Town Of Southold
Town Of Southold
Communities In The Town Of Southold
About The Town Of Southold…
The Town of Southold, NY is located in the northeastern tip of Suffolk County’s East End, on the North Fork of Long Island, New York. It is bordered by the township of Riverhead to the southwest, and surrounded by the waters of the Long Island and Block Island Sounds to the north and east, respectively, and the Great Peconic, Little Peconic and Gardiners Bays to the south. To its southeast lies the Town of Shelter Island, separated by the Peconic River.
The long and narrow peninsula of Southold’s mainland comprises one incorporated village and nine unincorporated areas, including the hamlet and census-designated place (CDP) also called Southold. The Town extends to the CDP of Fishers Island, its 10th hamlet located roughly 11 miles off Orient Point at the tip of Long Island’s North Fork, beyond Plum Island, a US federal research facility and another island under Southold’s jurisdiction.
The three other islands within its authority are the privately owned Robins Island on the Great Peconic Bay and both the uninhabited Great Gull Island and Little Gull Island, located about halfway between Plum Island and Fishers Island.
The Town is about 404.5 square miles in total area, 86 percent of which is water and with only about 54 square miles of land, including its five islands. Southold is home to two New York State parks: Orient Beach State Park on Orient Point, and Hallock State Park Preserve, which it shares with the neighboring Town of Riverhead.
Aside from its state and county routes and other major thoroughfares, the Town is also served by the Main Line of the Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) with stations in Mattituck, Southold, and Greenport, where the Line’s terminus is located. Originally called “Yennecott” by its early Corchaug Indian inhabitants, Southold was founded in 1640 and is arguably the oldest English settlement in the state of New York.
