Bethpage station

Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) tracks were completed on the present line in 1841.{{cite web |url=http://www.lirrhistory.com/lirrhist.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20000304071119/http://www.lirrhistory.com/lirrhist.html |url-status=usurped |archive-date=March 4, 2000 |title=Early LIRR History}} At first, trains did not stop here, with Bethpage appearing only as a notation ("late Bethpage") associated with the Farmingdale station to the east.

{{cite news | url=http://eagle.brooklynpubliclibrary.org/Default/Scripting/ArticleWin.asp?From=Archive&Source=Page&Skin=BEagle&BaseHref=BEG/1841/10/26&PageLabelPrint=&EntityId=Ar00120&ViewMode=GIF&GZ=T | title=1841 Brooklyn Eagle : LIRR timetable | date=October 26, 1841 | publisher=Brooklyn Eagle | access-date=April 17, 2012}}

By 1854, the LIRR stopped at a local station called Jerusalem.{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1854/04/13/archives/railroads.html |title=Railroads |date=April 13, 1854 |page=7 |newspaper=The New York Times |access-date=April 7, 2008}}

{{cite web |url=http://arrts-arrchives.com/custom4.html |title= 1863 LIRR timetable |access-date=December 31, 2011}} The schedule shows the stop is 2 miles from Farmingdale and 3 miles from Hicksville, the same distances {{As of|{{CURRENTYEAR}}|lc=on}}.

A local post office opened January 29, 1857, with the name Jerusalem Station.{{cite web |url=http://www.bklyn-genealogy-info.com/Civil/Nassau.P.O.html |title=Nassau County Post Offices 1794-1879 |author=David Roberts |access-date=December 23, 2007 |archive-date=July 25, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080725014638/http://www.bklyn-genealogy-info.com/Civil/Nassau.P.O.html |url-status=dead }} {{cite book |title=New York Postal History: The Post Offices & First Postmasters from 1775 to 1980 |author=John L. Kay |author2=Chester M. Smith, Jr.|publisher=American Philatelic Society|year=1982}} In 1867, the residents voted to change the name of the local post office to Central Park, and both that and Jerusalem appeared on LIRR schedules until 1936. The station and the post office were renamed Bethpage on October 1, 1936.{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KA9xCgAAQBAJ&q=october+1%2C+1936+bethpage&pg=PA75|title=Bethpage|last=Logerfo|first=John|date=August 3, 2015|publisher=Arcadia Publishing|isbn=9781439652565|pages=75|language=en}} In 1959, the station burned down and was replaced. Electrified service through the station was inaugurated in 1987.{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1987/12/31/nyregion/electric-service-extended-by-lirr.html|title=Electric Service Extended by L.I.R.R.|last=Schmitt|first=Eric|date=December 31, 1987|newspaper=The New York Times|access-date=July 23, 2011|at=Section B, p. 3}}

Two nearby stations also had Bethpage in their name:

• Bethpage Junction was a connection to the east of the present station where the LIRR crossed with the Central Railroad of Long Island, which was built in 1873. A platform was built to enable passengers to transfer. This is the location where the present Central Branch splits from the Main Line at Beth Interlocking one mile southeast of the Bethpage station on the way to Babylon station and the Montauk Branch. The LIRR built the B-Tower at Beth Interlocking in 1925 to replace hand-operated switching between the tracks.
• Bethpage was also the name of the northern terminus of the former Bethpage Branch from Bethpage Junction to the former Bethpage Brickworks in the community now called Old Bethpage, but which was called Bethpage until 1936.

From 1873 until 1876, the Central Railroad of Long Island had a regularly scheduled stop also named Central Park near Stewart Avenue and Motor Lane in Plainedge, approximately {{convert|0.75|mi}} south of the present station.{{cite web |url=http://www.lirrhistory.com/central.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20000525195838/http://www.lirrhistory.com/central.html |url-status=usurped |archive-date=May 25, 2000 |title=The Central RR of Long Island}}

