Stony Brook is a

hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play, with 29,551 words. Set in Denmark, the play depi ...

and

census-designated place A census-designated place (CDP) is a 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 counterparts of incorporated places, su ...

(CDP) in the

Town A town is a human settlement. Towns are generally larger than villages and smaller than city, cities, though the criteria to distinguish between them vary considerably in different parts of the world. Origin and use The word "town" shares ...

of Brookhaven in

Suffolk County, New York Suffolk County () is the easternmost county in the U.S. state of New York. It is mainly located on the eastern end of Long Island, but also includes several smaller islands. According to the 2020 United States census, the county's popula ...

, United States, on the

North Shore North Shore or Northshore may refer to: Geographic features Australia *North Shore (Sydney), a suburban region of Sydney **Electoral district of North Shore **North Shore railway line, Sydney *Noosa North Shore, Queensland * North Shore, New So ...

of Long Island. Begun in the colonial era as an agricultural enclave, the hamlet experienced growth first as a

resort town A resort town, often called a resort city or resort destination, is an urban area where tourism or vacationing is the primary component of the local culture and economy. A typical resort town has one or more actual resorts in the surrounding ...

and then to its current state as one of Long Island's major

tourist town A honeypot site is a location attracting throngs of tourists who, due to their numbers, place pressure on the environment and local people. Honeypots are often used by cities or countries to manage their tourism industry. The use of honeypots c ...

s and centers of education. Despite being referred to as a

village A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town (although the word is often used to describe both hamlets and smaller towns), with a population typically ranging from a few hundred to ...

by residents and tourists alike, Stony Brook has never been legally incorporated by the state. The population was 13,740 at the 2010 census. The CDP is adjacent to the main campus of

Stony Brook University Stony Brook University (SBU), officially the State University of New York at Stony Brook, is a public research university in Stony Brook, New York. Along with the University at Buffalo, it is one of the State University of New York syste ...

, the largest public university in New York by area, and also The Stony Brook School, a private college preparatory school. It is also home to the Long Island Museum of American Art, History, and Carriages and the Stony Brook Village Center, a privately maintained commercial center planned in the style of a traditional

New England New England is a region comprising six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York to the west and by the Canadian province ...

village.

History

Origins and early history

Stony Brook was first settled in the late 17th century. It was originally known by the native name Wopowog and then as Stony Brook, with both names likely referring to the interconnected bodies of water at the hamlet's western edge. It began as a satellite community of adjacent

Setauket, New York Setauket is a hamlet and census-designated place (CDP) in the Town of Brookhaven, Suffolk County, New York, United States, on the North Shore of Long Island. As of the 2010 United States census, the CDP population, which at the time included ...

, the Town of Brookhaven's first settlement, and its land was included in the initial 1655 purchase from the native Setalcott tribe. Three Village Inn

gristmill A gristmill (also: grist mill, corn mill, flour mill, feed mill or feedmill) grinds cereal grain into flour and middlings. The term can refer to either the grinding mechanism or the building that holds it. Grist is grain that has been separated ...

was built in 1699 on the water body now known as the

Mill Pond A mill pond (or millpond) is a body of water used as a reservoir for a water-powered mill. Description Mill ponds were often created through the construction of a mill dam or weir (and mill stream) across a waterway. In many places, the co ...

. The current structure, which replaced the original in 1751, ground grain into the 1940s and has since been repurposed for public

tours Tours ( , ) is one of the largest cities in the region of Centre-Val de Loire, France. It is the prefecture of the department of Indre-et-Loire. The commune of Tours had 136,463 inhabitants as of 2018 while the population of the whole metr ...

. For religious services and education, the hamlet's original residents had to attend institutions in the neighboring communities of Setauket and St. James. In the latter half of the

18th century The 18th century lasted from January 1, 1701 ( MDCCI) to December 31, 1800 ( MDCCC). During the 18th century, elements of Enlightenment thinking culminated in the American, French, and Haitian Revolutions. During the century, slave tradin ...

, activity began to shift from the mill area north toward the

harbor A harbor (American English), harbour (British English; see spelling differences), or haven is a sheltered body of water where ships, boats, and barges can be docked. The term ''harbor'' is often used interchangeably with ''port'', which is a ...

as new residences, a number of which still stand, were constructed. Stony Brook was a remote area through the 18th century aside for a modest amount of commerce near the mill at the intersection of Main Street and Harbor Road. The community's development was stalled by its poorly accessible harbor relative to nearby Setauket and Port Jefferson. In the 1840s, local painter

William Sidney Mount William Sidney Mount (November 26, 1807 – November 19, 1868) was a 19th-century American genre painter. Born in Setauket in 1807, Mount spent much of his life in his hometown and the adjacent village of Stony Brook, where he painted portraits, ...

led a call for the harbor's

dredging Dredging is the excavation of material from a water environment. Possible reasons for dredging include improving existing water features; reshaping land and water features to alter drainage, navigability, and commercial use; constructing d ...

