Discover 20 hidden attractions, cool sights, and unusual things to do in North Hempstead (United States). Don't miss out on these must-see attractions: Nassau County Museum of Art, Eisenhower Park, and Cradle of Aviation Museum. Also, be sure to include Old Westbury Gardens in your itinerary.
Below, you can find the list of the most amazing places you should visit in North Hempstead (New York).
Table of Contents
Nassau County Museum of Art
Museum in Roslyn Harbor, New York. The Nassau County Museum of Art is located 20 mi east of New York City on the former Frick "Clayton" Estate, a 145-acre property in Roslyn Harbor in the heart of Long Island’s Gold Coast. The main museum building, named in honor of art collectors and philanthropists Arnold A. Saltzman and his wife Joan, is a three-story Georgian-style mansion that exemplifies Gold Coast architecture of the late 19th century. In addition to the mansion, NCMA, which receives nearly 200,000 visitors each year, includes The Manes Family Art & Education Center, opened in 2017, as well as a Sculpture Park, a Formal Garden, rare specimen trees and marked walking trails.[1]
Address: Museum Dr, 11576 Roslyn (Greater Roslyn)
Eisenhower Park
Park in East Meadow, New York. Eisenhower Park, formerly known as Salisbury Park, is a public park in East Meadow, New York bordered by Hempstead Turnpike on the south and Old Country Road on the north. At 930 acres, it is larger than Central Park, with much of the area devoted to three 18-hole golf courses, including the Red Course, host to the annual Commerce Bank Championship. The park is home to the September 11th Memorial for residents of Nassau County.[2]
Address: Eisenhower Park, 11554 East Meadow
Cradle of Aviation Museum
Museum in Uniondale, New York. The Cradle of Aviation Museum is an aerospace museum located in Garden City, New York on Long Island to commemorate Long Island's part in the history of aviation. It is located on land once part of Mitchel Air Force Base which, together with nearby Roosevelt Field and other airfields on the Hempstead Plains, was the site of many historic flights. So many seminal flights had occurred in the area that, by the mid-1920s, the cluster of airfields was already dubbed the "Cradle of Aviation", the origin of the museum's name.[3]
Address: Charles Lindbergh Blvd, 11530 Garden City
Old Westbury Gardens
Museum in Old Westbury, New York. Old Westbury Gardens is the former estate of businessman John Shaffer Phipps, an heir to the Phipps family fortune, in Nassau County, New York. Located at 71 Old Westbury Road in Old Westbury, the property was converted into a museum home in 1959. It is open for tours from April through October.[4]
Address: 71 Old Westbury Rd, 11568 Old Westbury
Flower Hill Park
Park in Flower Hill, New York. Flower Hill Village Park is a village-owned park in the Incorporated Village of Flower Hill, on Long Island, in the State of New York. It was formerly owned by Nassau County.[5]
Address: 500 Stonytown Rd, North Hempstead (Greater Roslyn)
Cedarmere
Museum in Roslyn Harbor, New York. The Clayton-Cedarmere Estates are located in Roslyn Harbor, New York, United States, listed jointly on the National Register of Historic Places in 1986. Clayton, the bulk of the property, is the large landscaped Bryce/Frick estate, now home to the Nassau County Museum of Art. Cedarmere, the smaller of the two, is William Cullen Bryant's estate, currently undergoing interior renovation, is located on the west side of Bryant Avenue; overlooking Hempstead Harbor, now a historic house museum. The grounds are open to the public. The two combined properties, with input from several notable architects, illustrate the development of estates on the North Shore of Long Island over a period of nearly a century.
Bryant originally owned almost the entire property. Fifteen years after Bryant's death, in 1893, Lloyd Bryce bought the largely undeveloped inland portion of the estate and hired Ogden Codman, Jr. to design a mansion for it. In 1919, the dying Henry Clay Frick purchased the estate for his son Childs, who, after renovating it and expanding it, lived there with his family until his 1965 death. Four years later, it was turned over to the county for use as a museum.[6]
Address: 225 Bryant Ave, 11576 Roslyn (Greater Roslyn)
Albertson
Hamlet on Long Island, New York. Albertson is a hamlet and census-designated place in the Town of North Hempstead in Nassau County, on Long Island, in New York, United States. The population was 5,182 at the 2010 census.[7]
Cathedral of the Incarnation
Cathedral in Garden City, New York. The Cathedral of the Incarnation is an Episcopal cathedral in Garden City, New York. It is the seat of the Episcopal Diocese of Long Island.
