OLD WESTBURY, LONG ISLAND

Old Westbury, Long Island

Old Westbury is a village located in Nassau County, on the North Shore of Long Island, New York. It overlaps the Town of Oyster Bay and the Town of North Hempstead. It takes as little as 30 minutes to drive from Old Westbury to Manhattan. The village has no Long Island Rail Road station but the residents and commuters often take the express train from the Manhasset station. As of the 2000 census, there were 4,228 people, 1,063 households, and 967 families residing in the area. The median income for a household in the village was $163,046, and the median income in the village was $184,298 for a family. The median earnings of the 899 households (89.6% of total households) in the village that took in earnings supplemental to income were $230,721. Males had a median income of $100,000 and only $45,200 for females. The latitude of Old Westbury is 40.788N. The longitude is -73.6W. It is in the Eastern Standard time zone. Elevation is 164 feet.

In the 1670s, Long Island's first settlers, English Quakers established farms in the area. The community was named after a town in Wiltshire, England. The former and merged names include Plain Edge, Wallage, Westbury, and Wood Edge. Between 1880 and 1920, the open farmland and rolling hills attracted industrialists looking for space to build country houses. Many of the grand North Shore estates were built during that period. Famous and rich landowners included Thomas Hitchcock Sr., Harry Payne Whitney and John Phipps, whose grounds served since 1958 as Old Westbury Gardens, a museum and arboretum open to the public.

Old Westbury Gardens has 160 acres of formal gardens, landscaped grounds, and woodlands. It has more than 30 miles of developed horse trails which are maintained by the Old Westbury Horsemen's Foundation and a home of the world's greatest polo player, Tommy Hitchcock Junior. Other notable residents include William Grace Holloway (former chairman of W. R. Grace & Company), William Entenmann (founder of Entenmann’s bakery goods), and Eben Wright (former director of Long Island Lighting). There are three school districts serving the area namely Jericho Union Free School District, East Williston Union Free School District, and Westbury Union Free School District. All districts provide high academic standards to their student. About 64% of Old Westbury residents have a bachelor's or advanced college degree. Old Westbury has been known for its luxury homes and estates with expensive prices which normally range from $1.2 million to $1.9 million. Shopping in the area is not a problem; residents tend to go to Wheatley Plaza in East Hills and the American Mall in Manhasset with only a 15 minute drive. The true beauty of the land and nature with a variety of architectural styles makes Old Westbury a very interesting place to live and stay.