Smithtown, New York
| Town of Smithtown | |||
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| Coordinates: 40°51′46″N 73°12′55″W / 40.86278°N 73.21528°WCoordinates: 40°51′46″N 73°12′55″W / 40.86278°N 73.21528°W | |||
| Country | United States | ||
| State | New York | ||
| County | Suffolk | ||
| Government | |||
| • Town Supervisor | Patrick Vecchio | ||
| Area | |||
| • Total | 111.4 sq mi (288.5 km2) | ||
| • Land | 53.6 sq mi (138.8 km2) | ||
| • Water | 57.8 sq mi (149.7 km2) | ||
| Elevation | 105 ft (32 m) | ||
| Population (2010)[1] | |||
| • Total | 117,801 | ||
| • Density | 2,159.8/sq mi (833.9/km2) | ||
| Time zone | EST (UTC−5) | ||
| • Summer (DST) | EDT (UTC−4) | ||
| ZIP codes | 11745, 11787, 11788 | ||
| Area code(s) | 631 | ||
| FIPS code | 36-68000 | ||
| GNIS feature ID | 0979498 | ||
| Website | Smithtown, NY | ||
Smithtown is a town in Suffolk County, New York, United States, on the North Shore of Long Island. The population was 117,801 at the 2010 census.
The census-designated place of Smithtown lies in the town.
Contents |
[edit] History
The town was first settled around 1665. Local legend has it that after rescuing a Native American Chief's kidnapped daughter, Richard Smith was told that the Chief would grant title to all of the land Smith could encircle in one day - on a bull. Richard Smith chose to ride the bull on the longest day of the year (summer solstice) - to enable him to ride longer "in one day". The land he acquired in this way is said to approximate the current town's location. There is a large anatomically correct[2] statue of Smith's bull, known as Whisper, at the fork of Jericho Turnpike (New York State Route 25) and St. Johnland Road (New York State Route 25A). Smithtown originally was known as "Smithfield."
The border between Smithtown and the Town of Huntington is partially defined by Bread and Cheese Hollow Road (Suffolk County Road 4), so named after Bread and Cheese hollow, which according to legend is where Smith stopped on his ride to have a lunch of bread and cheese. The road is reputed to follow part of his original ride.
[edit] Geography
The Town of Smithtown is located at 40° 52' 13" North, 73° 13' 3" West (40.862786, -73.215175).[3]
According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 111.4 square miles (288.5 km²), of which, 53.6 square miles (138.8 km²) of it is land and 57.8 square miles (149.7 km²) of it (51.89%) is water.
[edit] Demographics
| Historical populations | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Census | Pop. | %± | |
| 1850 | 1,972 |
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| 1860 | 2,130 | 8.0% | |
| 1870 | 2,136 | 0.3% | |
| 1880 | 2,249 | 5.3% | |
| 1890 | 3,357 | 49.3% | |
| 1900 | 5,863 | 74.6% | |
| 1910 | 7,073 | 20.6% | |
| 1920 | 9,114 | 28.9% | |
| 1930 | 11,855 | 30.1% | |
| 1940 | 13,970 | 17.8% | |
| 1950 | 20,993 | 50.3% | |
| 1960 | 50,347 | 139.8% | |
| 1970 | 114,657 | 127.7% | |
| 1980 | 116,663 | 1.7% | |
| 1990 | 113,406 | −2.8% | |
| 2000 | 115,715 | 2.0% | |
As of the census[4] of 2000, there were 115,715 people, 38,487 households, and 31,482 families residing in the town. The population density was 2,159.9 people per square mile (833.9/km²). There were 39,357 housing units at an average density of 734.6 per square mile (283.6/km²). The racial makeup of the town was:
- 114,817 or 99.2% monoracial
- 110,546 or 95.5% White
- 748 or 0.65% Black or African American,
- 78 or 0.01% Native American
- 2763 or 2.4% Asian
- 22 or less than 0.01% Pacific Islander
- 660 or 0.6% from other races
- 898 or 0.08% from two or more races.
- 3855 or 3.3% Hispanic or Latino
There were 38,487 households out of which 38.5% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 71.6% were married couples living together, 7.5% had a female householder with no husband present, and 18.2% were non-families. 15.2% of all households were made up of individuals and 7.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.95 and the average family size was 3.28.
In the town the population was spread out with 26.0% under the age of 18, 5.4% from 18 to 24, 30.4% from 25 to 44, 24.8% from 45 to 64, and 13.4% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 38 years. For every 100 females there were 94.6 males. For every 1000 females age 18 and over, there were 911.2 males.
According to a 2007 estimate, the median income for a household in the town was $100,165, and the median income for a family was $110,776.[1] Males had a median income of $61,348 versus $38,208 for females. The per capita income for the town was $31,401. About 2.1% of families and 3.0% of the population were below the poverty line, including 2.9% of those under age 18 and 4.7% of those age 65 or over.
Ancestries: Italian (35.3%), Irish (26.0%), German (18.7%), Polish (6.9%), English (5.0%), Russian (4.1%).