Built to the memory of Alexander Turney Stewart, the Cathedral of the Incarnation is the only cathedral in the United States funded by a single person, and the only one that is built in memory of a single individual. The cathedral is a product of Gothic Revival architecture.
The cathedral is historically known for its music ministry, led by Canon Lawrence Tremsky (Northwestern University, M.M.). The Men & Boys Choir, which originated during the 19th century, was the reason that the train station in the area was initially constructed - to transport the boys from their homes in Brooklyn or Manhattan to rehearsals and services. During the 1930s, the cathedral formed the first American cathedral girls' choir - known as the Schola Cantorum. The choirs sing a repertoire of choral music, from plainsong to modern works, selected carefully to coincide with the themes of the season. Evensong is sung on the first Sunday of each month in the traditional English cathedral model (Magnificat, Nunc Dimittis, an anthem, and Anglican chant psalms). Special seasonal liturgies include traditional "Lessons & Carols" one or two Sundays before Christmas.
The cathedral is notable for its stained glass windows and icons. The mural icon of Christ Pantokrator, permanently installed at the cathedral, was crafted by the American artist Guillermo Esparza.
A new organ was constructed by the firm Casavant Frères Limitée in 1986 on the 110th anniversary of the death of A. T. Stewart.
Tours are offered upon request, as well as the cathedral being open from 9:00 am to 4:00 pm (Tuesday - Friday).
There are a variety of services held throughout the week including weekday Morning Prayer, weekday Compline, and Sunday services including the Family Mass at 9:15 (held outdoors during the summer under the tent, and is pet-friendly) and the 11:15 Choral Eucharist featuring music by the cathedral choirs.[8]
Address: 50 Cathedral Ave, 11530 Garden City
Clark Botanic Garden
Botanical garden in Roslyn Heights, New York. Clark Botanic Garden is a 12-acre botanical garden and park located in Roslyn Heights, in Nassau County, on Long Island, in New York, United States.[9]
Address: 193 I U Willets Rd, 11507-2215 Albertson (Greater Roslyn)
Mineola
Village on Long Island, New York. Mineola is a village in and the county seat of Nassau County, on Long Island, in New York, United States. The population was 18,799 at the 2010 census. The name is derived from an Algonquin Chief, Miniolagamika, which means "pleasant village."
The Incorporated Village of Mineola is located primarily in the Town of North Hempstead, with the exception being a small portion of its southern edge within the Town of Hempstead. Old Country Road runs along the village's southern border. The area serviced by the Mineola Post Office extends farther south into the adjacent village of Garden City, where the Old Nassau County Courthouse is located. Offices of many Nassau County agencies are in both Mineola and Garden City.[10]
Garden City
Village on Long Island, New York. Garden City is a village in Nassau County, on Long Island, in New York, United States. It is the Greater Garden City area's anchor community. The population was 22,371 at the 2010 census.
The Incorporated Village of Garden City is primarily located within the Town of Hempstead, with the exception being a small area at the northern tip of the village located within the Town of North Hempstead.[11]
United States Merchant Marine Academy
Military academy in Kings Point, New York. The United States Merchant Marine Academy is a United States service academy in Kings Point, New York. It trains its students to serve as officers in the United States Merchant Marine, branches of the military, and the transportation industry. Midshipmen are trained in different fields such as marine engineering, navigation, ship's administration, maritime law, personnel management, international law, customs, and many other subjects important to the task of running a large ship.[12]
Address: 300 Steamboat Rd, 11024-1634 Kings Point
Williston Park
Village on Long Island, New York. Williston Park is an incorporated village in the Town of North Hempstead in Nassau County, on Long Island, in New York, United States. The population was 7,287 at the 2010 census.[13]
Roslyn
Village in Long Island, New York. Roslyn is a village in the Town of North Hempstead in Nassau County, on the North Shore of Long Island, in New York, United States. It is the Greater Roslyn area's anchor community. The population was 2,770 at the 2010 census.[14]
Old Westbury
Village on Long Island, New York. Old Westbury is a village in the Towns of North Hempstead and Oyster Bay in Nassau County, on the North Shore of Long Island, in New York, United States. The population was 4,671 at the 2010 census.
