In the first grant of land in colonial days, Great Neck was called "Madnan's Neck." In 1630, it was given by King Charles I of England to William Thorne even though the Dutch were in actual possession of Long Island. In 1644, William Kieft, Governor of New Netherlands, granted a patent to the Town of Hempstead for all the lands of that town which then included Great Neck and all of North Hempstead. After the English took control, Governor-General Thomas Dongan in 1685 confirmed the patent. The charter for the Town of North Hempstead was granted by the colonial legislature during the American Revolution and then was validated by the New York State Constitution.
Great Neck Estates, the second oldest of the nine incorporated villages in Great Neck, was created in 1911. It had a President until 1926 and thereafter a Mayor and Board of Trustees.
History Corner- Did you know?
Residents of Great Neck Estates have long been proud of their Frank Lloyd Wright house and the home where F. Scott Fitzgerald started writing his famous Gatsby novel. Few, however are aware of a number of houses in our midst which were built in the style of the American Craftsman Movement referred to as the “Mission Style”. The founder of that movement was Gustav Stickley. He believed a house had to have a sturdy structure, simple, straightforward lines, woodwork of primarily Native American oak, built-in cabinets, and fireplaces. His designs were a strong contrast to the ornate, highly decorated style of the Victorian era. In 1904 he formed the Craftsman House Builders Club and readers could order architectural plans from the magazine. However, for a short period, less than a year, his Craftsman House Building Company, itself, constructed houses mainly in New Jersey and on Long Island. It was at that time that a house on Cedar Drive was built. Stickley designed the home for a friend who asked him to supervise the construction. The house came to the attention of the Great Neck Historical Society’s Heritage Recognition Program, which identifies and honors Great Neck’s most notable homes. A plaque was presented to the owners, confirming that the house was built in 1909 by Gustav Stickley.
Ilse Kagan
Historian
The earliest human settlers were the Matinecock Indians who lived in long houses alongside our shores. They called their land, Wallage, which means hilly land. Many of the Indians' artifacts in the Gar-vies Point Museum have come from our area.
Sometimes around 1625 the tribal leaders decided to move further East. They sold their lands to a representative of King Charles I of England, called Lord Sterl-ing, for about eleven cents an acre. Lord Sterling in turn sold the land to fifty purchasers, or patentees, who were ready to leave England within two years to pursue their religious freedom. Early maps and deeds show the name Goodman Thorne as being the purchaser of the property that became our Villag
The Thornes were a family who served as magistrates and were elected representatives to the Hempstead Convention which was the local governing body, an assembly similar to our Congress. Captain John Thorne gave General George Washington two hundred dollars to support the revolutionary cause. He was also one of the sponsors of the Act of Cessation, a bill which separated the Town of Hempstead from North Hemp-stead. The North Hempsteaders were supporters of the revolution. The passage of that Act is still in effect.
Richard McKnight was an English gentleman who had real estate offices in Great Neck and on Fifth Avenue in New York City. He immediately offered a ten thousand dollar prize internationally to the architect who could offer the best plan for developing the property, The prize was won by C.E. Bartlett who is responsible for the way Great Neck Estates looks now. In order to implement Bartlett's plan, the Village had to be incorporated. Ten families voted for the incorporation at the Thorne Manor. Our Village was officially incorporated on April. 6, 1911. Soon afterwards McKnight proceeded to sell portions of the land to developers according to Bartlett's plan.
The Thorne Mansion became the clubhouse of the Soundview Golf Course. The golf course was located west of Bayview Avenue and north of Amherst Road and extended as far as the Village of Harbor Hills, excluding a small area of Vista Drive and Ridge Drive.
There were many famous people who lived and visited here. Babe Ruth and his two large dogs came to visit friends at 1 Deepdale Drive. He played golf here to benefit the Red Cross during World War I. W.C. Fields played golf and tennis here, winning all the matches he played. Victor Young, the songwriter, lived at the break in the road on Myrtle Drive, and many a song was conceived in that Spanish style house. On Cedar Drive in the twenties lived Robert Curr, a diamond broker and salesman who installed in his shower a sixty-pound pressure pipe for energizing himself. Jack Hazard, a comedian, concluded a real estate deal with I.G. Wolfe during a performance at the Palace Theatre in New York. The audience was unware that the money gags was part of a real transaction. At 2 Aspen Place lived an aunt and uncle of the actress Paulette Goddard who spend a great deal of time in that house and in Great Neck too. On Shore Drive lived a stockbroker named Benson who had a castor bean tree and could make his own castor oil. In those days the Village was lighted by gas and it was the duty of Chief Wright, its only policeman, to light the lamps from his horse and wagon at dusk, In-1941, Bob Freedman, the real estate broker, received a call from Mr. O Brien in Czechoslovakia that the manufacturer of Bacha Shoes had just escaped from the Nazis and needed a home. Bob's office rented the escapee a home on the corner of Bayview and Chestnut and staffed it with servants and food. They met the family at the pier in New York, who were driven home in a chauffered limousine to sit down to a hot meal. On Hickory Drive lived a Mr. Fubini who worked his miracles, along with Mr. Einstein. One day a man came into Friedman's office in baggy pants, a tom sweater and an extremely smelly pipe, and said he was interested in buying property on which to build a house. He didn't appear to be the sort of person who could afford to buy a piece of land let alone have the money to build a house. It was the start of Friedman's friendship with a genius of the time who was called Frank Lloyd Wright. A site on Magnolia Drive was chosen.
In those days you could sleigh ride from Cedar Drive to the water and pass an old Indian cemetery along the way. Streets were closed after a snowstorm so that residents could sleigh ride, ski, and tobaggan without worrying about the ten-mile an hour speed limit. The golf course was also used for winter sports. Back then the bay was clear and you could swim off the dock which was located toward the city side of the marsh. Steps that led to the dock are still standing and pinpoint the old dock's location.
In 1925 the Kenwood was started on farm land purchased from the Shea family. Findlay Rickert Realty were the developers. The building was advertised as a cooperative of one thousand luxurious apartments. The building was completed in 1927 at a cost of a million and one-half dollars.
When the Thorne Mansion was destroyed by fire, the golf course and property were sold after a Village referendum and that area has now been developed into many fine homes that bring substantial revenue into the Village treasury.
The park originally had a raised baseball diamond and in the forties, the park was enlarged to its present size.
At the same time, the Prudential Bank foreclosed on many properties in our Village, and they were subsequently sold at distress prices.
When the park was enlarged, the pool, showers, and tilework in the locker rooms were added, as was a level baseball diamond, spectators' seats and the catcher's area which were all built by the park crew. If added monies were needed, the Villagers donated them and their hired help too.
An architect named Kittay lived in the Village and he donated his services in planning the seawall and walk. He also donated the property that became Pond Park. The pond itself was once the water hole of the golf course.
In 1955, the Village Hall and property were bought at a modest price from the Atwater family who were owners of coal mines in Pennsylvania. In retum for their generosity, the street was renamed.
In the early days of 1911, there were fifteen homes and sixty residents. Homes still standing from the earliest days are 1 McKnight Drive, our Village Hall at Atwater Plaza, 11 Amherst Road, another McKnight home, 1 Deepdale Drive, 6 Gateway Drive, 2 Aspen Place, Elm Street and Vista Drive, a home with a great ballroom and a walk-in fireplace.
To ride through our Village of Great Neck Estates is to take an architectural tour, for there are many, many varied styles and types.