East Farmingdale

Rural Area Soars Into the Wild Blue Yonder

Beginnings: This agricultural area was largely untouched until it evolved as the outer reaches of Farmingdale Village in the mid-19th Century. Indeed, there was no need to distinguish it from Farmingdale until that village incorporated in 1904. Some time after that, the portion of the community over the Suffolk County line became known as East Farmingdale. It retained its rural aspect for some time, known most for its several pickle works on Broadhollow Road.

Turning Point: In 1917, Lawrence Sperry set up an aircraft company on the flat land of East Farmingdale, the first of several that would be located there. The site was taken over in 1926 by the Fairchild Airplane Manufacturing Company. In 1931, Russian aviator Alexander de Seversky opened another aircraft company there, building planes in which he set a world speed record of 177.79 mph on Oct. 8, 1933. In 1938, his company was reorganized and become Republic Aviation Corp., a pioneering aircraft company. It began to fade after its takeover in 1965 by Fairchild Hiller Corp. of Maryland, and it was closed in 1987. But its legacy was the industrialization of East Farmingdale, forever erasing its agricultural roots.

Claim to Fame: Republic and, later Fairchild Republic, produced the P-47 Thunderbolt fighter during World War II, the F-84 Thunderjet of the Korean War, the F-105 Thunderchief fighter during the Vietnam War era, and the A-10 Warthog tank killer of the 1970s and 1980s.

Where to Find More: ``Picture History of Aviation on Long Island,'' by George C. Dade and Frank Strnad, (Dover Publications, 1989).