No. 61: Welcome East Rockaway to Patch

No. 61 in the Patch series, “,” is to welcome East Rockaway to Lynbrook Patch.

East Rockaway was originally named Near Rockaway because the village actually began as a shipping and trading center for the South Shore of Long Island. It was a perfect location for the ships because of its deep channels inland.

The Village’s name was officially changed in 1869 to East Rockaway and became an incorporated village in 1900. When it was incorporated the town had a population of only 969 people.

East Rockaway is home to two elementary schools and one junior/senior High School. Also in East Rockaway is St. Raymond’s school which consists of grades K-8.

is also home to competitive sports such as football, cross country, volleyball, basketball, softball, baseball and track. The western part of East Rockaway is part of Lynbrook School District 20.

East Rockaway has one .

East Rockaway does not have a movie theatre - years ago there used to be one on located Atlantic Avenue. This was originally a single screen cinema and called the Atlantic Theatre, which had opened in the late 1920’s. Around 1941 the name was changed to the Criterion Theatre and eventually became a twin theatre with first run movies. The Criterion closed in the mid 1980’s.

In Memorial Park is a museum with free admission. In the park is a Mill which is a 300 year old building. It was originally a grist mill that was located on the Mill River built back in 1688 by Joseph Haviland. In 1818 it was purchased by Alexander Davison.

Lynbrook Patch will now be including and highlighting places and events in East Rockaway as part of our 100 things to do. Check back each Tuesday and learn of new places to see and check out.