{{cite web |url=http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/D?gmd:1:./temp/~ammem_jPEW::@@@mdb=mcc,gottscho,detr,nfor,wpa,aap,cwar,bbpix,cowellbib,calbkbib,consrvbib,bdsbib,dag,fsaall,gmd,pan,vv,presp,varstg,suffrg,nawbib,horyd,wtc,toddbib,mgw,ncr,ngp,musdibib,hlaw,papr,lhbumbib,rbpebib,lbcoll,alad,hh,aaodyssey,magbell,bbcards,dcm,raelbib,runyon,dukesm,lomaxbib,mtj,gottlieb,aep,qlt,coolbib,fpnas,aasm,scsm,denn,relpet,amss,aaeo,mffbib,afc911bib,mjm,mnwp,rbcmillerbib,molden,ww2map,mfdipbib,afcnyebib,klpmap,hawp,omhbib,rbaapcbib,mal,ncpsbib,ncpm,lhbprbib,ftvbib,afcreed,aipn,cwband,flwpabib,wpapos,cmns,psbib,pin,coplandbib,cola,tccc,curt,mharendt,lhbcbbib,eaa,haybib,mesnbib,fine,cwnyhs,svybib,mmorse,afcwwgbib,mymhiwebib,uncall,afcwip,mtaft,manz,llstbib,fawbib,berl,fmuever,cdn,afcesnbib,hurstonbib,mreynoldsbib,spaldingbib,sgproto,upboverbib,mussm,cic,afcpearl,awh,awhbib,wright,lhbtnbib |title= c1884 map of LI showing rail lines}}

{{cite web |url= http://arrts-arrchives.com/about.html|title= The Stewart Line |format= 1874 & 1875 timetables show separate stations for Bethpage (now Old Bethpage), Bethpage Junction, and Central Park/Jerusalem}}

Service was continued by the LIRR at that location until about 1924.

There are two tracks at this station with two 12-car high-level side platforms.

{{reflist}}

{{Commons category|Bethpage (LIRR station)}}

• {{wikisource-inline}}
• {{LIRR links}}
• Unofficial LIRR History Website
• {{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20000525135813/http://www.lirrhistory.com/centrow.html Central Branch History]}}
• {{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20001002134535/http://www.lirrhistory.com/jul992/beth1.JPG Bethpage Station (1990s)]}}
• {{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20000829070947/http://www.lirrhistory.com/mar2000/686btower.jpg B-Tower; 1986]}} and {{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20000829070937/http://www.lirrhistory.com/jul993/btower.JPG July 1993]}}
• [http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/map_item.pl?data=/home/www/data/gmd/gmd380/g3804/g3804n/rr003630.jp2&style=gmd&itemLink=D?gmd:3:./temp/~ammem_3EWO::@@@mdb=gmd,klpmap,ww2map&title=Map%20showing%20the%20route%20%26%20connections%20of%20the%20Central%20Rail%20Road%20Extension%20Company%20of%20Long%20Island. 1873 map showing railways on Long Island]
• [http://arrts-arrchives.com/bethpagejunction.html Bethpage Junction History (Arrt's Arrchives)]
• [http://www.trainsarefun.com/lirr/bethpage/bethpage.htm Trains Are Fun]
• [http://www.trainsarefun.com/lirrphotos/photos/K4s-5406-Trn4229-B-Twr-Bethpage-5-11-47.jpg May 11, 1947] and [http://www.trainsarefun.com/lirr/mileposts/FM-CPA20-5-2005-Trn-B-Bethpage-1952-2%20Westbound%20Main%20Line%20train%20at%20Bethpage%20Jct%20MP%2029.jpg 1952 Photos]
• NYCSubways.org
• [http://world.nycsubway.org/perl/show?43410 April 24, 1966] and [http://world.nycsubway.org/perl/show?60310 September 1974 Photos]
• [http://thelirrtoday.blogspot.com/2013/03/interlocking-walkthrough-beth.html BETH Interlocking (The LIRR Today)]
• [https://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&ll=40.741852,-73.481669&spn=0.003894,0.013658&z=17&layer=c&cbll=40.741945,-73.481678&panoid=Z-XBWy7I0bu8Y6gFxB2wBQ&cbp=12,320.64,,0,3.02 Station from Stewart Avenue from Google Maps Street View]

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Category:Bethpage, New York

Category:Long Island Rail Road stations in Nassau County, New York

Category:Railway stations in the United States opened in 1856

Category:1856 establishments in New York (state)