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A−History
History · East Williston

East Williston’s post office opened in 1879, and 29% of its homes were built before 1940

More historic than 78% of U.S. towns · #458 of 758 in New York. What drives it

1 place in town is on the National Register. Below: 12 old photos and papers, maps from 1897 on, and the census since 1930.

1879first post office
1on the National Register
29%homes built before 1940
12old photos & papers
Add an old photoShare a memory
From East Williston’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How East Williston began, and where its name came from

When was East Williston founded?

1879

The East Williston post office opened in 1879, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 493 in 19302020 census: 2,645147 years

How did East Williston get its name?

Like its western neighbor, Williston Park, the Village of East Williston is named for Samuel Willis – a settler who came to the area in the late 17th century.

How historic is East Williston?

A−

More historic than 78% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: the first East Williston post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Name: Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.The full story ↓
History grade

What drives East Williston’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, East Williston is more historic than 78% of U.S. towns, #458 of 758 in New York. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its age pulls it down.

A−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of East Williston’s overall grade.
Founding era1879, from the first post office: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC+Homes built before 194029.3% of homes (±6.8) · typical NY town 26.6% · U.S. 8.4%A−National Register1 listing, 26 historic buildings, 99.6 per 10,000 residents · typical NY town 12.3 · U.S. 2.4A−
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 78%
NewerOlder
New York towns of 2,500+ (758)Ahead of 40%

New York towns list more on the Register than most of the country (a typical New York town has 12.3 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so East Williston’s 99.6 sits above most of its state (76% of New York towns have fewer) while its 26 historic buildings outnumber those of 81% of U.S. towns.

How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from B to A. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±6.8 points). The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date.

Founding year: the first post office (other dates in Quick answers). Homes: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register: National Park Service, May 2026 list; each listing counted once (boundary changes and added documentation belong to their listing), and a historic district counts its contributing buildings. How TownRatings grades history →

What stands out about East Williston’s past

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

On the map since 18976 editions of the USGS map, 1897 to 1979. Watch East Williston change.A town in old photos12 old photos, postcards and papers.Old housesHalf of East Williston’s homes were built before 1951.
★ What stands out · On the map

East Williston on the map, 1897 to 1979

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

East Williston on the 1897 USGS mapEast Williston on the 1900 USGS mapEast Williston on the 1947 USGS mapEast Williston on the 1954 USGS mapEast Williston on the 1968 USGS mapEast Williston on the 1979 USGS map1897Oyster Bay 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 Williston.

By decade

East Williston, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1920s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1920s12 items
Community Church, East Williston, Long Island. LOC gsc.5a015701927Community Church, East Williston, Long Island. LOC gs…Community Church, East Williston, Long Island. LOC gsc.5a015701927Community Church, East Williston, Long Island. LOC gs…Community Church, East Williston, Long Island. LOC gsc.5a015711927Community Church, East Williston, Long Island. LOC gs…Community Church, East Williston, Long Island. LOC gsc.5a015711927Community Church, East Williston, Long Island. LOC gs…Community Church, East Williston, Long Island. LOC gsc.5a015721927Community Church, East Williston, Long Island. LOC gs…Community Church, East Williston, Long Island. LOC gsc.5a015721927Community Church, East Williston, Long Island. LOC gs…Community Church, East Williston, Long Island. LOC gsc.5a015731927Community Church, East Williston, Long Island. LOC gs…Community Church, East Williston, Long Island. LOC gsc.5a015731927Community Church, East Williston, Long Island. LOC gs…Community Church, East Williston, Long Island. LOC gsc.5a015741927Community Church, East Williston, Long Island. LOC gs…Community Church, East Williston, Long Island. LOC gsc.5a015741927Community Church, East Williston, Long Island. LOC gs…Community Church, East Williston, Long Island. LOC gsc.5a015751927Community Church, East Williston, Long Island. LOC gs…Community Church, East Williston, Long Island. LOC gsc.5a015751927Community Church, East Williston, Long Island. LOC gs…
1930s–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 East Williston came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of East Williston.

Read it all →

The territory comprising what is now the Village of East Williston was formerly farmland. Most of the farmland was owned by the Willis family in the 1800s. The original borders of the area – then known simply as Williston – stretched west towards Queens to Herricks Road, north to I.U. Willets Road, south to the Village of Mineola, and east to Bacon Road in Old Westbury.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

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.

Community Church, East Williston, Long Island. LOC gsc.5a01570
Retake this viewCommunity Church, East Williston, Long Island. LOC gsc.5a01570, 1927

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

Retake this view · +15
On the National Register

1 listing protects 26 historic buildings

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

place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
26
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

East Williston, census by census

05001,0001,5002,0002,5003,00019401960198020002020Peak: 2,940

Between 493 and 2,940 people in every census since 1930.

10 censuses, 1930–2020.

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

Help out

Finish East Williston’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 viewCommunity Church, East Williston, Long …: 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.

Mineola3 historic placesBRoslyn Heights1 historic placenot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townWilliston ParkIts storyC+

Questions about East Williston’s history

What year was East Williston founded?

The East Williston post office opened in 1879, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

How does East Williston rank for history?

East Williston is more historic than 78% of U.S. towns, #458 of 758 in New York. The History grade combines the town’s founding era, the share of homes built before 1940 and its National Register listings. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.

How old are the homes in East Williston?

29% of East Williston’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±6.8 points), against a typical 27% for a New York town; the median home was built in 1951.

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).

From Wikimedia Commons (12), Wikipedia, 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.