Oyster Bay, New York

Oyster Bay is the name of a hamlet on the North Shore of Long Island in Nassau County in the state of New York, USA. The hamlet is also the site of a station on the Long Island Rail Road and the eastern termination point of that branch of the railroad.

History

The area was the traditional starting place for settlers from Connecticut, who were granted a patent from New Amsterdam and thus became the first to inhabit the county around 1641. The area became the boundary between Dutch settlements and the English settlements in Suffolk County.

Related Topics:
Connecticut - New Amsterdam

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In the 1890s, the LIRR had ferry service from Oyster Bay to Connecticut, where rail service continued to Boston.

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The oysters that give the bay its name are now the only source of traditionally farmed oysters from Long Island, providing up to 90% of all the oysters harvested in New York State.

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Notable past residents

Oyster Bay is known for the residence and summer White House of Theodore Roosevelt, Sagamore Hill (though that residence is in a nearby area known since 1927 as the Village of Cove Neck).

Related Topics:
Theodore Roosevelt - Sagamore Hill - Village of Cove Neck

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Many well known United States entertainers spent their youth in this area; among its best known former residents are musician Billy Joel, tennis player John McEnroe, author Thomas Pynchon, and Sonic Youth guitarist Lee Ranaldo (Pynchon and Ranaldo both attended Oyster Bay High School). A less distinguished figure from the hamlet's past is Typhoid Mary, whose contagiousness was discovered following an investigation into her employment at a summer home in Oyster Bay in 1906. A famous current resident is composer John Barry.

Related Topics:
Billy Joel - John McEnroe - Thomas Pynchon - Sonic Youth - Lee Ranaldo - Typhoid Mary - John Barry

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