. This was completed twice, but after the harbor filled in both times the effort was abandoned. Lacking the resources of its neighboring harbor settlements, Stony Brook based its economy on agriculture and the

cordwood Cordwood construction (also called cordwood masonry or cordwood building, alternatively stackwall or stovewood) is a term used for a natural building method in which short logs are piled crosswise to build a wall, using mortar or cob to perm ...

industry.

Growth

The Long Island Rail Road reached Stony Brook in the 1870s, creating an easy link between New York City and the citizens of Stony Brook. Stony Brook quickly became a popular summer resort for city dwellers attempting to escape the hazards and stress of urban life. The establishment of the Stony Brook Assembly in 1909 also helped to draw more residents to the local area. A number of these newcomers constructed houses and

cottage A cottage, during Feudalism in England, England's feudal period, was the holding by a cottager (known as a cotter or ''bordar'') of a small house with enough garden to feed a family and in return for the cottage, the cottager had to provide s ...

s, many of which were either originally made for year-round use or have since been converted to such. Stony Brook Post Office 2

Nevertheless, the majority of residences were local farmers and businessmen who depended on all necessities being in easy reach. Most businesses were then on the compact plot that would become the contemporary village green. Unlike today, the shops in this area were utilitarian and haphazardly arranged. The history of the unincorporated "village" is closely linked to that of Ward Melville, a local businessman who owned what would become the CVS Corporation. At one point owned much of what his family coined as the ''Three Village'' area (consisting of Stony Brook, the hamlet of

Setauket Setauket is a hamlet and census-designated place (CDP) in the Town of Brookhaven, Suffolk County, New York, United States, on the North Shore of Long Island. As of the 2010 United States census, the CDP population, which at the time included ...

, and the incorporated village of Old Field). Stony Brook Village shops

Beginning in 1939 with the creation of his Stony Brook Community Fund, Melville used his wealth to begin the transformation of part of the hamlet into his idea of an idyllic

village, the Stony Brook Village Center, with white clapboard buildings and quaint stores. The focus had been in the previous center of the village's commerce, which now consists of a village green and a crescent of stores embellished with stone walkways and seasonal gardening. To accomplish this, Melville moved many of the existing shops in the plot into the crescent and modified their details for consistency, a design model similar to that of

Colonial Williamsburg Colonial Williamsburg is a living-history museum and private foundation presenting a part of the historic district in the city of Williamsburg, Virginia, United States. The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation has 7300 employees at this location a ...

. As a centerpiece to the crescent, Melville built the

Stony Brook Post Office Stony may refer to: Places * Stony Brook (disambiguation) * Stony Creek (disambiguation) * Stony Lake (disambiguation) * Stony River (disambiguation) * Stony Island (disambiguation) * Stony Point (disambiguation) * Stony Mountain (Missouri) * St ...

, decorated by a large eagle that flaps its wings to mark each hour.

Modern development

Melville donated the land and funds to New York for establishing a branch of the

State University of New York The State University of New York (SUNY, , ) is a system of public colleges and universities in the State of New York. It is one of the largest comprehensive system of universities, colleges, and community colleges in the United States. Led by ...

in the area. This led what was then called the ''State University College on Long Island'', at the time in constrictive Oyster Bay quarters, to relocate and change its name to

. Melville also donated land and funds for the local school district. The Three Village Central School District today serves several communities in the vicinity and has named its flagship Ward Melville High School after the philanthropist. Tourist attractions include the

Stony Brook Grist Mill The Stony Brook Grist Mill is a Registered Historic Place property in Stony Brook, Suffolk County, New York Suffolk County () is the easternmost county in the U.S. state of New York. It is mainly located on the eastern end of Long Island ...

and the Long Island Museum of American Art, History, and Carriages, a large complex of buildings originally known as the Stony Brook Carriage House and Suffolk Museum. Other Stony Brook attractions are the 19th-century

William Sidney Mount House The William Sidney Mount House is a historic house at 1556 Stony Brook Road in Stony Brook, New York. Built in 1725 and enlarged in 1810, it was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1965 as the lifelong home of artist William Sidney Mount ...

