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Coram

Longtime Spot for Town Meetings

A Scene near Coram (Photo from "Long Island To-day" by Frederick Ruther, 1909)

Beginnings: There wasn't much at Coram before 1750. For the earliest white settlers, it was a stop along the route from Setauket to Mastic. In fact, its name is derived from the Indian word Wincoram, meaning ``a passage between hills or a valley.''

The Revolution: On returning from a successful raid on Fort St. George in Mastic in the fall of 1780, Patriot Maj. Benjamin Tallmadge and 12 men rode into Coram on horseback, setting fire to 100 tons of hay. The stacks belonged to the British, who hoped to keep their horses fed through the winter. A decade later, President George Washington, who as the Revolutionary general had ordered the hay-burning, stopped in Coram for lunch on his way to East Setauket.

Turning Point: By 1790, Brookhaven Town officials were looking for a more convenient polling place than Setauket, still an arduous journey for landowners in Mastic. Coram clinched the honor, serving as Brookhaven's town seat for nearly 100 years. Though it may sound grand, the designation meant simply that farmers in horse-drawn wagons met every April at Lester H. Davis' house. They swapped horses, gossiped and voted in the annual election. In 1884, the town was divided into election districts, ending the town meeting days in Coram.

Brush With Fame: Clarence Mulford, author of the popular series ``Hopalong Cassidy,'' summered in Coram from 1908 to 1912.