History of CP

History of the School

Daniel Katz

Dec. 17 2025 (26)

The land that became Carle Place was originally regarded as undesirable, located on the Hempstead Plains, and was purchased by Captain Thomas Carle in the year 1656. Thomas Carle had land used for cow and sheep pastures, and a century later, it would be used as land for agriculture. In 1682, Thomas’ wife, Sarah, transferred 47 acres of land around Madans Neck (now known as Great Neck) to her daughter, Elizabeth Carle, and son-in-law, James Bate.  Silas Carle, a descendant of Thomas Carle, was a wealthy pharmaceutical merchant from New York City. He purchased about 220 acres of land on the Hempstead plains, and there he built a 32-room house. In the spring of 2025, a surviving advertisement for Carle's on a stone jug from the 1820s was sold for 450 dollars.

The Long Island Railroad (LIR) began expanding from Jamaica to Hicksville in the 1830s, and as part of that extension, the area where Carle lived, known as Frog Hollow, would get its own train station. It would open with the extension to Hicksville in 1837, contributing to Carle’s house becoming known to people as "Carle’s Place". 

Over time, some houses and smaller farms would pop up in Frog Hollow, and in 1910 the town, then called Mineola Park’s fire department, was created. The School district and water district were founded in 1915 to help with the failed Mineola park development, which was started in 1895.

Around 1916, the name of the town was changed to Carle Place. In 1946, William J. Levitt bought 19 acres of land to build 600 low-cost houses to serve as a prototype for his Levittown development. In 1948, Rushmore Avenue Elementary School was built, with the other schools in the district being built in the 1950s. As of 2025, Carle Place has about 5094 residents, a median household income of 130,063 dollars, and a poverty rate of 2.39%.