Long Beach Barrier Island
Encyclopedia
Outer barrier
The outer barrier, also known as the Long Island and New York City barrier islands, refers to the string of barrier islands that divide the lagoons south of Long Island from the Atlantic Ocean....
off the south coast of Long Island
Long Island
Long Island is an island located in the southeast part of the U.S. state of New York, just east of Manhattan. Stretching northeast into the Atlantic Ocean, Long Island contains four counties, two of which are boroughs of New York City , and two of which are mainly suburban...
, New York. Long Beach, New York
Long Beach, New York
Long Beach is a city in Nassau County, New York. Just south of Long Island, it is located on Long Beach Barrier Island, which is the westernmost of the outer barrier islands off Long Island's South Shore. As of the United States 2010 Census, the city population was 33,275...
is the principal city, sharing the island with Atlantic Beach
Atlantic Beach, New York
Atlantic Beach is an affluent village off the South Shore of Long Island in the Town of Hempstead, Nassau County, New York. It is located on Long Beach Barrier Island, one of the outer barrier islands which it shares with Long Beach, East Atlantic Beach, Atlantic Beach Estates, Lido Beach and Point...
to the west and Lido Beach and Point Lookout
Point Lookout, New York
Point Lookout is a hamlet located in the town Hempstead in Nassau County, New York. The population was 1,219 at the 2010 census.-Geography:...
to the east.
Long Beach is the westernmost of these barrier islands, fronting on Reynolds Channel
Reynolds Channel
Reynolds Channel is a strait in Nassau County, New York which separates a barrier island that contains the City of Long Beach and the villages of Atlantic Beach and Lido Beach from Long Island and Barnum Island. The channel begins at the East Rockaway Inlet and ends at Point Lookout where it merges...
to the north and the Atlantic Ocean
Atlantic Ocean
The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's oceanic divisions. With a total area of about , it covers approximately 20% of the Earth's surface and about 26% of its water surface area...
to the south. The Long Beach Bridge
Long Beach Bridge
The Long Beach Bridge is a drawbridge crossing Reynolds Channel and connecting Long Beach and Island Park, New York. Crossing is free. The bridge starts in Long Beach as Long Beach Boulevard, and at Barnum Island, the main road continues north as Austin Boulevard, while Long Beach Road branches to...
connects to Island Park
Island Park, New York
Island Park is a village located in Nassau County, New York in the United States. As of the 2010 census, the village had a total population of 4,655.Island Park is located in the town of Hempstead.-Geography:...
, the Atlantic Beach Bridge
Atlantic Beach Bridge
The Atlantic Beach Bridge is a long toll drawbridge connecting Lawrence and Atlantic Beach , NY while passing over the west end of Reynolds Channel. The bridge also provides direct access to the Rockaway Peninsula via Seagirt Boulevard....
connects to Lawrence
Lawrence, New York
Lawrence, New York may refer to:*Lawrence, Nassau County, New York, a village*Lawrence, St. Lawrence County, New York, a town...
on the mainland of Long Island, and the Loop Parkway
Loop Parkway
The Loop Parkway is a spur off the Meadowbrook State Parkway on Long Island in the State of New York. After crossing over Reynolds Channel, the parkway ends at Lido Boulevard on the border of Lido Beach and Point Lookout...
bridge connects Lido Beach to the Meadowbrook State Parkway
Meadowbrook State Parkway
The Meadowbrook State Parkway is a long parkway in Nassau County, New York. The southern terminus is at the Bay Parkway in Jones Beach State Park, where the parkway becomes the Ocean Parkway. The northern terminus is at the Northern State Parkway in Carle Place...
.
History
The first inhabitants on the Long beach barrier island were the Rockaway Indians; the Island was sold to the New NetherlandNew Netherland
New Netherland, or Nieuw-Nederland in Dutch, was the 17th-century colonial province of the Republic of the Seven United Netherlands on the East Coast of North America. The claimed territories were the lands from the Delmarva Peninsula to extreme southwestern Cape Cod...
colonists in 1643. Local Long Island baymen and farmers used the island for fishing and harvesting salt hay; no people lived on the Island year round for more than two centuries. The United States Congress
United States Congress
The United States Congress is the bicameral legislature of the federal government of the United States, consisting of the Senate and the House of Representatives. The Congress meets in the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C....
established a lifesaving station in 1849, a dozen years after 62 people died when the barque Mexico carrying Irish immigrants to New York ran ashore on New Year's Day.
Development began on the island as a resort and was organized by Austin Corbin
Austin Corbin
Austin Corbin was a 19th-century American railroad executive and robber baron. He consolidated the rail lines on Long Island bringing them under the profitable umbrella of the Long Island Rail Road....
, a builder from Brooklyn
Brooklyn
Brooklyn is the most populous of New York City's five boroughs, with nearly 2.6 million residents, and the second-largest in area. Since 1896, Brooklyn has had the same boundaries as Kings County, which is now the most populous county in New York State and the second-most densely populated...
New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
.
Austin Corbin formed a partnership with the Long Island Rail Road
Long Island Rail Road
The Long Island Rail Road or LIRR is a commuter rail system serving the length of Long Island, New York. It is the busiest commuter railroad in North America, serving about 81.5 million passengers each year. Established in 1834 and having operated continuously since then, it is the oldest US...
to finance the New York and Long Beach Railroad Co which laid tracks from Lynbrook, NY to Long Beach, NY in 1880.
The company also opened the 1,100-foot-long Long Beach Hotel, at the time the largest in the world. The railroad brought 300,000 visitors the first season.
By the next spring, tracks had been laid almost the full length of the Long Beach island, but after repeated winter storm washouts they were removed in 1894.