Glen Cove is a city located in Nassau County, on the North Shore of Long Island, New York. The city's population was 28,365 at the time of the 2020 census – its highest ever decennial count.

Of Nassau County's five municipalities, Glen Cove is one of two that are cities, rather than towns – the other being Long Beach.

Glen Cove was considered part of the affluent, early 20th-century Gold Coast of Long Island, as the properties located along the area's waterfront were initially developed as large country estates by wealthy entrepreneurs and businessmen (such as J.P. Morgan, Phipps, Pratt, and Prybil).

Historically, with the onset of the Industrial Revolution, Glen Cove blossomed in the areas of manufacturing, agriculture and local retail, all of which were operated and staffed by a diverse workforce. The local opportunities—for potential business owners, entrepreneurs, and others seeking employment—attracted numerous immigrants from Europe, largely from Ireland, Italy, and Eastern Europe. Since the 20th century, Glen Cove has also become the home for new waves of immigrants seeking opportunities from Central and South America, as well as parts of Asia.

History Ancient cultures of Indigenous peoples had lived in the area for thousands of years. At the time of European contact, bands of the Lenape (Delaware) nation inhabited western Long Island and the areas along today's New York Harbor and adjacent New Jersey, as well as further south down the coast, through present-day Pennsylvania and Delaware, and along the Delaware River. They spoke an Algonquian language. By 1600, however, the band inhabiting this local area was called the Matinecock, after their location.

17th and 18th centuries Glen Cove was used as a port by the English, and for those coming and going further inland to New England. On May 24, 1668, Joseph Carpenter of Warwick, Rhode Island, purchased about of land to the northwest of the Town of Oyster Bay from the Matinecock. Later that year, he admitted four male residents of Oyster Bay as co-partners in the project—the brothers Nathaniel, Daniel, and Robert Coles along with Nicholas Simkins. The five young men, known as The Five Proprietors, named the settlement 'Musketa Cove Plantation'; musketa meaning "place of rushes" in the Lenape language.Petrash, Antonia; Stern, Carol; McCrossen, Carol, "History of Glen Cove" , Glen Cove Public Library, 2005

19th century In the 1830s, steamboats started regular service on Long Island Sound, between New York City and Musketa Cove, arriving at a point still called The Landing. As the Lenape word Musketa was incorrectly associated with the English word mosquito, in 1834, residents changed the name officially to Glen Cove; this was said to be taken from a misheard suggestion of Glencoe (referring to Glencoe, Scotland or Glencoe, Nova Scotia).Antonia Petrash, Carol Stern, and Carol McCrossen, "HISTORY OF GLEN COVE" , Nassau County Library

Glen Cove added to its population as workers arrived for jobs at the Duryea Corn Starch factory, which operated until 1900. The name Duryea was suggested as a name to replace Mosquito Cove; however, it was later rejected."Glen Cove Community Profile" , Podunk

By 1850, Glen Cove had become a popular summer resort for New York City residents. The Long Island Rail Road was extended to Glen Cove in 1867, providing quicker, more frequent services to New York City. The availability of the train, and the town's location on Long Island Sound, made it attractive to year-round residents, thus the population increased.

The vistas afforded from Long Island Sound of the town's rolling hills attracted late 19th-century wealthy industrial barons, including Charles Pratt and his sons, Charles Anderson Dana as well as F.W. Woolworth. They built large, private estates along the island's North Shore. This expanse of settled wealth was part of what became known in the 1920s as the Gold Coast of Nassau County. Part of the Morgan property was donated to the city, and it is now operated as Morgan Park and Beach.

20th and 21st centuries

In 1909, financier J.P. Morgan, Jr. purchased East Island, off the coast of Glen Cove. He built a 41-room mansion with 14-foot ceilings, 16 baths and 18 marble fireplaces.Noé, Mary The Man Who Shot J.P.Morgan: A Life of Arsenic, Anarchy, and Intrigue (Kent State University Press 2025) at 63. On the morning of July 3, 1915, while Morgan and his wife were having breakfast with the British Ambassador Sir Cecil Spring Rice, a gunman entered the mansion and shot Morgan twice. The gunman was a former Harvard instructor, Erich Muenter, who in 1906 poisoned his wife and assumed a new identity and taught at Cornell under the name "Frank Holt."Noé passim. The gunman was arraigned at the Town of Oyster Bar Courthouse, which today is the home of the North Shore Historical Museum.

On January 1, 1918, Glen Cove became an independent city, separating from the Town of Oyster Bay, after 250 years. The incorporation was driven by a desire for its tax revenues to be used locally, rather than distributed throughout Oyster Bay. Glen Cove, at the time, was an especially wealthy part of the town, but the town's provisions for Glen Cove's police service and roads were seen as "inadequate", given the amount of taxes levied. It was unusual in that Glen Cove was incorporated as a city without ever having been an incorporated village.

By the mid-20th century, most of the mansions had been converted from single-family use. Winfield Hall, the former estate of F.W. Woolworth, remains privately owned.

Altogether, five Pratt families owned a total of about in the area. John Teele Pratt's estate (The Manor, designed by Charles A. Platt) is operated as the Glen Cove Mansion Hotel and Conference Center.

