Amityville () is a

village A village is a human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town with a population typically ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand. Although villages are often located in rural areas, the term urban v ...

in the Town of Babylon in Suffolk County, on the South Shore of

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

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

, United States. The population was 9,500 at the 2020 census. The village maintains its own accredited law enforcement agency, the Amityville Police Department.

History

Huntington settlers first visited the Amityville area in 1653 due to its location to a source of

salt hay ''Sporobolus pumilus'', the saltmeadow cordgrass, also known as salt hay, is a species of cordgrass native to the Atlantic coast of the Americas, from Newfoundland south along the eastern United States to the Caribbean and north-eastern Mexico. I ...

for use as animal fodder.

Chief Wyandanch Wyandanch (''c''. 1571 – 1659) was a sachem of the Montaukett Indians in the mid-17th century on eastern Long Island.Strong, pg. 48 Initially he was a minor chief among the Montaukett,Strong, pg. 54 but due to his skillful manipulation of vario ...

granted the first deed to land in Amityville in 1658. The area was originally called ''Huntington West Neck South'' (it is on the

Great South Bay The Great South Bay is a lagoon situated between Long Island and Fire Island, in the State of New York. It is about long and has an average depth of and is at its deepest. It is protected from the Atlantic Ocean by Fire Island, a barrier island ...

and

Suffolk County, New York Suffolk County ( ) is the easternmost county in the U.S. state of New York, constituting the eastern two-thirds of Long Island. It is bordered to its west by Nassau County, to its east by Gardiners Bay and the open Atlantic Ocean, to its no ...

border in the southwest corner of what once called Huntington South), but is now the Town of Babylon. According to village lore, the name was changed in 1846 when residents were working to establish its new post office. The meeting turned into bedlam and one participant was to exclaim, "What this meeting needs is some amity." Another version says the name was first suggested by mill owner Samuel Ireland to name the town for his boat, the ''Amity''. The

place name Toponymy, toponymics, or toponomastics is the study of '' toponyms'' (proper names of places, also known as place names and geographic names), including their origins, meanings, usage, and types. ''Toponym'' is the general term for a proper nam ...

is strictly speaking an incidental name, marking an amicable agreement on the choice of a place name. The village was formally incorporated on March 3, 1894. In the early 1900s, Amityville was a popular tourist destination with large hotels on the bay and large homes.

Annie Oakley Annie Oakley (born Phoebe Ann Mosey; August 13, 1860 – November 3, 1926) was an American marksman, sharpshooter and folk heroine who starred in Buffalo Bill's Wild West. Oakley developed hunting skills as a child to provide for her impoveris ...

was said to be a frequent guest of vaudevillian

Fred Stone Fred Andrew Stone (August 19, 1873 – March 6, 1959) was an American actor. Stone began his career as a performer in circuses and minstrel shows, went on to act in vaudeville, and became a star on Broadway and in feature films, which earned hi ...

Will Rogers William Penn Adair Rogers (November 4, 1879 – August 15, 1935) was an American vaudeville performer, actor, and humorous social commentator. He was born as a citizen of the Cherokee Nation, in the Indian Territory (now part of Oklahoma ...

had a home across Clocks Boulevard from Stone. World-famous classical composer & pianist

Benjamin Britten Edward Benjamin Britten, Baron Britten of Aldeburgh (22 November 1913 – 4 December 1976) was an English composer, conductor, and pianist. He was a central figure of 20th-century British music, with a range of works including opera, o ...

resided in the village during World War II. Gangster

Al Capone Alphonse Gabriel Capone ( ; ; January 17, 1899 – January 25, 1947), sometimes known by the nickname "Scarface", was an American organized crime, gangster and businessman who attained notoriety during the Prohibition era as the co-foun ...

also had a house in the community. Congregants began holding meeting for St. Mary's Church in 1886, building a Chapel in 1888 by Wesley Ketcham under Rev. James H Noble and the church was consecrated in 1889, pre-dating the town incorporation.

