About the Nassau County Historical Society
The Nassau County Historical Society was originally organized in 1915, incorporated in 1920, reorganized in 1936, and received a permanent charter from the New York State Education Department in 1958. A volunteer-run 501(c)(3) based in Garden City, the society works to enlarge public understanding of the history of Nassau County and to encourage the study of Long Island history generally. It sponsors program meetings featuring speakers who are authorities on Long Island life and history, held at venues such as the Jericho Public Library and offered in hybrid in-person and online formats, with members receiving meeting announcements about five times a year.
The society's flagship publication is the Nassau County Historical Society Journal, whose first issue appeared in 1937. More than one hundred issues have been published since, and the journal is now issued annually to all members, carrying articles on every aspect of the county's past; cumulative indexes are posted online and the editors accept article submissions. Over its history the society has also erected historical markers across the county, financed document conservation, sponsored the reconstruction of the Agricultural Society's office and the relocation of Dr. Searing's medical office at Old Bethpage Village Restoration, supported the Cradle of Aviation Museum, and donated the 1702 Saddle Rock Grist Mill to Nassau County.
The society began collecting artifacts, documents, books, and other writings a century ago. Its collections were first housed at the Rockville Centre Public Library, moved to Adelphi College in the 1940s and to Hofstra College in the early 1950s, and from the mid-1950s were kept at Nassau County's Eisenhower Park, where the Nassau County Historical Museum opened in East Meadow in 1961 and its reference library opened to the public in 1962. Since 1987 the society's library collections have been part of the Long Island Studies Institute at Hofstra University, combined with the Nassau County Museum reference collection and Hofstra's own New York State history holdings.
Collections and Research Services
Because the society is entirely volunteer-based, it does not fill research or genealogical requests. Researchers are directed to the Long Island Studies Institute, in Room 032 of Hofstra University's Joan and Donald E. Axinn Library in Hempstead, where the society's books, manuscripts, and photographs can be studied on site; check the institute's website for hours and appointment rules before visiting. Back issues of the Journal, with their cumulative indexes, are the quickest way to find what has already been written about a Nassau County town, family, estate, or institution. Our guides to free family history research and finding old photos of a house or neighborhood cover the county and library collections to pair with a visit.
Planning Your Visit
The Nassau County Historical Society is a membership organization without a public museum building of its own; its mailing address is PO Box 207, Garden City, NY 11530-0207. Program meetings are held at Long Island venues announced on the society's website and email list, and the collections may be studied at the Long Island Studies Institute at Hofstra University. Membership for 2026 is $40 for individuals, $60 for families, $500 for corporate and individual life memberships, and $40 for library subscriptions; dues run January through December, and anyone joining from September 1 onward is covered through the following year. Members may vote, serve on the board, and get priority registration for special events at historic sites. Upcoming lectures and membership forms are at nassaucountyhistoricalsociety.org, and membership questions go to membership@nassaucountyhistoricalsociety.org.
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