Listen closely. I want to tell you about Valley Stream. Not the village. No the stream itself. The Valley Stream that gives the village its name.
Valley Stream isn’t just a pretty name. It’s a vital artery. It’s been here for centuries. Long before the first houses were built. Before Merrick Road. Even before Robert Pagan arrived. This quiet waterway witnessed the humble beginnings of Valley Stream. It saw the struggles of early settlers. The development of farms and mills.
Imagine those early settlers. People like the Pagan family arriving from Scotland in 1834. They found a life carved from the land. Their home was near where Wheeler Avenue Elementary School stands today. They established the first religious services. Ellen Pagan herself led the way. Tired of the long trip to Lynbrook. This stream provided water for their needs. It watered their crops. It fueled the mills.
Four mills thrived here. Using the stream’s power they ground grain and cut timber. Life was hard. Farmers toiled under the sun. In winter they harvested ice from Cornell’s Pond. Essential for preservation. Salt hay from Hungry Harbor’s marshlands fed their cattle.
The arrival of Merrick Road in 1853 shifted the village’s focus southward. The stream remained. A constant presence. Brooklyn and New York City even used its water. The Clear Stream Pumping Station stood near where Target is today. It channeled water to Brooklyn through the Ridgewood Aqueduct.
Valley Stream itself was once a group of farm hamlets. By the 1880s it was a growing village. The business center moved. But the stream. It endured. It witnessed bicycling crazes. The bustling hotels near Etlick’s Oval. The rise and fall of Curtiss Field. The boom of Gibson’s development.
The stream continued its quiet journey. It saw the construction of the train depot. The coming and going of trolleys. The growth of the village. The building of Green Acres. This humble stream is the heart of Valley Stream. Its past whispers on the banks. Listen carefully. Do you hear it?