Atlantic Beach and Long Beach Aeriel View

Long Beach is one of the outer barrier islands off the south coast of Long Island, New York, United States. Long Beach is the westernmost of these barrier islands, fronting on

Reynolds Channel Reynolds Channel is a strait in Nassau County, New York that separates Long Beach Barrier Island, which contains the City of Long Beach and the villages of Atlantic Beach, Lido Beach, and Point Lookout, from Long Island, Barnum Island, Har ...

to the north and the

Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe ...

to the south.

History

The first inhabitants on the Long Beach Barrier Island were the Rockaway Indians; the island was sold to the

New Netherland New Netherland ( nl, Nieuw Nederland; la, Novum Belgium or ) was a 17th-century colonial province of the Dutch Republic that was located on the east coast of what is now the United States. The claimed territories extended from the Delmarva P ...

colonists in 1643. Local Long Island baymen and farmers used the island for fishing and harvesting

salt hay ''Sporobolus pumilus'', the saltmeadow cordgrass, also known as salt hay, is a species of cordgrass native to the Atlantic coast of the Americas, from Newfoundland south along the eastern United States to the Caribbean and north-eastern Mexico. I ...

; no people lived on the island year round for more than two centuries. The

United States Congress The United States Congress is the legislature of the federal government of the United States. It is bicameral, composed of a lower body, the House of Representatives, and an upper body, the Senate. It meets in the U.S. Capitol in Washing ...

established a lifesaving station in 1849, a dozen years after 62 people died when the barque Mexico carrying Irish immigrants to New York ran ashore on New Year's Day. Development began on the island as a resort and was organized by

Austin Corbin Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas, as well as the county seat, seat and largest city of Travis County, Texas, Travis County, with portions extending into Hays County, Texas, Hays and Williamson County, Texas, Williamson co ...

, a builder from

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

, New York. Austin Corbin formed a partnership with the Long Island Rail Road to finance the New York and Long Beach Railroad Company which laid tracks from Lynbrook to Long Beach in 1880. The company also opened the Long Beach Hotel, at the time the largest in the world. The railroad brought 300,000 visitors the first season. By the next spring, tracks had been laid almost the full length of the Long Beach Island, but after repeated winter storm washouts they were removed in 1894.

Communities

Cities

Long Beach Long Beach is a city in Los Angeles County, California. It is the 42nd-most populous city in the United States, with a population of 466,742 as of 2020. A charter city, Long Beach is the seventh-most populous city in California. Incorporate ...

Villages

* Atlantic Beach

Hamlets

* East Atlantic Beach * Lido Beach * Point Lookout

Transportation

Road

The

Long Beach Bridge The Long Beach Bridge is a twin drawbridge crossing Reynolds Channel, connecting Long Beach Long Beach is a city in Los Angeles County, California. It is the 42nd-most populous city in the United States, with a population of 466,742 as of ...

connects to Island Park, the

Atlantic Beach Bridge The Atlantic Beach Bridge is a long toll drawbridge carrying NY 878, connecting Lawrence and Atlantic Beach (Park Street), New York, while passing over the west end of Reynolds Channel. The bridge also provides direct access to the Roc ...

connects to

Lawrence Lawrence may refer to: Education Colleges and universities * Lawrence Technological University, a university in Southfield, Michigan, United States * Lawrence University, a liberal arts university in Appleton, Wisconsin, United States Preparator ...

on the mainland of Long Island, and the

Loop Parkway The Loop Parkway (also known as the Loop) is a parkway in Nassau County, New York, in the United States. It serves the barrier islands south of Long Island itself, beginning on Long Beach Barrier Island at an intersection with Lido Boulevard in ...

bridge connects Lido Beach to the

Meadowbrook State Parkway The Meadowbrook State Parkway (also known as the Meadowbrook, the Meadowbrook Parkway or the MSP) is a parkway in Nassau County, New York, in the United States. Its southern terminus is at a full cloverleaf interchange with the Bay and Ocean ...

Rail

The Long Island Rail Road's

Long Beach Branch The Long Beach Branch is an electrified rail line and service owned and operated by the Long Island Rail Road in the U.S. state of New York. The branch begins at Valley Interlocking, just east of Valley Stream station, where it merges with the F ...

terminates at the Long Beach station on the island.

Bus

Bus services are provided by Nassau Inter-County Express (NICE) and

Long Beach Bus Long Beach Bus is a public transportation system serving Greater Long Beach on the south shore of Long Island, New York. The service operates twenty-four hours a day, with five different routes connecting to one another and to Nassau Inter-Cou ...

References

{{Long Beach, New York Islands of Nassau County, New York Landforms of Nassau County, New York