''The Amityville Horror''

Amityville is the setting of the book ''

The Amityville Horror ''The Amityville Horror'' is a book by American author Jay Anson, published in September 1977. It is also the basis of a series of films released from 1979 onward. The book is based on the claims of paranormal experiences by the Lutz family b ...

'' by

Jay Anson Jay Anson (November 4, 1921 – March 12, 1980) was an American author whose most famous work was '' The Amityville Horror''. After the runaway success of that novel, he wrote ''666'', which also dealt with a haunted house. He died in 1980. Hi ...

, which was published in 1977 and has been adapted into a series of films starting in 1979. The story of ''The Amityville Horror'' can be traced back to a real life murder case in Amityville in November 1974, when Ronald DeFeo Jr. shot all six members of his family at 112 Ocean Avenue. In December 1975 George and Kathy Lutz and Kathy's three children moved into the house, but left after twenty-eight days, claiming to have been terrorized by

paranormal Paranormal events are purported phenomena described in popular culture, folk, and other non-scientific bodies of knowledge, whose existence within these contexts is described as being beyond the scope of normal scientific understanding. Not ...

phenomena produced by the house. Jay Anson's novel is said to be based on these events but has been the subject of much controversy; the murder case actually happened, but there has been no evidence that the house is or was haunted. The local residents and authorities in Amityville are unhappy with the attention that ''The Amityville Horror'' brings to the town, and tend to decline requests to discuss it publicly. The website of the Amityville Historical Society makes no mention of the murders in 1974 or the period that the Lutz family lived at the house. When the

History Channel History (formerly and commonly known as the History Channel) is an American pay television television broadcaster, network and the flagship channel of A&E Networks, a joint venture between Hearst Communications and the Disney General Entertainme ...

made its documentary about ''The Amityville Horror'' in 2000, no member of the Historical Society would discuss the matter on camera. The house featured in the novel still exists but has been renovated and the address changed in order to discourage tourists from visiting it. The

Dutch Colonial Revival architecture Dutch Colonial is a style of domestic architecture, primarily characterized by gambrel roofs having curved eaves along the length of the house. Modern versions built in the early 20th century are more accurately referred to as "Dutch Colonial Re ...

house built in 1927 was put on the market in May 2010 for $1.15 million and sold in September for $950,000 (equivalent to $ million in ).

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 village has a total area of , of which is land and is water, comprising a total of 15.38% water. The Village of Amityville is bordered to the west by East Massapequa (in Nassau County), to the north by North Amityville, to the east and the south by

Copiague Copiague ( ) is a hamlet on Long Island (and census-designated place) in the Town of Babylon, in Suffolk County, New York, United States. The population was 23,429 at the time of the 2020 census. Geography According to the United States Censu ...

, and to the south by the

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 2020, there were 9,500 people and 3,107 households in the village, with 2.61 persons per household. The

population density Population density (in agriculture: Standing stock (disambiguation), standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geog ...

was 4,506.9 people per square mile. There were 3,997 housing units, of which 28.2% were in multi-unit structures. The homeownership rate was 71.8%. The median value of owner-occupied housing units was $443,500. 3.6% of housing units were vacant and 20.7% of occupied housing units were occupied by renters. The racial makeup of the village was 81.7%

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 ...

, 9.7%

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 ...

, 0.3% Native American, 1.8% Asian, 0.0%

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 ...

, 4.1% from other races, and 2.5% 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 13.1% of the population. The village was 74.5% non-Hispanic White. There were 3,107 households, out of which 23.8% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 32.6% had individuals over the age of 65, 47.3% were

married couples Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognised union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children (if any), and b ...

living together, 10.2% had a female householder with no husband present, and 38.1% were non-families. 30.4% of all households were made up of individuals, and 13.1% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.43 and the average family size was 3.02. In the village, the population was relatively old with 4.5% under the age of 5, 17.7% under the age of 18, 5.3% from 20 to 24, 23.0% from 25 to 44, 32.2% from 45 to 64, and 19.9% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 46.4 years. 78.7% of the population had lived in the same house 1 year & over. 14.9% of the entire population were foreign-born and 21.6% of residents at least 5 years old spoke a language other than English at home. 90.1% of residents at least 25 years old had graduated from high school, and 30.7% of residents at least 25 years old had a bachelor's degree or higher. The mean travel time to work for workers aged 16 and over was 27.8 minutes. The median income for a household in the village was $74,366. 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 village was $35,411. 6.5% of the population were below the

poverty line The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line, or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for ...

