Port Washington is a hamlet and census-designated place (CDP) on the Cow Neck Peninsula in Nassau County, New York, United States. The hamlet is the anchor community of the Greater Port Washington area. The population was 16,753 at the time of the 2020 census.
History 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. Some of these early settlers belonged to prominent, early Long Island families – including members of the Hewlett, Sands, and Willets families, among others.
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.
The Port Washington Line of the New York and North Shore Traction Company's trolley system reached Port Washington in 1907 and opened in 1908; this trolley connected the community with Roslyn and Mineola. These trolleys operated until 1920, when the company collapsed.
In 1908, the Town of North Hempstead opened the Port Washington Town Dock, located along Manhasset Bay. 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 remaining special district police department in New York state – in 1921.
In 1930, Port Washington tried to incorporate itself as a city, which would have had the same boundaries as the Port Washington Union Free School District – excluding Sands Point, which had already incorporated itself as a village several years prior. The plan to incorporate as a city ultimately failed when Baxter Estates, Flower Hill, and Manorhaven incorporated themselves as villages in order to retain home rule over their respective areas – events which effectively killed the city incorporation bill. The City of Greater Port Washington ultimately never formed, and the Port Washington CDP remains an unincorporated part of – and continues to be governed by – the Town of North Hempstead to this day.
1930 also saw the establishment of a ferry between Bowman's Point Road (now in the Village of Manorhaven) to New Rochelle in Westchester County via (and across) the Long Island Sound, after the courts ruled in favor of its establishment in a legal dispute over the proposal; the service was established a few months prior to the Manorhaven's incorporation, meaning service originally began in Port Washington proper. 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.
The Port Washington Post Office – commissioned by the United States Government as part of the New Deal – opened in 1935.
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.
On the afternoon of January 30, 1949, a mid-air collision between a Pan Am Lockheed Constellation and a private Cessna 140 occurred over downtown Port Washington. 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. Debris from the accident rained down on portions of the downtown – primarily in the vicinity of North Maryland Avenue, North Bayles Avenue, and Herbert Avenue – and in the Beacon Hill neighborhood.
In 1953, the community's current high school – Paul D. Schreiber High School – opened. 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.
Around 2007, the Town of North Hempstead took ownership of Hempstead Harbor Beach Park from Nassau County. 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
According to the United States Census Bureau, the CDP has a total area of , of which is land and , or 25.22%, is water.
The hamlet is bordered on two sides with bodies of water: Manhasset Bay on its western side and Hempstead Harbor on its eastern side.
Two enclaves exist above the northern portions of the main, contiguous part of the hamlet.
Furthermore, Port Washington is located on the Cow Neck Peninsula.
Topography Like the rest of Long Island's North Shore, Port Washington is situated on a terminal moraine, known as the Harbor Hill Moraine. This moraine was formed by glaciers during the Wisconsin Glacial Episode, and is named for Harbor Hill in Roslyn; Harbor Hill is the highest geographic point in Nassau County.
According to the United States Environmental Protection Agency and the United States Geological Survey, the highest point in Port Washington is Beacon Hill, at an elevation of roughly , and the lowest point is Hempstead Harbor and Manhasset Bay, which are at sea level.
Climate
Overview Port Washington has a humid subtropical climate (Cfa), bordering on a hot-summer humid continental climate (Dfa). Average monthly temperatures in the central CDP range from 33.0 °F in January to 75.9 °F in July.
Plant zone According to the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), Port Washington is located within hardiness zone 7b.
Greater Port Washington area The Greater Port Washington area is home to four incorporated villages in their entirety, in addition to the hamlet of Port Washington: Baxter Estates Manorhaven Port Washington North Sands Point
Additionally, the Greater Port Washington area also includes part of the Incorporated Village of Flower Hill (which is split between the Greater Manhasset, Greater Port Washington, and Greater Roslyn areas), as well as a small part of the Village of Plandome Manor (which is split between the Greater Manhasset and Port Washington areas).
Economy
There are numerous small stores in Port Washington with 6 shopping centers, 4 strip malls and an industrial complex on the east side of Port Washington next to Hempstead Harbor, off West Shore Road. Entertainment One, NPD Group, Pall, and Systemax, as well as a Hilton Garden Inn are located in that industrial complex.
Business improvement district The entire hamlet is located within the Greater Port Washington Business Improvement District's boundaries.
Demographics
2020 census As of the 2020 census, Port Washington had a population of 16,753. The median age was 44.7 years. 24.0% of residents were under the age of 18 and 22.0% of residents were 65 years of age or older. For every 100 females, there were 92.8 males, and for every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 88.1 males.
100.0% of residents lived in urban areas, while 0.0% lived in rural areas.
There were 5,925 households in Port Washington, of which 37.0% had children under the age of 18 living in them. Of all households, 62.5% were married-couple households, 10.5% were households with a male householder and no spouse or partner present, and 23.6% were households with a female householder and no spouse or partner present. About 21.3% of all households were made up of individuals, and 14.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.
There were 6,269 housing units, of which 5.5% were vacant. The homeowner vacancy rate was 1.1% and the rental vacancy rate was 5.7%.
+ Racial composition as of the 2020 census Race Number Percent White 12,197 72.8% Black or African American 334 2.0% American Indian and Alaska Native 108 0.6% Asian 1,505 9.0% Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander 5 0.0% Some other race 1,086 6.5% Two or more races 1,518 9.1% Hispanic or Latino (of any race) 2,524 15.1%
2010 census As of the 2010 census, the population was 15,846. The racial makeup of the population was 82.2% White, 2.4% African American, 0.2% Native American, 8% Asian, 4.8% from other races, and 2.4% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino people of any race were 13.4% of the population.
2000 census