The Town of Brookhaven is the most populous of the ten towns of Suffolk County, New York, United States. Part of the New York metropolitan area, it is located approximately 50 miles from

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

. It is the largest of the state of New York's 932 towns by area (when water area is included), and the second most populous after the

Town of Hempstead The Town of Hempstead (also known historically as South Hempstead) is the largest of the three towns in Nassau County (alongside North Hempstead and Oyster Bay) in the U.S. state of New York. It occupies the southwestern part of the county, on t ...

. The first settlement in what is now Brookhaven was known as Setauket. Founded as a group of agricultural hamlets in the mid-17th century, Brookhaven first expanded as a major center of shipbuilding in the 19th century. Its proximity to

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

facilitated the establishment of resort communities, followed by a post-war population boom. In the 2020 census record, Brookhaven contained 485,773 people. The township is home to two renowned

research centers A research institute, research centre, research center or research organization, is an establishment founded for doing research. Research institutes may specialize in basic research or may be oriented to applied research. Although the term often im ...

, Stony Brook University and

Brookhaven National Laboratory Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL) is a United States Department of Energy national laboratory located in Upton, Long Island, and was formally established in 1947 at the site of Camp Upton, a former U.S. Army base and Japanese internment c ...

. Combined these two research centers are approximately 50% of the Town's top ten employer's employee count. Tourism is also a major part of the local economy. The largest traditional downtowns are located in

Port Jefferson Port Jefferson (informally known as "Port Jeff") is an incorporated village in the town of Brookhaven in Suffolk County, New York, on the North Shore of Long Island. Officially known as the Incorporated Village of Port Jefferson, the population ...

, a regional transportation hub, and Patchogue. The area has long been serviced by the Long Island Rail Road and

Bridgeport & Port Jefferson Ferry The Bridgeport & Port Jefferson Steamboat Company, commonly referred to as the Bridgeport & Port Jefferson Ferry is a ferry company that operates ferry service across Long Island Sound, between the city of Bridgeport, Connecticut and the Long Isl ...

History

Origins and etymology

The first known inhabitants were Algonquian-speaking Native Americans, of the Setauket and Unkechaug tribes. The first English settlers arrived around 1640, and in 1655, several purchased Brookhaven's land from its tribal inhabitants. The latter founding year was recognized in 1976, when the Brookhaven Town Bicentennial Commission proposed setting the date on the seal to 1655 in line with this first deed of settlement of the town of Brookhaven at Setauket on April 14, 1655. Considering this founding year of 1655, Brookhaven is the fifth English township on Long Island following

Southampton Southampton () is a port city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire built-up area, which also covers Po ...

, Southold, Huntington, and East Hampton. Caroline_Church_of_Brookhaven

The first English settlement was named "Setauket" after the Native American tribe. The names "Brookhaven" and "Setauket" were initially used interchangeably to describe the village or the town. The verbal division between the smaller hamlet of Setauket and township of Brookhaven was not set until well into the 19th century. A point of confusion is the existence of the hamlet named Brookhaven, which was in fact named for the township in 1879. Other names used in the settlement's first decades were "Ashford", after Ashford, Kent, in England, and "Cromwell Bay", for English Protestant leader

Oliver Cromwell Oliver Cromwell (25 April 15993 September 1658) was an English politician and military officer who is widely regarded as one of the most important statesmen in English history. He came to prominence during the 1639 to 1651 Wars of the Three K ...

. The original purchase from the native Setalcott tribe that took place in 1655 encompassed the land making up present-day Setauket, Stony Brook, and

. A second purchase was made by Richard Woodhull in 1664 expanded this tract eastward along the North Shore to additionally include all lands from the ''Old Mans'' area (

Mount Sinai Mount Sinai ( he , הר סיני ''Har Sinai''; Aramaic: ܛܘܪܐ ܕܣܝܢܝ ''Ṭūrāʾ Dsyny''), traditionally known as Jabal Musa ( ar, جَبَل مُوسَىٰ, translation: Mount Moses), is a mountain on the Sinai Peninsula of Egypt. It is ...

and Miller Place) to Wading River. Richard Woodhull was the direct heir of Eustace de Vesci, a British noble who was a signator of the Magna Charta. Another land purchase in the same year expanded Brookhaven to the South Shore of Long Island. Brookhaven was integrated into the