Education

All of the village is served by the Amityville Union Free School District, which also serves large portions of North Amityville and East Massapequa and a small portion of

(however this part of Copiague is served by the Amityville Post Office and is probably thought to be part of Amityville). As of the 2010–2011 School Year, the Amityville Union Free School District had 2,780 students. The racial demographics were 0% American Indian or Alaska Native, 54% non-Hispanic black or African-American, 35% Hispanic or Latino, 1% Asian or Native Hawaiian/Other Pacific Islander, 8% non-Hispanic white, and 2% multiracial. 51% of students were eligible for free lunch, 10% for reduced-price lunch and 11% of students were Limited English Proficient. 16.5% of students were classified as "Special Ed". The school district had a graduation rate of 79% and 2% of students did not complete school. 87% of graduates received a Regents Diploma and 31% received a Regents Diploma with Advanced Designation. Of the 2011 completers, 35% planned to move on to 4-year College, 52% to 2-year College, 4% to Other Post-Secondary, 3% to the Military, 5% to Employment, 1% to Adult Services, 0% had other known post-secondary plans, and 1% had no known post-secondary plan. The district has: * One Elementary School (Pre-K and Kindergarten): Northeast Elementary School * One Elementary School (Grades 1–2): Northwest Elementary School * One Elementary School (Grades 3–5): Park Avenue Memorial Elementary School * One Junior High School (Grades 6–8): Edmund W. Miles Middle School * One High School (Grades 9–12):

Amityville Memorial High School Amityville Memorial High School is a public high school located in Amityville, New York, United States, on the south shore of Long Island. It is part of the Amityville Union Free School District, which includes the village of Amityville and po ...

For the 2011–2012 School Year, the Accountability Status for Northeast and Northwest Elementary Schools and the high school was "In Good Standing", while Park Avenue Memorial Elementary School was "In Need of Correction Action (year 2) Focused" and the middle school was "In Need of Restructuring (year 1) Comprehensive". The Accountability Status for the district overall was "In Good Standing" Up until recently, Amityville Memorial High School served grades 9–12, Edmund W. Miles Middle School served grades 6–8, Park Avenue Memorial Elementary School served grades 3–5, and Northwest Elementary School served grades 1–2. The first part of the change was implemented at the start of the 2009–2010 School Year when new 9th graders were kept at Edmund W. Miles Middle School and new 6th graders were kept at Park Avenue Memorial Elementary School. At the start of the 2012–2013 school year, new 3rd graders were kept at Northwest Elementary School.

Points of interest

* The Triangle – The fork of Broadway and Park Avenue, along with Ireland Place create a triangular plot of land at the center of the village. The Triangle building was built in 1892, the same year that Ireland Place opened. A gazebo was added to the north point of The Triangle prior to 1987. In 1994, The Triangle was officially designated "Memorial Triangle" in memory of all who have served the village. * The Lauder Museum is located at the corner of Broadway and Ireland Place, just south of The Triangle. The historic building was built for the Bank of Amityville in 1909. The Amityville Historical Society opened the Lauder Museum in 1972. * The Mike James Courts at Bolden Mack Park – not located in the village of Amityville, the Courts are located in the Hamlet of North Amityville which is an unincorporated section of the Town of Babylon. The hamlet is north of, and immediately adjacent to, the village of Amityville. * The Amityville beach * Sand Island – an island in the Great South Bay directly south of the Amityville beach and only accessible by boat.

