Baldwin Harbor and it's sister community, Baldwin, are cohesive, diverse communities where residents share retail stores, services and eateries located along the area's major thoroughfares.

Baldwin Harbor stretches from Atlantic Avenue south to the waters of Middle Bay, Baldwin Bay and Freeport Bay. The hamlet's natural environment is further enhanced by Milburn and Parsonage Creeks, the harbor area's east and west boundaries, as well as by the large open spaces of Baldwin Park.

About 25 percent of the homes in Baldwin Harbor have water frontage, some with bulkheads. Buyers can also find cottages and capes, small or large split-levels, high-ranches, split- ranches and Colonials, which often sit on neat, compact lots.

Prices generally range from $350,000 to $700,000 but can go higher, according to Park Terrace. The harbor area experiences a fair amount of turnover, but houses tend to hold their value. He also noted the area is attracting homeowners who are trading up, especially from Queens.

It's unclear when the first settlers arrived on the scene, but records show that by 1660 the area was called Hick's Neck after settler John Hicks. The community got its start 26 years later when the Town of Hempstead gave John Pine permission to build a mill in what was then called Milburn.

The hamlet's name changed again in 1855 to Baldwinsville to honor Francis P. Baldwin, a state assemblyman and Queens County treasurer. But with another community upstate already named Baldwinsville, postal officials shortened the name to Baldwins, then Baldwin.

In the 19th century Baldwin was largely a recreational area, with hotels and boarding houses. Expansion began with a real estate boom in the late 1920s.

Today, Baldwin has other parks that also serve Baldwin Harbor residents, including Loft's Pond Park, Coes Neck Park and Silver Lake Park, which houses Monument Square, a tribute to Baldwin's armed service veterans. In summer the Town of Hempstead hosts free neighborhood concerts at area parks including Baldwin Park, where the chamber of commerce has its annual summer picnic.