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History · Plainview

Plainview’s post office opened in 1886

Most of Plainview was built recently: 2% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1957. Below: 3 old photos and papers from 1954 on.

1886first post office
0on the National Register
2%homes built before 1940
3old photos & papers
13famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Plainview’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Plainview began

When was Plainview founded?

1886

The Plainview post office opened in 1886, the earliest record of the town by name.

2020 census: 27,100140 years
Founding year: the first Plainview post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Plainview’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 3 old photos are in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.Old housesHalf of Plainview’s homes were built before 1957.Famous sons and daughtersDanielle Harris, Diane Franklin and 11 more were born here.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Plainview’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewCountry Village model home, Plainview, …: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
The story

How Plainview came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Plainview.

Read it all →

Plainview's origins date to 1648, when Robert Williams, a settler from Wales, bought land in the area. The land was considered desirable for farming because of a small pond named the Moscopas by local Native Americans, meaning "hole of dirt and water". The remainder of the land in the area was purchased by Thomas Powell in 1695 as part of the Bethpage Purchase. The name "Mannatto Hill" had already appeared on the 1695 deed of the Bethpage Purchase, and the settlement came to be called "Manetto Hill". Manitou was the Native American word either for "God" or for "spirit".

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Famous people

13 famous people were born in Plainview

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

See all →
Danielle HarrisAmerican actress · b. 1977
Diane FranklinAmerican actress · b. 1962
Hoodie AllenAmerican rapper, singer and songwriter from New… · b. 1988
Brad GreenbergAmerican basketball player-coach · b. 1954
M
Michele O'BrienSoccer player · b. 1980
LeRoy HomerFirst Officer of United Airlines Flight 93 · b. 1965
Timeline

Plainview, 1954 to 1988

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

  1. 20th century
  2. 1954In the archiveCountry Village model home, Plainview, Long Island. LOC gsc.5a22819
  3. 1954Born hereBrad Greenberg is born here
  4. 1962Born hereDiane Franklin is born here
  5. 1977Born hereDanielle Harris is born here
  6. 1988Born hereHoodie Allen is born here
By decade

Plainview, decade by decade

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

1950s3 items
Country Village model home, Plainview, Long Island. LOC gsc.5a228191954Country Village model home, Plainview, Long Island. L…Sutton Hills model house, 2 Keswick Lane, Plainview, Hicksville, New York. LOC gsc.5a229411954Sutton Hills model house, 2 Keswick Lane, Plainview, …Sutton model house, Plainview. LOC gsc.5a228181954Sutton model house, Plainview. LOC gsc.5a22818
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
Today3 recent
Exit49ontheLIE2008Exit49ontheLIEWelcome to Plainview and Old Bethpage2007Welcome to Plainview and Old BethpageNSLIJ Plainview Hospital2007NSLIJ Plainview Hospital
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.

Country Village model home, Plainview, Long Island. LOC gsc.5a22819
Retake this viewCountry Village model home, Plainview, Long Island. LOC gsc.5a22819, 1954

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

Retake this view · +15
Stories next door

History across the town line

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

BethpageIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townWoodburyIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townOld BethpageIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townMelville3 historic placesnot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townOyster Bay61 historic placesA−Huntington99 historic placesASyosset1 historic placenot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Plainview’s history

What year was Plainview founded?

The Plainview post office opened in 1886, 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 and Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.