East Islip, New York

Organizations in and around East Islip.

• East Islip Historical Society
• East Islip Fire Department
• Rotary Club Of Islip
• The East Islip Rotary/Interact Club

Rotary is a international Service organization in over 200 countries with 32 thousand clubs and 1.2 million Rotarians worldwide. Our club is the Islip Rotary club with 35 members and there are about 1200 members in Suffolk county. The official description is "Rotary is an organization of business and professional persons united worldwide who provide humanitarian service, encourage high ethical standards in all vocations, and help build goodwill and peace in the world".

Find out more about the Rotary Club of Islip

The East Islip Rotary/Interact Club

Our high school group is a community service club of approximately 30 members. We meet 2x a month on Wednesdays and each year we complete a local community project as well as an international project. Kathy Cooney from the Rotary Club is our liaison.

The East Islip Historical Society was founded during the summer of 1992 by a small group of concerned individuals who recognized the timeliness and need for an organized effort to begin researching, collecting and preserving the unique history of the East Islip area and encompassing neighbors, Great River and Islip Terrace. The purpose was to have this history available for students, researchers, scholars, future generations and also for those of us who just plain enjoy the "good ole' days".

The Society holds regular meetings on the first Wednesday of every month at 7:30 pm (except for July and August) and publishes a monthly newsletter which typically contains news of upcoming events, items of local interest, and wonderful serialized stories; gems gleaned from the past. The regular meetings are held in the Gatehouse at Brookwood Hall, but it does change from time to time. We have been guests, and have held meetings at the Bayard Cutting Arboretum, the old Southside Sportsman's Club, the Maritime Museum in Sayville and Dowling College.

We have been privileged to have a variety of interesting speakers at the meetings, and we have enjoyed photos, as well as slide and video presentations, many by experts in their respective fields. Topics have included everything from the history of the Police Dept. in the town of Islip, to the histories of both Long Island and Fire Island. We have had talks on the local history of the East Islip Fire Department, the Sportsmen's Club, and the Arboretum. We learned of Lindbergh's regular visits, Gershwin, Chaplin, Astaire, O'Neil, and many more places and people of historical significance to East Islip and the world.

We have been, and will continue to be, instrumental in preserving pieces and places of local history. So far a sizable collection of photos, documents, records and other historical paraphernalia has been acquired, a most of which we intend to bring to this site. We have also saved the Long Island Railroad lean-to at the Great River station, and were instrumental in recommending an 'Historically Conscious' architect to redesign and rebuild the Brookwood Hall Gatehouse which was decimated by fire in 1995.

Also the dedication of the first Historical Markers in East Islip to commemorate Brookwood Hall, The East Islip Fire Department and St. Mary's Church have been completed. This, among many other projects, are on-going at the Historical Society.

Find out more about the East Islip Historical Society

On April 4, 1889, thirty one members of the East Islip community came together to form Hook and Ladder Co. # 2. In early 1891 the East Islip Hook and Ladder Company responded to a fire at the home of S.T. Peters, one of East Islip's leading citizens. In gratitude for their fine work, Peters provided the East Islip firefighters with their first hose. The hose was set in a two wheel cart that was heavy and ungainly. On October 15, 1891 Hook and Ladder Co. # 1, realizing the need for additional manpower and equipment, added twenty more members and became Hook and Ladder Co. # 1 and S.T. Peters Hose Company. On January 12, 1892 the Hook and Ladder Co. # 1 and S.T. Peters Hose Company were officially designated as the East Islip Fire Department. During the early 1900's the members fought many large blazes. Including fires at the Pavillion and Somerset Hotels. In 1925 the East Islip Fire Department bought its first motorized fire truck, a Maxim Pumper. The new fire engine was put to use soon after it was purchased when a fire broke out at the East Islip Fire House. The damage was contained to the interior of the firehouse. In 1927 the present firehouse was built out of solid brick on an acre of land. The old firehouse was bought by John Souhrada, who repaired it and moved it to Somerset Ave where it still stands today as an occupied residence.

Find out more about the East Islip Fire Department