Great River is a suburban hamlet and CDP in the Town of Islip in Suffolk County, New York, United States. It is situated approximately (55 mi driving) east of New York City on the South Shore of Long Island, adjoining the Great South Bay, protected from the Atlantic Ocean by Fire Island.

Great River's name is a translation of "Connetquot," an Algonquian word for "Great River." Prior to the 1900s Great River was primarily home to wealthy families on mansion estates. The population was 2,005 at the time of the 2020 census.

Great River's buildings include a New York City–style steak house in a turn of the century (20th) Public house, a delicatessen, a rural delivery post office and the Great River Fire Department.

History For centuries, clusters of the Algonquin people known as the Montaukett people occupied the territory known as Secatogue, now the town of Islip. They lived in clusters located at West Islip (Secatogue), Bay Shore (Penataquit), Great River, and Oakdale (Connetquot).

On November 29, 1683, William Nicoll (Nicolls), founder of the Town of Islip and son of New York City Mayor Matthias Nicoll, was awarded the first royal patent to the east end of what is now the Town of Islip. Nicoll purchased land from Sachem (Paramount chief) Winnequaheagh of Connetquot. He named his plantation (an tract of land) "Islip Grange", in honor of his ancestral home of Islip (UK) in East Northamptonshire, England, from which Matthias emigrated in 1664. Nicoll's domain extended from East Islip to Bayport and embraced the present-day communities of Sayville, West Sayville, Oakdale, Great River, Islip Terrace, Central Islip, Hauppauge, Holbrook, Bohemia, Brentwood, Holtsville, and a portion of Ronkonkoma. Nicoll paid an annual quit-rent (tax) to Thomas Dongan, 2nd Earl of Limerick and Governor of the Province of New York, of five bushels of good winter wheat or twenty-five (25) shillings payable annually on March 25.

Other early land patentees were Andrew Gibb (Islip hamlet), John Mowbray (Bay Shore, originally Awixa), Stephan Van Cortlandt (Sagtikos Manor), and Thomas Willets (West Islip).

William Nicholl also purchased five islands from Winnequaheagh on November 19, 1687, including Hollins Island (a.k.a. East Fire Island.) The purchase was confirmed on a patent by Governor Dongan on June 4, 1688. Altogether William Nicoll acquired four patents for land – the final purchase was on September 20, 1697, issued by Governor Benjamin Fletcher. Under Col. Fletcher, piracy was a leading economic development tool in New York City's competition with the ports of Boston and Philadelphia. New York City had become a safe place for pirates (freebooters) who carried "real money" into the impoverished colony.Philip Ranlet, "A Safe Haven for Witches? Colonial New York's Politics and Relations with New England in the 1690s," New York History, Winter-Spring 2009 (September 13, 2012).

Nicoll's estate eventually became the largest manor on Long Island.

By 1710, the colonial government passed an act to enable the precinct of Islip in the County of Suffolk to elect two assessors, a collector, a constable, and a supervisor. The people finally had a voice. Growth, however, remained at a standstill until the American Revolutionary War ended when in the seventeen (17) years that followed there was more progress than in the fifty (50) years preceding. This activity was partly due to the impact of American shipping.

Great River hamlet was formerly known as Youngsport. In the 1840s the Youngs family lived about one and a half miles south of Montauk Highway on Great River Road. Erastus Youngs and his family began building and repairing boats on the west shore of the Connetquot River near Great South Bay. With hardly anyone else around (21 houses), the place was called Youngsport for thirty years. Youngsport had one store and a freight station on the South Side Railroad of Long Island two miles north of it. The inhabitants were principally known as bay men. Alva Vanderbilt (later Alva Belmont), the Oakdale socialite suffragette, bought the Youngs' home and gave it to Trinity Lutheran Parish of Brooklyn, which used it as a summer camp called "Seaside Camp" for city children. Youngsport Village's name was changed to Great River in either 1870 or 1881.

William Lawrence Breeze purchased "Timber Point Farm" from William Nicoll in 1883.

The Great River freight station was enhanced to a passenger station in the summer of 1897.

William Nicoll 7th (great-great-great grandson of the original William) served as School Commissioner of East Islip. He was the last owner of Islip Grange. He served as Warden of Emmanuel Church in Great River for 22 years, and ministered to the small cemetery there in which he is now buried. William 7th donated part of the land on which the present East Islip Junior High School now stands.

