Editing Northport, New York (section)

== History ==

===European settlement===
The original inhabitants of the area now known as Northport were the [[Metoac|Matinecocks]], one of 13 [[Native Americans in the United States|Native American]] tribes of Long Island.  The Matinecocks called this land ''Opcathontyche'', which meant "wading place creek".<ref name="Newsday">{{cite web | last = Bleyer | first = Bill | title = Northport: A Harbor of Transformations | work = Long Island, Our History | publisher = Newsday | url = http://www.newsday.com/community/guide/lihistory/ny-historytown-hist005c,0,6458687.story?coll=ny-lihistory-navigation | access-date = February 8, 2007 }}</ref>  After [[Netherlands|Dutch]] interest a few years earlier, the land was sold by Chief Asharoken, head of the Matinecocks, to three [[English people|Englishmen]] in 1656.<ref>{{cite web | title = About Northport | publisher = Northport Chamber of Commerce | url = http://www.northportny.com/about.php | access-date = February 8, 2007 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080509163337/http://www.northportny.com/about.php | archive-date = May 9, 2008 | url-status = dead }}</ref>

With land that was well suited for farming, the early settlers grazed cattle on pastures around the harbor. The area soon became known as Great Cow Harbour.<ref name="names">{{cite web | last = Little | first = Bob | title = The Many Names of Northport | work = Northport History | publisher = Northport Historical Society | url = http://www.theliconnection.com/editorials/760 | access-date = February 8, 2007 | archive-date = July 17, 2011 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110717010205/http://www.theliconnection.com/editorials/760 | url-status = usurped }}</ref>  (The nearby hamlet of [[Centerport, New York|Centerport]] was known as Little Cow Harbour.) The oldest house still standing in Northport, the Skidmore House on Main Street, was built in 1761. In 2009 the house was put up for sale, sparking the village to pass a historical preservation law.<ref>{{Cite news | last = Fischler | first = Marchelle | title = On Long Island, Protecting These Old Houses | newspaper = New York Times | date = March 10, 2010 | url = https://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/14/realestate/14Lizo.html?emc=eta1 | access-date = March 13, 2010}}</ref>

===Growth, change, and shipbuilding===
[[Image:Woodbine Avenue Northport.jpg|thumb|250px|left|Woodbine Avenue and Northport Harbor, circa 1900]]
In the early 19th century, Great Cow Harbor was still a rural farming community. By the 1830s, the village contained only eight dwellings.<ref name="Suffolk">{{cite book | last = Bayles | first = Richard Mather | title = Historical and Descriptive Sketches of Suffolk County and Its Towns, Villages, Hamlets, Scenery, Institutions, and Important Enterprises: With a Historical Outline of Long Island, from Its First Settlement by Europeans | year = 1874 | pages = [https://archive.org/details/historicalandde00baylgoog/page/n166 162]–164 | url = https://archive.org/details/historicalandde00baylgoog | publisher = The Author }}</ref>  But a new industry of [[shipbuilding]] brought rapid change and growth. The village shifted away from its farming roots as shipbuilding became the community's primary industry. By 1837, the village was being referred to as Northport.<ref name="Newsday"/>

The 1860 [[census]] listed Northport's population at 1,016. By 1874, it had become the most flourishing village on Long Island's [[North Shore (Long Island)|North Shore]], with three ship yards, five sets of marine railways, two hotels, and at least six general stores.<ref name="Suffolk"/>

Northport's shipbuilding boom lasted fifty years, but waned at the end of the century as steel-hulled ships began replacing the wooden vessels produced in the village.<ref name="Newsday"/>