Province of New York The Province of New York (1664–1776) was a British proprietary colony and later royal colony on the northeast coast of North America. As one of the Middle Colonies, New York achieved independence and worked with the others to found the U ...

following that colony's establishment in 1664, and in 1666 Governor Richard Nicolls granted a

patent A patent is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the legal right to exclude others from making, using, or selling an invention for a limited period of time in exchange for publishing an enabling disclosure of the invention."A ...

for the town which confirmed title to the lands purchased. Governor Thomas Dongan issued a patent in 1686 which granted powers to the town and established a representative form of government. The town seal was authorized at this time. The central element of the town seal, the letter “D”, was designated to the Town of Brookhaven as its official cattle earmark by the Duke's Laws of 1665. Although no records exist dating to the town seal's original design plan, it is generally thought that the seal's olive branch signified peace and the whaling tools signified the most lucrative business in the Town of Brookhaven at the time. The current seal is a redesign, retaining the original elements, but adding the Town of Brookhaven and its 1655 date of settlement.

Colonial era

Early English settlers farmed, fished, and hunted whales. Brookhaven was largely agrarian, with each hamlet being limited to a handful of families yet containing miles of land. This economy was supplemented in coastal sections with fishing. A major commercial center did non exist in Brookhaven until the early 19th century. Brookhaven was founded primarily by English colonists that partook in the settlement of Southold, and was likewise under the jurisdiction of the theocratic

New Haven Colony The New Haven Colony was a small English colony in North America from 1638 to 1664 primarily in parts of what is now the state of Connecticut, but also with outposts in modern-day New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Delaware. The history of ...

in the modern state of

Connecticut Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its capita ...

. Brookhaven was transferred to the more secular Hartford-led Connecticut Colony in 1662. Following the English takeover of New Netherland in 1664, the new English

colony of New York The Province of New York (1664–1776) was a British proprietary colony and later royal colony on the northeast coast of North America. As one of the Middle Colonies, New York achieved independence and worked with the others to found the Unit ...

laid claim to Long Island and brought Brookhaven into its jurisdiction.

American Revolutionary War

During the early stages of the

American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of t ...

, Brookhaven and the rest of Long Island were captured by British forces, and many residents sided with the British as loyalists to the English crown. Nevertheless, Brookhaven had multiple episodes of celebrated American activity during the war. This included the actions of the

Culper Spy Ring The Culper Ring was a network of spies active during the American Revolutionary War, organized by Major Benjamin Tallmadge and General George Washington in 1778 during the British occupation of New York City. The name "Culper" was suggested by ...

, a spy network working for George Washington that largely consisted of Brookhaveners working in occupied territory. Another episode was Benjamin Tallmadge's successful raid from across Long Island to the British stronghold at the Manor St. George, wherein his raiding party rowed from

to Cedar Beach and marched across Long Island, culminating in the

Battle of Fort St. George The Battle of Fort St. George (or Fort George) was the culmination of a Continental Army raiding expedition led by Benjamin Tallmadge against a fortified Loyalist outpost and storage depot at the Manor St. George on the south coast of Long Island ...

and burning of the defensive structure. A more minor skirmish occurred within the settlement of Setauket, where the British had repurposed the local Protestant church as a fortress. Gunshots were fired and some bullet holes remain within the walls of the adjacent Caroline Church.

Development

In the mid-19th century, several communities in Brookhaven prospered as shipbuilding ports. The most successful of those were the villages of

and Patchogue, which remain the township's most bustling traditional downtowns. Whaling and cordwood industries also developed in Brookhaven. Railroads reached Brookhaven in the mid-19th century, beginning in 1843 with trains reaching inland to Ronkonkoma. The earliest equivalent to the North Shore's present-day

Port Jefferson Branch The Port Jefferson Branch is a rail line and service owned and operated by the Long Island Rail Road in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. The branch splits from the Main Line (Long Island Rail Road), Main Line just east of Hicksville ...

began operation in 1873. The

has been operating between Port Jefferson and Bridgeport, Connecticut since 1888 and was partly founded by legendary circus-master P.T. Barnum. From the end of the late 19th century until the middle of the 20th, many communities along the North Shore and South Shore became successful resort towns. These hosted many urban residents from nearby

, including numerous celebrities of the era, during the summer months. Meanwhile, many rural sections across Brookhaven served as campgrounds for youth clubs. During the Gilded Age, Brookhaven underwent some of the same changes that affected Long Island's

Gold Coast Gold Coast may refer to: Places Africa * Gold Coast (region), in West Africa, which was made up of the following colonies, before being established as the independent nation of Ghana: ** Portuguese Gold Coast (Portuguese, 1482–1642) ** Dutch G ...

