North Hempstead Town Dock
park and dock in Port Washington, Nassau County, New York
The North Hempstead Town Dock (also known as the Port Washington Town Dock, Town Dock Park, or simply Town Dock) is a public park and dock located along Manhasset Bay in downtown Port Washington, on Long Island, in New York, United States.
It is owned and operated by the Town of North Hempstead.
Description
The North Hempstead Town Dock is located along Manhasset Bay in the heart of Port Washington. It consists of a promenade, parking, fishing facilities, and a public dock. A water taxi connects the dock – and all accessible docks and restaurants with such facilities along the waterfront – with the offshore mooring positions in Manhasset Bay, and additionally provides public tours of the bay.
The Town Dock is located adjacent to Sunset Park, which is owned and operated by the Port Washington Water Pollution Control District.
History
The first section of North Hempstead Town Dock opened in 1908, after years of planning and disagreements as to the exact location within Port Washington where it should be built.
In 1949, construction commenced on a project to expand and modernize the Town Dock, under the administration of Town Supervisor Hartford N. Gunn Sr.; the project was completed in the early 1950s, and the wings protruding out at its western end were erected in 1954. As part of the project, the width of dock was also doubled from 50 feet (15 m) to 50 feet (15 m).
In 2016, the Town of North Hempstead announced that a $12.5 million federal grant from FEMA had been secured, for the replacement and modernization of the dock, which had been damaged by Hurricane Sandy in 2012.
This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “North Hempstead Town Dock” as park and dock in Port Washington, Nassau County, New York. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.
Why this record matters
The subject matters to the places & architecture register because the source frames it as park and dock in Port Washington, Nassau County, New York. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.
Place names and jurisdictional language are key evidence: both can reveal earlier catalogue descriptions and overlooked record series. The source revision retrieved here is dated May 20, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q139396708. Authority coordinates are 40.832, -73.703. None of the 2 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 1908, 1949, 1954 and 2016.
Architectural summaries often privilege surviving fabric and can understate demolished phases, contested use or displaced communities. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Treat names, boundaries and functions as historically changeable. Maps, plans, inventories and administrative records can clarify what the place meant at different dates.
- Historic place names
- Jurisdictional context
- Routes into maps and plans
Contemporary maps, plans, listed-building records, estate papers and the responsible local or national archive.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “North Hempstead Town Dock”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow North Hempstead Town Dock primary sources, North Hempstead Town Dock archive and North research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “North Hempstead Town Dock”?
- Which earlier names or jurisdictions may reveal additional records?
- Which authority defined the place, boundary or structure at the relevant date?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “North Hempstead Town Dock” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.