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Old Posted Apr 18, 2012, 1:57 AM
nygirl1 nygirl1 is offline
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The best of Long Island: Part 12: Rockville Centre

Rockville Centre is an upper-middle class village near the south shore of Long Island’s Nassau County. The town was settled by the De Mott family in the 17th century where few homes and a Methodist church once stood in the towns coastal plains. During the 18th century the population increased slowly. It formed from the town of East Rockaway but later separated. Throughout much of the early 1800’s the area remained in the De Mott family and was used primarily for farming but Rockville Centre had six mills which served the needs of south shore farmers and miners. During the 1860’s the railroad made its way into the small village. Rockville Centre by that time became a very popular location for the regions ship captains who built their homes with a large one room third story from which these captains could see the masts of their ships all the way down in the harbors of Ocean Side which is precisely why homes were built this way. Rail made getting into New York City easier and the area’s population began to boom with new residents other than ship captains. A public library, fire house and the south shore’s first high school opened in the later half of the 19th century. In 1891 the Bank of Rockville centre was founded and was the first commercial bank of it’s time on the south shore. This signaled the village’s economic importance to the region and highlights the growth that took place during this time into the turn of the 20th century. The village grew steadily as the 1900’s rolled on, and was considered one of the most affluent communities on the south shore. Middle class families thrived in bustling Rockville Centre during its Tudor boom. “Uptown” in the village centered around the railroad and catered to the needs of the residents but also smaller communities nearby. It was considered an important economic center for Long Islanders in the area during the 1920’s and 1930’s. Movie theaters, boutiques, restaurants and businesses thrived and apartment buildings were constructed uptown and near uptown to accommodate its growing population which by the time of white flight, around the 1950’s and 1960’s was in the tens of thousands as working class families from Brooklyn and other outer boroughs began moving into Rockville Centre. During the 1960’s and 1970’s the community changed drastically and urban renewal projects began to reshape the village. By the 1980’s, Rockville Centre had become a popular area for bars and restaurants, the best eateries and popular pubs and lounges once again changed the village’s image. The area is composed of long time Irish, German, Italian, Polish, Jewish and Scottish families who flocked to the area from the outer boroughs in the mid 20th century, they replaced the dominating WASP population which still exists in large numbers today. The Hispanic population and African American population began moving into Rockville Centre in the 1990’s and are growing year by year.

























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