The glacial action that formed much of Long Island deposited Shelter Rock in what is now North Hills approximately 11,000 years ago.

The lands of the Cow Neck Peninsula enclosed by the fence (present day Manhasset and Port Washington) were used for grazing.

[2] The name North Hills was chosen due to how the village is located in the northern part of Nassau County and because the terrain is very hilly in the area.

[2] In the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s, North Hills proposed rezoning and downzoning large portions of the village as part of a master plan.

[4][5][6][7] The plan was to downzone and rezone for multiple uses, including for condominiums and cluster residences, a shopping center, and commercial and office buildings.

[4][5][8][9] This caused the Village Board of adjacent Roslyn Estates to send telegrams to Governor Hugh Carey and Attorney General Louis Lefkowitz in 1977, asking them to investigate the matter, citing "possible impeachable offenses" from the officials in North Hills.

[16] As the general housing situation of the village of North Hills is private, gated community style living, there is little communal activity.

[17] In the 2000s, after being ranked as one of the wealthiest communities in the United States, the Mayor of North Hills decided that acquiring the Deepdale Golf Club through eminent domain for the exclusive use of residents would make the village a better place, and that it would raise home values.

[17][18][19][20] Deepdale, which is located on the grounds of the former estate of Joseph P. Grace, served the village with legal papers, claiming that they were abusing government power by trying to close a country club for residents only.

[17] According to the United States Census Bureau, the village has a total area of 2.8 square miles (7.3 km2), all land.

[21] The Long Island Expressway (Interstate 495) and the Northern State Parkway travel through North Hills.

[22][32] North Hills is located in New York's 3rd congressional district, which as of September 2024 is represented in the United States Congress by Tom Suozzi (D–Glen Cove).

[22][33] Like the rest of New York, North Hills is represented in the United States Senate by Charles Schumer (D) and Kirsten Gillibrand (D).

Other streets are maintained and owned by Nassau County, the Town of North Hempstead, or New York State.

[22][46] The areas which are sewered are connected to and located with the Nassau County Sewage District, which handles and treats the village's sanitary waste.