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Inwood Welcome Sign, Inwood, Nassau County, NY August 8, 2022Photo: AITFFan1 · CC BY-SA 4.0
–Not graded
History · Inwood

Inwood’s post office opened in 1889, and 43% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1897 on and the census since 2000.

1889first post office
0on the National Register
43%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory
Photo: AITFFan1 · CC BY-SA 4.0
Quick answers

How Inwood began

When was Inwood founded?

1889

The Inwood post office opened in 1889, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 9,325 in 20002020 census: 11,340137 years
Founding year: the first Inwood post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Inwood’s past

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

A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Inwood are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.On the map since 18975 editions of the USGS map, 1897 to 1969. Watch Inwood change.Old housesHalf of Inwood’s homes were built before 1947.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Inwood’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
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On the map

Inwood on the map, 1897 to 1969

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

Inwood on the 1897 USGS mapInwood on the 1900 USGS mapInwood on the 1947 USGS mapInwood on the 1954 USGS mapInwood on the 1969 USGS map1897Brooklyn 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 Inwood.

The story

How Inwood came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Inwood.

Read it all →

Inwood was first settled in 1600s. Like many other nearby communities, the area was known as Near Rockaway. A meeting was held by the Town of Hempstead on January 16, 1663, and during that meeting, the name of what is now Inwood was changed to North West Point (also spelled as Northwest Point), named after its geographic position in relation to the more central part of Far Rockaway, which it was then part of. It became the first area which was once known as Near Rockaway to be given its own name. Its original settlers were Jamaica Bay fishermen, generally lawless and troublesome to other Rockaway residents. Soon after the American Civil War, the area in 1871 became known as Westville. The Westville designation was used as the name of the community until residents petitioned for the United States Postal Service to establish a post office in the community. The post office refused as a Wes…

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

By decade

No old photos in the archives yet

Weddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.

Be the first to add onePhotograph a print flat, in daylight, no flash.
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People over time

Inwood, census by census

02,0004,0006,0008,00010,00012,00020002020Peak: 11,340

Between 9,325 and 11,340 people in every census since 2000.

3 censuses, 2000–2020.

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

Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Hempstead29 historic placesANew York City1039 historic placesA+CedarhurstIts storyB−Lawrence1 historic placeB−WoodmereIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Inwood’s history

What year was Inwood founded?

The Inwood post office opened in 1889, 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 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.