The photographs in this collection were taken on June 28, 1960 by Skyviews, New York. They capture a moment of population growth, development, and the transformation of a more-or-less rural community into a thoroughly suburban hamlet.
At this time, Ross High School, opened in 1957 to serve the growing community, was expanding, with a new adjacent branch being planned and opened four years later. Pilgrim State Psychiatric institute was then the largest mental hospital in the world; the hope of employment attracted many new residents to Brentwood, including a burgeoning Puerto Rican demographic. The vast farms of Pilgrim are partly captured in several of the images. What had been, only a few decades previously, a swath of pine trees punctuated by farms now saw lines of new developments - classic single-family homes with new automobiles in the driveways.
The detail from photo number 61962 illustrating the collection gives a powerful example of how this collection captures a unique moment in time. In the upper part of the photo we see the grounds of Brentwood High School. North, across the street is the famous Brentwood water tower – demolished in 2014. South of the Ross campus meanwhile we find a vast undeveloped area. In 1964, part of this area would be developed into a second school adjacent Ross: Sonderling Senior High School. In 2000, thanks to the efforts of concerned residents, the remaining forest was designated as protected by the town of Islip as the Bishop Tract preserve.
