Upper Brookville and the Village of Mill Neck. For those who have their copy of the 2008 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 Oyster Bay in the Town of Oyster Bay, Nassau County on pages 5 & 11 (map) and 12 (population estimate). I hope this information is useful or, at least, interesting. Regards, Walter Greenspan Great Falls, MT & Jericho, NY . 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. </HTML>