Common Lands No More: The A.T. Stewart Purchase

For approximately two hundred years, local farmers kept their livestock in the Common Lands of the Hempstead Plains, a tremendous area of native grasslands almost completely devoid of trees. The Plains stretched across the center of eastern Queens County and the lands were owned by the Town of Hempstead for public use. The section here was called the East Meadow Hollow, and the "common" lands were shared for grazing purposes. Landowners on the edge of the Plains were required to keep fences around the Common Lands in good shape. Each year, East Meadow farmers let their cattle and sheep roam freely within these fences until the last Monday in October. On Parting Day, as it would come to be known, farmers collected their animals for the winter.

In 1862, a state law permitted towns to sell their common lands, but Hempstead Town's settlers were unconvinced of the benefits of such a sale. It was East Meadow's most well known woman, Sarah Ann Barnum, who orchestrated the sale. Known as the "eighth [honorary] member" of the Queens County Board of Supervisors, her considerable political influence is notable. She was responsible for convincing settlers to approve the sale of the Hempstead Plains that would pave the way for considerable East Meadow, and Town of Hempstead, development in return for a large sum of public money for school and welfare purposes. The public needed to decide whether to sell the public lands to speculator Charles T. Harvey for $42 per acre or wealthy New York City businessman Alexander Turney Stewart for $55 per acre. The main difference, aside from a price difference of $97,500, was what each purchaser would do with the property once it was acquired.

Mr. Harvey, a Tarrytown native who billed himself as a patriot and grandchild of a Revolutionary hero, was to turn the lands into a tremendous "truck farm" — that is, a farm on which fruits and vegetables are grown for sale by truck to New York City. The Common Lands had never been used for growing food before, and the public was skeptical about the quality of the soil. He offered the Town of Hempstead $42 per acre. Posters were printed on June 26, 1869; one hundred and five petitioners joined town officials in asking citizens to vote on the Harvey deal on July 17.

Meanwhile, Mr. Stewart offered $55 per acre for the Common Lands. Mr. Stewart vowed to "open [the lands], by constructing extensive public roads, laying out the lands in parcels for sale to actual settlers, and erecting attractive buildings and residences, so that they may speedily be covered by a population desirable as neighbors, taxpayers, and citizens." The New York Times expressed its support for Mr. Stewart by telling its readers that they should look forward to the Common Lands' "speedy transformation from an uninviting, uninhabited waste, into the site of a busy, thriving, and prosperous population." On July 17, 1869, the votes were cast at John B. Pettit's house in the Village of Hempstead. Ultimately, two-thirds of the votes cast in town supported the Stewart deal.

The following week, the Times again reported on the favorable outcome of the sale. Nevertheless, legal challenges ensued: Harvey was incensed that the Town Commissioners backed out of his "completed" deal after he had given a $25,000 down payment. The editors of the Times asked Harvey and other detractors to "retire in disgust" and let Mr. Stewart develop the property so that Hempstead Town's population could increase, and taxes could decrease. Stewart eventually purchased an additional 2,000 acres, making his total land holdings over 9,000 acres. He hired John Kellum as an architect and general manger of the Hempstead Plains and went to work building his flagship village, Garden City, and the Central Rail Road of Long Island in 1871. Stations in East Meadow, known as Meadow Brook (alternatively, Salisbury Plains) and New Bridge, opened by 1873. The Long Island Rail Road acquired his line a few years later and East Meadow saw regular train service until 1939. The tracks east of Uniondale were removed after the completion of Levittown. Stewart Avenue, which originally continued through current-day Eisenhower Park, is named for Alexander T. Stewart, who died one of the richest men in America. Only a few acres remain of the Hempstead Plains. These can be found in Eisenhower Park and on the campus of Nassau Community College.

Dr. Scott Eckers is the author of East Meadow in Arcadia Publishing's Images of America series. He is Vice President of the East Meadow Board of Education as well as Social Studies Chair for the East Williston School District. Scott is also an entertainer and recording artist.