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Photograph of Old Babylon Library
Photograph by DanTD, CC BY-SA 4.0. Via Wikimedia Commons.

Babylon Library, The

Listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2015. 15 historic topographic surveys show this location, the earliest from 1901.

From the record

One of 338 National Register listings published here for Suffolk County · listed in 2015 · category: Building.

Sources: the National Register database, National Park Service

The listing

  • What is counted as historic. The nomination lists 1 building as contributing to the listing.
  • Address. 117 W. Main St., Babylon, 11702
  • When was it listed? August 2015
  • Category. building
  • Town. Babylon town
  • Architectural style. Neoclassical architecture
  • National Register reference number. 15000517 - assigned by the National Park Service when the property was listed.

Fires near this property

802 since 2000

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 802 fires within 5 miles of Babylon Library, The between 2000 and 2020, burning about 404 acres in total. 97 started naturally. 104 were recorded as arson. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a fire counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.

Reported cause Fires
Missing data/not specified/undetermined467
Arson/incendiarism104
Natural97
Smoking39
Debris and open burning38
Equipment and vehicle use23
Railroad operations and maintenance13
Power generation/transmission/distribution8
Misuse of fire by a minor8
Recreation and ceremony5

The most recent of them, most recent first, with the day each was reported and the service that recorded it.

DateCause SizeReported by Name on the report
9 September 2018Arson/incendiarism3.1 acresFire Department of New YorkN/A
9 September 2017Arson/incendiarismunder an acreFire Department of New YorkN/A
9 September 2013Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreFire Department of New YorkN/A
9 September 2010Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreFire Department of New Yorknot named
9 September 2007Naturalunder an acreFire Department of New Yorknot named
9 September 2005Debris and open burningunder an acreFire Department of New Yorknot named
8 September 2010Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreFire Department of New Yorknot named
8 September 2010Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreFire Department of New Yorknot named

Every fire recorded in Suffolk County

Storms near this property

42 since 1997

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Babylon, the town this property stands in, in 42 storm reports between 1997 and 2024: 24 thunderstorm wind, 11 flash flood, 4 hail, 1 coastal flood. The reports record 1 death and 7 injuries. Each account below is quoted exactly as the forecast office filed it, from the NOAA Storm Events Database, and each date opens the federal record of that event.