. Waterfront areas along the North Shore, including Belle Terre and Old Field, transformed from small fishing communities into fashionable and exclusive enclaves of the moneyed elite. A variety of notable research occurred in Brookhaven around the turn of the 20th century. Inventor Nikola Tesla had a research center in Shoreham, which featured the large Wardenclyffe Tower. As of 2016, this site was being renovated as the Tesla Science Center at Wardenclyffe. Guglielmo Marconi opened one of the world's largest radio facilities, known as

RCA The RCA Corporation was a major American electronics company, which was founded as the Radio Corporation of America in 1919. It was initially a patent trust owned by General Electric (GE), Westinghouse, AT&T Corporation and United Fruit Comp ...

's ''Radio Central'', in Rocky Point.

Modern history

In the post-war era, Brookhaven experienced a massive population boom. This was partly due to its proximity to

along the Long Island Rail Road and the highway system of Robert Moses. The township's most internationally renowned institutions, Stony Brook University and Brookhaven National Lab, both date to the years following World War II. Simons Center for Geometry and Physics

Aerial View of Brookhaven National Laboratory

During the mid-century, a number of major transformations were conducted by philanthropist Ward Melville in the "Three Village" area (

The Setaukets Setauket is a hamlet (New York), hamlet and census-designated place (CDP) in the Town of Brookhaven, New York, Brookhaven, Suffolk County, New York, Suffolk County, New York (state), New York, United States, on the North Shore (Long Island), Nort ...

, Stony Brook, and Old Field). Melville, an Old Field resident and owner of what later became

CVS Corporation CVS Health Corporation (previously CVS Corporation and CVS Caremark Corporation) is an American healthcare company that owns CVS Pharmacy, a retail pharmacy chain; CVS Caremark, a pharmacy benefits manager; and Aetna, a health insurance provi ...

, used his fortune to transform Northwestern Brookhaven to his vision of an idealized New England-style region. To this end, he ordered the construction in 1939 of the Stony Brook Village Center, a picturesque commercial center set on village green in Stony Brook, with clapboard buildings designed to look as if they had colonial origins. In 1962, Ward Melville donated 400 acres of land for the relocation of now-named Stony Brook University from Oyster Bay. Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL) sits on the site of

Camp Upton Camp Upton was a port of embarkation of the United States Army during World War I. During World War II it was used to intern enemy aliens. It was located in Yaphank, New York in Suffolk County on Long Island, on the present-day location of Bro ...

, a

United States army The United States Army (USA) is the land warfare, land military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight Uniformed services of the United States, U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army o ...

installation that was used as a training ground in

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

and

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

by thousands of soldiers including composer

Irving Berlin Irving Berlin (born Israel Beilin; yi, ישראל ביילין; May 11, 1888 – September 22, 1989) was a Russian-American composer, songwriter and lyricist. His music forms a large part of the Great American Songbook. Born in Imperial Russ ...

. In 1946 ownership of the grounds was transferred for use by the new national laboratory, which began operating the following year. Brookhaven researchers have since made such diverse contributions as patenting

Maglev Maglev (derived from '' magnetic levitation''), is a system of train transportation that uses two sets of electromagnets: one set to repel and push the train up off the track, and another set to move the elevated train ahead, taking advantage ...

, designing one of the first video games, detecting the first

solar neutrino A solar neutrino is a neutrino originating from nuclear fusion in the Sun's core, and is the most common type of neutrino passing through any source observed on Earth at any particular moment. Neutrinos are elementary particles with extremely smal ...

s, designing pollutant-eating bacteria, creating the first PET scan, and various contributions to

particle physics Particle physics or high energy physics is the study of fundamental particles and forces that constitute matter and radiation. The fundamental particles in the universe are classified in the Standard Model as fermions (matter particles) an ...