Heckscher State Park (), named for the industrialist August Heckscher, was part of Nicoll's original estate and the location of the Nicoll Manor house. Heckscher Park's land (Nicholls Neck) was once the location of the 19th-century estates of J. Neal Plumb (original location) and in 1886 George Campbell Taylor (). This should not be mistaken for the similarly named, fairly close but much smaller () national historic district of Heckscher Park in Huntington on the North Shore of Long Island.

Geography According to the United States Census Bureau, the CDP has a total area of , of which is land and , or 11.46%, is water. The Hamlet of Great River comprises 465 land parcels. Great River CDP and the GRFD responsibilities include Heckscher State Park although most references by New York State for mailing addresses are listed as East Islip.

Demographics

2020 census As of the 2020 census, Great River had a population of 2,005. The median age was 49.3 years. 15.7% of residents were under the age of 18 and 19.9% of residents were 65 years of age or older. For every 100 females there were 92.6 males, and for every 100 females age 18 and over there were 87.3 males age 18 and over.

93.4% of residents lived in urban areas, while 6.6% lived in rural areas.

There were 798 households in Great River, of which 23.6% had children under the age of 18 living in them. Of all households, 56.6% were married-couple households, 12.4% were households with a male householder and no spouse or partner present, and 25.1% were households with a female householder and no spouse or partner present. About 23.7% of all households were made up of individuals and 9.8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.

There were 842 housing units, of which 5.2% were vacant. The homeowner vacancy rate was 0.8% and the rental vacancy rate was 5.9%.

+ Racial composition as of the 2020 census Race Number Percent White 1,805 90.0% Black or African American 30 1.5% American Indian and Alaska Native 1 0.0% Asian 36 1.8% Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander 0 0.0% Some other race 30 1.5% Two or more races 103 5.1% Hispanic or Latino (of any race) 155 7.7%

2010 census As of the 2010 census, there were 1,489 people, 503 households, and 403 families residing in the CDP, down from 1,546 people at the 2000 census. The population density was . There were 517 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the CDP was 96.8% White, 0.5% Black, 0.0% Native American, 1.8% Asian, 0.3% some other race, and 0.5% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 4.2% of the population.

There were 503 households, out of which 36.6% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 69.4% were headed by married couples living together, 6.6% had a female householder with no husband present, and 19.9% were non-families. 15.5% of all households were made up of individuals, and 8.2% were someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.96 and the average family size was 3.36.

In the CDP, the population was spread out, with 24.0% under the age of 18, 9.0% from 18 to 24, 16.2% from 25 to 44, 35.0% from 45 to 64, and 15.8% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 45.5 years. For every 100 females, there were 105.4 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 100.5 males.

Income and poverty For the period 2007 to 2011, the median annual income for a household in the CDP was $127,578, and the median income for a family was $176,974. Males had a median income of $80,625 versus $70,781 for females. The per capita income for the CDP was $57,414. Because of high margins of error, the number of persons living under the poverty line was not known.

District information Great River votes in New York's 2nd congressional district. National elections are held at the Great River Fire Department, with local election years at Timber Point Elementary School.

Great River Post Office, at 62 Great River Road (Zip code 11739), is a rural delivery post office where all mail is only delivered to P.O. boxes required to be included in one's mailing address.

Great River spans four hurricane evacuation zones.

Public education East Islip School District UFSD serves Great River. Students in the hamlet go to Timber Point Elementary School, East Islip Middle School, and East Islip High School. The school district's colors are red and white, and athletic teams are the Redmen (no mascot.)

Timber Point Elementary School was one of four L.I. National Blue Ribbon Schools Program honorees in 2012. The National Blue Ribbon Schools Program honors public and non-public schools whose students achieve at very high levels. The program is part of a larger U.S. Department of Education effort to identify and disseminate knowledge about best school leadership and teaching practices.

Emergency services

The Great River Fire Department (established in 1916) is a volunteer fire department, located at 108 River Road in front of Timber Point County Park, east of the entrance to Heckscher State Park. Heckscher State Park and Bayard Cutting Arboretum are serviced within Great River Fire Department district. Great River Fire Department competes as "Team River Rat."

The area lies within the Suffolk County Police Department 3rd precinct.

Exchange Ambulance of the Islips (established 1951) provides 24/7 Emergency Medical Service (EMS) coverage for Great River.

Hospitals/medical centers near Great River Southside Hospital (Acute Care Hospitals, voluntary non-profit–private, provides emergency services, about 5 miles away in Bay Shore) