Curtiss Engineering Corporation (Garden City, New York)

USA / New York / Carle Place / Garden City, New York
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Glenn Curtiss,a pioneer aircraft manufacturer, established the Curtiss Engineering Corporation on Clinton Road at Stewart Avenue in 1917 for Curtiss Aeroplane and Motor Company aircraft development, near an airport, in this case Hazelhurst Airfield just to the north, now Roosevelt Field mall. The complex included a ten-foot-diameter wind tunnel, at the time the largest in the country. In addition to the facility name on its front facade, the Curtiss name also appeared in the brickwork of the chimney (standing today) at the rear.
An early project for the company at this facility was the design and fabrication of an aircraft for the Navy, capable of crossing the Atlantic. One of these, the Navy-Curtiss NC-4 with four engines, was first to successfully reach Europe via the Azores in 1919. The Curtiss JN-4, the famous "Jenny" biplane trainer in World War I, was also designed here. Curtiss ended operations at the locations in 1931.
In the 1930s the plant was vacant; when WWII came, Sperry Gyroscope Corporation occupied it. In 1949 it was purchased by Oxford Filing Supply Company, later Esselte Pendaflex, which produced office supplies there until the early 1990s.
Occupants of the buildings today include the BOCES headquarters in front and a FedEx facility in the original manufacturing area. The Chase Bank occupies one of the original buildings at the corner of Stewart Avenue and Clinton Road.
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Coordinates:   40°43'45"N   73°37'2"W
This article was last modified 8 years ago