This year, 2004, marks the centennial of the incorporation of the Village of Farmingdale. Although the major events commemorating the 1904 incorporation will take place this summer, community organizations will be conducting programs with a centennial theme throughout the remainder of the year.

As we look backward a century, it's informative to review the minutes of the village board for the early years to gain insight into the activities and priorities of that era. During those first five years, four residents were elected village presidents: Joseph H. Doud (1905-07); Walter Powell (1907-08); George H. Fuechsel (1908-09) and a few months before the village reached its fifth anniversary, Adolph Bausch was elected (1909-13).

Who was the first village president, or mayor, as we call the office today? As noted above, Joseph H. Doud was elected on March 21, 1905 in the first village election. But John Simonson has some claim to that distinction, as he presided at the three-member provisional village board meetings held from August 1904 to February 1905. Joseph H. Doud and Charles Ketcham, the other board members, apparently accorded him that honor in a "First among equals" understanding.

The first full-year budget was adopted in February 1905 for $1,296.50. Allocations went to street lighting, road maintenance, a village survey, repayment of a tax anticipation loan and the clerk's salary. The treasurer reported $92.54 on hand that February.

The village board members were evidently attempting to learn the residents' priorities, as questions appeared frequently on ballots at the regular March village elections as well as at special elections. Street lighting by gas lamps was begun in late 1904; a March 1905 referendum supported this, 27-21. Apparently the popularity of the lights was not great; in March 1906 the question of continuing the gas lamp lighting system was defeated, 35-14 and the idea of adding more such lights went down 45 - 6. In March 1908 a referendum item called for establishment of a village acetylene gas plant; this was presumably to fuel brighter street lights. Perhaps it was due to the $12,000 price tag, or the hazardous properties of the gas, but the proposition was defeated. The problem was solved that year when the Babylon Electric Lighting Company gained a village franchise. In May 1909 the board directed the utility to place 55 incandescent street lights as the beginning of a new modern electric street-lighting program.

Water service was another early issue. Even before the incorporation, the Nassau Water Works served Farmingdale. In June 1906 the board complained to the utility that water pressure was insufficient to fight fires. In March 1908 a proposition to establish a village water system was defeated 72-6. The question was resubmitted in March 1909 in the form of creating an adequate water supply for the fire department; this was defeated once more, but less resoundingly (50-36). At this point, the two fire departments (Hook and Ladder and Water Witch) began to lobby strongly for a dependable water supply. By late June a proposition for a new water works and distribution system was drafted; on July 12 the question was approved 60 -12, quite a change in public opinion in 15 weeks!

Improvements in technology in the early 20th century affected our small but growing village, such as the aforementioned change from gas lamps to electric street lights. Among these developments was the authorization by the board in 1905 for New York and New Jersey Telephone Company to place utility poles to initiate phone service. In an era of growing interurban trolley service, the board lobbied successfully for the Huntington Railroad (Cross-Island Line) to serve the heart of the village by placing its trolley route on Conklin and Main Streets. The Halesite to Amityville service began in August 1909.

The increasing popularity of the automobile resulted in attempts, somewhat unsuccessfully, to limit speeds. At one of the first board meetings (August 1904) an 8-mph limit was set on village streets and roads. In June 1908 a village officer was empowered to enforce New York State laws on speeding. The problem persisted; a year later the board petitioned the Nassau County district attorney to assist in enforcing NYS speed limits.

The early board members, along with the residents, obviously worked earnestly to guide the new village through an era in which technology was playing an increasingly larger role. As we recall those who went before us a century ago, we gain a greater application of both the past and the present.