Babylon (village), New York
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Babylon is a village located in Suffolk County, New York. As of the 2000 census, the village had a total population of 12,615.
Its official name is The Incorporated Village of Babylon. It is commonly referred to as Babylon Village, to distinguish it from the Town of Babylon, of which it is a part.
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History
It was once known as South Huntington (or Huntington South). Lightly settled from the 17th century, its main industry, in common with much of the area along Great South Bay and South Oyster Bay (both actually lagoons), was the harvesting of salt hay, which was used as cattle feed and bedding.
When a coherent community grew up in the area by 1803, prominent local citizens sought to adopt a new name. An influential local lady, Mrs. Conklin, proposed that the new hamlet be named Babylon, which appalled several other notables, who questioned why she should choose such an "unholy" name. In a spirit of apparent defiance of the area's rather bawdy reputation as a stop-over place for travellers on Long Island's south shore, she is said to have proclaimed: "it will be a new Babylon." The name stuck, despite some effort to change it. West Islip was originally designated at Babylon yet later became its own hamlet.
Incorporation
In 1891, the hamlet of Babylon incorporated as a village, gaining a municipal government with an elected mayor and other officials. This proved important in the revival of the community nearly a century later.
In 1925, the LIRR extended electric train service to Babylon, where it still ends today. This established Babylon as a major commuter town.
Railroad History
In 1865, Babylon became a major station and division point for the South Side Rail Road, later acquired by the Long Island Rail Road (LIRR). For a brief period, Babylon had another railroad terminal, that of the Central Railroad of Long Island, closer to the shore. Both of these lines still run as part of the LIRR, though the CRRLI soon gave up its own station and moved into the LIRR's.
Hotels and Gateway to Fire Island
Babylon soon became the primary gateway to the nearby barrier beaches, including Fire Island, a position it held until the building of the current Captree Causeways allowing automobile access to the beaches nearest the Babylon shore. Beachgoers arriving by train or coach, or staying at local hotels typically took the Babylon Railroad, originally a horsecar line and later a trolley, to the Babylon Dock for ferries to Oak Beach and Fire Island destinations.
As now, the epitome of the luxury lifestyle was summering on the ocean. This led many affluent individuals and families to reside at Babylon's seaside resorts, both on the mainland and on barrier beach islands. Oak Island was host to one of the most elite sanitoriums and nearby Saltaire was host to the Surf Hotel offering several hundred rooms to guests. Guests of the Surf would take the rail road to Babylon's trolley and then cross the bay by a ferry. Off Robins Avenue at Stone Dock was the South Shore Inn and Watson House on Fire Island Avenue was famed to be "L.I.'s most luxurious hotel" when it was built. Those of even greater wealth would have homes or compounds built on the barrier beach island for vacationing. Stage stop hotels include the La Grange Inn, now used as a catering hall and is located in the portion of the town which became West Islip.
The Argyle Hotel & Park
The famous Argyle Hotel in Babylon was one of many built in the late 1800’s to accommodate wealthy summer visitors from New York City. It was constructed in 1882 by August Belmont, the LIRR and resort entrepreneur on the former estate of Brooklyn railroad magnate Electus B. Litchfield. Financing was provided by a syndicate headed by Long Island Rail Road President, Austin Corbin. The grounds, which included a large millpond, Blythebourne Lake became renamed Argyle Lake, for one of the hotel’s largest investors and town aristocrat, the heir to the Dukedom of Argyll. The renaming gave the Hotel & Park a more genteel English flavor yet the hotel proved a bad venture: it was near the end of the era of such projects, it was built much too large with 350 rooms, and so was rarely more than one-third filled. After about a decade of disuse, it was finally demolished in 1904, some of the structure being used to build homes west of the lake in the area now known as Argyle Park. In 1921, the land that is now Argyle Park was anonymously donated for passive recreation to the Village of Babylon, a use for which it still popular, drawing substantial numbers of visitors from outside the community for fishing, strolling, the children's playground and especially for weddings, since the waterfalls make an attractive setting for picture-taking.
Effingham Park/Hawley's Lake Park
Effingham Park was the site of the Old Mill on what is now the Babylon Village-West Islip border and South Country Road, now Montauk Highway (Main Street in Babylon).
The park belonged to the estate of Sutton Effingham who later sold it to Edwin Hawley, a U.S. railroad tycoon. Hawley demolished the Old Mill and parts of Effingham's Estate to erect an even more opulent estate including guest cottages, staff housing, and stables. Hawley turned the overflow from the Old Mill into a waterfall that matched and, some claim, exceeded the splendor of the still-extent Argyle Falls at Argyle Memorial Park. In addition to the falls, there were two bridges crossing the north side and mid-northeast side of the lake in many old postcards and photographs. The north side bridge was likely the bridge that carried George Street over the stream feeding Hawley's Pond, before New York Highway 231 was put through the area.