WhenEvent Place namedHarm What the report says
September 1998Thunderstorm WindWest Babylon1 killed, 2 hurtno account filed
July 1997Thunderstorm WindBabylon5 hurtno account filed
August 2011LightningBabylon$50,000Lightning struck the Babylon Tower for the Long Island Railroad, causing extensive damage to the main and back up computer systems, as well as communication links to switches, resulting in extensive delays.
June 2010Thunderstorm WindBabylon$7,500Numerous trees were reported down on roadways in West Islip.
August 2019Thunderstorm WindBabylon$7,000Numerous trees were reported down around town.
July 2010Thunderstorm WindNorth Babylon$6,000A tree fell onto a house.
September 2022Thunderstorm WindBabylon$5,000Large trees down on wires and across the street on Sequams Lane North.
June 2019Thunderstorm WindNorth Babylon$4,000A Large tree down on Sylvan Road.
June 2019Thunderstorm WindNorth Babylon$3,000Trees snapped and uprooted on Thorn Street.
August 2019Thunderstorm WindNorth Babylon$3,000Trees down on Deer Park Avenue.
October 2018Thunderstorm WindBabylon$3,000Trees reported down by media in Babylon.
July 2010Thunderstorm WindNorth Babylon$3,000A large tree and wires were downed on Deer Park Avenue.
July 2010Thunderstorm WindBabylon$3,000Trees and large branches were downed.
August 2024Thunderstorm WindWest Babylon$2,000Downed wires on Farmingdale Road in Babylon NY.
August 2024Thunderstorm WindNorth Babylon$2,000Power lines down on Spangle Drive in North Babylon.
June 2010Thunderstorm WindWest Babylon$2,000Trees and wires were reported down at the intersection of Belmont and Sheffield Avenues in West Babylon.
June 2010Thunderstorm WindBabylon$2,000Tree limbs and power lines were reported down in West Islip, some blocking roadways.
July 2010Thunderstorm WindBabylon$1,500A large tree was downed onto wires.
June 2019Thunderstorm WindNorth Babylon$1,000Downed tree on NY 231 northbound in the area of Hunter Avenue with the right lane closed.
September 2022Thunderstorm WindNorth Babylon$500Large tree limbs were reported down.
July 2023Flash FloodNorth Babylon-Flooding on NY 231 Northbound between Garnet Street, Ryder Avenue, and Weeks Road with all lanes closed.
September 2020Flash FloodBabylon-Eaton Lane and Sequams Lane Center in West Islip were closed for approximately three hours due to flooding.
September 2020Flash FloodBabylon-Several cars were stranded in high water on Great East Neck Road at Flurry Lane in West Babylon.
August 2019Thunderstorm WindBabylon-A thunderstorm wind gust of 60 mph was reported.
August 2018Flash FloodBabylon-A vehicle was stuck in flood waters at the intersection of Cedar Lane and Coppertree Lane in Babylon.
September 2016Flash FloodBabylon-Numerous roads were closed due to flooding in Babylon including Route 109, John Street, Montauk Highway, and the intersection of Park Avenue and Deer Park Avenue.
August 2014Flash FloodWest Babylon-The Southern State Parkway was closed with cars stranded in high water at exit 37 in West Babylon.
August 2014Flash FloodBabylon-An estimated three feet of standing water accumulated on Livingston Ave. in Babylon.
June 2013Flash FloodBabylon-Several cars were stuck in flood waters at the end of Rt. 231 between Udall Rd. and Montauk Hwy. in Babylon.
August 2012Flash FloodBabylon-In Babylon, torrential rain caused flooding up to car door windows. Park Ave. was flooded most of it's length and the intersection of E. Main St. and Cooper St. was under approximately one foot of water.
August 2011Tornado (EF0)Babylon-Based on a National Weather Service Storm Survey, a weak F0 tornado was confirmed from near Babylon northwest to near Wyandanch in southwest Suffolk County.||The estimated maximum wind gust was 75 mph.||This weak tornado was spawned by a rotating thunderstorm within a spiral rain band rotating around then Hurricane Irene several hours before it made landfall in New York City.
July 2009Flash FloodNorth Babylon-Deer Park Ave. was closed at Sunrise Hwy. due to flooding.
August 2008HailBabylon-Nickel size hail was reported on Fire Island Avenue in Babylon.
August 2008HailWest Babylon-Quarter size hail was reported.
October 2007Thunderstorm WindBabylon-Severe thunderstorms produced high winds that downed a tree on Route 231 and large limbs on Deer Park Ave and surrounding streets just South of Southern State Parkway.
July 2012HailBabylon-no account filed
April 2000Flash FloodBabylon-no account filed
September 1998Thunderstorm WindBabylon-no account filed
June 1998Thunderstorm WindNorth Babylon-no account filed
July 1997HailBabylon-no account filed
August 1997Coastal FloodBabylon-no account filed
August 1997Thunderstorm WindNorth Babylon-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Suffolk County

Maps showing this location

15 surveys

United States Geological Survey topographic sheets whose coverage includes this point. Matched by taking the coordinate the National Park Service records for this property, then testing that coordinate against the published boundary of every sheet.

Listed places nearby

6 within 8 miles

Other National Register properties close enough to walk or drive between, ordered by distance from this one. Both positions come from the same geocoding pass that matched these properties to their map sheets.

Photograph PropertyDistance Listed
Babylon Town Hall0.1 miles2005
Nathaniel Conklin House0.3 miles1988
Sagtikos Manor2.6 miles1976
Sisters of St. Dominic Motherhouse Complex4.1 miles2007
Bay Shore Methodist Episcopal Church4.6 miles2001
Bay Shore Hose Company No. 1 Firehouse4.6 miles2001

Sources for this property

National Archives recordThe nomination case file for reference 15000517 in Record Group 79.
Suffolk CountyAll 338 listed properties in this county.

Provenance

  • Listing record. National Park Service National Register of Historic Places, listed-properties dataset, current to 2026-05-22.
  • Map join. Address geocoded through the United States Census geocoder, then tested against the published boundary of every sheet in the USGS Historical Topographic Map Collection.
  • How this page is made. Listing fields come from federal records; map-sheet coverage is a labelled coordinate-to-boundary calculation, not a source-field claim.
  • Wildfire. Short, Karen C. 2022. Spatial wildfire occurrence data for the United States, 1992-2020 [FPA_FOD_20221014]. 6th Edition. Fort Collins, CO: Forest Service Research Data Archive. https://doi.org/10.2737/RDS-2013-0009.6 Collected with United States Government funding and usable without additional permissions or fees.
  • Storms. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/stormevents/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105. Narratives are quoted verbatim from the National Weather Service report and are not edited or summarised.