Great Neck

Originally, Great Neck was a farming community on the North Shore of Long Island. For many years, this forested peninsula produced rich hay, fruit, and grain crops. As vacationers from Manhattan discovered the area, farms gave way to summer resorts and large estates. Well-known writers and actors such as F. Scott Fitzgerald, Ring Lardner, and Groucho Marx were drawn to the area, as were many of the nation's elite families like the Chryslers, Brokaws, and Vanderbilts. Great Neck has homes designed by Frank Lloyd Wright and Gustav Stickley and a church with glorious Tiffany windows. A hub of suburban development, Great Neck has always been renowned for its excellent public schools, community-minded citizens, diverse population, parks, and cultural activities.

Leila Mattson is the historian for the Village of Thomaston in Great Neck and a member of the executive board of the Great Neck Historical Society. Alice Kasten is president of the Great Neck Historical Society and has a large collection of local ephemera, which is the source of many of the images in this volume.