Transportation

Amityville Amityville () is a village in the Town of Babylon in Suffolk County, on the South Shore of Long Island, in New York, United States. The population was 9,500 at the 2020 census. The village maintains its own accredited law enforcement agency, ...

is served by the

Babylon Branch The Babylon Branch is a rail service operated by the Long Island Rail Road in the U.S. state of New York. The term refers to the trains serving Montauk Branch stations from Valley Stream east to Babylon; in other words, the Babylon Branch is a ...

of the

Long Island Rail Road The Long Island Rail Road , or LIRR, is a Rail transport, railroad in the southeastern part of the U.S. state of New York (state), New York, stretching from Manhattan to the eastern tip of Suffolk County, New York, Suffolk County on Long Islan ...

. The station is a hub for both

NICE Nice ( ; ) is a city in and the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes department in France. The Nice agglomeration extends far beyond the administrative city limits, with a population of nearly one million Suffolk County Transit Suffolk County Transit is the provider of bus services in Suffolk County, New York, on Long Island and is an agency of the Suffolk County government. It was founded in 1980 as a county-run oversight and funding agency for a group of private con ...

buses in the area: * 1: Amityville LIRR to

Halesite Halesite is a Hamlet (New York), hamlet and census-designated place (CDP) in the Huntington, New York, Town of Huntington in Suffolk County, New York, Suffolk County, on the North Shore (Long Island), North Shore of Long Island, in New York (state ...

Fire Department * 2: Amityville LIRR to Patchogue LIRR * 4: Amityville LIRR to Smith Haven Mall * 10: Amityville LIRR to Babylon LIRR * n54: Amityville LIRR to Hempstead * n55: Amityville LIRR to Hempstead * n71: Amityville LIRR to Farmingdale State College

Notable people

* Henry Austin – 19th-century baseball player, died in Amityville. *

Alec Baldwin Alexander Rae Baldwin III (born April 3, 1958) is an American actor and film producer. He is known for his leading and supporting roles in a variety of genres, from comedy to drama. He has received List of awards and nominations received by A ...

– actor *

Gilbert Bayonne Gilbert Shashoo Bayonne (born October 10, 1988) is a Haitian-American soccer player, who plays both the forward and midfield positions. Bayonne is the nephew of former Haitian national team great, Pierre Bayonne. Career Youth Bayonne grew ...

– soccer player *

Christine Belford Christine Belford (born Christine Riley, ) is an American former television and film actress. She has sometimes been credited as Christina Belford. Early life Christine Riley was born in Amityville, Long Island, New York to Joseph J. Riley and ...

– actress * Rob Carpenter (born 1968) –

American football American football, referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada and also known as gridiron football, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular American football field, field with goalposts at e ...

wide receiver A wide receiver (WR), also referred to as a wideout, and historically known as a split end (SE) or flanker (FL), is an eligible receiver in gridiron football. A key skill position of the offense (American football), offense, WR gets its name ...

* Prince Paul – Producer *

De La Soul De La Soul ( ) is an American hip hop music, hip hop group formed in the village of Amityville on Long Island, New York (state), New York in 1988. They are best known for their eclectic sampling, eccentric lyrics, and contributions to the evoluti ...

–

Hip hop Hip-hop or hip hop (originally disco rap) is a popular music genre that emerged in the early 1970s from the African-American community of New York City. The style is characterized by its synthesis of a wide range of musical techniques. Hip- ...

trio. *

– British classical composer lived intermittently in Amityville from 1939 to 1942. Resided at the home of Dr. William Mayer and his wife

Elizabeth Mayer Elizabeth Wolff Mayer (1884 – 14 March 1970) was a German-born American translator and editor, closely associated with W. H. Auden, Benjamin Britten, Peter Pears, and other writers and musicians. After emigrating to the United States in the 1940s ...

. *

Rik Fox Richard Suligowski (born December 28, 1955), better known as Rik Fox, is an American heavy metal music, heavy metal bassist. He was active mainly during the 1970s and 1980s, in the New York City and Hollywood area rock music, rock and metal s ...

– Bass guitarist. *

Tony Graffanino Anthony Joseph Graffanino (; born Graffagnino, June 6, 1972) is an American former Major League Baseball second baseman, third baseman, and shortstop. Career Graffanino was primarily a contact hitter (just 481 strikeouts in 2787 big-league at-ba ...

