Yaphank, New York

Yaphank, New York
—  CDP  —
U.S. Census Map
Yaphank, New York
Location within the state of New York
Coordinates:
Country United States
State New York
County Suffolk
Area
 • Total 14.1 sq mi (36.5 km2)
 • Land 14.0 sq mi (36.2 km2)
 • Water 0.1 sq mi (0.3 km2)
Elevation 43 ft (13 m)
Population (2000)
 • Total 5,025
 • Density 359.5/sq mi (138.8/km2)
Time zone Eastern (EST) (UTC-5)
 • Summer (DST) EDT (UTC-4)
ZIP code 11980
Area code(s) 631
FIPS code 36-83426[1]
GNIS feature ID 0971807[2]

Yaphank is a census-designated place (CDP) in Suffolk County, New York, United States. The population was 5,025 at the 2000 census.

Yaphank is a community in the south part of the Town of Brookhaven. It is served by the Longwood Central School District, except for extreme southwestern Yaphank, where it is served by the South Country Central School District.

Contents

History

In the mid 18th century, a man named John Homan built two mills along Carmen's River, which runs directly through the center of the town. These two mills inspired the first name for the town: Millville. The translator author Mary Louise Booth was born in Millville in 1831. In 1846 a post office was opened in the town, but because there were thirteen other towns named "Millville" in New York State at the time, the town was renamed "Yaphank", from the local Native American word "Yamphanke", meaning "bank of a river".

In 1843 the Long Island Rail Road built a railroad station in Yaphank (still named Millville at the time), and virtually overnight the small mill town became a major commercial center. By 1875, Yaphank had two grist mills, two lumber mills, two blacksmith shops, a printing office, an upholstery shop, a stagecoach line, two physicians, a shoe shop, two wheelwright shops, a meat market, a dressmaker and a general store.

Today, Yaphank is home to about half of those industries. The Grist mills, blacksmith, physician, shoe shop, wheelwright shops, meat markets and the dress makers are long gone although the rail road station is still here along with the general stores.

Today, Yaphank holds three deli's, one pizza shop, a shooting supply company, a skeet range, a bank, and Dawn House & Building Movers - a house moving company.

Yaphank was the home of Camp Upton, which was used as a boot camp in 1917. In 1947, the United States War Department transferred the Camp Upton site to the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission (AEC), and it now serves as the home of Brookhaven National Laboratory. Before the end of World War I, more than 30,000 men received their basic training there. Perhaps the most notable person to have trained at Camp Upton was the songwriter Irving Berlin. It was there he composed the musical comedy revue Yip Yip Yaphank, which had a brief run on Broadway.

WWII Significance - German Bund and Nazi activity. Outside of Yaphank, the German-American Bund operated Camp Siegfried, a summer camp which taught Nazi ideology. See also Amagansett and Operation Pastorius

A number of Suffolk County facilities are located in Yaphank, including Suffolk County Police Department headquarters, the county fire academy, and the Suffolk County Farm and Education Center, which offers a glimpse into the workings of an authentic 100+ year old farm and educational programs by Cornell Cooperative Extension.

A quarter horse racing facility named Parr Meadows operated in Yaphank during 1977. The racetrack reopened in 1986 for a single meet, then called Suffolk Meadows. In 1979, Parr Meadows served as the venue of a tenth anniversary reunion concert that featured many of the original performers from the Woodstock Festival.

Geography

Yaphank is located at (40.835277, -72.929159)[3].

According to the United States Census Bureau, the CDP has a total area of 14.1 square miles (37 km2), of which, 14.0 square miles (36 km2) of it is land and 0.1 square miles (0.26 km2) of it (0.78%) is water.

Demographics

As of the census[1] of 2000, there were 5,025 people, 1,566 households, and 1,130 families residing in the CDP. The population density was 359.5 per square mile (138.8/km²). There were 1,650 housing units at an average density of 118.0/sq mi (45.6/km²). The racial makeup of the CDP was 85.11% White, 11.22% African American, 0.24% Native American, 1.03% Asian, 0.04% Pacific Islander, 0.94% from other races, and 1.41% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 7.34% of the population.

There were 1,566 households out of which 33.5% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 55.5% were married couples living together, 11.9% had a female householder with no husband present, and 27.8% were non-families. 21.9% of all households were made up of individuals and 6.8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.69 and the average family size was 3.14.

In the CDP the population was spread out with 21.9% under the age of 18, 8.0% from 18 to 24, 34.6% from 25 to 44, 24.0% from 45 to 64, and 11.6% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 37 years. For every 100 females there were 115.3 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 118.1 males.

The median income for a household in the CDP was $70,534, and the median income for a family was $72,348. Males had a median income of $48,807 versus $35,406 for females. The per capita income for the CDP was $25,020. About 3.3% of families and 3.8% of the population were below the poverty line, including 4.8% of those under age 18 and 4.7% of those age 65 or over.

See also

References

  1. ^ a b "American FactFinder". United States Census Bureau. http://factfinder.census.gov. Retrieved 2008-01-31. 
  2. ^ "US Board on Geographic Names". United States Geological Survey. 2007-10-25. http://geonames.usgs.gov. Retrieved 2008-01-31. 
  3. ^ "US Gazetteer files: 2010, 2000, and 1990". United States Census Bureau. 2011-02-12. http://www.census.gov/geo/www/gazetteer/gazette.html. Retrieved 2011-04-23. 

External links