. The laboratory contains the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC) and the National Synchrotron Light Source. Noted physicist and Nobel laureate

I.I. Rabi Isidor Isaac Rabi (; born Israel Isaac Rabi, July 29, 1898 – January 11, 1988) was an American physicist who won the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1944 for his discovery of nuclear magnetic resonance, which is used in magnetic resonance ima ...

was instrumental in the national laboratory's establishment.

Geography

Brookhaven is located centrally on the geographic Long Island and extends from the North Shore to the South Shore. According to the

United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau (USCB), officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the U.S. Federal Statistical System, responsible for producing data about the American people and economy. The Census Bureau is part of t ...

, the town has a total area of 531.5 square miles (1,376.6 km²), of which 259.3 square miles (671.6 km²) is land and 272.2 square miles (705.1 km² or 51.22%) is water. It is the largest town in New York in terms of total area, excluding water. However, there are four towns in the state with more land area: Arietta in Hamilton County, Long Lake in Hamilton County,

Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...

Herkimer County Herkimer County is a county in the U.S. state of New York. As of the 2020 census, the population was 60,139. Its county seat is Herkimer. The county was created in 1791 north of the Mohawk River out of part of Montgomery County. It is named af ...

and

Webb Webb most often refers to James Webb Space Telescope which is named after James E. Webb, second Administrator of NASA. It may also refer to: Places Antarctica * Webb Glacier (South Georgia) * Webb Glacier (Victoria Land) * Webb Névé, Victor ...

in Herkimer County. Cedar_Beach_in_Mount_Sinai,_New_York

Brookhaven is bounded to the north by the Long Island Sound, and to the south by the Atlantic Ocean. Riverhead and

to the east, and Smithtown and Islip to the west. A large part of Fire Island (accessible by a bridge at Smith Point) and the Great South Bay are in the town. Bald Hill, a large hill in the hamlet of Farmingville, marks where the glacier which formed Long Island stopped. At the top of Bald Hill is a

Vietnam Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making i ...

veterans memorial.

Telescope Hill Telescope Hill, at , is the highest point of elevation in the Town of Brookhaven, on Long Island, New York, United States. The hill is located at the end of Tower Hill Ave., on the border of the ZIP codes of the hamlets of Selden and Farmingv ...

, to the west of Bald Hill Cultural Park, is slightly taller at above sea level and the highest point in the town.

Climate

Physical features

Outer Barrier The Outer Barrier, also known as the Long Island and New York City barrier islands, refers to the string of barrier islands that divide the lagoons south of Long Island, New York from the Atlantic Ocean. These islands include Long Beach Barrier ...

* Fire Island * Great South Bay ** Patchogue Bay **Bellport Bay **Narrow Bay ** Moriches Bay

Demographics

As of the

2020 United States census The United States census of 2020 was the twenty-fourth decennial United States census. Census Day, the reference day used for the census, was April 1, 2020. Other than a pilot study during the 2000 census, this was the first U.S. census to of ...

, there were 485,773 people residing in the town. The

population density Population density (in agriculture: Stock (disambiguation), standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geographical ...

was . The racial makeup of the town was 83.0%

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White o ...

(including 72.0%

Non-Hispanic whites Non-Hispanic whites or Non-Latino whites are Americans who are classified as "white", and are not of Hispanic (also known as "Latino") heritage. The United States Census Bureau defines ''white'' to include European Americans, Middle Eastern Ame ...

), 6.1%

Black Black is a color which results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without hue, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness. Black and white ...

African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...

, 0.1% Native American, 4.7% Asian, 0.1%

Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the Pacific Islands. As an ethnic/racial term, it is used to describe the original peoples—inhabitants and diasporas—of any of the three major subregions of O ...

, and 3.8% from two or more races.

Hispanic The term ''Hispanic'' ( es, hispano) refers to people, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or Hispanidad. The term commonly applies to countries with a cultural and historical link to Spain and to viceroyalties forme ...

or Latino people of any race were 15.6% of the population.

