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History · West Bay Shore

1 of West Bay Shore’s places is on the National Register

Most of West Bay Shore was built recently: 9% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1962. Below: 6 old photos and papers and maps from 1901 on.

1on the National Register
9%homes built before 1940
6old photos & papers
Add an old photoShare a memory
From West Bay Shore’s archive · credits on each photo

What stands out about West Bay Shore’s past

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

On the map since 19015 editions of the USGS map, 1901 to 1979. Watch West Bay Shore change.Old housesHalf of West Bay Shore’s homes were built before 1962.
★ What stands out · On the map

West Bay Shore on the map, 1901 to 1979

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

West Bay Shore on the 1901 USGS mapWest Bay Shore on the 1941 USGS mapWest Bay Shore on the 1954 USGS mapWest Bay Shore on the 1969 USGS mapWest Bay Shore on the 1979 USGS map1901Babylon 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 West Bay Shore.

The story

How West Bay Shore came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of West Bay Shore.

Read it all →

Sagtikos Manor is one of the oldest structures in the Town of Islip. The original structure, which was later expanded, was built in 1697 by New York City's first native-born mayor, Stephanus Van Cortlandt. The manor functioned for a time, during the American Revolution, as local headquarters for British forces under General Sir Henry Clinton. George Washington used it as a stopover during a 1790 tour of Long Island. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1976.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

By decade

West Bay Shore, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1970s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1970s6 items
75 5 Dove Lane, West Bay Shore, NY 1979197975 5 Dove Lane, West Bay Shore, NY 197975 897 Gardiner Drive, West Bay Shore, NY 1979197975 897 Gardiner Drive, West Bay Shore, NY 197975 948 Gardiner Drive, West Bay Shore, NY 1979197975 948 Gardiner Drive, West Bay Shore, NY 197975 964 Manor Lane, West Bay Shore, NY 1979197975 964 Manor Lane, West Bay Shore, NY 197975 Basketball hoop house, West Bay Shore, NY 1979197975 Basketball hoop house, West Bay Shore, NY 197975 Circular balcony house, Bay Shore, NY 1979197975 Circular balcony house, Bay Shore, NY 1979
1980s–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
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.

75 5 Dove Lane, West Bay Shore, NY 1979
Retake this view75 5 Dove Lane, West Bay Shore, NY 1979, 1979

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

Retake this view · +15
On the National Register

1 historic place in West Bay Shore

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

place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
4
each building in a district counts

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

Help out

Finish West Bay Shore’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 view75 5 Dove Lane, West Bay Shore, NY 1979: 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.

West IslipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townBrightwatersIts storyC+Bay Shore6 historic placesnot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about West Bay Shore’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 (6), Wikipedia and U.S. Geological Survey historical maps. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.