Northport, New York

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Northport is a village in Suffolk County, New York on the North Shore of Long Island. As of the United States 2000 Census, the village population was 7,606. Students attend the Northport-East Northport Union Free School District.

The Village of Northport sits along New York State Route 25A in the Town of Huntington, on Long Island's picturesque North Shore. It is known for its bucolic main street which still bears trolley rails from a long discontinued streetcar that brought people to the village from The Long Island Rail Road stop that is in East Northport. Main Street ends at the village dock and village green, site of numerous "concerts in the park" on summer evenings. It has a number of fine restaurants and ice cream parlors, antique stores, as well as an old-style barbershop, and other independent retailers.

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[edit] History

Northport was originally called Opcathontyche (“wading place creek”) by the Matinecock Indians who lived there. European settlers purchased the land from the Matinecocks in 1656 and renamed the area Great Cow Harbor. Cows were brought from farms to the harbor to be shipped to New York City slaughterhouses. (Nearby Centerport was known as Little Cow Harbor.) Around 1837 the town was changed to Northport and was officially incorporated as a village in 1894.

[edit] Geography

Northport is located at 40°54′10″N, 73°20′39″W (40.902803, -73.344069)GR1.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the village has a total area of 6.6 km² (2.5 mi²). 6.0 km² (2.3 mi²) of it is land and 0.6 km² (0.2 mi²) of it (9.02%) is water.

[edit] Demographics

As of the censusGR2 of 2000, there were 7,606 people, 2,952 households, and 2,069 families residing in the village. The population density was 1,271.3/km² (3,287.0/mi²). There were 3,052 housing units at an average density of 510.1/km² (1,319.0/mi²). The racial makeup of the village was 97.04% White, 0.59% African American, 0.05% Native American, 1.25% Asian, 0.01% Pacific Islander, 0.30% from other races, and 0.75% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 2.09% of the population.

There were 2,952 households out of which 32.2% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 59.8% were married couples living together, 8.5% had a female householder with no husband present, and 29.9% were non-families. 23.9% of all households were made up of individuals and 8.0% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.55 and the average family size was 3.07.

In the village the population was spread out with 24.2% under the age of 18, 4.8% from 18 to 24, 30.1% from 25 to 44, 28.8% from 45 to 64, and 12.1% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 40 years. For every 100 females there were 94.6 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 91.6 males.

The median income for a household in the village was $86,456, and the median income for a family was $104,488. Males had a median income of $78,715 versus $50,119 for females. The per capita income for the village was $43,694. About 1.6% of families and 2.8% of the population were below the poverty line, including 2.7% of those under age 18 and 2.8% of those age 65 or over.

[edit] Interesting Facts

  • "Cow Harbor Day" is an annual festival in the village consisting of a parade, live music, numerous street vendors, and demonstrations by the U.S. Coast Guard, among other attractions. Since 1977, there has also been a popular 10 kilometer footrace, the Great Cow Harbor 10K, which takes place on a different day in the same weekend in September.
  • Steer’s Pit, known simply as "The Pit" to locals, is a large land depression carved into the cliffs adjacent to Northport Harbor, north of James Street, West of Ocean Avenue, and just south of the enormous LILCo smokestacks . This unusual geographic feature is the result of sand mining operations by the Steers and Steers Company. Mining began in 1923 and commenced in the 1950s. The area has since been utilized for home and condo developments.
  • In 1997 the film In & Out, directed by Frank Oz, was on location on Main Street. The film, starring Kevin Kline, was about how a high school English teacher is outed as a gay man by a former student while accepting an Academy Award. Comedy ensues in the teacher's private life and small town where he teaches. In the film, the acceptance speech given by the former student (played by Matt Dillon) is rumored to be loosely based upon Tom Hanks' acceptance speech when receiving his Academy Award for Philadelphia. One scene was filmed in The Shipwreck Diner that is an actual railroad dining car that has sat near the end of Main Street for generations. The village's main street was made up to play the role of Greenleaf, Indiana. To maintain the fiction, camera crews were careful to shoot away from the harbor at the end of Main Street.
  • In 1984 Northport garnered nationwide attention as the sight of a gruesome satanic murder by highschool dropout Ricky Kasso. The village of Northport suffered an undeserved negative reputation for satanism.
  • The adjacent small towns of Asharoken, Eatons Neck, and Fort Salonga are often mistaken for being part of Northport since they are all served by the Northport Post Office and share the same zip code of 11768. However Asharoken, Eatons Neck, and Fort Salonga are each independent villages and hamlets of New York.

[edit] Famous Residents

[edit] Theater

[edit] Musicians

[edit] Writers

[edit] Business

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

[edit] References

Town of Huntington, New York

County

 Suffolk County, New York

Villages

Asharoken · Huntington Bay · Lloyd Harbor · Northport

Hamlets

Centerport · Cold Spring Harbor · Dix Hills · East Northport · Eatons Neck · Elwood · Fort Salonga · Greenlawn · Halesite · Huntington Station · Huntington · Melville · South Huntington
Website town.huntington.ny.us
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