[edit] Communities and locations
[edit] Villages (incorporated)
[edit] Hamlets (unincorporated)
- Commack (in part, with the Town of Huntington)
- Fort Salonga (in part, with the Town of Huntington)
- Hauppauge (in part, with the Town of Islip)
- Kings Park
- Lake Ronkonkoma (in part with the Town of Brookhaven and Town of Islip)
- Nesconset
- Smithtown
- St. James
[edit] Other communities
- North Smithtown
- San Remo
[edit] State parks
- Caleb Smith State Park Preserve, a state park southwest of Smithtown village
- Sunken Meadow State Park
- Nissequogue River State Park
[edit] Notable people from Smithtown
- Marcus Barone - Motion Picture Music Supervisor and Composer
- Craig Biggio - Major League Baseball player
- Andrew Gross - Noted Author
- Frank Catalanotto - Major League Baseball player
- Dan Corbett - Weather broadcaster for the BBC
- Bob Costas - American sportscaster
- John Curtis- American baseball player
- John Daly - Olympic athlete: skeleton
- John Hampson - Nine Days Lead Vocalist
- Christopher Higgins - National Hockey League player
- Melissa Joan Hart - American actress (elder sister of Emily Hart)
- Emily Hart - American Actress (younger sister of Melissa Joan Hart)
- Kevin James - Actor
- Keith Law - Sportswriter and blogger
- Lori Loughlin - Actress
- Marty Lyons- National Football League player
- Michael P. Murphy - Medal of Honor recipient
- Jim Mecir - Major League Baseball player
- Soledad O'Brien - CNN News anchor
- Rosie O'Donnell - stand-up comedienne, actress, singer, author and media personality
- Russ Papia
- John Petrucci - Dream Theater guitarist
- Jodi Picoult - Novelist
- Jai Rodriguez- Queer Eye/Broadway actor
- Jeremy Wall - Founding pianist of the Jazz Fusion Band Spyro Gyra
- Matt Yallof- SNY Sports Broadcaster
- Kevin Thoms - American actor
[edit] Media
Smithtown is the city of license for two radio stations, WFRS Family Radio and WIGX "Island 94-3", repeater W228BI for WNYC, and TV station WFTY-TV. Smithtown runs its board meetings on the GOVT TV station, Cablevision channel 18 or Verizon channel 27. Smithtown is also home to three local newspapers, The Times of Smithtown, Smithtown Messenger and The Smithtown News, which carry articles pertaining to the community. Web sites such as SmithtownRadio.com serve as hyper-local news outlets for the community.
[edit] Infrastructure
Smithtown is protected by the 4th precinct of the Suffolk County Police Department and the Smithtown Department of Public Safety. Fire, rescue, EMS and other emergency services are in jurisdiction of the Smithtown Fire Department, which operates from three stations in the district.
Emergency medical care can be found at the hospital at the St. Catherine of Sienna Medical Center, as well as the nearby Stony Brook University Hospital.
[edit] Schools
Smithtown Central School District is home of nine elementary schools, three middle schools, and two high schools, all on different campuses.
The Town of Smithtown is also home to the Kings Park Central School District, a portion of the Commack Union-Free School District (shared with the Town of Huntington), a portion of the Hauppauge School District (shared with the Town of Islip) and a portion of the Sachem Central School District (shared with the Town of Brookhaven).
[edit] Elementary schools
- Accompsett Elementary School
- Branch Brook Elementary School
- Dogwood Elementary School
- Mills Pond Elementary School
- Mt. Pleasant Elementary School
- Nesconset Elementary School
- Smithtown Elementary School
- St. James Elementary School
- Tackan Elementary School
[edit] Middle schools
- Accompsett Middle School (formerly Smithtown High School Freshman Campus 1992-2005)
- Great Hollow Middle School
- Nessaquake Middle school
[edit] Smithtown High School
- Eastern Campus (formerly Smithtown Central High School, 1960s-1973; formerly Smithtown High School East, 1973–1992; formerly Smithtown Middle School, 1993–2005) - located in St. James
- The High School's Eastern Campus is composed of graduates of Nesaquake Middle School and those graduates of Great Hollow Middle School that reside in the Tackan and Nesconset Elementary area.
- Famous graduates
- Western Campus (formerly Smithtown High School West, 1973–1992; formerly Smithtown High School 10-12 Building, 1992–2005)- located in south of the Kings Park Hamlet and west of the Smithtown Bull
- The High School's Western Campus is composed of graduates of Accompsett Middle School and those graduates of Great Hollow Middle School that reside in the Mt. Pleasant and Branch Brook Elementary area.
[edit] Private schools
- Smithtown Christian School (pre-school to twelfth grade)
- Saint Patrick School [2] (parochial school grades preschool through eighth)
- Holy Family Regional School (pre-school to eighth grade)
- Saint Philp and James School(parochial school grades preschool through eighth)
[edit] Former Smithtown schools (No longer used as K-12 Facilities)
- New York Avenue Junior High School- (now the Joseph M. Barton/New York Avenue Building) Currently the central office and headquarters of Smithown Central School District
- Smithtown Branch High School- Smithtown High School before the opening of Smithtown Central High School in the 1960s
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ Metropolitan & Central City Population: 2000-2005. Demographia.com, accessed September 3, 2006.
- ^ The Bull, Smithtown Long, Island (Maggie Land Blanck)
- ^ "US Gazetteer files: 2010, 2000, and 1990". United States Census Bureau. 2011-02-12. http://www.census.gov/geo/www/gazetteer/gazette.html. Retrieved 2011-04-23.
- ^ "American FactFinder". United States Census Bureau. http://factfinder.census.gov. Retrieved 2008-01-31.
[edit] External links
- Smithtown Central School District Website
- Town of Smithtown, NY
- Smithtown history
- Bullrider Smith's Bull "Whisper" Courtesy Maggiblanck.com
- Kings Park Heritage Museum
- Kings Park Chamber of Commerce
- Bygone Long Island
- Smithtown Government Television
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