Brookville, New York

The geographic Village of Brookville was formed in two stages. When the village was incorporated in 1931, it consisted of a long, narrow tract of land that was centered along Cedar Swamp Road (NY 107). In the 1950s, the northern portion of the unincorporated area then known as Wheatley Hills was annexed and incorporated into the village, approximately doubling the village's area to its present {{convert|2650|acre}}.Note that such figures are often imprecise. The cited figure was calculated by Frederick P. Clark Associates for the report: "Village of Brookville: Open Space Preservation Through Large Lot Zoning; A Village Master Plan Update Study, September 1989, Finalized January 1990".

When the Town of Oyster Bay purchased what is now Brookville from the Matinecocks in the mid-17th century, the area was known as Suco's Wigwam. Most pioneers were English, many of them Quakers. They were soon joined by Dutch settlers from western Long Island, who called the surrounding area Wolver Hollow, apparently because wolves gathered at spring-fed Shoo Brook to drink. For most of the 19th century, the village was called Tappentown after a prominent family. Brookville became the preferred name after the Civil War and was used on 1873 maps.{{Cite book|last=Winsche|first=Richard|title=The History of Nassau County Community Place-Names|date=October 1, 1999|publisher=Empire State Books|isbn=978-1557871541|location=Interlaken, New York|pages=}}{{Cite web|title=HISTORY|url=http://villageofbrookville.com/history.html|access-date=August 9, 2021|website=VILLAGE OF BROOKVILLE|language=en}}

Brookville's two centuries as a farm and woodland backwater changed quickly in the early 20th century as wealthy New Yorkers built lavish mansions in the area. By the mid-1920s, there were 22 estates, part of the emergence of Nassau's North Shore Gold Coast. One was Broadhollow, the {{convert|108|acre|km2|adj=on}} spread of attorney-banker-diplomat Winthrop W. Aldrich, which had a 40-room manor house. The second owner of Broadhollow was Alfred Gwynne Vanderbilt Jr., who at one point was president of the Belmont and Pimlico racetracks. Marjorie Merriweather Post, daughter of cereal creator Charles William Post, and her husband Edward Francis Hutton, the famous financier, built a lavish 70-room mansion on {{convert|178|acres|km2}} called Hillwood.

In 1931, estate owners banded together to win village incorporation to head off what they saw as undesirable residential and commercial development in other parts of Nassau County. The first Mayor was W. Deering Howe. In 1947, the Post estate was sold to Long Island University for its C. W. Post campus. The campus is noted as the home of the Tilles Center for the Performing Arts. Also in Brookville is the DeSeversky Conference Center of the New York Institute of Technology. The center was formerly Templeton, mansion of socialite and businessman Winston Guest. Templeton was later used as one of the settings for the Dudley Moore film Arthur.

The Chapelle de St. Martin de Sayssuel, also known as the St. Joan of Arc Chapel where Joan of Arc prayed prior to engaging the English, was moved from France to Brookville in the early 20th century. It was acquired by Gertrude Hill Gavin, daughter of James J. Hill, the American railroad magnate. The chapel was dismantled stone by stone and imported from France to her Brookville estate in 1926. The chapel is now located at Marquette University in Wisconsin.

The Brookville Reformed Church, one of the oldest existing church congregations in the country, calls Brookville its home. The Brookville Church was founded by 17th century Dutch settlers.

The James Preserve is a nature preserve in Old Brookville and is the only tract of land showing the natural appearance of the village before development. Although it is in Old Brookville, it is connected to Greenvale.{{Citation needed|date=August 2021}}

In 2009, BusinessWeek dubbed Brookville the wealthiest town in America.{{cite web|title=The Wealthiest Towns in America|url=http://images.businessweek.com/ss/09/03/0317_richest_zips/2.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090321081433/http://images.businessweek.com/ss/09/03/0317_richest_zips/2.htm|url-status=dead|archive-date=March 21, 2009|access-date=April 26, 2009|work=BusinessWeek}}

