Port Jefferson (New York)

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Port Jefferson
Port Jefferson.jpg
Location in Suffolk County (New York)
Location in Suffolk County (New York)
Basic data
State : United States
State : new York
County : Suffolk County
Coordinates : 40 ° 57 ′  N , 73 ° 3 ′  W Coordinates: 40 ° 57 ′  N , 73 ° 3 ′  W
Time zone : Eastern ( UTC − 5 / −4 )
Residents : 7,750 (as of 2010)
Population density : 993.6 inhabitants per km 2
Area : 7.9 km 2  (about 3 mi 2 ) of
which 7.8 km 2  (about 3 mi 2 ) is land
Height : 71 m
Postal code : 11777
Area code : +1 631
FIPS : 36-59355
GNIS ID : 2391078
Website : www.portjeff.com

Port Jefferson is a port on the north coast of Long Island in the US state of New York . It has the status of a incorporated village (self-governing village) within the Town of Brookhaven in Suffolk County . According to the 2010 census, the village had 7,750 inhabitants. In contrast to the surrounding places, which mostly consist of residential areas, Port Jefferson has a real small-town village center around the harbor.

geography

port

Port Jefferson has an area of ​​7.9 km² of which 7.8 km² is land. It is located on Port Jefferson Harbor , a side bay of Long Island Sound . From the bank, the village center stretches over a few smaller hills, the outer areas are then mostly on the ascent to the higher inland. Port Jefferson is bordered by Poquott and Setauket-East Setauket to the west, Port Jefferson Station to the south , Mount Sinai to the east and Belle Terre to the north .

history

The Indians originally called the area Suwassett , "land of small pines". Between 1655 and 1687 the land was acquired by European settlers who named it Drowned Meadow due to its swampy nature . The first building was built in 1682.

Shipbuilding began in Poquott in 1796, and in the following year John Willse built the first shipyard in what is now the port of Port Jefferson. Over the next few decades, the new village developed into a shipbuilding stronghold on Long Island, and it was also an important port for whalers .

During the British-American War , the port was attacked by two British warships in 1813, one of which was sunk through the fort at Poquott. On March 7, 1836, the place was named after the President Thomas Jefferson . In 1840 a harbor basin was dug and the swamps drained and made into solid land. On August 31, 1852, the port became the official entry point for the United States.

In 1872 the ferry connection to Bridgeport was opened, in 1873 the terminus of a section of the Long Island Rail Road was built on the southern outskirts . From around the 1870s, however, the shipyard industry fell into disrepair because the shipyards were not suitable for the emerging steel ships. The last large ship to be built at Port Jefferson was the schooner Martha Wallace in 1901 . Between 1917 and 1919, some systems for steel ships were upgraded for the First World War and up to 1,100 people worked on them, after which shipbuilding finally ended.

As a result, Port Jefferson developed into a tourist resort with its beach baths, and from 1910 the bay was also used as a sand pit at times. In 1963 the village was registered as a self-governing village .

Culture and sights

Dickens Festival

A Charles Dickens Festival is held in Port Jefferson every year in early December .

Infrastructure

Ferry to Bridgeport

There is a ferry service from the port across the Sound to Bridgeport in Connecticut . The terminus of a Long Island Rail Road railway line is located in the hinterland on the border to the neighboring town of Port Jefferson Station , which is named after it, and Port Jefferson is also connected to several local bus routes. With the St. Charles Hospital and the John T. Mather Hospital there are two hospitals in town.

Personalities

Web links

Commons : Port Jefferson  - album with pictures, videos and audio files