| Town of Smithtown | |||
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| — Town — | |||
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| Smithtown is located on the north shore of western Suffolk County on Long Island, NY. | |||
| U.S. Census Bureau Map | |||
| Coordinates: | |||
| Country | United States | ||
| State | New York | ||
| County | Suffolk | ||
| Government | |||
| • Town Supervisor | Patrick Vecchio | ||
| Area | |||
| • Total | 111.4 sq mi (288.5 km2) | ||
| • Land | 53.6 sq mi (138.8 km2) | ||
| • Water | 57.8 sq mi (149.7 km2) | ||
| Elevation | 105 ft (32 m) | ||
| Population (2010)[1] | |||
| • Total | 117,801 | ||
| • Density | 2,159.8/sq mi (833.9/km2) | ||
| Time zone | EST (UTC−5) | ||
| • Summer (DST) | EDT (UTC−4) | ||
| ZIP codes | 11745, 11787, 11788 | ||
| Area code(s) | 631 | ||
| FIPS code | 36-68000 | ||
| GNIS feature ID | 0979498 | ||
| Website | Smithtown, NY | ||
Smithtown is a town in Suffolk County, New York, United States, on the North Shore of Long Island. The population was 117,801 at the 2010 census.
The census-designated place of Smithtown lies in the town.
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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[2] 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.
The Town of Smithtown is located at 40° 52' 13" North, 73° 13' 3" West (40.862786, -73.215175).[3]
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.
| Historical populations | |||
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| Census | Pop. | %± | |
| 1850 | 1,972 |
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| 1860 | 2,130 | 8.0% | |
| 1870 | 2,136 | 0.3% | |
| 1880 | 2,249 | 5.3% | |
| 1890 | 3,357 | 49.3% | |
| 1900 | 5,863 | 74.6% | |
| 1910 | 7,073 | 20.6% | |
| 1920 | 9,114 | 28.9% | |
| 1930 | 11,855 | 30.1% | |
| 1940 | 13,970 | 17.8% | |
| 1950 | 20,993 | 50.3% | |
| 1960 | 50,347 | 139.8% | |
| 1970 | 114,657 | 127.7% | |
| 1980 | 116,663 | 1.7% | |
| 1990 | 113,406 | −2.8% | |
| 2000 | 115,715 | 2.0% | |
As of the census[4] 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 per square mile (283.6/km²). The racial makeup of the town was:
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.[1] 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%).
Smithtown is the city of license for two radio stations, WFRS Family Radio and WIGX "Island 94-3", repeater W228BI for WNYC, and TV station WFTY-TV. Smithtown runs its board meetings on the GOVT TV station, Cablevision channel 18 or Verizon channel 27. Smithtown is also home to three local newspapers, The Times of Smithtown, Smithtown Messenger and The Smithtown News, which carry articles pertaining to the community. Web sites such as SmithtownRadio.com serve as hyper-local news outlets for the community.
Smithtown is protected by the 4th precinct of the Suffolk County Police Department and the Smithtown Department of Public Safety. 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.
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).
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