Lynbrook

Fondness for Brooklyn Lives On in a Name

Beginnings: Just as it does today, Lynbrook sat at the crossroads of major trading routes for hundreds of years. For most of that time, however, the routes were dirt paths used by Merikoke Indians. Colonists used those trails as well, and by 1785, a small community had been established where several trails met - a spot still known as Five Corners, at the intersection of Merrick Road, Hempstead Avenue, Broadway and Atlantic Avenue. Initially it was known as Bloomfield, but it soon became better known as Pearsalls Corners, after general store owner Wright Pearsall. The community began to grow in the years after 1853, when Merrick Road was covered with planks. A toll house stood on the road where the modern Toll Gate Court is now.

Turning Point: Pearsalls Corners' position as a crossroads resulted in both Merrick Road and the South Side Railroad ending there for a time. Stagecoaches were available from there to Long Beach, Rockville Centre or Hempstead. Meanwhile, the community grew on its own, and soon supported several hotels. Bicyclists would take the train there during the bike craze of the 1880s and 1890s and use it as a base for 100-mile rides. As the area was developed and its ties to the rural past were forgotten, residents felt no affection for their community's name. Because many had moved from Brooklyn, in 1894 they reversed that city's syllables and renamed the village Lynbrook. They even adopted Brooklyn's Dutch motto as their own: Een dracht mackt maght (In unity there is strength). The village was incorporated in 1911.

Claims to Fame: French chef Henri Charpentier, the inventor of crepes suzettes, ran a nationally known restaurant in Lynbrook from 1915 to 1930. Henri's closed when the effects of Prohibition forced Charpentier into bankruptcy. Fruit store owner Jimmy Costas is said to have coined the remark, ``Yes, we have no bananas,'' which evolved into a popular pre-World War II song. Anti-Communist Whittaker Chambers grew up in Lynbrook.

Where to Find More: ``Lynbrook Legacy,'' by Steven Willner, published in 1961, ``History of Lynbrook,'' at Lynbrook Public Library.