Cedarhurst

A Name Game on the South Shore

Beginnings: What is now Cedarhurst was inhabited at the time of the Revolution by Indians, farmers and slaves or tenants at Rock Hall, a large plantation built nearby (in modern Lawrence) in 1767. The entire Five Towns area was occupied by British troops and was a Tory stronghold.

How It Grew: The early name was Ocean Point. After the arrival of rail service in 1869, the area gained popularity, mostly via the Rockaway Hunting Club, built in Cedarhurst in 1878. At the time, the area was part of Queens, becoming part of the new Nassau County in 1899. The hunting club, which covered almost the entire community of 1.5 square miles, was noted for fox hunting, steeplechase and polo. It now is located in Lawrence, a result of boundary changes. In the early 1800s, the Five Towns' only school was in Cedarhurst. Now District 15 covers Lawrence, Cedarhurst, Inwood and part of Woodmere. The first library in the Five Towns, the private Peninsula Community Library, opened in Cedarhurst in 1930 and closed in 1950.

Turning Points: One was the construction in 1833 of the palatial Marine Pavilion spa in nearby Far Rockaway, which had 160 rooms and drew thousands of visitors to the Five Towns area. After the South Side Rail Road arrived, a post office was formed in 1884, and Ocean Point was renamed Cedarhurst, partly at the request of the hunt club. The name apparently came from the grove or ``hurst'' of cedar trees surrounding the post office. The village was incorporated in 1910, following demands for street improvements. The first village president was Horatio P. Vandewater. Village Hall was built in 1959.

Claim to Fame: The village has earned a reputation as a commercial hub of the Five Towns, with many fine shops, and its village park is often the area's cultural-recreational center, offering periodic fairs, carnivals and musical programs.

Where to Find More: ``Five Towns,'' handbook by the League of Women Voters of the Five Towns, 1977, and ``The Story of the Five Towns,'' by the Writers Group of the federal Works Progress Administration, 1941, at Peninsula Public Library, Lawrence.