What is now the Village of Lake Success was first settled by Europeans in 1783, and the community became known as Lakeville. This name was widely used to describe the area until about the time that the Incorporated Village of Lake Success in 1927. In 1939, the United States government bought a large tract between Marcus Avenue, Lakeville Road, and Union Turnpike, to be the home to the
Sperry Gyroscope Company, which built a variety of maritime, military, aerospace, and navigation products. During
World War II, the plant had 22,000 employees. After the war, part of the plant became the temporary headquarters of the United Nations from 1947 to 1952, while its headquarters building in New York City was being built. The facility continued to be used by various companies (including
Unisys and
Loral Corporation) to build defense products over ensuing decades. It was purchased by
Lockheed Martin in 1996. The company closed the plant in 1998 and began an environmental clean-up of the site overseen by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation. The building became I-Park, and a few technical companies moved it, but much of the space was unused. In 2005,
Northwell Health leased 454,000 square feet of the 1.4-million-square-foot former defense plant, and is valued at about $300 million and comes with an option to buy. On December 15, 1954, the village's Board of Trustees approved a plan to construct the Lake Success Village Pool. A few weeks later, on January 12, 1955, village residents approved a $125,000 (1955 USD) bond to construct the facility. The space was subsequently purchased by
Northwell Health.
Etymology The Village of Lake Success derives its name from a
kettle lake of the same name which, according to village lore, had a Native American name of "Sucut." ==Geography==