Great River NY Real Estate & Homes for Sale

The neighborhood derives its name from the Algonquian term for the region, “Connetquot,” which means “great river.” It was previously named Youngsport after the Youngs family that lived in the area in the 1840s then became home to several New York City aristocratic families, such as the Cuttings.

Local Area Information

Great River is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in the south-central Town of Islip, Suffolk County, on the South Shore of Long Island, New York. It is bordered by the hamlets of East Islip and North Great River on the west and north, respectively, and on the east by the six-mile-long Connetquot River, one of the four longest rivers on Long Island. The southern coastline commands gorgeous views of the Great South Bay, across which are Fire Island’s small beach communities.

Residential districts in Great River take up only a small region of the entire land area and encompass mostly single-family homes, some of which are luxury houses with pools or first-floor bedrooms or both. The properties range from 1-bedroom to 4-bedroom homes or larger. There are also two multifamily housing developments, the lovely Westbrook Village and Fairfield at Connetquot, a luxury rental community.

The hamlet’s northwest corner is home to an industrial district with a range of businesses and services housed in the sprawling 355,000-square-foot building complex called Sunrise Business Center. Perhaps the sole commercial establishment in the neighborhood is a steakhouse run out of a charming turn-of-the-20th-century home. The area uses the Great River, NY 11739 ZIP code.

Great River was once the location of William Nicoll’s magnificent estate that he named Islip Grange after his ancestral village of Islip in England. Nicoll’s property eventually became Long Island’s largest manor, part of which became what we know today as Heckscher State Park. Another majestic estate that occupied the area was that of William Bayard Cutting, whose widow and daughter later donated to New York State a section of the property that became the current Bayard Cutting Arboretum State Park.

Great River is about 50 miles east of Manhattan, New York City, and served by the Long Island Rail Road via the Montauk Branch. Traveling to or from the city by car takes about an hour and 26 minutes to two hours and four minutes via the Southern State Parkway or Long Island Expressway.

General Information

Township: Town of Islip | Islip, New York

County: Suffolk County

Population: 2,005 (2020)

Classification: Hamlet, CDP

Chamber of Commerce: Great River Chamber of Commerce

LIRR Train Station/Schedule: MTA.info/lirr
The LIRR serves Great River via the Great River Station.
Travel time to Manhattan, Penn Station is about
1 hour 10 minutes to 1 hour 50 minutes.

Beaches & Parks

The Bayard Cutting Arboretum State Park is a 691-acre property bequeathed to the state so that it “shall be an oasis of beauty and of quiet, and that it shall be a source of pleasure, rest and refreshment to those who delight in outdoor beauty…” Though it is referred to as a state “park,” common park activities like picnicking, biking, and the likes are not allowed, rather visitors can take quiet walks among the pine trees or the rhododendrons in this soothing retreat.

Heckscher State Park is a 1,600-acre property that is open for biking, camping, fishing, hiking, cross-country skiing/snowshoeing and observing nature. This enormous park is home to boat launches, playing fields, waterfront cottages, pavilions, playgrounds, and a 21-hole Disc Golf Course. It also has three beaches—West Beach, Overlook Beach, and East Beach—which offer opportunities for swimming, canoeing/kayaking, stand-up paddle boarding, and windsurfing on the Great South Bay.

Timber Point Golf Course is a public, full-service, 27-hole regulation length golfing facility designed by Colt and Allison. The course, which is located where the Connetquot River joins the Great South Bay, features a range of terrain and offers golf players impressive views of the South Shore. The ever-changing coastal breeze ensures a tough challenge and rounds that never play the same way twice.

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