, the St. James Episcopal Chapel, and the

West Meadow Beach Historic District West Meadow Beach Historic District is a peninsula of public parkland approximately 1.5 miles long and a former national historic district located in northwestern Stony Brook in Suffolk County, New York. The district through much of the 20th c ...

Geography

Stony Brook is on the

of Long Island, approximately east of the New York City borough of

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five Boroughs of New York City, boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the List of co ...

. The census-designated place occupies an irregular shape measuring roughly north to south and east to west. The historic core of Stony Brook was developed from the 17th century onward at the mouth of Stony Brook Harbor, a narrow inlet of the Long Island Sound. This section of town includes the Stony Brook Village Center, a planned commercial center in the style of New England clapboard architecture that opened in 1941. Nearby are the Long Island Museum, the Three Village Inn, and

. A

peninsula A peninsula (; ) is a landform that extends from a mainland and is surrounded by water on most, but not all of its borders. A peninsula is also sometimes defined as a piece of land bordered by water on three of its sides. Peninsulas exist on al ...

in this vicinity known as the West Meadow includes a beach and wetlands reserve. Stony Brook University is within and adjacent to the census-designated place, with its main campus less than from Stony Brook's historic center. It is primarily on the eastern side of the census-designated place, with a pedestrian entrance on Route 25a at the Stony Brook station of the Long Island Rail Road and a vehicular entrance on

Nicolls Road County Route 97 (CR 97) is a major north–south county road in Suffolk County, New York, in the United States. It runs from an intersection with CR 85 (Montauk Highway) in Bayport just west of Blue Point on the south shore of Lon ...

. The local stretch of Route 25A contains shops and other commercial properties that cater to the university's student body. The southern (inland) portion of Stony Brook primarily consists of post-war residential development. The Stony Brook University Research and Development Park (in Stony Brook and adjacent St. James) occupies a buffer between this section and the university's central campus. Forming Stony Brook's official southern boundary is Route 347, a corridor with commercial development including an AMC Loews cinema within the CDP boundaries and the

Smith Haven Mall Smith Haven Mall is a shopping mall located in Lake Grove, New York (with the western half of the mall in St. James), and is the main mall for the "Mid Island" area of Long Island. It is also the easternmost enclosed mall on Long Island, and thu ...

nearby.

Education

Stony Brook is well known as the home and namesake of The Stony Brook School, a prep school, and

. The hamlet is primarily located within the boundaries of (and is thus served by) the Three Village Central School District. However, a small section of the hamlet's southwestern extreme is located within the boundaries of (and is thus served by) the Middle Country Central School District. As such, children who reside within the hamlet and attend public schools go to school in one of these two districts, depending on where they reside within the hamlet.

Transportation

The Stony Brook station of the Long Island Rail Road's

Port Jefferson Branch The Port Jefferson Branch is a rail line and service owned and operated by the Long Island Rail Road in the U.S. state of New York. The branch splits from the Main Line just east of Hicksville and runs northeast and east to Port Jefferson. Se ...

is located within and serves the hamlet. Commute time to Penn Station is approximately 1 hr 48 mins including a transfer in Huntington, Hicksville or

Jamaica Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of Hispan ...

Demographics

As of the census of 2010, there were 13,727 people, 4,758 households, and 3,787 families residing in the CDP. The population density was 2,390.5 per square mile (923.3/km²). There were 4,970 housing units at an average density of 865.5/sq mi (334.3/km²). The racial makeup of the CDP was 88.6%

White White is the lightness, lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully diffuse reflection, reflect and scattering, scatter all the ...

, 14.4% from two or more races, 7.5% Asian, 4.4%

Hispanic The term ''Hispanic'' ( es, hispano) refers to people, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or Hispanidad. The term commonly applies to countries with a cultural and historical link to Spain and to viceroyalties for ...

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power ...

of any race, 1.7%

African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American ...

, 0.25% from other races, 0.1% Native American, and 0.01%

Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the Pacific Islands. As an ethnic/racial term, it is used to describe the original peoples—inhabitants and diasporas—of any of the three major subregions of Ocea ...

There were 4,758 households, out of which 39.2% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 71.3% were married couples living together, 6.3% had a female householder with no husband present, and 20.4% were non-families. 16.2% of all households were made up of individuals, and 9.1% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.88 and the average family size was 3.23. In the CDP, the population was spread out, with 26.9% under the age of 18, 5.8% from 18 to 24, 28.1% from 25 to 44, 26.5% from 45 to 64, and 12.7% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 39 years. For every 100 females, there were 95.2 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 91.2 males. The median income for a household in the CDP was $90,009, and the median income for a family was $95,567. Males had a median income of $68,400 versus $41,770 for females. The per capita income for the CDP was $35,247. About 1.9% of families and 2.9% of the population were below the poverty line, including 1.9% of those under age 18 and 2.9% of those age 65 or over.

