There are a few marinas, bathing beaches, waterfront restaurants on Barnum Island wharf - and often spectacular sunrises and sunsets, residents say.

The numerous housing styles include renovated bungalows, capes, ranches, Colonials, split-levels, high-ranches, split-ranches and contemporaries. While home prices generally range from $210,000 to $950,000, waterfront properties can be priced at more than $1 million. Demand is strong and inventory is tight.

There are two apartment complexes in the village, but most rentals can be found in two-family homes.

Island Park Yacht Club, a 128-unit waterfront condominium complex on Barnum Island, has prices from $340,000-$500,000. And nine modular townhouses, called Barnum Isle Estates, are being built along Long Beach Road by Vantage Homes. The two- to three-bedroom townhouses, priced from $289,000 to $299,000, are scheduled for occupancy in March.

The area's first occupants, the Rockaway, moved eastward when settlers arrived in the mid-1600s. The area, known then as Hog Island, became a strategic stronghold during the American Revolution. It later became known as Barnum Island, named after Sarah Ann Baldwin Barnum, who once owned the island. In 1910, developers Frank Lawson and William Austin bought Barnum Island with plans to dig canals, making it the "Venice of the United States." That plan was dropped with the onset of World War I, and the developers sold the island in 1921 to the Island Park-Long Beach Corp., which renamed it Island Park.

The business district was soon developed along Long Beach Road and the village incorporated in 1926. Convenience stores and services are available, but for major shopping, residents can go to nearby Oceanside and Long Beach.

Students attend elementary and middle school in the Island Park school district, and West Hempstead High School. Taxes from KeySpan's large power-generating station have helped keep school taxes low.