Economy

According to Brookhaven's 2009 Comprehensive Annual Financial Report, the top employers in the town are:

Attractions

* Baseball Heaven in Yaphank *

Cupsogue Beach County Park Cupsogue Beach County Park is a park at the eastern end of Fire Island and the western end of Westhampton Island, known locally as Dune Road, one of Long Island's easternmost barrier islands. The Atlantic Ocean, Moriches Inlet and Moriches Bay s ...

* Manor St. George in Shirley * Old Field Point Light in Old Field * Smith Haven Mall in Lake Grove *

Smith Point County Park Smith Point County Park is a beachfront park facing the Atlantic Ocean on the east end of Fire Island, along the central south shore of Long Island, near Shirley, New York, United States. It is the largest park owned by Suffolk County. The park ...

in Shirley/Mastic Beach *

Southaven County Park Southaven County Park is located in South Haven and Yaphank, New York in central Long Island. It is located between Sunrise Highway ( Route 27) just west of William Floyd Parkway, off of Victory Avenue ( Suffolk CR 56/North Sunrise Service Road) ...

in South Haven * Splish Splash water park in Calverton * Stony Brook Village Center in Stony Brook * Watch Hill * Wertheim National Wildlife Refuge * William Floyd House in Mastic Beach

Government and politics

Patchogue was the town seat of Brookhaven until 1986, when it moved to Medford and then its current location near Bald Hill in Farmingville. Brookhaven is led by a town supervisor and a six-member town council, which are all four-year term elected positions. Council members have been elected by district since a referendum in 2002. Prior to 2002, the local Republican Party for the Town of Brookhaven nearly controlled the entirety of the town board for several decades, except for a four-year period in the mid-1970s when Democrats held a majority under Supervisor John Randolph. This one-party domination, and a series of scandals, led to a tarnished reputation of local politics and accorded the nickname "Crookhaven". After the referendum was passed In 2002, Steve Fiore-Rosenfield became the first Democrat to be elected since the 1970s in 2003. In 2005, Brian X. Foley, a Democratic county legislator, won the town supervisor race. Constance Kepert and Carol Bissonette were also elected to the town board. With the re-election of Fiore-Rosenfield the Democrats gained control of the Brookhaven town board for the first time since the 1970s. In 2007, councilwoman Carol Bissonette chose not to pursue re-election, but to instead run for the open receiver of taxes seat. Her district, the sixth, was won by Republican Keith Romaine, returning the town to a 4-3 majority on the town board. The new majority opted to elect councilman Tim Mazzei as majority leader. In 2008, Brian X. Foley was elected to the New York state senate. As per New York state law his seat was declared vacant, a special election was held on March 31, 2009, to replace him. Democrat Mark Lesko. defeated Majority Leader Mazzei to become Supervisor. In August 2012, Lesko chose to step down and join a tech company on Long Island. A special election was held on November 6, 2012, which was won by Republican county legislator Edward P. Romaine, who had previously served as county clerk. With Romaine's victory and the subsequent victories of Daniel Losquadro in 2013 for the special election of highway superintendent, and Independence party member Donna Lent to town clerk, the Republican party and its endorsed allies won all townwide seats for the first time since former supervisor John Jay LaValle. In presidential politics the town of Brookhaven is often considered the bellwether for presidential results in Suffolk County. In the past four elections Brookhaven has voted for the winner of Suffolk County. With a population of almost 500,000, Brookhaven represents 1/3rd of the vote in Suffolk County. The Democratic party picked up narrow victories in the elections of 2004, 2008, and 2012. In 2016,

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021. Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of P ...

defeated Democrat

Hillary Clinton Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton ( Rodham; born October 26, 1947) is an American politician, diplomat, and former lawyer who served as the 67th United States Secretary of State for President Barack Obama from 2009 to 2013, as a United States sen ...

by 13.52 points or a margin of 54-40 (including third parties). This was the first victory for a Republican candidate in both Brookhaven and Suffolk County as a whole since 1992 when the town voted for George H. W. Bush over

Bill Clinton William Jefferson Clinton ( né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. He previously served as governor of Arkansas from 1979 to 1981 and agai ...

. Brookhaven continued its Republican swing in 2020 voting for Donald Trump again by a reduced margin.

