What is now Port Washington was originally inhabited by the
Matinecock Native Americans. European colonists – namely,
Dutchmen and
Englishmen – settled in the area in 1644, after they purchased land from the Matinecocks. Many of these settlers in modern-day Port Washington and across Cow Neck established farms or large colonial estates. In the 1870s, Port Washington became an important
sand-mining town; it had the largest
sandbank east of the
Mississippi River and easy barge access to
Manhattan. Some 140 million cubic yards of local sand were used for concrete for
skyscrapers in New York City (including the
Empire State and
Chrysler buildings), in addition to the
New York City Subway. In 1998, the sand mines were redeveloped as Harbor Links – a golf course for North Hempstead residents. In 1895, a group of Port Washington residents lobbied for the
Long Island Rail Road to be extend what is now the
Port Washington Branch from
Great Neck to
its present terminus in Port Washington; this request came after the failure of an 1882 attempt to extend the line from Great Neck to
Roslyn. The LIRR agreed to build an extension to Port Washington, and the extended line – including the
Manhasset and
Port Washington stations – subsequently opened on June 23, 1898. The arrival of rail service in Port Washington spurred rapid development in the community. These trolleys operated until 1920, when the company collapsed. This facility would become a major destination in Port Washington over the ensuing years and decades. By 1910, the northern portions of the peninsula – including Sands Point, Mott's Point, and Barker's Point – sought to incorporate as villages and thereby split from the rest of Port Washington. Citing concerns over the effects which these developments would have on the rest of the Greater Port Washington area's taxpayers, a movement to incorporate Port Washington proper as the Incorporated Village of Port Washington was born, with a vote on the incorporation taking place in 1912. However, this proposal – like later proposals to incorporate the community – was unsuccessful, and the movement was highly contentious. In the 1912 referendum vote on the matter, the measure to incorporate Port Washington as a village was defeated by nine votes, and local
Democratic Party leaders in the community had fiercely rallied against the incorporation plans. In 1912,
Main Street – the main east–west thoroughfare through downtown Port Washington – was renamed accordingly from Flower Hill Avenue, its former name. In 1916, the Town of North Hempstead proposed erecting a vehicular bridge across
Hempstead Harbor, between
Bar Beach in Port Washington and Shore Road in
Glenwood Landing, citing traffic demand. While this bridge would never be built, one further south – the
William Cullen Bryant Viaduct – opened several years later as part of a separate but similar project, in January 1950. 1916 also saw the creation of Sunset Park and the erection of the Port Washington Water Pollution Control District's first treatment plant, which was located within the park. As Port Washington continued to grow in the early 20th century, the need arose for improved law enforcement services in the community. This led to the establishment of the
Port Washington Police District – as of 2025 the only
special district police department in New York state – in 1921. This ferry – operated by the Port Washington–New Rochelle Ferry Co., Inc. – would run until 1939, when the
Bronx–Whitestone Bridge opened further to the west and rendered the service obsolete, partially due to a lack of sufficient business. In the late 1930s, prior to the opening of the
Marine Air Terminal at
LaGuardia Airport, Port Washington and Manorhaven were home to
Pan American World Airways' New York base for their Yankee Clipper
Boeing B-314 flying boats; the waters of
Manhasset Bay were ideal for flying boat operations. Common destinations served included London,
Southampton (UK),
the Azores, and
Bermuda. Both occupants of the Cessna were killed, and all 33 occupants onboard the Pan Am flight survived; the Constellation performed an emergency landing at nearby
Mitchel Field. It is named in honor of Paul D. Schreiber, who served as the
Port Washington Union Free School District's superintendent from 1920 to 1953. In June 1967, the
John Philip Sousa Memorial Bandshell – one of the community's primary performing arts venues – was formally dedicated in Sunset Park. It is named after – and was built as a memorial to – American composer and longtime Port Washington resident
John Philip Sousa, who lived in what would eventually become the Village of Sands Point. It subsequently turned it and the adjacent, Town-owned park – Bar Beach Town Park – into a single, larger, park facility, known as
North Hempstead Beach Park.
Etymology Port Washington's name is a tribute to
George Washington – an
American Revolutionary War general and one of the
Founding Fathers of the United States, who served as the first
President of the United States between 1789 and 1797. ==Geography==