Westhampton Beach, New York
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Westhampton Beach is a village in Suffolk County, New York, United States. As of the 2000 census, the village population was 1,902.
The Village of Westhampton Beach is in the Town of Southampton.
Contents |
[edit] Geography
Westhampton Beach is located at (40.808995, -72.646009)GR1.
According to the United States Census Bureau, the village has a total area of 7.7 km² (3.0 mi²). 7.5 km² (2.9 mi²) of it is land and 0.2 km² (0.1 mi²) of it (2.35%) is water.
[edit] History
The first settlers came to Westhampton for various reasons, but the main reason was to find more land to graze their cattle and for the salt hay. Most of these early settlers were cattle farmers and originally came from Europe. The first place they settled was Conscience Point, Southampton in 1640. The farmers began to have trouble providing enough land for their cows. As the next generation grew up they wanted to spread out and so they decided to walk westward towards Westhampton. They traveled on Indian trails and found beautiful pastures for their cows. The first house was built on Cook's Pond because of their need for fresh water. They built a dam to control the vast flowing stream. Traveling on the water made it much easier and faster.
The early settlers were very self-sufficient. They built fences out of fallen trees, used whale oil for their lamps, and hunted for their food and clothing. Clothes were made from bears, deer, cows, and sheep. The first Presbyterian Church was built and individuals would attend church all morning to pray. The families would take a break for lunch and then return in the afternoon to pray even more. On Sundays families worshipped all day long.
Although the early settlers were resourceful and found new land, they weren't always very creative. They named their streets after the people that lived here and after the geography of the land. Thus, we have Halsey Lane, Rogers Lane, Raynor Lane, and Steven's Lane. One third of the roads are named after the people who lived there. Other roads were called Redfield, Seafield, Hazlewood, and Sunset because they were located near a red field, a field by the sea, the woods, or a picturesque sunset. Other roads were named after Indian names such as Aspatuck, Chinnecock, Potunk, and Oneck.
Schooling was a lot different for children during this time. School was in session between the months of June and December. There were only hard benches and no toilets or lights were provided. Girls did not attend school but rather stayed home to take care of household duties. The teachers taught what was called the three R's - reading, writing, and arithemetic. Reading was taught primarily to be able to read the bible. Math was important to be able to count their money and how many crops were grown. Writing was taught primarily to be able to write letters to family and friends.
Communication was quite different back then as well. Unlike today, there were no cell phones, ipods, or cameras. The first post office was a box under a house. The postage was paid for by the receiver, not the sender. Thus, the familiar saying was, "Think of me often, write to me seldom."
There are popular fables about Westhampton. One involves the origin of Turkey Bridge. Supposedly, after the men built a bridge in Westhampton the first crossing was by a group of turkeys! Another version of this story is that the women begged the men to build a bridge because they were tired of getting their feet wet. The women promised the men a big turkey feast if they would build them a bridge.
Another fable involves a very brave woman. Wild animals were a major problem for the early settlers. There were deer, beaver, wild turkeys, seals, and bears. There is a legend about a woman who was washing her dishes and when she discarded her dishcloth outside a wild bear was staring right into her eyes. She ran back into the house, grabbed the gun above the fireplace and shot the bear! With the bear skin she made a beautiful rug.
[edit] Demographics
As of the censusGR2 of 2000, there were 15,902 people, 1805 households, and 498 families residing in the village. The population density was 252.4/km² (654.2/mi²). There were 2,279 housing units at an average density of 302.4/km² (783.9/mi²). The racial makeup of the village was 89.17% White, 4.63% African American, 0.42% Native American, 1.16% Asian, 0.05% Pacific Islander, 2.84% from other races, and 1.74% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 7.68% of the population.
There were 805 households out of which 22.2% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 47.1% were married couples living together, 11.1% had a female householder with no husband present, and 38.1% were non-families. 32.7% of all households were made up of individuals and 13.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.25 and the average family size was 2.81.
In the village the population was spread out with 20.5% under the age of 18, 6.1% from 18 to 24, 24.6% from 25 to 44, 28.2% from 45 to 64, and 20.7% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 44 years. For every 100 females there were 93.5 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 92.2 males.
The median income for a household in the village was $58,438, and the median income for a family was $74,412. Males had a median income of $55,625 versus $33,000 for females. The per capita income for the village was $38,500. About 6.8% of families and 9.0% of the population were below the poverty line, including 10.9% of those under age 18 and 4.3% of those age 65 or over.
[edit] External links
- Maps and aerial photos
- Street map from Google Maps, or Yahoo! Maps, or Windows Live Local
- Satellite image from Google Maps, Windows Live Local, WikiMapia
- Topographic map from TopoZone
- Aerial image or topographic map from TerraServer-USA
| Town of Southampton, New York | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
|||||||||
