The park includes that was once the 19th-century estates of George C. Taylor and J. Neal Plum.
Islip's founder, William Nicoll, originally built his estate on this property. The Long Island State Park Commission, led by
Robert Moses, expropriated the property in 1924, an action found to be illegal by the state's highest court on the grounds that the law did not permit such expropriation when the Commission did not have the funds to pay for the property; however, in the meantime, the Commission had retained control of the property. Despite opposition from wealthy local residents, the parkland was finally purchased by
New York State with the aid of a donation from
August Heckscher. The park officially opened in February 1929. Beginning in 1972 and continuing until 2008, the
New York Philharmonic played at Heckscher State Park as part of its free "Concerts in the Parks" series. The annual event was held on summer evenings in an open field near the campground and was open to the public. In 2009, the New York Philharmonic chose to cancel the event for the summer of that year due to financial constraints. After one year without a concert at the park, the
Long Island Philharmonic was able to put on a successful performance in 2010. The new generation of concerts commenced with a theme of American composers, including
George Gershwin,
Leonard Bernstein,
John Philip Sousa,
John Williams, and
Billy Joel. ==Park description==