===Railroads and trolleys===
[[Image:Northport 1909.jpg|thumb|250px|left|Main Street, sometime between 1902 and 1909]]
On April 25, 1868, the [[Long Island Rail Road]] opened a station within the village of Northport.<ref name="LIRR 1868">{{cite web | title = PRR Chronology, 1868 | publisher = The Pennsylvania Railroad Technical & Historical Society |date=June 2004 | url = http://www.prrths.com/Hagley/PRR1868%20June%2004.wd.pdf | access-date = February 8, 2007 }}</ref> This was an essential transportation link for the village, especially for the growing commuter population. However, just a few years later the LIRR decided to move the Northport station to a new location in Larkfield to facilitate further railway extension to [[Port Jefferson, New York|Port Jefferson]]. The new railway station located on Larkfield Road was opened on January 13, 1873,<ref name="LIRR 1873">{{cite web | title = PRR Chronology, 1873 | publisher = The Pennsylvania Railroad Technical & Historical Society | date = February 2005 | url = http://www.prrths.com/Hagley/PRR1873%20Feb%2004.pdf | access-date = February 8, 2007 | archive-date = July 1, 2014 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20140701100308/http://www.prrths.com/Hagley/PRR1873%20Feb%2004.pdf | url-status = dead }}</ref> and retained the station name of Northport.

To avoid confusion with the former station located in the village of Northport, train conductors would refer to the station in Larkfield as "East of Northport" because the station was located east of the Northport [[railway junction]] which directed trains north to the station located in the village.  Despite the fact that Larkfield was primarily ''south'' of Northport, the area became known thereafter as [[East Northport, New York|East Northport]].<ref>{{cite web | title = East Northport: East Was Added When The Trains Came | work = Long Island, Our History | publisher = Newsday | url = http://www.newsday.com/community/guide/lihistory/ny-historytown-hist0056,0,3509522.story | access-date = February 12, 2007 }}</ref> The original rail spur to Northport was afterwards known as the [[Northport Branch]]. After the old village station closed in 1899, Northport decided to build a {{convert|2.5|mi|adj=on}} [[tram|trolley]] line to take commuters between Main Street and the new Northport station located in Larkfield. The [[Northport Traction Company|new commuter trolley]] opened in mid-April 1902.  The increasing usage of the [[automobile]] led the trolley to make its last scheduled commuter run on August 19, 1924.<ref>{{cite web | title = East Northport Town History | publisher = East Northport Chamber of Commerce | url = http://www.eastnorthport.com/townhistory.htm | access-date = February 8, 2007 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070205075857/http://www.eastnorthport.com/townhistory.htm <!-- Bot retrieved archive --> |archive-date = February 5, 2007}}</ref>

===Incorporation and annexation===
Although it was known by the name of Northport since at least 1837, the village of Northport was not formally incorporated until 1894,<ref name="names"/> becoming the first village in the [[Huntington, New York|Town of Huntington]] to do so.<ref name="Newsday"/>  Over the years Northport has expanded from its original borders, annexing other established communities.

Around the [[American Revolutionary War|Revolutionary War]], a concentration of 31 families began settling {{convert|1.5|mi}} east of Northport, around where Main Street and Route 25A now intersect {{coord|40.8995|-73.3296|region:US_type:landmark|display=inline}}. This settlement was originally known as Red Hook<ref name="Newsday"/> and changed names to [[Vernon Valley, New York|Vernon Valley]] in 1820.<ref name="names"/>  By 1874 Vernon Valley had a population of around 150 inhabitants.<ref name="Suffolk"/> Vernon Valley became part of Northport in the mid-20th century.<ref name="Suffolk"/><ref>{{cite book | title = New York Legislative Document | publisher = J.B. Lyon Co. | year = 1928 | pages = 179 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=LPVKAAAAMAAJ&q=%22Vernon+Valley%27+Northport | author1 = Legislature, New York (State) }}</ref><!-- Vernon Valley was still considered a separate community as late as 1928 -->

