St. James is a

hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play, with 29,551 words. Set in Denmark, the play depicts ...

and

census-designated place A census-designated place (CDP) is a Place (United States Census Bureau), concentration of population defined by the United States Census Bureau for statistical purposes only. CDPs have been used in each decennial census since 1980 as the count ...

(CDP) in Suffolk County, New York, United States. The population of the CDP was 13,487 at the 2020 census. St. James is part of the

Town A town is a human settlement. Towns are generally larger than villages and smaller than cities, though the criteria to distinguish between them vary considerably in different parts of the world. Origin and use The word "town" shares an ori ...

of Smithtown and is located on the North Shore of Long Island. The ZIP code is 11780.

History

In the early 20th century, St. James was a popular vacation spot for glitterati of the stage and screen. Summer residents included Lionel, Ethel, and

John Barrymore John Barrymore (born John Sidney Blyth; February 14 or 15, 1882 – May 29, 1942) was an American actor on stage, screen and radio. A member of the Drew and Barrymore theatrical families, he initially tried to avoid the stage, and briefly att ...

, Buster Keaton,

Myrna Loy Myrna Loy (born Myrna Adele Williams; August 2, 1905 – December 14, 1993) was an American film, television and stage actress. Trained as a dancer, Loy devoted herself fully to an acting career following a few minor roles in silent films. ...

, and

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 ...

, among others. Noteworthy persons of the hamlet have included

Stanford White Stanford White (November 9, 1853 – June 25, 1906) was an American architect. He was also a partner in the architectural firm McKim, Mead & White, one of the most significant Beaux-Arts firms. He designed many houses for the rich, in addition ...

, architect;

William Jay Gaynor William Jay Gaynor (February 2, 1849 – September 10, 1913) was an American politician from New York City, associated with the Tammany Hall political machine. He served as the 94th mayor of the City of New York from 1910 to 1913, and previously ...

, New York State Supreme Court Justice and Mayor of New York City;

Mick Foley Michael Francis Foley (born June 7, 1965) is an American actor, author, retired professional wrestler, and color commentator. He is currently signed to WWE under the company's Legends program, acting as a company ambassador. Foley worked for m ...

, professional wrestler;

Soledad O'Brien María de la Soledad Teresa O'Brien (born September 19, 1966) is an American broadcast journalist and executive producer. Since 2016, O'Brien has been the host for ''Matter of Fact with Soledad O'Brien,'' a nationally syndicated weekly talk show ...

, television personality;

John Miceli John Miceli (born May 29, 1961 in Long Island, New York) is the drummer for Meat Loaf's backing band, the Neverland Express. Meat Loaf Miceli began touring with Meat Loaf in 1991, and was a part of the Neverland Express when '' Bat Out of Hell ...

, drummer for

Meat Loaf Michael Lee Aday (born Marvin Lee Aday; September 27, 1947 – January 20, 2022), known professionally as Meat Loaf, was an American rock singer and actor. He was noted for his powerful, wide-ranging voice and theatrical live shows. He is on t ...

; and

John Petrucci John Peter Petrucci (born July 12, 1967) is an American guitarist, best known as a founding member of the progressive metal band Dream Theater. He produced or co-produced (often with former member Mike Portnoy before he departed the band in 201 ...

, lead guitar player for Dream Theater. The St. James General Store, located on Moriches Road, is said to be the oldest continuously operating general store in the United States. It and a number of other historic structures were added to the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...

in 1973 as part of the

Saint James District Saint James District is a national historic district located at St. James in Smithtown Town, Suffolk County, New York. The district includes 21 contributing buildings, two contributing sites, and one contributing structure. Prominent building ...

. Many of these 19th-century structures are located along

New York State Route 25A New York State Route 25A (NY 25A) is a state highway on Long Island in New York, United States. It serves as the main east–west route for most of the North Shore of Long Island, running for from Interstate 495 (I-495) at the ...

, otherwise known as North Country Road. Among them is Saint James Episcopal Church, the source of the hamlet's name during the 1850s. In 1873, St. James Rail Road Station was established. Although small, the historic station-house is the second-oldest on the Long Island Rail Road.

Geography

St. James is located at (40.877202, -73.155260). 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 CDP has a total area of , all land. To the north of the hamlet lies the Village of Head of the Harbor and Stony Brook Harbor. St. James is situated in the eastern part of the town of Smithtown, east of the hamlet of Smithtown. Immediately due east of St. James sits the main campus of Stony Brook University, a major public research university. It is approximately 15 minutes from

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 ...

. This allows for quick access to the

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 ...

, which offers transportation across the Long Island Sound to

New England New England is a region comprising six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York (state), New York to the west and by the Can ...

while avoiding New York City traffic.

Demographics

As of the

census A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of a given population. This term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common censuses in ...

of 2000, there were 13,268 people, 4,555 households, and 3,466 families residing in the CDP. 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 2,924.6 per square mile (1,128.4/km²). There were 4,674 housing units at an average density of 1,030.3/sq mi (397.5/km²). The racial makeup of the CDP was 97.36%

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 ...

, 0.27%

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 ...

, 0.05% Native American, 1.24%

Asian Asian may refer to: * Items from or related to the continent of Asia: ** Asian people, people in or descending from Asia ** Asian culture, the culture of the people from Asia ** Asian cuisine, food based on the style of food of the people from Asi ...

, 0.01%

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 ...

, 0.55% from

other races Other often refers to: * Other (philosophy), a concept in psychology and philosophy Other or The Other may also refer to: Film and television * ''The Other'' (1913 film), a German silent film directed by Max Mack * ''The Other'' (1930 film), a ...

, and 0.52% 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 ...

Latino Latino or Latinos most often refers to: * Latino (demonym), a term used in the United States for people with cultural ties to Latin America * Hispanic and Latino Americans in the United States * The people or cultures of Latin America; ** Latin A ...

of any race were 3.45% of the population. There were 4,555 households, out of which 36.6% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 66.5% were married couples living together, 7.2% had a female householder with no husband present, and 23.9% were non-families. 20.6% of all households were made up of individuals, and 13.3% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.81 and the average family size was 3.27. In the CDP, the population was spread out, with 25.9% under the age of 18, 5.0% from 18 to 24, 29.8% from 25 to 44, 21.2% from 45 to 64, and 18.1% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 39 years. For every 100 females, there were 88.4 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 82.6 males. The median income for a household in the CDP was $71,144, and the median income for a family was $82,291. Males had a median income of $59,018 versus $38,103 for females. The

per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or total income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. It is calculated by dividing the area's total income by its total population. Per capita i ...

for the CDP was $29,643. About 1.6% of families and 2.6% of the population were below the

poverty line The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for t ...

, including 1.8% of those under age 18 and 2.2% of those age 65 or over.

References

External links

St. James General Store at Suffolk County, New York Parks website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint James, New York Smithtown, New York Census-designated places in New York (state) Census-designated places in Suffolk County, New York Hamlets in New York (state)