All About Suffolk County, Long Island
Covering the easternmost two thirds of Long Island, and 1,000 square miles is the county of Suffolk. At it's widest, it spans 26 miles from the Long Island Sound on the north to the south shore. With a population of 1,419,369 as of the 2000 census, Suffolk County spans 86 miles west to east from the Nassau County border to Montauk Point.
English settlers, after landing on the North Shore of Long Island from Massachusetts in 1640 and being forced east by the Dutch, settled in Southampton more than 40 years before Suffolk County was formed in 1683. The Puritans from New England who settled there farmed and fished, ultimately developing a whaling and shipping industry. Unhappy with the turn of events after the British took New Amsterdam, making them unwilling citizens of the Province of New Yrok and ruled by James, the Duke of York, brother of King Charles II, they fought for years for independence. In 1683, Suffolk County came into it's own, being recognized as one of the original 12 counties that comprised New York.
| Farming continues to be an integral part of the eastern Long Island economy, with produce including potatoes, strawberries, pumpkins and cabbage, stretching out over acres of well tilled soil. Sod farms coexist with wineries in a bucolic setting on the north shore. In addition to the great feeling of open spaces found nowhere else on Long Island, Suffolk county is home to quaint historic and seaside villages dotting the landscape, a charming and intricate shoreline housing all manner of sea faring vessels and some of the most pristine beaches found anywhere in the world. |
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