File:Brookville-ny-map.png

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the village has a total area of {{convert|4.0|sqmi|km2}}, all land.{{cite web|date=February 12, 2011|title=US Gazetteer files: 2010, 2000, and 1990|url=https://www.census.gov/geographies/reference-files/time-series/geo/gazetteer-files.html|access-date=April 23, 2011|publisher=United States Census Bureau}}

The village lost territory to the adjacent Incorporated Village of East Hills between the 1960 census and the 1970 census.{{Cite web |title=1970 United States Census – New York |url=https://www2.census.gov/prod2/decennial/documents/1970a_ny1-01.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070221060316/http://www2.census.gov:80/prod2/decennial/documents/1970a_ny1-01.pdf |archive-date=February 21, 2007 |access-date=October 4, 2021 |website=United States Census Bureau}}{{Cite book |url=https://suffolkcountyny.gov/Portals/0/formsdocs/planning/Research/Historical_pop.pdf |title=Historical Population of Long Island Communities: 1790-1980 |publisher=Long Island Regional Planning Board |year=1982}}

{{US Census population

|1940= 204

|1950= 337

|1960= 1468

|1970= 3212

|1980= 3290

|1990= 3716

|2000= 2126

|2010= 3465

|2020= 2939

|footnote=U.S. Decennial Census{{cite web|url=https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/decennial-census.html|title=Census of Population and Housing|publisher=Census.gov|access-date=June 4, 2015}}

}}

As of the census{{cite web |url=https://www.census.gov |publisher=United States Census Bureau |access-date=January 31, 2008 |title=U.S. Census website }} of 2000, there were 2,126 people, 631 households, and 569 families residing in the village. The population density was {{convert|530.5|PD/sqmi|PD/km2|sp=us|adj=off}}. There were 648 housing units at an average density of {{convert|161.7|/sqmi|/km2|sp=us|adj=off}}. The racial makeup of the village was 89.75% White, 1.16% African American, 3.16% Asian, 0.56% from other races, and 1.36% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 6.68% of the population.

There were 631 households, out of which 49.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 82.9% were married couples living together, 4.9% had a female householder with no husband present, and 9.8% were non-families. 7.9% of all households were made up of individuals, and 4.6% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 3.35 and the average family size was 3.49.

In the village, the population was spread out, with 32.8% under the age of 18, 4.4% from 18 to 24, 26.0% from 25 to 44, 25.1% from 45 to 64, and 11.8% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 39 years. For every 100 females, there were 97.8 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 90.7 males.

The median income for a household in the village was in excess of $200,000 – as was the median income for a family. Males had a median income of over $100,000 versus $60,238 for females. The per capita income for the village was $84,375. None of families or the population were below the poverty line, including none of those under age 18 or those age 65 or over.

In 2009, Brookville topped BusinessWeek's list of America's 25 wealthiest towns based on average income and net worth.

As of August 2021, the Mayor of Brookville is Daniel H. Serota, the Deputy Mayor is Caroline Z. Bazzini, and the Village Trustees are Caroline Z. Bazzini, John A. Burns, Edward J. Chesnik, and Robert D. Spina.{{Cite web|title=VILLAGE BOARDS|url=http://villageofbrookville.com/village-boards.html|access-date=August 9, 2021|website=VILLAGE OF BROOKVILLE|language=en}}

The village is protected by the Brookville Police Department, which was established in 2022.{{Cite web |title=Home |url=https://www.brookvillepoliceny.gov/ |access-date=March 5, 2024 |website=Brookville Police Department |language=en-US}}

Brookville is primarily served by the Jericho Union Free School District, though portions are served by the Locust Valley Central School District.{{Cite web|title=Long Island Index: Interactive Map|url=http://www.longislandindexmaps.org/?zoom=0&x=1313564&y=266122.5&code=53264&tab=tabServiceProviders&satellite=false&landuse=true&landuseopacity=0.8&mainlayers=Fire_boundary,LIE,ParkwayMainRd,VillageBoundaryUninc,VillageBoundaryInc,TownsCities&labellayers=Fire_boundary,VillageBoundaryUninc,VillageBoundaryInc,TownsCities,LIE&serviceproviderlayers=|access-date=August 9, 2021|website=www.longislandindexmaps.org}}

The Long Island Lutheran Middle and High School is also located within the village.

