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Locust Valley

Lavish Estates in the Woods

Beginnings: Oyster Bay Town's hamlet of Locust Valley originally was part of a larger region called Matinecock, settled in 1667, that covered what is now northern Nassau County. The mostly English farmers in 1730 changed the local name to Buckram, probably after Buckenham, a town in Norfolk County, England, from which some of the pioneers had come. At a public meeting In 1856, the name became Locust Valley because of the many locust trees in the area.

Turning Point: Rail service reached Locust Valley by 1870, and by the start of this century the community and its environs were attracting rich people who built lavish woodland estates. One was publishing tycoon Frank Doubleday of Mill Neck. The horse farms, polo fields and private clubs soon followed.

Pride of the Valley: The area is steeped in Quaker tradition. The Matinecock Friends Meeting House at Piping Rock and Duck Pond Roads, now in Glen Cove but historically part of Locust Valley, was built in 1725. It was destroyed by fire in 1985 and rebuilt the next year. It is on the National Register of Historic Places. Two privately owned dwellings built about 1698 are now official town landmarks: the Joseph Weeks Jr. and William Hawxhurst houses on Oyster Bay Road. Two private schools in Locust Valley, Friends Academy and the Portledge School, each on more than 60 acres, have national reputations.

Wider Identity: Today's one-square-mile, unincorporated hamlet of about 3,900 people is off the beaten path for most Long Islanders. Though the village itself is largely middle class, Locust Valley has always had a wider identity: It's generally agreed that the surrounding wealthier incorporated villages of Lattingtown, Matinecock and Mill Neck, at least, are also part of what is called Locust Valley. Several communities are under the postal and school umbrella of Locust Valley.