Northport also annexed the formerly independent settlement of Crab Meadow {{coord|40.9207|-73.3202|region:US_type:landmark|display=inline}}<ref>{{cite book | last = French | first = John Homer |author2=Frank Place  | title = Gazetteer of the State of New York | publisher = R.P. Smith | year = 1860 | url = https://archive.org/details/gazetteerstaten02placgoog | page = [https://archive.org/details/gazetteerstaten02placgoog/page/n577 635] | isbn = 0-8063-1456-7}}</ref><!-- This citation shows that Crab Meadow was originally an independent community when it was annexed by Huntington Township on March 7, 1788.--> (once known as Great Neck<ref>{{cite map |publisher = Town of Huntington |title = Town of Huntington Suffolk County, N.Y. Street and Highway Map |url = http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fa/1946_Huntington_Planning_Map.png |date = 1946}}<!-- This map shows that where the community of Crab Meadow once was and the community of Crab Meadow still exist today was formally known as Great Neck in 1946.--></ref>), as well as western parts of the Freshpond community {{coord|40.9224|-73.2965|region:US_type:landmark}}.

===Modern Northport===
[[Image:Northport Park.jpg|thumb|Northport Memorial Park at the edge of Northport Harbor|left]]
By the 1920s, after nearly a century of heavy commercial use, the waterfront which had supported the community for generations had fallen into decay. The village decided to purchase the land along the harbor and created Northport Memorial Park in 1932, which is a defining feature of Northport today.<ref name="Newsday"/>

In 1967, the [[Long Island Lighting Company]] (LILCO) opened the [[Northport Power Station]], currently the largest oil-fired electric generating station on the [[East Coast of the United States|East Coast]].<ref>{{cite press release | title = Schumer Calls For Modernization Of Northport, Port Jefferson Power Plants; Long Island Among Worst In Nation For Smog And Ozone Levels | publisher = United States Congress (via Charles E. Schumer) | date = August 9, 2005 | url = https://www.senate.gov/~schumer/SchumerWebsite/pressroom/record.cfm?id=260503 | access-date = December 4, 2007 }}</ref>  The four enormous stacks are a well-known landmark that can be seen from as far away as [[Connecticut]] across Long Island Sound. Each stack is {{convert|600|ft}} tall.<ref>{{cite web | title = Gas- and Oil-Fired Plants in New York | publisher = Power Plants Around The World | date = May 24, 2006 | url = http://www.industcards.com/st-other-usa-ny.htm | access-date = December 4, 2007 | url-status = usurped | archive-url = http://arquivo.pt/wayback/20090718122828/http://www.industcards.com/st%2Dother%2Dusa%2Dny.htm | archive-date = July 18, 2009 }}</ref>

The Northport Trolley, which had ceased operations in 1924, enjoyed a popular revival in the 1970s and 1980s, transporting weekend tourists along Main Street. Unlike the original electric trolleys, this nostalgic replica was horse driven.  It also ran on rubber automobile tires rather than utilizing the original rails which still remain a visible element of Main Street to this day.

In July 1984, Northport garnered nationwide media attention for being the site of the gruesome murder of 17-year-old Gary Lauwers by his friend, high school dropout and alleged devil-worshiper [[Ricky Kasso]]. The events made national headlines and have since been recounted in books<ref>{{cite book | last = St. Clair | first = David | title = Say You Love Satan | publisher = Dell | date = October 1, 1987 | isbn = 0-440-17574-7}}</ref> and movies,<ref name="satan in the suburbs">{{cite news | title = Satan in the Suburbs | url = https://movies.nytimes.com/movie/307491/Satan-in-the-Suburbs/overview | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20081208233621/http://movies.nytimes.com/movie/307491/Satan-in-the-Suburbs/overview | url-status = dead | archive-date = December 8, 2008 | department = Movies & TV Dept. | work = [[The New York Times]] | author = Jason Buchanan | date = 2008 | access-date = November 1, 2007 }}</ref> which caused the village to suffer a negative reputation for reputed satanism.<ref name="satan in the suburbs"/>

Every September, the village of Northport commemorates its rich history with the celebration of [[Cow Harbor Day]], which follows the annual [[Great Cow Harbor 10K]] race.