This is a Message Board Post that is gatewayed to this mailing list. Classification: Query Message Board URL: http://boards.ancestry.com/mbexec/msg/rw/jUB.2ACI/1110.1 Message Board Post: On 12/23/05 (7:29:49 AM MST), in a posting to the Suffolk County Ancestry Board tyhat was 'gatewayed' to NYSUFFOL-L@rootsweb.com, Phyllis Goff (mother3237@chsrter.net) asked, "I am hoping to get an obit for Herbert Llyle Goff, born 1893 and died in Farmingdale, NY in 1984. He is buried in Long Island National Nationatl Cemetery Will pay for information. Also buried with Lyle is his wife Pauline died May 1993/" For questions such as yours, you may want to contact the Farmingdale Public Library (the library can suggest which local newspaper might have this information and other possible sources of information): Farmingdale Public Library 116 Merritts Road Farmingdale, NY 11735 Tel: 516/249-9090 Fax: 516/???-???? eMail: falmail@nls.lib.ny.us http://www.nassaulibrary.org/farmingd/ It is important to note that East Farmingdale is one of those many villages and hamlets on Long Island where none of the places in the community have the name of the hamlet as part of their mailing address. The pertinent geography: East Farmingdale is a hamlet (unincorporated area) in the northwest part of the Town of Babylon, in the southwest part of Suffolk County (along the Babylon/Huntington/Oyster Bay town line and the Suffolk/Nassau County line). There are 3 villages (municipal corporations) and 12 hamlets all or partly in the Town of Babylon. 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 East Farmingdale in the Town of Babylon is bordered on the north by the Hamlet of Melville in the Town of Huntington (the Babylon/Huntington Town line); on the east by the Hamlets of Wyandanch and West Babylon; on the south by the Hamlets of North Lindenhurst and North Amityville and, on the west by the Village of Farmingdale, Town of Oyster Bay, Nassau County (the Babylon/Oyster Bay Town line and the Suffolk/Nassau County line). And, as occurs in every one of Suffolk County's 157 communities (0 cities, 31 villages and 126 hamlets), the hamlet and the postal zone that use the same name, have much different borders: In this case there is no "East Farmingdale, NY" postal zone and places in the Hamlet of East Farmingdale have other than an "East Farmingdale, NY" mailing address (these places have a "Farmingdale, NY 11735" mailing address). In addition to the Farmingdale addresses in the Town of Babylon, Suffolk County, about 3 of every 4 Farmingdale addresses in Nassau County are also not in the Village of Farmingdale: these paces with a Farmingdale address that are not in the Village of Farmingdale are in the Hamlet of South Farmingdale and in the Hamlet of Plainedge. For those who have their copy of the 2004 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 East Farmingdale in the Town of Babylon, Suffolk County on pages 14 & 18 (map) and 19 (population estimate). I hope this information is useful or, at least, interesting. Chag Sameach* Chanukah, Walter Greenspan Great Falls, MT & Jericho, NY * KHAHG sah-MEHY-ahkh = A Joyous Holiday The 8-day rabbinic Festival of Chanukah begins Sunday night, December 25. 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.