Calverton, New York
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Calverton is a hamlet and
census-designated place A census-designated place (CDP) is a Place (United States Census Bureau), concentration of population defined by the United States Census Bureau for statistical purposes only. CDPs have been used in each decennial census since 1980 as the counte ...
(CDP) on eastern
Long Island Long Island is a densely populated continental island in southeastern New York (state), New York state, extending into the Atlantic Ocean. It constitutes a significant share of the New York metropolitan area in both population and land are ...
in Suffolk County, New York, United States. The population was 6,510 at the 2010 census. Most of Calverton is in the Town of Riverhead, while the area south of the Peconic River is a mostly undeveloped smaller portion in the Town of Brookhaven.


History

Calverton was first referred to as " Baiting Hollow Station" when the Long Island Rail Road arrived in 1844. The station closed in 1958, but the sheltered shed for the station remained standing as of 2007. The area's Native American name was ''Conungum'' or ''Kanungum'', meaning "fixed line" or "boundary". In 1868, the Calverton post office opened, named for Bernard J. Calvert. It remained a small farming community specializing in cranberries, which grew in swampy areas along the Peconic River until the Navy purchase. Calverton's history is tied closely to Naval Weapons Industrial Reserve Plant, Calverton. In 1953, the
United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...
purchased around Calverton from a local farmer named Harry Edwards, including the mansion of a grandson of Frank Winfield Woolworth's, so that
Grumman The Grumman Aircraft Engineering Corporation, later Grumman Aerospace Corporation, was a 20th century American producer of military and civilian aircraft. Founded on December 6, 1929, by Leroy Grumman and his business partners, it merged in 19 ...
could test and finish jets. A runway was built, and most of Grumman's F-14 Tomcat and E-2C Hawkeye aircraft were to pass through the plant. In 1965, Nelson Rockefeller proposed using the base as the fourth major airport for the New York metropolitan area. Grumman and local opposition ended the quest. In 1978, more than of the base were used to create Calverton National Cemetery, which is the largest and busiest (in terms of burials per day) United States national cemetery. In 1995, after Northrop acquired Grumman, the new
Northrop Grumman Northrop Grumman Corporation is an American multinational Aerospace manufacturer, aerospace and Arms industry, defense company. With 97,000 employees and an annual revenue in excess of $40 billion, it is one of the world's largest Arms industry ...
pulled out of the base, and the Navy began liquidating the land. In 1996, before the base could be turned over the Town of Riverhead, the base was used to reassemble the wreckage of TWA Flight 800 which had crashed about south in the ocean. In 2000, Skydive Long Island (formerly located at East Moriches) moved to the airport. As of 2024, Sky Dive Long Island moved operations to Shirley, NY and continues to generate the majority of the current air traffic as a key destination for New York–based skydivers. Through 2007, debates raged about whether or not to turn the base into a mega complex around a NASCAR track, called EPCAL Centre, or a giant ski resort based construction of an artificial high indoor ski mountain. In January 2008, the Riverhead Town Board, with newly elected officers, signed a deal to sell the airport for $155 million to Riverhead Resorts, to build the ski mountain, tear up the airport runway, and replace it with a lake, overruling a December vote to give the NASCAR track the go-ahead. It would have taken up to three years to get the necessary environmental permits, and the proposed opening date of the project was 2012. On November 12, 2010, however, the town of Riverhead voted 4–1 to cancel all plans for the indoor ski resort/water park. A portion of the base is being developed as an industrial/office park. Several new medium size industrial companies have sprung up in the area, including Crown Recycling and a Federal Express Distribution Center.


Geography

According to the
United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau, officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the Federal statistical system, U.S. federal statistical system, responsible for producing data about the American people and American economy, econ ...
, the CDP has a total area of , of which is land and , or 1.82%, is water. The former Naval Weapons Industrial Reserve Plant became the Naval Weapons Industrial Reserve Plant, Calverton (IATA code "CTO") in the late 20th century.


Demographics

As of the
census A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...
of 2000, there were 5,704 people, 2,539 households, and 1,518 families residing in the CDP. The population density was . There were 2,735 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the CDP was 86.61%
White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...
, 7.66%
African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...
, 0.46% Native American, 0.95% Asian, 0.04%
Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, Pacificans, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the list of islands in the Pacific Ocean, Pacific Islands. As an ethnic group, ethnic/race (human categorization), racial term, it is used to describe th ...
, 2.03% from other races, and 2.26% from two or more races.
Hispanic The term Hispanic () are people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or broadly. In some contexts, Hispanic and Latino Americans, especially within the United States, "Hispanic" is used as an Ethnici ...
or Latino of any race were 6.07% of the population. There were 2,539 households, out of which 22.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 46.1% were married couples living together, 10.1% had a female householder with no husband present, and 40.2% were non-families. 34.7% of all households were made up of individuals, and 19.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.24 and the average family size was 2.88. In the CDP, the population was spread out, with 20.3% under the age of 18, 5.6% from 18 to 24, 27.5% from 25 to 44, 20.9% from 45 to 64, and 25.6% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 43 years. For every 100 females, there were 93.0 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 88.0 males. The median income for a household in the CDP was $36,544, and the median income for a family was $44,342. Males had a median income of $40,184 versus $33,047 for females. The
per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or average income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. In many countries, per capita income is determined using regular population surveys, such ...
for the CDP was $26,609. About 6.5% of families and 10.2% of the population were below the poverty threshold, including 13.1% of those under age 18 and 6.6% of those age 65 or over.


Economy

Splish Splash Water Park is located within the hamlet.


Media

* WPTY is licensed to serve Calverton


See also

* Calverton National Cemetery


References


External links


Newsday History
{{authority control Riverhead (town), New York Brookhaven, New York Hamlets in New York (state) Census-designated places in New York (state) Census-designated places in Suffolk County, New York Hamlets in Suffolk County, New York