54 LONGISLANDPRESS.COM • NOVEMBER 2017 54 LONGISLANDPRESS.COM • SEPTEMBER 2017 54 LONGISLANDPRESS.CO M • SEPTEMBER 201-----------TUTU111
By BRENDAN MANLEY
The Village of Rockville Centre,
located on the South Shore of Long
Island in Nassau County, has been
an ideal community since pre-colonial
times, when it was a Reckouackie
Indian settlement, and its
allure for residents has continued
ever since.
Over the centuries its growth as
a hub for various trades, public
services and transportation vaulted
the modest-sized village (measuring
just 3.4 square miles) into one
of the county’s most successful and
vibrant neighborhoods, attracting
upper-middle-class families and
producing a lengthy and diverse list
of celebrities, including Joan Jett,
Sandy Koufax, Doris Kearns Goodwin,
Amy Schumer and Howard
Stern.
“Our mission is to make it the
best community to live, work and
play,” said two-term Rockville
Centre Mayor Francis X. Murray,
whose father held the village’s top
job for a quarter century.
Dutch and English colonists settled
the region in the 1600s, dubbing it
“Near Rockaway,” which back then
also included present-day Oceanside,
Lynbrook and East Rockaway.
Homes and businesses continued to
spring up in the area and the hamlet
was formally christened Rockville
Centre in 1849, when businessman
Robert Pettit named the post office
in his general store after local Methodist
preacher and community leader
Mordecai “Rock” Smith. In 1867 it
truly entered the modern era when it
was connected with the Long Island
Railroad, and in 1893 it was officially
incorporated as a village.
Today, the village is a retail and entertainment
haven, with more than
400 shops, scores of dining options
for foodies looking to explore, an
abundant night life and bar scene,
a generous assortment of parks and
public spaces, and a palpable commitment
to education and the arts.
And while Rockville Centre has
long been renowned as a great place
to live, it’s also a fine spot to visit.
Some suggestions for a rewarding
RVC experience include:
Historical Leanings
Sometimes – especially in
space-constrained Nassau County
– great things do come in small
packages. For example, take the
Phillips House Museum (28
Hempstead Ave., 516-764-7459,
rvcny.us/PhillipsHouse.html),
considered one of the top smallsized
museums in all of New York
State. A restored 1882 Victorian
home furnished with period furniture,
the Phillips House (once the
abode of Capt. Samuel Phillips) is
now home to the Museum of the
Village of Rockville Centre, which
depicts life in the village during the
19th and 20th centuries. The collection
includes a vast array of antique
kitchen and carpentry tools, as
well as numerous period items
that decorate the home’s restored
Victorian front and back parlors,
dining room and bedrooms. It is
open to the public on Saturdays
and Sundays from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m.
and by appointment.
It’s tough to cruise through Rockville
Centre without noticing the
towering, ever-impressive stone
façade of Saint Agnes Cathedral
(29 Quealy Pl., 516-766-0205,
stagnescathedral.org), built in
1935 to mirror 15th-century Norman
Gothic style. It’s actually the
parish’s third church on the site,
which has been used for service as
far back as the 1890s, but clearly,
the third time was the charm.
Stop in to bask in the architectural
and spiritual grandeur of the
place, taking note of the stunning
stained-glass panes seemingly
everywhere, particularly the Windows
of St. Agnes. There’s more
eye-candy in the exterior (which
was significantly restored in 2016),
particularly the eerie Gothic
gargoyles that peer down from the
corners of the Cathedral’s tower.
DESTINATIONS
Rockville Centre:
Where Size Doesn’t Matter
Rockville Centre firefighters protect the ninth most populous village in New York State.
Joan Jett rocked a sold-out hometown crowd at Molloy’s Madison Theatre
on Apr. 26, 2013.