Communities and locations

William Glackens - Bathers at Bellport - Google Art Project

Villages (incorporated)

Brookhaven has eight

villages A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town (although the word is often used to describe both hamlets and smaller towns), with a population typically ranging from a few hundred to ...

: * Belle Terre *

Bellport Bellport is a village in the Town of Brookhaven in Suffolk County, on the South Shore of Long Island, in New York, United States. The population was 2,084 at the 2010 census. The Incorporated Village of Bellport is named after the Bell family, ...

* Lake Grove * Old Field * Patchogue * Poquott *

* Shoreham

Hamlets (unincorporated)

Brookhaven includes all or part of approximately 50

hamlets A hamlet is a human settlement that is smaller than a town or village. Its size relative to a parish can depend on the administration and region. A hamlet may be considered to be a smaller settlement or subdivision or satellite entity to a lar ...

. One of those hamlets is also named Brookhaven. * Blue Point * Brookhaven * Calverton ''(mostly in Town of Riverhead)'' *

Center Moriches Center Moriches ( ) is a hamlet and census-designated place in Suffolk County, New York, United States. The population was 7,580 at the 2010 census. Center Moriches is in the town of Brookhaven. It is the location of the historic Masury Estate B ...

Centereach Centereach () is a hamlet and census-designated place in Suffolk County, New York, United States. The population was 31,578 at the 2010 census. History The hamlet of Centereach was first called West Middle Island, but primarily became known a ...

* Cherry Grove * Coram * Davis Park * East Moriches * East Patchogue * East Setauket * East Shoreham * Eastport ''(partially, with Town of Southampton)'' * Farmingville * Fire Island Pines * Gordon Heights * Hagerman *

Holbrook Holbrook may refer to: Places England *Holbrook, Derbyshire, a village * Holbrook, Somerset, a hamlet in Charlton Musgrove * Holbrook, Sheffield, South Yorkshire, a former mining village in Mosborough ward, now known as Halfway *Holbrook, Suffolk, ...

''(mostly in Town of Islip)'' * Holtsville ''(small part in Town of Islip)'' * Lake Ronkonkoma ''(small parts in Towns of Islip and Smithtown)'' * Manorville ''(small part in Town of Riverhead)'' *

Mastic Mastic may refer to: Adhesives and pastes *Mastic (plant resin) *Mastic asphalt, or asphalt, is a sticky, black and highly viscous liquid * Mastic cold porcelain, or salt ceramic, is a traditional salt-based modeling clay. *Mastic, high-grade con ...

* Mastic Beach ''(Mastic Beach, previously an incorporated village which was dissolved 11:59 PM on December 31, 2017)'' * Medford * Middle Island * Miller Place * Moriches *

* North Bellport * North Patchogue * Ocean Bay Park * Port Jefferson Station * Point O'Woods * Ridge * Rocky Point * Ronkonkoma ''(mostly in Town of Islip)'' * Selden * Setauket *

Shirley Shirley may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Shirley'' (novel), an 1849 novel by Charlotte Brontë * ''Shirley'' (1922 film), a British silent film * ''Shirley'' (2020 film), an American film * ''Shirley'' (album), a 1961 album by Shirley Bas ...

* Sound Beach * South Haven * Stony Brook * Strongs Neck * Upton * Wading River ''(mostly in Town of Riverhead)'' * Water Island * West Manor * Yaphank

Other communities

*Bayberry Dunes *Bellview Beach *Canaan Lake *Coram Hill *Crystal Brook * East Yaphank *Hallock Landing *Old Mastic *

Poospatuck Reservation The Poospatuck Reservation is a Native American reservation of the Unkechaugi band in the community of Mastic, Suffolk County, New York, United States. It is one of two Native American reservations in Suffolk County, the other being the Shinnec ...

*Rocky Point Landing *Patchogue Highlands *Siegfried Park *South Manor *South Medford * South Setauket *South Yaphank *Squassux Landing *Smith Point *Wading River Landing *West Yaphank *Woodhull Landing *East Selden (Selden)

Education

Brookhaven is the home of Stony Brook University, which moved to Stony Brook from its original Oyster Bay campus in 1962; the university has since become the town's largest employer. The town is home to the first and largest campus of Suffolk County Community College, located in Selden. The town is also home to The Stony Brook School, a Christian college prep and boarding school in Stony Brook.

