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Nassau University Medical Center NW 2018Photo: Sean Helling · CC BY-SA 4.0
–Not graded
History · East Meadow

Half of East Meadow’s homes were built after 1957

Most of East Meadow was built recently: 3% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1957. Below: 2 old photos and papers, maps from 1897 on, and the census since 2000.

0on the National Register
3%homes built before 1940
2old photos & papers
17famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From East Meadow’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

Where East Meadow’s name came from

How did East Meadow get its name?

East Meadow's name is derived from being the meadow of Hempstead Plains east of the Meadow Brook (originally a brook; since replaced by a parkway of the same name).

Name: Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.The full story ↓

What stands out about East Meadow’s past

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

A history waiting to be writtenOnly 2 old photos are in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.On the map since 18977 editions of the USGS map, 1897 to 1994. Watch East Meadow change.Famous sons and daughtersJulius Erving, Sterling Morrison and 15 more were born here.Old housesHalf of East Meadow’s homes were built before 1957.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start East Meadow’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how East Meadow’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Date a photo1 archive item has no date. Guess the decade.+2Retake an old viewNew York - Far Rockaway Beach through E…: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
On the map

East Meadow on the map, 1897 to 1994

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of East Meadow. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

East Meadow on the 1897 USGS mapEast Meadow on the 1903 USGS mapEast Meadow on the 1947 USGS mapEast Meadow on the 1955 USGS mapEast Meadow on the 1969 USGS mapEast Meadow on the 1979 USGS mapEast Meadow on the 1994 USGS map1897Hempstead sheet · 1:62,500

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

Famous people

17 famous people were born in East Meadow

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

See all →
Julius ErvingAmerican basketball player · b. 1950
Sterling MorrisonAmerican musician · b. 1942
Lee ZeldinAmerican politician · b. 1980
Louis SacharAmerican writer of children's books · b. 1954
Adam BuschAmerican actor · b. 1978
Matt SerraAmerican mixed martial artist · b. 1974
The story

How East Meadow came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of East Meadow.

Read it all →

In 1655, two surveyors for Hempstead reported that the "east meadow" would be suitable for grazing. The area quickly became a grazing area for cattle and later, in the 18th century, for sheep. The sheep of the East Meadow area provided the country with more than 50% of the United States' wool needs during that time.

ChaptersEtymology

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

East Meadow, 1897 to 1980

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1897On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  3. 20th century
  4. 1917In the archiveNew York - Far Rockaway Beach through Eastons Point Light
  5. 1942Born hereSterling Morrison is born here
  6. 1950Born hereJulius Erving is born here
  7. 1954Born hereLouis Sachar is born here
  8. 1980Born hereLee Zeldin is born here
By decade

East Meadow, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1910s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1910s1 item
New York - Far Rockaway Beach through Eastons Point Light1917New York - Far Rockaway Beach through Eastons Point L…
1920s–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
Date unknown1 to date
East Meadow Farm Childrens Educational GardensDate?East Meadow Farm Childrens Educational Gardens
Today16 recent
Nassau Financial Exterior2022Nassau Financial ExteriorBarnum Woods Elementary School, East Meadow, Long Island, New York May 31, 20222022Barnum Woods Elementary School, East Meadow, Long Isl…The Financial Center East Meadow 2021b2021The Financial Center East Meadow 2021bThe Financial Center East Meadow 2021a2021The Financial Center East Meadow 2021aNassau Hub 20212021Nassau Hub 2021059 Long Island2020059 Long Island058 Long Island2020058 Long Island057 Long Island2020057 Long Island056 Long Island2020056 Long IslandWaldbaums Bankruptcy2016Waldbaums BankruptcyEast Meadow, Long Island2012East Meadow, Long IslandUS Navy 110528-N-YM084-065 Aviation Boatswain's Mate (Fuel) 1st Class Colin Louis talks to a boy about the U.S Navy dur…2011US Navy 110528-N-YM084-065 Aviation Boatswain's Mate …US Navy 110528-M-KZ372-032 Marines from the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit (24th MEU) perform a helicopter raid at Eise…2011US Navy 110528-M-KZ372-032 Marines from the 24th Mari…Untitled photo2010Untitled photoNCPD Patrol Vehicle2007NCPD Patrol VehicleEast-meadow-ny-map2007East-meadow-ny-mapMap
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.

New York - Far Rockaway Beach through Eastons Point Light
Retake this viewNew York - Far Rockaway Beach through Eastons Point Light, 1917

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

Retake this view · +15
People over time

East Meadow, census by census

05,00010,00015,00020,00025,00030,00035,00040,00020002020Peak: 38,132

Between 37,461 and 38,132 people in every census since 2000.

3 censuses, 2000–2020.

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

Stories next door

History across the town line

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

SalisburyIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townUniondale1 historic placenot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townNorth BellmoreIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townLevittownIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townNorth MerrickIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townNorth Wantagh1 historic placenot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townWestburyIts storyB−

Questions about East Meadow’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 (18), 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.