Oyster Bay

Oyster Bay is a municipality on Long Island in Nassau County in the United States. The area runs from the northern coastline to the southern shore of the island and covers about 170 square miles of land and water with many villages and hamlets.

Dutch trading companies claimed the coastal area from 1639, but English colonists founded the present-day town in 1667 through a charter from New York. The structure with several villages grew during the following centuries.

The name comes from the shape of the bay that early colonists thought resembled an oyster shell. Today the government oversees public services and schools for all villages and hamlets stretching from the northern waterfront to the southern shore.

The Long Island Rail Road links several stations inside the municipality with New York City and other parts of Nassau County. Interstate 495 and the Northern State Parkway also run through the area and offer convenient car access.

The government uses thirty different postal codes to serve eighteen incorporated villages and eighteen unincorporated hamlets scattered across the territory. The Seawanhaka Corinthian Yacht Club was founded in 1871 and counts among the oldest sailing clubs in the Western Hemisphere.

Location: Nassau County

Inception: 1667

Elevation above the sea: 55 m

Shares border with: Babylon, Glen Cove, Hempstead, Huntington, North Hempstead

Website: http://oysterbaytown.com

GPS coordinates: 40.75940,-73.50280

Latest update: December 4, 2025 23:03