Hempstead Plains

[citation needed] In early US history, the Hempstead Plains region was cited as one of the few natural prairies east of the Allegheny Mountains.

Long Island historians George Dade and Frank Strand wrote that it was created by an outwash of glacial sediment more than ten thousand years ago.

In July 1909, aviator and manufacturer Glenn Curtiss relocated his base of operation from his native upstate New York to Mineola.

Curtiss, at the controls of his biplane the Golden Flyer, circled the plains' Washington Avenue field for more than 52 minutes, demonstrating the aircraft's capabilities and earning the Scientific American prize for a flight of more than 25 kilometres (16 mi).

[3] These facilities and Mitchel Field provided the eastern United States' hub of private, and even military, air activity.

The section north of the raceway, development on which dates back to the 1960s, is occupied by The Source Mall anchored by Costco (and formerly by the flagship of the Fortunoff department stores).

Mitchel Field, which includes the Hempstead Plains site formerly known as Camp Mills, housed an Air Force base until 1961 and is currently used for multiple sites, including the Cradle of Aviation Museum, Nassau Community College, Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum, and some of the housing and recreational facilities for Hofstra University.