Text size:

Huntington

As Long Island's fifth oldest town, Huntington has evolved during the last 345 years with many faces: tiny pioneer outpost, guerrilla stronghold in the American Revolution, home of Walt Whitman, whaling center, mother of Babylon Town, Gold Coast enclave and thriving suburban township.

On April 2, 1653, three Oyster Bay men - Richard Houldbroke, Robert Williams and Daniel Whitehead - made a deal with Raseokan, a Matinecock chief, to buy the land between Cold Spring and Northport Harbors, reaching from Long Island Sound almost as far as what is now the Northern State Parkway. By 1656, the rest of the north side of town had been bought east to the Nissequogue River at Smithtown, and eventually the town was extended south to Great South Bay. In 1872, Babylon Town was formed from southern Huntington.

The origin of the town's name has never been clear, but historians believe it stemmed from the fact that it was formed during the brief rule in England of Oliver Cromwell, whose birthplace was Huntingdon]], England. Early town meetings were held for two centuries in taverns or at the ``town spotte,'' now known as the village green.

Despite British control of Long Island during the Revolution, Huntington's role was notable. Town landowners in mid-1774 signed a declaration of rights challenging British authority. A year later, the town meeting ordered 80 men to be drilled in preparation for hostilities. The signing of the Declaration of Independence in 1776 set off wild celebration in Huntington.

The British made the town a major garrison to harass Long Island. Guerrilla attacks by Patriots and those invading by boat from Connecticut stung the Redcoats. They answered with such desecrations as destruction of the Presbyterian Church and construction of a fort on the town cemetery. Capt. Nathan Hale, a spy for Gen. George Washington, landed at present-day Huntington Bay. Nearby Halesite is named for the famed Patriot, who is believed to have been caught and executed in New York on Sept. 22, 1776.

Northport became the major shipbuilding area. Cold Spring Harbor was Suffolk County's second largest whaling port (behind Sag Harbor) from 1838 to 1860. Poet Walt Whitman was born at West Hills in 1819 and died in Camden, N.J., at age 73.

The 1890s and early 1900s saw Gold Coast development, with estates including those of Marshall Field III, William K. Vanderbilt II, Walter B. Jennings and Otto Kahn. After World War II, the suburban boom drove the town's population from 47,506 in 1950 to 191,032 as of January, 1997.