Half of the New York Institute of Technology's {{Convert|1050|acre|ha|adj=on}} Old Westbury campus is located in the Village of Brookville.{{Cite web|title=NYIT's Construction Project Approved by Village of Old Westbury Trustees - the Island Now: Roslyn|url=http://www.theislandnow.com/roslyn/nyit-s-construction-project-approved-by-village-of-old-westbury/article_0ab31c64-07cd-11e6-8da0-cb0eea5dd5c9.html|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160531033505/http://www.theislandnow.com/roslyn/nyit-s-construction-project-approved-by-village-of-old-westbury/article_0ab31c64-07cd-11e6-8da0-cb0eea5dd5c9.html|archive-date=May 31, 2016|access-date=April 21, 2016}}

The village is also the home of LIU Post, which is the largest campus of the private Long Island University system.

• Winthrop W. Aldrich, U.S. ambassador to the United Kingdom.{{cite news |last=Bruno |first=Lisa Doll |date=October 10, 2013 |url=http://www.newsday.com/classifieds/real-estate/brookville-homes-start-at-1m-and-continue-to-lure-the-affluent-1.6228387 |title=Brookville homes start at $1M and continue to lure the affluent |work=Newsday |access-date=September 5, 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140905192717/http://www.newsday.com/classifieds/real-estate/brookville-homes-start-at-1m-and-continue-to-lure-the-affluent-1.6228387 |archive-date=September 5, 2014}}
• Marc Anthony, singer.[http://hollywoodlife.com/2011/07/19/jennifer-lopez-marc-anthony-divorce-properties-houses-brookville-new-york/ Jennifer Lopez & Marc Anthony Own $5.75 Million Worth Of Property In New York: Who Will Get It?] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170729103838/http://hollywoodlife.com/2011/07/19/jennifer-lopez-marc-anthony-divorce-properties-houses-brookville-new-york/ |date=July 29, 2017 }} Retrieved September 5, 2014
• Arthur Scott Burden, president of Burden Iron Works.{{Citation needed|date=August 2021}}
• Joseph E. Davies, second U.S. ambassador to the Soviet Union.{{Citation needed|date=August 2021}}
• Angie Dickinson, actress.{{Citation needed|date=August 2021}}
• Alfred I. du Pont, inventor, philanthropist.{{Citation needed|date=August 2021}}
• Prince Felix and the Royal Family of Luxembourg.{{Citation needed|date=August 2021}}
• C. Z. Guest, socialite.{{Citation needed|date=August 2021}}
• Frederick Edward Guest, British Cabinet minister.{{Citation needed|date=August 2021}}
• Edward Francis Hutton, co-founder, E. F. Hutton & Co.{{Citation needed|date=August 2021}}
• Mary McFadden, fashion designer, writer.{{Citation needed|date=August 2021}}
• Dina Merrill, actress.{{Citation needed|date=August 2021}}
• Marjorie Merriweather Post, philanthropist.
• Cynthia Roche, socialite.{{Citation needed|date=August 2021}}
• Diego Suarez, garden designer.{{Citation needed|date=August 2021}}
• Percy Uris, real estate investor/builder.{{Citation needed|date=August 2021}}
• Alfred Gwynne Vanderbilt Jr., owner of the Belmont and Pimlico racetracks.

{{reflist}}

{{Commons category|Brookville, New York}}

• [http://www.villageofbrookville.com/ Official website]
• [http://www.oldlongisland.com/search/label/Brookville Pictures of Brookville's Historic Estates]
• [http://brookvillechurch.org Brookville Church]
• [http://www.resurrectiongoc.org Greek Orthodox Church of the Holy Resurrection]
• [http://www.villageresidents.org Village Residents Party], a political action committee
• [http://www.brookvilletaxpayers.org Brookville Taxpayers Association, Inc.], a civic association

{{OysterBayNY}}

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Category:Oyster Bay (town), New York

Category:Villages in New York (state)

Category:Villages in Nassau County, New York

Category:1931 establishments in New York (state)