| Official name | Town of Smithtown |
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| Settlement type | Town |
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| Imagesize | 125px |
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| Map caption | Smithtown is located on the north shore of western Suffolk County on Long Island, NY. |
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| Image map1 | Smithtown-town-map.gif |
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| Mapsize1 | 250px |
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| Map caption1 | U.S. Census Bureau Map |
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| Subdivision type | Country |
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| Image seal | Small-Seal-of-town-of-smithtown.PNG |
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| Subdivision name | United States |
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| Subdivision type1 | State |
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| Subdivision name1 | New York |
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| Subdivision type2 | County |
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| Subdivision name2 | Suffolk |
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| Leader title | Town Supervisor |
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| Leader name | Patrick Vecchio |
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| Unit pref | Imperial |
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| Area total km2 | 288.5 |
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| Area land km2 | 138.8 |
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| Area water km2 | 149.7 |
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| Area total sq mi | 111.4 |
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| Area land sq mi | 53.6 |
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| Area water sq mi | 57.8 |
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| Elevation m | 32 |
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| Elevation ft | 105 |
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| Coordinates display | inline,title |
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| Coordinates type | region:US_type:city |
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| Population as of | 2000 |
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| Population total | 115,715 |
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| Population density km2 | 833.9 |
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| Timezone | EST |
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| Utc offset | −5 |
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| Timezone dst | EDT |
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| Utc offset dst | −4 |
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| Latitude | 40.855 N |
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| Longitude | 73.201 W |
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| Website | Smithtown, NY |
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| Postal code type | ZIP codes |
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| Postal code | 11745, 11787, 11788 |
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| Area code | 631 |
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| Blank name | FIPS code |
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| Blank info | 36-68000 |
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| Blank1 name | GNIS feature ID |
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| Blank1 info | 0979498 |
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Smithtown is a
town in
Suffolk County,
New York,
United States, on the
North Shore of
Long Island. The population was 115,715 at the
2000 census.
The census-designated place of Smithtown lies in the town.
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
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.
Geography
The Town of Smithtown is located at 40° 52' 13" North, 73° 13' 3" West (40.862786, -73.215175).
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.
Demographics
As of the census 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/sq mi (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. 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%).
Communities and locations
Villages (incorporated)
Head of the Harbor
Nissequogue
Village of the Branch
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
Other communities
North Smithtown
San Remo
State parks
Caleb Smith State Park Preserve, a state park southwest of Smithtown village
Sunken Meadow State Park
Nissequogue River State Park
Notable people from Smithtown
Marcus Barone - Motion Picture Music Supervisor and Composer
Craig Biggio - Major League Baseball player
Lillian Caran - Veteran of Broadway, Radio, Early Film & TV and Renown Acting Teacher
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
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
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
Lenny Gombert-St.James Wildcats Alumni and Drill Team Radio Announcer
Media
Smithtown is the city of license for two radio stations,
WFRS Family Radio and
WMJC "Island 94-3", repeater W228BI for
WNYC, and TV station
WFTY-TV. Smithtown runs its board meetings on the GOVT TV station, local channel 18.
Smithtown is also home to a local newspaper, The Smithtown News, which carries articles pertaining to the community.
Infrastructure
Smithtown is protected by the 4th precinct of the
Suffolk County Police Department. 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.
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).
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
Middle schools
Accompsett Middle School (formerly Smithtown High School Freshman Campus 1992-2005)
Great Hollow Middle School
Nesaquake Middle School
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
** Jay Beckenstein
** Soledad O'Brien
** John Reiner
** Jeremy Wall
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.
Private schools
Smithtown Christian School (pre-school to twelfth grade)
Saint Patrick School (parochial school grades preschool through eighth)
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
References
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
Category:Smithtown, New York
Category:Towns in New York
Category:Towns on Long Island
Category:Populated places in Suffolk County, New York
