The Town of Huntington is located at the Nassau-Suffolk County line in the westernmost point of Suffolk County. Manhattan is around 40 miles away, and Riverhead, the county seat of Suffolk, is also about 40 miles away. The early history of the American colonies is strongly related to Huntington's history. The town was first established in 1653, even before the first New England colonist had even been born. The community was once based on waterborne transportation. The inland farmlands of Long Island were easily accessible thanks to the natural harbors. The early Huntington village, which became the hub for the transfer of agricultural goods into colonial trade, was located near the harbor. For two centuries, waterborne transportation and agriculture served as the region's mainstays, but in later years, the whaling industry and increased manufacturing activity broadened the region's economy and sparked the growth of the harbor communities of Cold Spring Harbor, Huntington, and Northport. Learn more about the geography and climate of Huntington here.
History of Huntington, New York
Three Oyster Bay residents, Richard Holbrook, Robert Williams, and Daniel Whitehead, paid the Matinecock tribe for a piece of property in 1653. The "First Purchase" was a plot of land that was bounded by Long Island Sound to the north, Cold Spring Harbor to the west, Northport Harbor to the east, and what is now known as Old Country Road to the south. The three men gave the already-residing settlers immediate access to the land.
Although the name's origin is unknown, historians generally agree that it was chosen to honor Oliver Cromwell, who was Lord Protector of England at the time the town was founded and was born nearby. From that first settlement, Huntington expanded through the years to encompass the whole area that is now the towns of Huntington and Babylon. In order to establish Babylon, the southern portion of the town was formally divided.
Huntington voted in 1660 to join the Connecticut colony rather than continue to be governed by New Amsterdam because the town was primarily made up of English immigrants, in contrast to the rest of the New Amsterdam colony. Huntington wasn't fully returned to New York's hands until the British took over New Amsterdam in 1664, calling it New York.
British troops used Huntington as their headquarters after the Battle of Long Island during the American Revolutionary War, and they stayed entrenched there until the end of the conflict.
Huntington's economy changed from being centered mostly on agricultural and shipping (thanks to its well-protected harbor) to tourism and commuting with the advent of the Long Island Rail Road in 1867. Cold Spring Harbor developed into a well-liked vacation spot.
Like the rest of the area, Huntington experienced a rapid increase in population after World War II. Homes replaced farms and resorts, and Huntington has developed into a significant bedroom neighborhood for New York City, which is nearby.