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Malverne

Subdividing Farms for New Yorkers

Beginnings: Malverne emerged from a larger area of farms known collectively as Norwood. Rockaway Indians hunted and may have lived in the area. Originally it was heavily wooded, with several streams. These streams often overflowed their banks. That and a high water table helped form Grassy Pond, near the current intersection of Hempstead and Franklin avenues, a popular place to skate. Europeans arrived near the beginning of the 1800s. The same water table that made the land good for farming, however, also had a tendency to flood basements of new homes. Several companies attempted to maintain railroad service through Norwood to West Hempstead, but none succeeded until the consolidation of the Long Island Rail Road.

Turning Points: The Amsterdam Development and Land Co., managed by Alfred Wagg, began subdividing farms in 1911 to accommodate people moving out from New York. When the postal service asked Wagg to change the name of the area from Norwood - there were several others in New York State - an investor in the land company, Ernest Childs, suggested naming it after Malvern, an English village. No one knows how an ``e'' got tacked onto the end of the name. The village incorporated in 1921. Racial strife swirled around Malverne in the 1960s when the Malverne school board decided to close a school in predominantly black neighboring Lakeview in an attempt to integrate schools in white neighborhoods.

Claims to Fame: Celebrity residents have included actor Tony Danza, vaudevillian George Moore, sports columnist Walter (Red) Smith and former Nassau County Executive Francis Purcell, who earlier had been mayor of Malverne.

Where to Find More: ``Malverne, the Story of Its Years,'' available at the Malverne Public Library; ``Malverne's 75th Anniversary Commemorative Journal,'' published in 1996 by the Malverne Historical & Preservation Society.