Whether as a town, village or hamlet, the communities of East Massapequa, North Massapequa, Massapequa Park and Massapequa proper all share a rich historic legacy. The area's abundant supply of fish and fertile soils attracted early settlement by the Native American tribe known as the Marsapeags, who lived in the "Place of Many Waters." The first European settler, Thomas Jones, saw opportunity in the land filled with swamps, streams and sandy islands where other early Long Islanders did not. Waves of European immigration in the nineteenth century brought a vibrant German enclave. The founding of Fitzmaurice Flying Field made Massapequa Park a center for early American aviation in 1929. The postwar suburban boom resulted in tens of thousands of new residents by the late 1950s. Historian George Kirchmann takes readers on a historic journey of the Massapequas.
George Kirchmann is a historian and writer based in Massapequa Park, New York. A trustee with the Historical Society of the Massapequas, he writes for its regular newsletter and for the Massapequa Observer. He is a member of the Nassau County Historical Society and the Seaford Historical Society. George holds a BA in history from the Catholic University of America and a PhD in history from the City University of New York.