Suffolk County, New York

Suffolk County History, Geography, Demographics, Cities and Towns, and Education

County Seat: Riverhead
Year Organized: 1683
Square Miles: 911

Court House:

300 Center Drive
County Center
Riverhead, NY 11901-0000

Etymology - Origin of County Name

after Suffolk County, England, home of many early settlers

Demographics:

County QuickFacts: Census Bureau Quick Facts

History

Suffolk County was an original county of New York State, one of twelve created in 1683. Its boundaries were substantially the same as at present, with only minor changes in the boundary with its western neighbor, which was originally Queens County but since 1899 has been Nassau County. However, as eastern Suffolk County has become more suburbanized there have been efforts to split the east end of the county off into a new county, called Peconic County.

The first nomadic hunters came here in the last glacial period following caribou herds when Long Island and the mainland of Connecticut were separated by only low-lying marshland. This area is now covered by Long Island Sound. The first known Europeans to sight Long Island were with Verrazano, who sailed along the south shore in 1524. In 1614 Adrian Block, a Dutch explorer, first touched the land here when he went ashore at Montauk and met local Native Americans. Full History at NYSAC

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 2,373 square miles (6,146 km²), of which, 912 square miles (2,363 km²) of it is land and 1,461 square miles (3,784 km²) of it (61.56%) is water. The highest elevation in the county, and on Long Island as a whole, is Jayne's Hill in West Hills, at 401 feet (122 m) above sea level.

Suffolk County occupies the easternmost portion of Long Island, in the southeastern portion of New York State. The eastern end of the county splits into two peninsulas, known as the North Fork and the South Fork. The county is surrounded by water on three sides, including the Atlantic Ocean and the Long Island Sound. The eastern end contains large bays. Suffolk County is divided into 10 towns: Babylon, Brookhaven, East Hampton, Huntington, Islip, Riverhead, Shelter Island, Smithtown, Southampton, and Southold. Also part of the county, but not considered parts of the above towns, are the Poospatuck and Shinnecock Indian reservations. Poospatuck is enclaved within Brookhaven in the Mastic CDP, and Shinnecock is enclaved within Southampton, adjacent to Southampton village, Tuckahoe, and Shinnecock Hills.

Major facilities include Brookhaven National Laboratory in Upton and Plum Island Animal Disease Center on Plum Island. Several airports serve commuters and business travelers, most notably Long Island MacArthur Airport in Islip, Republic Airport in East Farmingdale and Francis S. Gabreski Airport in Westhampton Beach.

Neighboring Counties:

Nassau County, New York - west
Fairfield County, Connecticut - northwest, water boundary only, across Long Island Sound
New Haven County, Connecticut - north, water boundary only, across Long Island Sound
Middlesex County, Connecticut - north, water boundary only, across Long Island Sound
New London County, Connecticut - north, water boundary only, across Fishers Island Sound
Washington County, Rhode Island - northeast, water boundary only, across Block Island Sound

Cities and Towns:

- Amityville	village	Incorporated Area
- Asharoken	village	Incorporated Area
- Babylon	village	Incorporated Area
- Belle Terre	village	Incorporated Area
- Bellport	village	Incorporated Area
- Brightwaters	village	Incorporated Area
- Brookhaven	town
- Deerpark	town
- Dering Harbor	village	Incorporated Area
- East Hampton	village	Incorporated Area
- Greenport	village	Incorporated Area
- Head of the Harbor	village	Incorporated Area
- Huntington	town
- Huntington Bay	village	Incorporated Area
- Islandia	village	Incorporated Area
- Islip	town
- Lake Grove	village	Incorporated Area
- Lindenhurst	village	Incorporated Area
- Lloyd Harbor	village	Incorporated Area
- Nissequogue	village	Incorporated Area
- North Haven	village	Incorporated Area
- Northampton	town
- Northport	village	Incorporated Area
- Ocean Beach	village	Incorporated Area
- Old Field	village	Incorporated Area
- Patchogue	village	Incorporated Area
- Poospatuck Reservation	Reservation
- Poquott	village	Incorporated Area
- Port Jefferson	village	Incorporated Area
- Quogue	village	Incorporated Area
- Riverhead (County Seat)	town
- Sag Harbor	village	Incorporated Area
- Saltaire	village	Incorporated Area
- Shelter Island	town
- Shinnecock Reservation	Reservation
- Shoreham	village	Incorporated Area
- Smithtown	town
- Southold	town
- Village of the Branch	village	Incorporated Area
- West Hampton Dunes	village	Incorporated Area
- Westhampton Beach	village	Incorporated Area

County Resources:

Enter County Resources and Information Here

County Resource Guide

Counties: US Map

The history of our nation can be seen as a prolonged struggle to define the relative roles and powers of our governments: federal, state, and local. And the names we've given our counties, our most locally based jurisdictions, reflects the "characteristic features of our country!"

But age, size and colorful names of our counties isn't the only reason to explore counties' role in American history, or the history of county government itself. In fact, the story of county government reflects the larger meanings of American history.

Today's counties are the most flexible, locally responsive and creative governments in the US. They are the most diverse, varying in size, population, geography, and governmental structure. In their politics and policies, they express a 1990's political slogan "Think globally, act locally."

Penn Foster High School

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