The village located on the South Shore of
Long Island shares the early Native American history of
Massapequa. Then in the 19th century, families of German descent relocated from
Brooklyn to what is now Massapequa Park, and the community which was formed was known as Wurtenberg or Stadtwurtemburg. The main attraction and center of activity was the Woodcastle Hotel, a rooming house built in 1868 on Front Street next to the fire department as a summer resort. It was destroyed by fire in 1952 and replaced by houses. In 1928,
The New York Times ran ads for Massapequa Park, a development built by a real estate firm owned by Michael J. Brady, Frank Cryan, and Peter Colleran. The three Irish-Americans described their project as having a bit of Old Erin; the area between Sunrise Highway and Merrick Road still has mostly Irish street names. In 1931, Massapequa Park was incorporated as a village to ensure control of land use and other issues. Several dozen
kit houses from Sears Roebuck were built in two different areas of the village. These include some of the largest model kit houses offered by Sears. The village once had its own airport, the Fitzmaurice Flying Field, named in 1929 for
James Fitzmaurice, one of a crew of three to be the first to fly a plane from east to west across the Atlantic (
Baldonnel, Ireland to
Greenly Island in Labrador, Canada). An estimated 100,000 people came to the dedication of the field on Spruce Street. The field was used by private planes. The field was eventually closed and became the home for the athletic fields of the 4M Club, a popular youth athletic program founded by Larry Neusse, and supported by a wide range of local residents. Today the site is home to McKenna Elementary School (which used to be a junior high school) and the Nassau County Police Academy (which used to be Hawthorn Elementary School). ==Geography==