About
New York
Suffolk County,
New York
was named for the county of Suffolk in England, from which its
earliest settlers came. When it was officially formed in 1683,
English settlers already had been living on the East End for
more than 40 years. 18 th century Suffolk did well with its
fishing, farming, lumbering and other colonial trades. They
kept closer ties with their New England neighbors to the north
than they did with the rest of New York. Suffolk became quite
prominent in whaling due to its prime north Atlantic location.
When the Long Island Rail Road was completed in1844,
thousands of city residents seeking summer fun headed east on
Long Island. Many of them stayed in Suffolk County, NY and the
landscape started to change. Numerous industries were starting
up fueled by the inrush of immigrants to the area. When World
War II started, the farming and fishing that had sustained the
area residents for so long were being forced out by much
needed defense manufacturing. The 1950’s saw the Suffolk
County, New York population swell and the suburban revolution
was in full swing.
In recent years, as western Suffolk County, NY has become
more suburbanized, people living in the more rural East End of
the island have been talking about dividing Suffolk into two
counties. The easternmost part of Suffolk County would be
named Peconic County, after the Peconic
Bay. Supporters of the idea believe that this would create
a more efficient and responsive government and would give them
a larger voice than they currently have in Suffolk County, NY,
as well as lower taxes. Peconic County would tentatively
include the towns of East Hampton, Riverhead, Shelter Island,
Southampton and Southold.
Suffolk County, New York 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 and South Fork and contains large bays. Suffolk
County, NY is surrounded by water on three sides, by the
Atlantic Ocean and the Long Island Sound. The county seat is
Riverhead, but most county offices are located in Hauppauge on
the west side of the county where the majority of the
population lives. Suffolk County, New York is divided into 10
towns: Babylon, Brookhaven, East Hampton, Huntington, Islip,
Riverhead, Shelter Island, Smithtown, Southampton, and
Southold. Suffolk and Nassau counties are generally referred
to together as Long Island.
Two major facilities in Suffolk County, NY are the Brookhaven
National Laboratory in Upton and Plum
Island Animal Disease Center. Several airports serve
commuters and two are specially designed for business
travelers. Long
Island MacArthur Airport in Ronkonkoma, Republic
Airport in East Farmingdale, and Francis
S. Gabreski Airport in Westhampton Beach are all highly
rated facilities.
Suffolk County, New York is home to numerous colleges and
universities, including the State
University of New York at Stony Brook, Dowling
College, Southampton
College, Saint
Joseph's College and Suffolk
County Community College.
Located within the borders of Suffolk County, NY are two
Indian reservations, the Shinnecock
and Poospatuck
Reservations. The Shinnecocks are one of the oldest
continuously self-governing tribes in America.
The 2000
U.S. Census shows the population of this 911 square mile
county to be 1,419,369 persons with an estimated population
for 2004 of 1,475,488, or a 4% increase. The previous decade
from 1990 to 2000 showed a population growth of 7.4%. With
very few multi-unit structures, the home ownership rate is at
80%.
Suffolk County, NY is a bedroom community for those working
in the city at the western end of Long Island, a vacation
getaway for those who live in the city, and a rural setting
for the east enders who call Suffolk home.
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