MINEOLA

Village of Mineola, 1906–present

Mineola was legally incorporated as a village in 1906 and run by a president. The lands on which the County buildings sat were not included as part of the village. The land and the buildings have a Mineola postal address, but are within the present day Village of Garden City, which did not incorporate or set its boundaries until 1919.

NYU Langone Hospital – Long Island founded in 1896 by local physicians and residents as Nassau Hospital – was Long Island's first voluntary hospital. In 1897, it admitted 91 patients, performed 27 operations, and reported two births and eight deaths during the first year. The original hospital was constructed in 1900. Renamed Winthrop-University Hospital in the 1980s, it is now a nationally recognized award-winning hospital and in 2004 was ranked among the Top 5 Percent of Acute-Care Hospitals in the Country.

In 1888, the Mineola Fire Department was formed in the Willis Avenue School house. The department soon moved to a new location on Washington Avenue. The department originally consisted of volunteer firemen and would officially be incorporated as an official company in 1889.

In 1839, the Long Island Rail Road reached Mineola, with the community's eponymous station along what is now the Main Line opening that same year.

In 1840, the Mineola Hotel was built by resident John A. Searing across from the LIRR station, which had been completed the year prior. When the village was separated from Queens and became the county seat of Nassau, it was renamed to Allen's Mineola Hotel. It is considered a landmark alongside the local offices and agencies in Garden City. An adjacent inn, also named the Mineola Hotel, burned down in 1966 as the result of arson. One man was killed and seven others were injured. A jobless machinist, a 20 year old hotel resident named Chlary Skorge, Jr. who was previously on probation for robbery, was indicted for murder. The cause was speculated to be revenge, as he was threatened with eviction after annoying fellow residents.

Main Street was the center of village business as well as a popular meeting place for farmers and the business community alike. The general store offered an array of goods that would fulfill most everyday needs, such as hardware, toys, wool, dry goods, clothing and food. The small glass-fronted mail and delivery boxes filled the existing six-foot post office. As the Mineola population grew, the post office was relocated to the Meyer Building on Mineola Boulevard, and then twice more to 3rd Street and 2nd Street. It eventually found its permanent home on 1st Street and Main Street. As years passed, Jericho Turnpike became the commercial "main street" within Mineola. Farmland was sold off and homes and offices were built. Mineola would continue to be a community of growth and development – a trend continuing into the 21st century.

Mineola's first theater named Allen's Hall drew in many early moviegoers to see "the flickers". Motion picture success drew in other theaters to the area, the most lavish being the Century Opera House. Most theaters had a showing in the morning and in the evening, usually featuring a live pianist who kept up with the action of the movie while playing music that suited the story.

The centennial celebration for Mineola was held in 2006. Developments for this celebration originated in 2004 from a Centennial Committee formed by then-mayor Jack M. Martins. Co-chairing this were John DaVanzo, former mayor Robert W. Hinck, Sr., and Candida Maia. Various events commenced in January 2006, including the Nassau Pops Symphony Orchestra performing at Chaminade High School, the installation of LIRR Caboose #50 in Memorial Park, the unveiling of a historical quilt by the Nimble Fingers quilting group, and a Centennial Journal delivered to residents and businesses. In March, a fashion show entitled “Decade by Decade” was hosted by Fox’s department store at the Corpus Christi Knights of Columbus Hall, and a marching parade consisting of 80 units took place later in October. The final event was an ecumenical service at Mineola Middle School in December, followed by fireworks in Mineola Memorial Park.

In 2005–2006, as a result of numerous recommendations from the community that Mineola increase its police force, a Mineola Police Task Force was appointed by then-Mayor Jack M. Martins to evaluate the feasibility of withdrawing from the Nassau County Police Department and establishing a village police department. The Mayor indicated to the Task Force at its inception that if the feasibility study resulted in a positive report, Mineola would only have its own police department if the residents approved such through a village-wide referendum. The village board was split 3–2 in favor of the police force, with Mayor Martins, Deputy Mayor Werther, and Trustee Davanzo supporting it – while Trustees Fargrieve and Cusato opposed it. On December 5, 2006, the measure was defeated by a 2–1 margin by village residents in a referendum.

In the 2010s and 2020s, the Village of Mineola's downtown has seen significant growth, in part credited to the creation of large-scale transit-oriented development in the vicinity of the Mineola LIRR station.

Prevalence in aviation

Mineola was also a familiar place to many of the most famous pilots in history. The Aero Club of America chose the area for the level plains. Glenn Curtiss brought the area to national attention in July 1909 with his second Scientific American Award flight of over 23 minutes and 15 miles. He also made some of the first public flights in America in his "Golden Flyer", while practicing for the Reims Aviation Meet in France. The Wright Brothers, Igor Sikorsky, Captain Rene Fonck, and the famed duo of Clarence Chamberlain and Bert Acosta, dubbed "twins of derring-do", all spent time in Mineola taking advantage of the rolling grasslands and favorable winds.

On November 1, 1915, Captain Raynal Cawthorne Bolling, a New York attorney working at United States Steel, organized the Aviation Detachment, 1st Battalion Signal Corps of the New York National Guard (now the 102nd Rescue Squadron). It was the Guard's first genuine aviation unit. Subsequently, the organization was re-designated as the 1st Aero Company. Located at Mineola on Long Island, the unit rented and then purchased its own aircraft with funds donated by the Aero Club of America and other contributors. It was "provisionally recognized" on June 22, 1916, and then called into federal service on July 13, 1916, during the Mexican border crisis. However, instead of active service in the southwest, it remained at Mineola for training and was ultimately released from federal service on November 2, 1916.

After World War I, the British Royal Navy rigid airship R34 made the first-ever east–west aerial crossing of the North Atlantic, traveling from the airship base at RAF East Fortune in the UK to Mineola from July 2 to 6, 1919.

On May 20, 1927, at 7:52 a.m., Charles Lindbergh started his historic flight on the Spirit of St. Louis from nearby Roosevelt Field. Thirty-three hours later he landed in Paris and became the first person to complete a solo flight from the United States across the Atlantic Ocean. This historic feat was given numerous test flights in the weeks leading up to his departure, particularly in San Diego and St. Louis. On May 20, 1977, fifty years after the flight, a thirteen-cent commemorative stamp depicting the Spirit of St. Louis over the Atlantic Ocean was issued in commemoration.

1982 Long Island Rail Road auto-train collision

At approximately 2:18 A.M. on Sunday, March 14, 1982, ten teenagers were riding in a Ford Econoline van on their way to a nearby popular nightspot in Garden City South after attending a friend's house party when the driver swerved around the closed Herricks Road railroad crossing gates, only for their vehicle to be struck broadside and dragged an estimated 100 yards. A 17-year-old girl, Kathleen Caemmerer (the daughter of former New York State Senator John D. Caemmerer) was the only survivor despite being severely injured. The county's worst vehicular accident and railroad accident in its history sent shockwaves across New York and across the country. In an investigation made and concluded by the Nassau County Police Department, the primary cause of the accident was the driver's failure of judgement contributed by driving under the influence.

Etymology