The Braes, the country estate of Herbert L. Pratt, was purchased by the Webb Institute in 1945, and by 1947 housed a college for naval architecture and engineering.MacKay, Robert B. et al. (1997). Long Island Country Houses and Their Architects, 1860–1940, Society for the Preservation of Long Island Antiquities. p 84

George DuPont Pratt's estate, Killenworth, was purchased by the Soviet Union in 1951, for both guests and staff of its United Nations (UN) delegation. In 1960, while attending UN meetings, Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev and Cuban President Fidel Castro stayed at Killenworth.

Glen Cove's population grew rapidly after World War II. Residential developments replaced pastures and farms. Many new residents were second- or third-generation children of Eastern and Southern European immigrants from Queens or Brooklyn. Many local African Americans were descended from slaves of the colonial period, when colonists had imported enslaved West Africans for domestic and farm labor. Still others came to New York City and surrounding areas during the Great Migration, in the first half of the 20th Century.

Since the late 20th Century, newer Glen Cove residents have been mostly Latin American, East Asian, or South Asian. Glen Cove has a Sikh gurdwara.

Geography According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has , of which is land and – or 65.51% – is water. Glen Cove is bordered on three sides by the Town of Oyster Bay, and on the fourth by the Long Island Sound.

The city is on the North Shore of Long Island, bordering the Long Island Sound. The hills that stretch along the shore are part of the Harbor Hill Moraine – a terminal moraines left by glaciers of the last ice age.

Its sister city is Sturno, Italy, where many immigrants came in the 20th century and settled in Glen Cove.

Glen Cove has a humid subtropical climate (Cfa) that was hot-summer humid continental (Dfa) until the most recent temperature numbers. The monthly average ranges from 32.7 °F in January to 75.5 °F in July. All months now average above freezing, seven months are above 50 °F, and July and August are above 22 °C (71.6 °F.).

Demographics

Racial and ethnic composition +Glen Cove city, New York – Racial and ethnic compositionRace / Ethnicity (NH = Non-Hispanic)Pop 2000Pop 2010Pop 2020% 2000% 2010% 2020White alone (NH)18,14416,01314,77568.15%59.39%52.09%Black or African American alone (NH)1,6141,7281,5956.06%6.41%5.62%Native American or Alaska Native alone (NH)2531580.09%0.11%0.20%Asian alone (NH)1,0821,2351,4494.06%4.58%5.11%Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander alone (NH)72020.03%0.07%0.01%Other race alone (NH)45721760.17%0.27%0.62%Mixed race or Multiracial (NH)3693525581.39%1.31%1.97%Hispanic or Latino (any race)5,3367,5139,75220.04%27.86%34.38%Total26,62226,96428,365 100.00%100.00%100.00%

2020 census

As of the 2020 census, Glen Cove had a population of 28,365. The median age was 43.3 years. 18.4% of residents were under the age of 18 and 21.1% of residents were 65 years of age or older. For every 100 females there were 95.0 males, and for every 100 females age 18 and over there were 93.4 males age 18 and over.

100.0% of residents lived in urban areas, while 0.0% lived in rural areas.

There were 10,099 households in Glen Cove, of which 29.3% had children under the age of 18 living in them. Of all households, 47.0% were married-couple households, 18.5% were households with a male householder and no spouse or partner present, and 28.2% were households with a female householder and no spouse or partner present. About 25.0% of all households were made up of individuals and 12.3% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.

There were 10,793 housing units, of which 6.4% were vacant. The homeowner vacancy rate was 1.2% and the rental vacancy rate was 5.4%.

+ Racial composition as of the 2020 census Race Number Percent White 16,207 57.1% Black or African American 1,765 6.2% American Indian and Alaska Native 214 0.8% Asian 1,465 5.2% Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander 4 0.0% Some other race 4,904 17.3% Two or more races 3,806 13.4% Hispanic or Latino (of any race) 9,752 34.4%

2010 census According to the 2010 U.S. census, Glen Cove had a population of 26,964. The racial and ethnic makeup of Glen Cove was 74.2% White (59.4% non-Hispanic white), 7.2% African American, 4.6% Asian, 10.1% some other race, 3.2% two or more races, 0.4% Native American, and 0.1% Hawaiian or Pacific Islander. Hispanics or Latinos of any race made up 27.9% of the population.

2000 census In 2000, the city had a population of 26,622 people, 9,461 households, and 6,651 families residing in the city limits; the population density was 4,006.0 people per square mile (1,545.7/km2).

At the 2000 U.S. census, there were 9,461 households, out of which 29.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 53.5% were married couples living together, 12.7% had a female householder with no husband present, and 29.7% were non-families. In 2000, 24.1% of all households were made up of individuals, and 11.3% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.72 and the average family size was 3.22. In the city, the population was spread out, with 21.2% under the age of 18, 8.1% from 18 to 24, 30.6% from 25 to 44, 22.6% from 45 to 64, and 17.5% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 39 years. For every 100 females, there were 92.8 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 89.4 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $89,000 and the median income for a family was $108,000 in 2000. Males had a median income of $61,900 versus $40,581 for females. The per capita income for the city was $26,627.

2019 American Community Survey According to the 2019 American Community Survey, the United States Census Bureau determined 54.7% of the population was non-Hispanic white, 8.4% Black or African American, 1.0% American Indian or Alaska Native, 5.3% Asian, 2.7% two or more races, and 25.8% Hispanic or Latin American of any race.