Old Bethpage Village Restoration provides visitors with a unique and wonderful opportunity to step back in time and experience life in a recreated mid-19th-century American village. The 209-acre village includes an assortment of homes, farms and businesses. Each October, the village hosts the Long Island Fair, a traditional county agricultural fair that draws tens of thousands of visitors, and through most of the year has a steady series of family-friendly events and exhibits, including old-time baseball tournaments.
Old Bethpage Village Restoration came into existence in 1963, when Nassau County acquired the Powell property, a 165-acre farm located on the Nassau-Suffolk border. The acquisition of the land and the plan to develop a historic restoration were timely, as development on Long Island had taken its toll on the area's landmarks.
But the roots of Old Bethpage Village date back even further than the 19th century to the Dutch and English settlement of Long Island. During the 1640s, the colonial settlers in this area founded town "spots" that functioned as commercial and social centers where taverns, general stores and meeting houses were built. In addition to a centrally located town lot, each townsman received outlying fields to use for grazing livestock, growing crops, or harvesting firewood.
By 1700, when the English had gained control of Long Island, townships controlled whatever land had not already been distributed, and the economy had expanded to include trades dependent on the sea as well as the land. Life remained quiet, unhurried and closely tied to nature. These patterns, evident well well into the 19th century, can be seen at Old Bethpage Restoration.
Hours of Operation
Wednesday - Friday, 10 a.m. - 4 p.m.
Saturday & Sunday, 10 a.m. - 5 p.m.
closed January and February.
Admission: $5, children 4 - 14 (under four are free); $5, seniors, volunteer firefighters; and $7, adults.