The Incorporated Village of Old Westbury is one of the richest villages in the country as well as the second-richest zip code in the New York State, topped only by Harrison in Westchester County. In 2007, Business Week dubbed Old Westbury as New York's most expensive suburb. Old Westbury Gardens has been recognized as one of the three best public gardens in the world by Four Seasons Hotels magazine.[15]
Hofstra University
Private university in Nassau County, New York. Hofstra University is a private university in Hempstead, New York. It is Long Island's largest private university. Hofstra originated in 1935 as an extension of New York University under the name Nassau College – Hofstra Memorial of New York University. It became an independent Hofstra College in 1939 and gained university status in 1963. Comprising ten schools, including the Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell and Deane School of Law, Hofstra has hosted a series of prominent presidential conferences and several United States presidential debates.[16]
Address: 900 Fulton Ave, North Hempstead
Trinity Church Complex
Episcopal church in Roslyn, New York. Trinity Church Complex is a historic church off of Northern Boulevard in Roslyn, New York. It is located on the westbound off-ramp from the William Cullen Bryant Viaduct and Church Street, the latter of which also leads to the St. Mary's Roman Catholic Church of Roslyn, on the northeast corner of Bryant and Summit Avenues.[17]
Address: 1579 Northern Blvd, North Hempstead (Greater Roslyn)
Roslyn Cemetery
Cemetery in Greenvale, New York. The Roslyn Cemetery is a historic cemetery located on Route 25A in the town of Greenvale, Nassau County, New York. It is owned by the Roslyn Presbyterian Church which is located within the Village of Roslyn. The Roslyn Cemetery is a product of the "Rural Cemetery Act" of which one of the many intents was to move burial grounds away from the local church and community as well as to design the grounds in a park like setting. This is clearly evident in the "Roslyn Cemetery" which is more like a botanical garden than a cemetery. Interments began in the 19th century and it continues to accept burials today. The cemetery has many notable figures as well as a section dedicated to fallen Civil War soldiers.
The "East Gate Toll House" which sits on the south east side of the "Roslyn Cemetery" and is clearly seen from Northern Blvd.(Route 25A) is the last remaining toll house that served the North Hempstead Turnpike. It was built around 1864 and is frequently but incorrectly referred to as being a toll house for the Vanderbilt Motor Parkway which ran considerably south of this location. Over the years the toll road had ceased operation and the main road was moved south of the toll house. The "Roslyn Cemetery" eventually surrounded the property. This structure sat unoccupied for many years and served little more than a shed for cemetery work tools. In the 1980s it was restored. It serves as a private residence and is on the National Register of Historic Places, as is the surrounding cemetery.[18]
Roslyn Grist Mill
Building in Roslyn, New York. The Roslyn Grist Mill is located along Old Northern Boulevard in Roslyn, New York, United States. It was built sometime before the mid-18th century and is one of the few surviving Dutch colonial commercial frame buildings in the U.S. Added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1986, it is currently being restored for use as a museum.[19]
Old Nassau County Courthouse
Courthouse in Garden City, New York. The Old Nassau County Courthouse, also known as the Nassau County Courthouse and the Historic Nassau County Courthouse, is an historic 2-story courthouse building located at 1550 Franklin Avenue in Garden City, Nassau County, New York. Designed by noted New York City architect William B. Tubby in the Classical Revival style of architecture with a grand rotunda capped by a white dome, it was built of poured-in-place reinforced concrete. Then governor Theodore Roosevelt laid its cornerstone in 1900 and it was finished in 1901. Wings designed by Tubby were added in 1916. Later additions and renovations were 1924-1928 under the supervision of architect William J. Beardsley, who had designed the Dutchess County Court House in Poughkeepsie.
In the 1930s a new courthouse and other county buildings were built in Mineola. Some interior alterations to the old building were done in the 1940s and 1950s, but by the time it was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1978, it was in a state of neglect.
In 2002 the firm of John G. Waite Associates restored the dome to its former glory. Renovations continued until 2008, when county executive Thomas Suozzi presided over a ceremony to celebrate the building which now will be known as the Theodore Roosevelt Executive and Legislative Building.[20]
Address: 1550 Franklin Avenue, Garden City, North Hempstead