Long Island Railroad

The railroad came to the Bethpage area in l841. Between 1850 and 1857 a station was built. The station was originally called Jerusalem or Jerusalem Station for the community to the south, Jerusalem, today known as Wantagh.

The settlement became known as a village as it now had its own post office as of January 29, 1857, and its own depot.

To encourage people to settle in the area the name of the post office was officially named, on March 1,1867, Central Park, Post Office. Another reason for the change, it was said, because the post office was located halfway between Hyde Park (New Hyde Park) and Deer Park so Central Park seemed a good fit. The town continued under two names - one for the post office (Central Park) and one for the railroad (Jerusalem Station). The railroad was first listed on the timetable of May 1873 as Jerusalem or Jerusalem Station and last listed in October 1876. In February, 1874 there was neither a depot nor a freight house, but Mr. Smith, the agent, used one of the rooms in his own house for a public waiting room. Between 1874 and 1879 a one-story combination passenger and freight depot was built. A new station was built in l884 and torn down about 1957. The wood burning pot belly stove from the depot was saved, and it now stands proudly in the Administration Building of the Bethpage School District.

The name of the railroad station, post office and the town was officially changed to Bethpage in l936.

Note: the Railroad called another station Bethpage with a stop located at Winding Road and Battle Row, Old Bethpage, just north of the Stewart Brick Works. The Central Railroad was built by Alexander Turney Stewart in 1871 as he began construction on a hotel and homes in the area that he called Garden City. The railroad brought bricks from the brick kilns in Old Bethpage to the construction sites. There is no evidence of a station building.

Passenger service opened to accommodate travel for farmers, beginning November 9, 1874 with one round-trip a day. During l876 and l877 only summer service was provided.

This rail line ran through Central Park, about where the present Plainedge school district line separates Plainedge from Bethpage. The LIRR and the Stewart Line functioned, in part, on the same tracks until World War II when the rails were finally torn up for use as scrap steel for the war effort. Only a brick culvert over six foot was left to mark the tracks original embankment. There are remnants of a train turntable, documented by a historic marker, east of Round Swamp Road, heading north to the brick yard.

See: The Long Island Rail Road- a Comprehensive History by Vincent F. Seyfried.

    "Bethpage Bygones" by Iris and Alonzo Gibbs