Settlers traded goods with the Indigenous Secatogue tribe for the land that became Dix Hills in 1699. The Secatogues lived in the northern portion of the region during the later half of that century. The land was known as Dick's Hills. By lore, the name traces to a local native named Dick Pechegan, likely of the Secatogues.[3][note 1] Scholar William Wallace Tooker wrote that the addition of the English name "Dick" to the indigenous name "Pechegan" was a common practice.
Tooker wrote that Pechegan's wigwam and his planted fields became the hilly area's namesake, known as the shortened "Dix Hills" by 1911.[4] The area was mostly used for farming until after World War II.[3]
In the 1950s, Dix Hills and its neighbors Wheatley Heights and Melville, along with the area known as Sweet Hollow, proposed to incorporate as a single village.[5][6] This village would have been known as the Incorporated Village of Half Hollow Hills, would have had an area of roughly 50 square miles (130 km2), and would have embraced the Half Hollow Hills Central School District (CSD 5).[5] The plans were unsuccessful, and these areas would remain unincorporated.[7]
Proposals were revived around 2001, when Dix Hills, Melville, Wheatley Heights, and East Farmingdale (all within the school district) proposed incorporating as a single village.[8] These plans also failed and each remains unincorporated hamlets to this day.[7]
Geography
According to the United States Census Bureau, the CDP of Dix Hills has a total area of 15.9 square miles (41.3 km2), all of it land.[9]
The town of Huntington, of which Dix Hills is a part, has a total area of 137.1 square miles (355.1 km2), of which 94.1 square miles (243.8 km2) is land and 43.0 square miles (111.3 km2), or 31.35%, is water.[10]
The median household income (in 2021 dollars) in Dix Hills was $184,580.[2] The per capita income for Dix Hills was $75,486. About 4.9% of the population was below the poverty line.[2]
Dix Hills had Long Island's highest number of electric vehicles on the road by ZIP Code as of 2023.[12]
Middle schools that serve the district are Candlewood Middle School and West Hollow Middle School.[7] The high schools are Half Hollow Hills High School East and Half Hollow Hills High School West.[7] Commack Middle School and Rolling Hills Elementary are both a part of the Commack School District and are located within Dix Hills.[7]
Dix Hills is part of the Half Hollow Hills Community Library.[13]
Emergency services
Dix Hills is served by the Dix Hills Fire Department, through three stations.[7][14] The Dix Hills Fire Department's headquarters (Company 2) is located on Deer Park Avenue, immediately north of the Northern State Parkway. Substation #1 (Company 3) is located on Deer Park Avenue, south of the Long Island Expressway.[7]
Substation #2 (Company 1) is located on Carll's Straight Path, about half of a mile south of the Long Island Expressway.[7] The Dix Hills Fire Department consists of approximately 150 volunteer firefighters and emergency medical technicians who respond to over 2,500 calls for assistance each year – ranging from fires to motor vehicle accidents to medical and traumatic emergencies.[14]
^ abKellerman, Vivien (August 8, 1993). "If You're Thinking of Living In: Dix Hills". The New York Times. p. 7 – via ProQuest. (Subscription required.)
^Kutt Nahas, Donna (July 27, 2003). "Villages, Inc.: Hamlets Across the Island Weigh the Cost-Benefit Ratio of Incorporation". The New York Times – via ProQuest.
^Tuite, James (September 15, 1981). "Opening Session for Islanders". The New York Times. Archived from the original on January 15, 2014. Retrieved December 27, 2013.
^Vecsey, George (February 1, 1982). "ISLANDERS' FATHER FIGURE". The New York Times. Archived from the original on January 15, 2014. Retrieved December 28, 2013.
^Castillo, Alfonso A. (February 18, 2008). "FRIDAY: Pro wrestling comes to concert hall". McClatchy – Tribune Business News – via ProQuest. ... said Brother Ray, one half of TNA tag team champions, Team 3D, and a native Long Islander. The 6-foot-4, 310-pound former Dix Hills resident expects ... recalling his days performing as one half of the Dudley Boyz in WWE.(Subscription required.)
^Gay, Verne (March 21, 2011). "ON TV: Macchio mambo?". Newsday. Cablevision. p. A14 – via ProQuest. Ralph Macchio, the original "Karate Kid," ... was born in Huntington, raised in Dix Hills, and attended Half Hollow Hills West High, graduating in 1979.(Subscription required.)
^Kaufman, Bill (April 26, 1983). "Roughening the edges to become an 'Outsider'". Newsday. Cablevision. p. A21 – via ProQuest. Ralph Macchio ... at home in Dix Hills(Subscription required.)
^Pawel, Miriam (May 14, 1981). "SHOWBIZ: Promoted to star, ex-student comes home". Newsday. Cablevision. p. 11 – via ProQuest. Macchio moved from his family's home in Dix Hills to Los Angeles last summer ...(Subscription required.)
^Guzmán, Rafer (March 26, 2009). "Dix Hills' Greg Mottola relives 'Adventureland'". Newsday. Cablevision. Archived from the original on December 31, 2013. Retrieved December 28, 2013 – via ProQuest. ... Greg Mottola, a Dix Hills native whose 1984 summer job there inspired his new film, "Adventureland," may have an explanation. ... His 1996 debut, the satirical drama "The Daytrippers" (featuring Hope Davis, Liev Schreiber and Parker Posey), followed a dysfunctional Long Island family on an eventful drive into Manhattan. His second, more famous film, "Superbad," was a super-crude comedy starring then-unknowns Jonah Hill and Michael Cera.
^Guzman, Rafer (November 4, 2010). "'Due Date' director helps father go further". Newsday. Cablevision. p. B10 – via ProQuest. Fans of "Old School" and "The Hangover" may recognize the name of writer-director Todd Phillips. ... Raised in Dix Hills but now based in Los Angeles, Phillips ...(Subscription required.)
^Anderson, John (May 19, 2013). "Cure for 'Hangover'?". Newsday. Cablevision. p. C6 – via ProQuest. Phillips, who grew up in Dix Hills and whose comedies include 'Due Date,' 'Starsky & Hutch' and 'Old School,' ...(Subscription required.)
^Guzman, Rafer (May 22, 2011). "Drunk with success: The Hangover bad boys are back for more monkey business, this time in Bangkok". Newsday. Cablevision. p. C8 – via ProQuest. 'The Hangover,' directed by Dix Hills-raised Todd Phillips, eventually became the highest-grossing R-rated comedy.(Subscription required.)
^Lipson, Karin (April 23, 2003). "A Rookie Savors His Baptism by Fire Island / LI filmmaker shoots 'Mickey Stern' at his parents' beach house". Newsday. Cablevision. p. B2 – via ProQuest. "We don't have an ad budget," the affable 28-year-old first-time director [Prywes], who grew up in Old Bethpage and Dix Hills, explained over his car phone.(Subscription required.)
^Baumbach, Jim (November 27, 2008). "Former Jets star Walker struggles with pain". McClatchy – Tribune Business News – via ProQuest. [Walker] often prefers to be at his Dix Hills home ...(Subscription required.)
^Klein, Debra A. (September 9, 2001). "VOWS: Pamela Ling and Judd Winick". The New York Times. p. ST13 – via ProQuest. Judd was "the struggling cartoonist" from Dix Hills, N.Y. ...(Subscription required.)