Guest, Sign inJoin

Post to Carle Place

We’ll email a one-tap link to publish your post. No password, and nothing is public until you click it.
Already a member? Sign in
Carle Place Water Tower, Carle Place, Long Island, New York August 25, 2021Photo: AITFFan1 · CC BY-SA 4.0
–Not graded
History · Carle Place

Carle Place’s post office opened in 1916, and 1 of its places is on the National Register

Most of Carle Place was built recently: 5% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1954. Below: 6 old photos and papers, maps from 1984 on, and the census since 2000.

1916first post office
1on the National Register
5%homes built before 1940
6old photos & papers
2famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Carle Place’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Carle Place began, and where its name came from

When was Carle Place founded?

1916

The Carle Place post office opened in 1916, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 5,247 in 20002020 census: 5,005110 years

How did Carle Place get its name?

The hamlet is named for the Carle House – a 32-room house built by Silas Carle in Westbury in the 1800s.

More on the name

It was commonly known as the "Carle Place", and the surrounding area later took the name.

Founding year: the first Carle Place post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Name: Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.The full story ↓

What stands out about Carle Place’s past

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

Old housesHalf of Carle Place’s homes were built before 1954.
★ What stands out · The story

How Carle Place came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Carle Place.

Read it all →

In 1946, developer William J. Levitt bought 19 acres of land near the Carle Place train station for an experiment. His crews brought pre-cut lumber to the site and rapidly assembled 600 low-cost houses, offering affordable suburban living with an easy commute into offices in New York City. Within five years, returning veterans and their families swelled the population by 500 percent. It transformed Carle Place, and served as the prototype for Levittown, the larger development which Levitt began the following year only a few miles away.

In 1999, St. Mary's Chapel – a historic church in the hamlet – was listed on the New York State Register of Historic Places, and it was subsequently added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2005.

ChaptersEtymology

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Carle Place, 1952 to 1991

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

  1. 20th century
  2. 1952In the archiveModel of Cherry Lane School, Carle Pl., Long Island. LOC gsc.5a21280
  3. 1960Born hereSteve Vai is born here
  4. 1984On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  5. 1991Born hereNick Costa is born here
By decade

Carle Place, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1950s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1950s6 items
Model of Cherry Lane School, Carle Pl., Long Island. LOC gsc.5a212801952Model of Cherry Lane School, Carle Pl., Long Island. …Model of Cherry Lane School, Carle Pl., Long Island. LOC gsc.5a212811952Model of Cherry Lane School, Carle Pl., Long Island. …Model of Cherry Lane School, Carle Pl., Long Island. LOC gsc.5a212821952Model of Cherry Lane School, Carle Pl., Long Island. …Model of Cherry Lane School, Carle Pl., Long Island. LOC gsc.5a212831952Model of Cherry Lane School, Carle Pl., Long Island. …Cherry Lane School, Carle Place, Long Island. LOC gsc.5a243581956Cherry Lane School, Carle Place, Long Island. LOC gsc…Cherry Lane School, Carle Place, Long Island. LOC gsc.5a243581956Cherry Lane School, Carle Place, Long Island. LOC gsc…
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
On the map

Carle Place on the map in 1984

The U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Carle Place.

Carle Place 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 Carle Place.

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.

Model of Cherry Lane School, Carle Pl., Long Island. LOC gsc.5a21280
Retake this viewModel of Cherry Lane School, Carle Pl., Long Island. LOC gsc.5a21280, 1952

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

Retake this view · +15
On the National Register

1 historic place in Carle Place

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
1
each building in a district counts

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

People over time

Carle Place, census by census

05001,0001,5002,0002,5003,0003,5004,0004,5005,0005,50020002020Peak: 5,247

Between 4,981 and 5,247 people in every census since 2000.

3 censuses, 2000–2020.

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

Famous people

2 famous people were born in Carle Place

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

See all →
Steve VaiAmerican guitarist · b. 1960
N
Nick CostaAmerican soccer player · b. 1991
Help out

Finish Carle Place’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 viewModel of Cherry Lane School, Carle Pl.,…: 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.

WestburyIts storyB−Mineola3 historic placesBUniondale1 historic placenot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townNorth Hempstead52 historic placesAHempstead29 historic placesAOld Westbury2 historic placesB

Questions about Carle Place’s history

What year was Carle Place founded?

The Carle Place post office opened in 1916, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

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 (6), 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.