Local media

* SBU TV, Stony Brook University Television * '' Stony Brook Independent'', publication at Stony Brook University * ''

Stony Brook Press Stony Brook University (SBU), officially the State University of New York at Stony Brook, is a public research university in Stony Brook, New York. Along with the University at Buffalo, it is one of the State University of New York system' ...

'', a newspaper at Stony Brook University. * '' The Statesman'', the oldest newspaper at Stony Brook University * ''The Village Times Herald'', a newspaper in Setauket * WUSB (FM), Stony Brook University Radio at 90.1 FM

Notable people

Bud Abbott William Alexander "Bud" Abbott (October 2, 1897 – April 24, 1974) was an American comedian, actor and producer. He was best known as the straight man half of the comedy duo Abbott and Costello. Early life Abbott was born in Asbury Park, New J ...

(1897–1974), comedian. "Abbott, now 39, lives in Stony Brook, Long Island" *

Cody Arnoux Cody Charles Arnoux (born April 13, 1988 in Stony Brook, New York) is an American soccer player. His previous clubs include NCAA affiliated Atlantic Coast Conference University team Wake Forest Demon Deacons, USL Premier Development League club ...

, soccer player * Awkwafina, actress, rapper * Harold Beverage, inventor * George Booth, ''New Yorker'' cartoonist * Lars Brownworth, teacher and historian * Nathan Bruckenthal, U.S. Coast Guardsman and posthumous Bronze Star recipient * Sarah Drew, actress * Brooke Ellison, first quadriplegic graduate from Harvard University * Michael J. Epstein, filmmaker and musician * Toni Frissell, fashion photographer * Frank E. Gaebelein, educator *

Manon Gage ''Immortality'' is a 2022 interactive film video game developed by Sam Barlow and published by Half Mermaid Productions. It was released for Windows and Xbox Series X/S in August, while Android and iOS versions were released via Netflix in Nove ...

, actress * Marci Geller, independent singer-songwriter *

Kevin James Kevin George Knipfing (born April 26, 1965), better known by his stage name Kevin James, is an American comedian and actor. In television, James played Doug Heffernan on '' The King of Queens'' from 1998 to 2007, and receieved a Primetime Em ...

, comedian, actor *

Karsh Kale Karsh Kale (pronounced ''Kursh Kah-lay'', ''कर्ष काळे'' in Marathi; born 1 November 1974) is an Indian-American musician born in England. Known primarily for his experimental tabla playing within electronic music contexts, Kale' ...

, producer, composer, musician *

Anthony Kay Anthony Benjamin Kay (born March 21, 1995) is an American professional baseball pitcher for the Chicago Cubs of Major League Baseball (MLB). He has previously played in MLB for the Toronto Blue Jays. Kay was drafted by the New York Mets in the f ...

, pitcher for the

Toronto Blue Jays The Toronto Blue Jays are a Canadian professional baseball team based in Toronto. The Blue Jays compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Since 1989, the team has played its home games ...

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL) ...

* Michael Kimmel, sociologist, scholar * Steven Matz, pitcher for the St. Louis Cardinals of

* Evelina Mount, painter * R.A. the Rugged Man, hip-hop artist *

Cliff Robertson Clifford Parker Robertson III (September 9, 1923 – September 10, 2011) was an American actor whose career in film and television spanned over six decades. Robertson portrayed a young John F. Kennedy in the 1963 film '' PT 109'', and won the 196 ...

, actor *

Jim Simons Jim or James Simons may refer to: *Jim Simons (mathematician) (born 1938), mathematician and hedge fund manager *Jim Simons (golfer) (1950–2005), American golfer *Jimmy Simons (born 1970), Dutch footballer *Jimmy Simons, co-winner of 2001 Primeti ...

, mathematician and hedge-fund manager *

Louis Simpson Louis Aston Marantz Simpson (March 27, 1923 – September 14, 2012) was an American poet born in Jamaica. He won the 1964 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry for his work ''At the End of the Open Road''. Life and career Simpson was born in Jamaica, the so ...

, Pulitzer Prize poet * Gary Valentine, comedian, actor

References

External links

*
Stonybrook.com
community website
Ward Melville Heritage Organization

The Stony Brook School

Stony Brook University
{{authority control Brookhaven, New York Hamlets in New York (state) Long Island Sound Census-designated places in New York (state) Populated coastal places in New York (state)