On 3/19/06 (7:42:35 PM MST), Rolene Kiesling, Groveland, CA (rolene@mlode.com) asked, "Can someone explain if St. Charles Cemetery, Farmingdale is in Nassau or Suffolk County? I see it both ways." The problem is caused because the "Farmingdale, NY 11735" postal zone is a non-conforming bi-county postal zone: While the "Farmingdale, NY 11735" shares the name of the Village of Farmingdale in the Town of Oyster Bay, Nassau County, the postal zone serves an area in both the Town of Oyster Bay in Nassau County and the Town of Babylon in Suffolk County. St. Charles Cemetery is in the Hamlet of East Farmingdale (Farmingdale P.O.). In other words, if you want to send a letter to St. Charles Cemetery, you would address this letter to "Farmingdale, NY"; however, if you want to actually go to St. Charles Cemetery, you would go to East Farmingdale. It is important to note that the Hamlet of East Farmingdale is one of those many villages and hamlets on Long Island where none of the places in the community have the hamlet name 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 (unincorporated areas) 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, 32 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 "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 2005 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. 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.