Cold Spring Harbor is a

hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play. Set in Denmark, the play (the ...

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) in the Town of Huntington, in Suffolk County, on the North 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 ...

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 * ...

. As of the 2010 United States census, the CDP population was 5,070.

History

Cold Spring Harbor was named after the naturally cold freshwater springs that flow in the area. Its economy mainly tied to milling and port activities, it rose in prominence as a

whaling Whaling is the hunting of whales for their products such as meat and blubber, which can be turned into a type of oil that was important in the Industrial Revolution. Whaling was practiced as an organized industry as early as 875 AD. By the 16t ...

community in the mid-nineteenth century. After the decline of whaling in the 1860s, it became a resort town with several hotels. In the 20th century it became known as the site of

Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (CSHL) is a private, non-profit institution with research programs focusing on cancer, neuroscience, botany, genomics, and quantitative biology. It is located in Laurel Hollow, New York, in Nassau County, on ...

, although the laboratory itself is located in the adjacent village of Laurel Hollow in Nassau County, which was called Cold Spring before incorporation. Today it is primarily a

bedroom community A commuter town is a populated area that is primarily residential rather than commercial or industrial. Routine travel from home to work and back is called commuting, which is where the term comes from. A commuter town may be called by many o ...

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

, with a small central business area running along Route 25A, and is home to many educational and cultural organizations: the Cold Spring Harbor Whaling Museum, the Cold Spring Harbor Fish Hatchery and Aquarium (also in Laurel Hollow), Dolan DNA Learning Center, the Uplands Farm Sanctuary (home of

The Nature Conservancy The Nature Conservancy (TNC) is a global environmental organization headquartered in Arlington, Virginia, United States. it works via affiliates or branches in 79 countries and territories, as well as across every state in the US. Founded in ...

's Long Island chapter), and a museum exhibition gallery run b
Preservation Long Island

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 4.86%, is water.

Demographics

2020 Census

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 3,064 people living in the CDP (down from 4,975 people in the year 2000). There were 967 households, and 753 families residing in the CDP. The racial makeup of the CDP was 87.47%

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 ...

, 0.36%

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 ...

, 0.035% Native American, 3.88% Asian, 1.34% from other races, and 6.89% from two or more races.

2000 Census

There were 1,753 households, out of which 38.8% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 71.8% 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, 7.1% had a female householder with no husband present, and 19.2% were non-families. 14.9% of all households were made up of individuals, and 5.8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.84 and the average family size was 3.15. In the CDP, the population was spread out, with 26.7% under the age of 18, 4.2% from 18 to 24, 28.9% from 25 to 44, 26.9% from 45 to 64, and 13.4% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 40 years. For every 100 females, there were 94.9 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 92.1 males. The median income for a household in the CDP was $101,122, and the median income for a family was $112,441. Males had a median income of $78,984 versus $44,464 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 $52,403. About 1.3% of families and 2.2% 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 ...

, including 0.4% of those under age 18 and 3.6% of those age 65 or over.

Arts and culture

Residents of Cold Spring Harbor fall into one of two library districts, Cold Spring Harbor and Huntington, each of which correspond to their respective school district.

Parks and recreation

Cold Spring Harbor State Park is located here.

Education

Cold Spring Harbor is primarily served by the Cold Spring Harbor School District, and in parts by the Huntington Union Free School District.

Infrastructure

Transportation

Cold Spring Harbor is served by the Cold Spring Harbor LIRR Station which is outside the hamlet in the neighboring hamlet of West Hills.

Notable people

* Al Arbour lived in Cold Spring Harbor during his coaching career with the

New York Islanders The New York Islanders (colloquially known as the Isles) are a professional ice hockey team based in Elmont, New York. The Islanders compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference (N ...

. He moved in 1999, some years after his retirement * James L. Dolan,

Cablevision Cablevision Systems Corporation was an American cable television company with systems serving areas surrounding New York City. It was the fifth-largest cable provider and ninth-largest television provider in the United States. Throughout its ex ...

CEO, graduated in 1974 from Cold Spring Harbor High School. *

Sean Hannity Sean Patrick Hannity (born December 30, 1961) is an American conservative television presenter, broadcaster and writer. He hosts ''The Sean Hannity Show'', a radio syndication, nationally syndicated talk radio show, has hosted a Hannity, sel ...

Fox News The Fox News Channel (FNC), commonly known as Fox News, is an American Multinational corporation, multinational Conservatism in the United States, conservative List of news television channels, news and political commentary Television stati ...

host * Nouria Hernandez, rector of the

University of Lausanne The University of Lausanne (UNIL; ) in Lausanne, Switzerland, was founded in 1537 as a school of Protestant theology, before being made a university in 1890. The university is the second-oldest in Switzerland, and one of the oldest universities ...

(

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

) was a professor at the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory. * Rosalie Gardiner Jones, suffragette *

Barbara McClintock Barbara McClintock (June 16, 1902 – September 2, 1992) was an American scientist and cytogenetics, cytogeneticist who was awarded the 1983 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. McClintock received her PhD in botany from Cornell University ...