The Hawley Estate was gated off from the public with hedgerow and grand ornate estate fencing so that the public rarely saw its vast luxuries and amenities. In the late 1960's the site of Hawley's Pond was in a rundown state, being unkept and dilapidated. When Route 231 was being built, Hawley's Lake Park lost all hope of being repaired and restored to its former glory: the routes northern and southern termius were run directly through the estate. Some sources even claim that the lake was made considerably smaller and partially filled in during the expressway's construction. Today Hawley's Lake Park is an unused resource due mostly for its lack of parking and lack of Village concern. The aging grand falls were replaced with a more modern unornate and considerably less attractive setup. The village from time to time tries to beautify the site, although no plan has proved considerably successful. The parks seculsion leads it to be a popular nightly hangout site for teenagers looking to consume alchol; the rare and few residents who attempt to visit the park complain of broken beer bottles, litter, and atrocious odor of urine. Yet, one cannot deny the pleasant natural scenary of of the park. Another portion of the park remains and is almost completely unused without the consideration of an outdated swingset. This portion is located between the southbound terminus of Route 231 and Cooper Street: however accessible from only George Street. Between Lake Drive South and Lake Drive North in West Islip and the northern terminus of Route 231 is a small group of ponds also belonging to the former Effingham Park. This portion is no longer designated as park property and is accessible to the homes on Lake Drive South and Lake Drive North. The overflow pool from Hawley's Fall opens into two tunnels similar to Arygle Falls that goes under Main Street and connects into West Islip canals leading to the Great South Bay.
Baseball and African-American history
Many of the black service personnel of the Argyle Hotel formed a baseball team, the Babylon Black Panthers, said to be the first black professional baseball team. The team so dominated local white teams that Walter Cook, a New Jersey promoter, put up the money to have them travel and play as the "Cuban Giants." Calling black ballplayers (or ballplayers in "white" professional clubs in that era who seemed too dark to be caucasian) "Cuban" was a common practice through World War II. There were no Cubans in the Cuban Giants.
The team went on to become the "world colored champions" of 1887 and 1888, and spawned imitators.
Babylon Village today has three baseball fields for the high school, little league and adult play, and the high school team is named the Babylon Panthers. The village also has one of Long Island's older continuous African-American communities, of which the employees of the Argyle are said to have formed the core. This community still maintains two of the village's 12 churches, the Ebenezer Baptist Church and the Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church, both on Cooper Street.
Another prominent African-American, the film actress Thelma (Butterfly) McQueen, moved with her family from her birthplace of Tampa, Florida to live on Cottage Row in Babylon, where she went on to graduate from Babylon High School and then pursued her acting career before later attending several universities and attaining a degree in political science. Cottage Row still exists but no longer has any housing on it, falling prey to parking space for business district stores.
Current village
Babylon today is part suburban bedroom community, part small-town, and has a substantial shopping and business district. It is situated between Lindenhurst-West Babylon and West Islip at west and east, North Babylon on the northern boundary, and South Oyster Bay near its merger into Great South Bay on the south.
Today the village is best known for its restaurants and shops, and hosts shopping events during the fall as well as a popular crafts fair.
A statue of Robert Moses was erected in front of the Village Hall on Main Street (Montauk Highway) in 2003.
The commercial and housing stock in Babylon reflects its longevity as a community. Because of the 140-year presence of the railroad, and its earlier status as a way station on Montauk Highway, originally the only through highway on Long Island's south shore, most of the core of Babylon dates to the era from before the American Civil War to World War I. As a result, there is a mix of building styles, including pre-Civil War, colonial, Victorian, and more recent designs. Nearer the shore, much of the housing was originally summer properties, including cottages and bungaloes, viturally all now winterized.
Because of this history, and the general unavailability of large tracts of building land, Babylon Village has very few tract houses or developments. Some of the few area developed after World War II reflected the conversion of remaining farms and remains of large estates and mansions. There areas generally contain 1950s-style ranch houses, but there are some characteristic Long Island split level homes and high ranches.
The Long Island Railroad's south shore electrified line begins at Babylon insuring riders a seat and a short ride to mid town Manhattan. Historically pertinent, the first electric train to depart from Pennslyvannia Station arrived in Babylon.
Geography
According to the United States Census Bureau, the village has a total area of 7.1 km² (2.8 mi²). 6.2 km² (2.4 mi²) of it is land and 0.9 km² (0.3 mi²) of it is water. The total area is 12.32% water.
Demographics
As of the censusTemplate:GR of 2000, there were 12,615 people, 4,554 households, and 3,324 families residing in the village. The population density was 2,021.0/km² (5,226.6/mi²). There were 4,680 housing units at an average density of 749.8/km² (1,939.0/mi²). The racial makeup of the village was 92.46% White, 2.69% Black or African American, 0.10% Native American, 1.45% Asian, 0.01% Pacific Islander, 1.49% from other races, and 1.80% from two or more races. 5.11% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.
There were 4,554 households out of which 35.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 59.6% were married couples living together, 9.9% had a female householder with no husband present, and 27.0% were non-families. 21.6% of all households were made up of individuals and 7.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.71 and the average family size was 3.20.
In the village the population was spread out with 25.7% under the age of 18, 5.7% from 18 to 24, 32.9% from 25 to 44, 23.3% from 45 to 64, and 12.4% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 38 years. For every 100 females there were 93.6 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 90.9 males.
The median income for a household in the village was $69,767, and the median income for a family was $78,814. Males had a median income of $58,059 versus $38,770 for females. The per capita income for the village was $30,846. 4.1% of the population and 2.1% of families were below the poverty line. 2.9% of those under the age of 18 and 7.6% of those 65 and older were living below the poverty line.
Notable Residents (Past & Present)
- Tom Bohrer, won two Olympic rowing silver medals
- Sutton Effingham
- Edwin Hawley, railroad magnate, associated with, inter alia, the Chesapeake & Ohio Railroad
- Bob Keeshan, television personality: Clarabell the clown; Captain Kangaroo
- Guglielmo Marconi, inventor of wireless telegraphy
- Butterfly McQueen, film actress, best known from role in Gone With the Wind
- Robert Moses, builder
- Bret Saberhagen, professional baseball player