The New York State Senate

Garden City was once a significant portion of the expansive Hempstead Plains. This land became available for sale in 1867, giving Charles Harvey the opportunity to purchase the land for $42 an acre. Alexander T. Stewart also had plans for the Hempstead land, bidding $55 per acre in the hopes of creating his dream, a planned community. Although Harvey ultimately outbid Stewart by raising his offer to $56, his plans for the land remained secretive, causing rumors to spread that he intended to build a cemetery or jail. Hempstead residents voted 1,077 to 52 in favor of accepting Stewart’s bid regardless of the dollar loss per acre because of his ambition to create one of the nation’s first planned communities.

Stewart decided to name his community “Garden City” after Chicago’s informal nickname. The legacy of the name, however, came about after Stewart died and the Garden City Corp. took control of its growth. Stewart had insisted on solely renting to residents in order to maintain control of his community which had deterred families from settling. Garden City Corp. remodeled the Garden City Hotel, encouraged the sale of homes and filled the cold, vacant lots left by Mr. Stewart.

In 1910, property sales were low, causing them to open up land to the Doubleday, Page&Co. industry. The cornerstone laying for the new facility garnered the attention of former President Theodore Roosevelt. Garden City soon became the center for many historic events. During the Spanish-American War and World War II, remaining campgrounds on the Hempstead Plains were used by the army, bringing many people into the area and to the Garden City Hotel. Prior to his flight to Paris, Charles Lindbergh was also a guest at the famed hotel.

Garden City South is a hamlet located between Garden City, Franklin Square and West Hempstead.  The residents have access to a commercial district along Nassau Boulevard which includes retail shopping, a variety of restaurants and other establishments. The hamlet also provides a gateway to major highways and is near three Long Island Railroad train stations – Nassau Boulevard, Merillon Avenue and Garden City. 

The Franklin Square Union Free School District serves the children of Garden City South from Kindergarten through 6th Grade.  The students complete their secondary educational programs in the Sewanhaka Central High School District with most children attending the H. Frank Carey High School located in Franklin Square.  

A popular attraction is the Garden City South Community Park which has tennis and basketball courts, a playground, game tables, picnic tables, horseshoes and shuffleboard.  Residents also have access to pools located in Echo Park in West Hempstead and Rath Park in Franklin Square.

The nearby village of Garden City offers museums and country clubs.

The Town of Hempstead is one of the three towns in Nassau County, New York, United States, occupying the southwestern part of the county, in the western half of Long Island. The town of Hempstead contains 22 villages and 37 hamlets. The town's combined population was 759,757 at the 2010 census, which is the majority of the population of the county and by far the largest of any town in New York.

Lakeview is named for a railroad station that was established in 1892. Today, Lakeview is a hamlet (and census-designated place) in the Town of Hempstead, NY.

Uniondale, known before 1853 as Tutle Hook, has been the site of rich military history.   Its story dates back to the Revolution when Uniondale served as an enlistment center and takes us through World War II with the development of an Army Air Force Base in 1961.  The interim has seen an infantry training center during the War of 1812, a Civil War Camp, a Spanish American War Camp, a World War I camp and the establishment of Mitchel Field which served as an Army Air Corps base during World War II. The establishment of Mitchel Field led to the suburbanization of Uniondale.  Following World War II, many members of the military were based at Mitchel Field and sought to establish a home in the nearby area.  Mitchel Field was also an employment opportunity for civilians, which contributed to the formation of a community.  The closing of Mitchel Field in 1961 left a large area for subsequent commercial development.  Parts of Hofstra University, Nassau Community College, Nassau Coliseum, and many office buildings now occupy the site where  Mitchel Field had previously been. Uniondale has more recently served as a major sports center on Long Island. Nassau Coliseum is currently home to The New York Islanders hockey team and housed The New York Nets basketball team between 1968 and 1977.  

The hamlet of West Hempstead was once a dense woodland used by the Algonquin Native Americans for a gathering place because of its central location.  Close to three Long Island Rail Road lines and with its own exit on the Southern State Parkway, West Hempstead’s draw as a centralized location has always attracted a diverse group of people.  In the fall of 1643, the Rev. Robert Fordham and John Carman crossed Long Island Sound by rowboat to negotiate with the local Indians for land which they desired to build a new community.  It is said that the settlers paid a mere $100 for the 64,000 acre tract of land that is now called West Hempstead. Historians claim West Hempstead got its name from the Long Island Rail Road.  In 1891, the Rail Road built a station on Hempstead Turnpike west of Hempstead Village.  The train station was originally called “West of Hempstead” and eventually became the hamlet’s namesake.  It was during this time that inventor and aviator Orville Wright lived here. Over the years, West Hempstead has been visited by some of history’s great leaders including President George Washington, Martin Luther King Jr., Mrs. Theodore Roosevelt and Walt Whitman. During the 1830s, poet Walt Whitman was the schoolmaster of the Trimming Square school district for three months.  This area was located at the meeting point of Franklin Square, Garden City South, and West Hempstead.