–

MLB Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

player * Mike Gribbon – retired soccer player * Mike James –

NBA The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada). The NBA is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Ca ...

player * Kevin Kregel – astronaut * Ronald DeFeo Jr. – mass murderer *

Ja'net Dubois Jeannette Theresa Dubois (August 5 – February 17, 2020), known professionally as Ja'Net DuBois, Ja'net DuBois, and Ja'Net Du Bois (), was an American actress and singer. She was best known for her portrayal of Willona Woods, the neighborhood ...

- actress from the TV show "Good Times" *

Kene Holliday Kenneth Earl Holliday (born June 25, 1949) is an American actor of stage, film, and television. He is known for his role as Ben Matlock's original private investigator, Tyler Hudson, on '' Matlock'', and as Sgt. Curtis Baker on ''Carter Countr ...

- actor from the TV show "Matlock" *

Tre Mason Trence Mason (born August 6, 1993) is an American former professional football running back. He played in the National Football League (NFL) for the St. Louis Rams from 2014 to 2016. He played college football for the Auburn Tigers, earning fir ...

– NFL running back for

Los Angeles Rams The Los Angeles Rams are a professional American football team based in the Greater Los Angeles, Greater Los Angeles area. The Rams compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC West, West ...

Donnie McClurkin Donald Andrew McClurkin Jr. (born November 9, 1959) is an American gospel singer and minister. He has won three Grammy Awards, ten Stellar Awards, two BET Awards, two Soul Train Awards, one Dove Award and one NAACP Image Awards. He is one of t ...

– gospel singer *

Bill McDermott William R. McDermott (born August 18, 1961) is an American businessman and CEO of ServiceNow. Before ServiceNow, he was the CEO of the technology company SAP SE. During his tenure as co-CEO and CEO, SAP's market value increased from $39 billion ...

– CEO of

ServiceNow ServiceNow, Inc. is an American software company based in Santa Clara, California, that supplies a cloud computing platform for the creation and management of automated business workflows. It is used predominantly for the automation of informati ...

and former CEO of

SAP Sap is a fluid transported in the xylem cells (vessel elements or tracheids) or phloem sieve tube elements of a plant. These cells transport water and nutrients throughout the plant. Sap is distinct from latex, resin, or cell sap; it is a s ...

. *

John Niland John Rodney Niland (born 10 September 1940) is an Australian academic and board director. Niland obtained a Bachelor and Master of Commerce from UNSW and his PhD is from the University of Illinois. He has held academic positions at Cornell Uni ...

– NFL player *

Peter Pears Sir Peter Neville Luard Pears ( ; 22 June 19103 April 1986) was an English tenor. His career was closely associated with the composer Benjamin Britten, his personal and professional partner for nearly forty years. Pears' musical career started ...

– Tenor and Benjamin Britten's romantic partner. Resided at the home of William Meyers and his wife. * Robert Phillips – classical guitarist * A. J. Price –

player * George Ross – baseball player *

David Torn David M. Torn (born May 26, 1953) is an American guitarist, composer, and producer. He is known for combining electronic and acoustic instruments and for his use of looping. Background Torn has contributed to recordings by artists as diverse ...

– composer, guitarist, and music producer * Ken Webb - popular New York disc jockey * Dave Weldon – U.S. Congressman *

Darrel Young Darrel Young (born April 8, 1987) is an American former professional football fullback. He is currently the director of player development for the Pittsburgh Steelers. He was signed by the Washington Redskins as an undrafted free agent as a lin ...

– NFL player

Sister city

Amityville has been a sister city with

Le Bourget Le Bourget () is a commune in the northeastern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the center of Paris. The commune features Le Bourget Airport, which in turn hosts the Musée de l'Air et de l'Espace (Air and Space Museum). A very ...

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

since 1979.

References

External links

*
Flag of Amityville, New York (Flags of the World)
{{authority control Babylon (town), New York Villages in New York (state) Villages in Suffolk County, New York Populated coastal places in New York (state) The Amityville Horror