Nobel Prize The Nobel Prizes ( ; ; ) are awards administered by the Nobel Foundation and granted in accordance with the principle of "for the greatest benefit to humankind". The prizes were first awarded in 1901, marking the fifth anniversary of Alfred N ...

winner for the discovery of gene transposition, worked at the

for many years and grew corn for research purposes in Cold Spring Harbor. * Scott Seiver,

World Series of Poker The World Series of Poker (WSOP) is a series of poker tournaments held annually in Paradise, Nevada, and since 2004, sponsored by Eldorado Resorts, Caesars Entertainment. It dates its origins to 1970, when Benny Binion invited seven of the best ...

bracelet winner and former world number one poker player, as ranked by the Global Poker Index *

Alex Foxen William Alex Foxen (born February 1, 1991) is an American professional poker player from Huntington, New York. As of March 2025, his total live tournament earnings exceed $44 million. Early life Foxen played tight end for the Boston College E ...

bracelet winner and 2019 Global Poker Index player of the year. Considered to be one of the best poker players in the world today. * Kathleen Sullivan, a leading scholar in American constitutional law and Professor at

Stanford Law School Stanford Law School (SLS) is the Law school in the United States, law school of Stanford University, a Private university, private research university near Palo Alto, California. Established in 1893, Stanford Law had an acceptance rate of 6.28% i ...

, was valedictorian at her graduation from Cold Spring Harbor High School in 1972 *

Wally Szczerbiak Walter Robert Szczerbiak Jr. ( ; born March 5, 1977) is an American former professional basketball player and current color analyst for the New York Knicks on MSG Network. He played 10 seasons for four teams in the National Basketball Associati ...

, retired

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 ...

basketball player, attended Cold Spring Harbor High School * Evan Thomas, journalist, editor and author, grew up in Cold Spring Harbor. *

Norman Thomas Norman Mattoon Thomas (November 20, 1884 – December 19, 1968) was an American Presbyterian religious minister, minister, political activist, and perennial candidate for president. He achieved fame as a socialism, socialist and pacifism, pacifis ...

socialist Socialism is an economic ideology, economic and political philosophy encompassing diverse Economic system, economic and social systems characterised by social ownership of the means of production, as opposed to private ownership. It describes ...

pacifist Pacifism is the opposition to war or violence. The word ''pacifism'' was coined by the French peace campaigner Émile Arnaud and adopted by other peace activists at the tenth Universal Peace Congress in Glasgow in 1901. A related term is ''a ...

, and six-time United States presidential candidate for the

Socialist Party of America The Socialist Party of America (SPA) was a socialist political party in the United States formed in 1901 by a merger between the three-year-old Social Democratic Party of America and disaffected elements of the Socialist Labor Party of America ...

, lived in Cold Spring Harbor until his death in 1968. * Ryan Vesce, player for the

San Jose Sharks The San Jose Sharks are a professional ice hockey team based in San Jose, California. The Sharks compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division (NHL), Pacific Division in the Western Conference (NHL), Western Con ...

in the

NHL The National Hockey League (NHL; , ''LNH'') is a professional ice hockey league in North America composed of 32 teams25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. The NHL is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Cana ...

, grew up in Lloyd Harbor, adjacent to Cold Spring Harbor, and attended Cold Spring Harbor High School. *

James Watson James Dewey Watson (born April 6, 1928) is an American molecular biology, molecular biologist, geneticist, and zoologist. In 1953, he co-authored with Francis Crick the academic paper in ''Nature (journal), Nature'' proposing the Nucleic acid ...

winner, co-discoverer of the structure of

DNA Deoxyribonucleic acid (; DNA) is a polymer composed of two polynucleotide chains that coil around each other to form a double helix. The polymer carries genetic instructions for the development, functioning, growth and reproduction of al ...

, and former Chancellor of the

* Meg Whitman, former CEO of

Hewlett-Packard The Hewlett-Packard Company, commonly shortened to Hewlett-Packard ( ) or HP, was an American multinational information technology company. It was founded by Bill Hewlett and David Packard in 1939 in a one-car garage in Palo Alto, California ...

and

eBay eBay Inc. ( , often stylized as ebay) is an American multinational e-commerce company based in San Jose, California, that allows users to buy or view items via retail sales through online marketplaces and websites in 190 markets worldwide. ...

, grew up in Lloyd Harbor and attended Cold Spring Harbor High School, graduating in 1973.

In popular culture

* The novel '' Cold Spring Harbor'' (1986), by Richard Yates, is a quiet suburban tragedy set in the 1940s. * In the '' Godzilla: The Series'' episode "Lizard Season", Cold Spring Harbor was used as the setting of the final battle between Godzilla and the Lizard Slayers, a trio of robots developed by the series' recurring villain Cameron Winter. * '' Cold Spring Harbor'' is the name of

Billy Joel William Martin Joel (born May 9, 1949) is an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. Nicknamed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Piano Man" after his Signature song, signature 1973 song Piano Man (song), of the same name, Joel has ha ...

's debut solo album from 1971 and is referenced in the song " Everybody Loves You Now": "You ain't got the time to go to Cold Spring Harbor no more." The album's cover has Joel in the hamlet. He would go on to purchase a house in the adjacent village of Lloyd Harbor with his then-wife

Christie Brinkley Christie Lee Brinkley (née Hudson; born February 2, 1954) is an American model. Brinkley appeared on an unprecedented three consecutive covers of ''Sports Illustrated'' Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue, Swimsuit Issues in 1979, 1980, and 1981 ...

in 1981.

References

External links

Cold Spring Harbor Village

Cold Spring Harbor High School
{{authority control Huntington, New York Census-designated places in New York (state) Hamlets in New York (state) Long Island Sound Populated coastal places in New York (state) Census-designated places in Suffolk County, New York Hamlets in Suffolk County, New York