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History · Bethpage

Half of Bethpage’s homes were built after 1957

Most of Bethpage was built recently: 9% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1957. Below: 12 old photos and papers, maps from 1984 on, and the census since 1930.

0on the National Register
9%homes built before 1940
12old photos & papers
15famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Bethpage’s archive · credits on each photo

What stands out about Bethpage’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A town in old photos12 old photos, postcards and papers, 1873–1954.Old housesHalf of Bethpage’s homes were built before 1957.Famous sons and daughtersHelen Slater, Nicholas Braun and 13 more were born here.
★ What stands out · By decade

Bethpage, decade by decade

2 decades in the archive, from the 1870s to the 1950s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1870s1 item
Map of Bethpage Branch 18731873Map of Bethpage Branch 1873Map
1950s11 items
Bethpage School, Bethpage, Long Island, New York. LOC gsc.5a213441952Bethpage School, Bethpage, Long Island, New York. LOC…Bethpage School, Bethpage, Long Island, New York. LOC gsc.5a213451952Bethpage School, Bethpage, Long Island, New York. LOC…Corydon M. Johnson Co., Bethpage, Long Island. LOC gsc.5a228341954Corydon M. Johnson Co., Bethpage, Long Island. LOC gs…Corydon M. Johnson Co., Bethpage, Long Island. LOC gsc.5a228341954Corydon M. Johnson Co., Bethpage, Long Island. LOC gs…Corydon M. Johnson Co., Bethpage, Long Island. LOC gsc.5a228351954Corydon M. Johnson Co., Bethpage, Long Island. LOC gs…Corydon M. Johnson Co., Bethpage, Long Island. LOC gsc.5a228351954Corydon M. Johnson Co., Bethpage, Long Island. LOC gs…Corydon M. Johnson Co., Bethpage, Long Island. LOC gsc.5a228361954Corydon M. Johnson Co., Bethpage, Long Island. LOC gs…Corydon M. Johnson Co., Bethpage, Long Island. LOC gsc.5a228361954Corydon M. Johnson Co., Bethpage, Long Island. LOC gs…Corydon M. Johnson Co., Bethpage, Long Island. LOC gsc.5a228371954Corydon M. Johnson Co., Bethpage, Long Island. LOC gs…Corydon M. Johnson Co., Bethpage, Long Island. LOC gsc.5a228371954Corydon M. Johnson Co., Bethpage, Long Island. LOC gs…Corydon M. Johnson Co., Bethpage, Long Island. LOC gsc.5a228381954Corydon M. Johnson Co., Bethpage, Long Island. LOC gs…
1960s–1990snothing yet
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Add from your album
The story

How Bethpage came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Bethpage.

Read it all →

The name Bethpage comes from the Quaker Thomas Powell, who named the area after the Biblical town Bethphage, which was between Jericho and Jerusalem in ancient Israel. Present-day Bethpage was part of the 1695 Bethpage Purchase. An early name for the northern section of present-day Bethpage was Bedelltown,

ChaptersSwedetown VillageSuperfund site

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Famous people

15 famous people were born in Bethpage

Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.

See all →
Helen SlaterAmerican actress, singer-songwriter · b. 1963
Nicholas BraunAmerican actor · b. 1988
B
Brian FitzpatrickIrish basketball player · b. 1989
J
John FasanoAmerican film director · b. 1961
J
Jason MossAmerican writer and attorney · b. 1975
J
Jim HodderAmerican musician · b. 1947
Timeline

Bethpage, 1873 to 1989

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 19th century
  2. 1873In the archiveMap of Bethpage Branch 1873
  3. 20th century
  4. 1952In the archiveBethpage School, Bethpage, Long Island, New York. LOC gsc.5a21344
  5. 1961Born hereJohn Fasano is born here
  6. 1963Born hereHelen Slater is born here
  7. 1984On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  8. 1988Born hereNicholas Braun is born here
  9. 1989Born hereBrian Fitzpatrick is born here
On the map

Bethpage on the map in 1984

The U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Bethpage.

Bethpage on the 1984 USGS map1984Long Island West sheet · 1:100,000

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Bethpage.

Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

Bethpage School, Bethpage, Long Island, New York. LOC gsc.5a21344
Retake this viewBethpage School, Bethpage, Long Island, New York. LOC gsc.5a21344, 1952

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Bethpage’s page.

Retake this view · +15
People over time

Bethpage, census by census

05,00010,00015,00020,00019401960198020002020Peak: 18,550

Between 1,888 and 18,550 people in every census since 1930.

9 censuses, 1930–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Bethpage’s Wikipedia page.

Help out

Finish Bethpage’s story

Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewBethpage School, Bethpage, Long Island,…: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

Old BethpageIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townLevittownIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townOyster Bay61 historic placesA−Hempstead29 historic placesAPlainviewIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townPlainedgeIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townHicksville1 historic placenot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townFarmingdale1 historic placeA−

Questions about Bethpage’s history

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
Start a conversation
Sources

Where this page comes from

Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021). How TownRatings grades history →

From Wikimedia Commons (12), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps and U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.