Transportation

Major roads

* Interstate 495 * NY-25A

New York State Route 25A * NY-25

New York State Route 25 New York State Route 25 (NY 25) is an east–west state highway in downstate New York in the United States. The route extends for just over from east midtown Manhattan in New York City to the Cross Sound Ferry terminal at Orient Poin ...

New York State Route 24 New York State Route 24 (NY 24) is a east–west state highway on Long Island in the U.S. state of New York. The highway is split into two segments, with the longest and westernmost of the two extending from an interchange with In ...

New York State Route 27 * NY-112

New York State Route 112 New York State Route 112 (NY 112) is a state highway located entirely within the town of Brookhaven in Suffolk County, New York, in the United States. It runs from an intersection with Montauk Highway (formerly part of NY 27A) i ...

New York State Route 347 * Suffolk County 16

County Route 16 * Suffolk County 80

Montauk Highway Montauk Highway is an east–west road extending for across the southern shore of Long Island in Suffolk County, New York, in the United States. It extends from the Nassau County line in Amityville, where it connects to Merrick Road, to Montauk ...

, including County Route 85 and County Route 80 * Suffolk County 97

County Route 97 * Suffolk County 83

County Route 83 * Suffolk County 46

County Route 46 * Suffolk County 51

County Route 51 * Suffolk County 111

County Route 111

Bus service

The Town of Brookhaven is served primarily by Suffolk County Transit bus routes, although the Village of Patchogue has its own bus service.

Railroad lines

Long Island Rail Road has three lines running through the Town of Brookhaven. The Main Line includes Ronkonkoma station, which not only serves as a major transportation hub, but is also located on the Islip-Brookhaven Town Line. It also contains the and stations. The

Montauk Branch The Montauk Branch is a rail line owned and operated by the Long Island Rail Road in the U.S. state of New York. The branch runs the length of Long Island, 115 miles (185 km) from Long Island City on the west to Montauk on the east. Howe ...

, located on the South Shore of Long Island, includes the , , and stations, with the

Center Moriches station Center Moriches ( ) was a station stop along the Montauk Branch of the Long Island Rail Road. It was located on Railroad Avenue and Hamilton Street in Center Moriches, New York. History The station was built by the Brooklyn and Montauk Railroad, ...

having operated until 1998. On the North Shore of the town, the

contains two stations as it enters from the Town of Smithtown: Stony Brook station along the northern edge of SUNY at Stony Brook, and Port Jefferson station along Main Street where the line terminates.

Ferries

The primary ferry within the Town of Brookhaven is the Bridgeport-Port Jefferson Ferry, which takes vehicles and passengers across the Long Island Sound to and from Port Jefferson to Bridgeport, Connecticut. On the Great South Bay, passenger ferries take vacationers to and from Fire Island. The ferry terminals in Patchogue lead to the communities of Davis Park, and Watch Hill Visitor's Center, on the western edge of the Otis Pike Fire Island High Dune Wilderness Area. Bellport also has a ferry leading to Bellport Beach on Fire Island. From Fire Island itself, communities have ferries from Fire Island Pines and Cherry Grove, both of which are popular vacation spots for LGBT tourists as well as the Sailors Haven Visitor's Center, which is located within the Sunken Forest Visitor's Center. All three ferries lead to Sayville in the Town of Islip. Ocean Bay Park is the westernmost community in the Town of Brookhaven, and ferries from there lead to Bay Shore.

Airports

The town of Brookhaven contains three minor reliever airports, all of which are in south shore communities. The first one is the

Brookhaven Calabro Airport Brookhaven Calabro Airport is a public airport located one mile (1.6 km) north of the central business district of Shirley, in Suffolk County, New York, United States. This airport is publicly owned by the Town of Brookhaven. Although mo ...

in Shirley. East of this is the Spadaro Airport and Lufker Airport both of which are in East Moriches, and both of which share a taxiway. Coram Airport was operational until 1984.Coram Airport Site (WikiMapia)
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Notable people

* Alfred Charles Garratt * Tapping Reeve

References

External links

Town of Brookhaven official website
{{authority control Towns on Long Island Towns in Suffolk County, New York Towns in the New York metropolitan area Populated coastal places in New York (state)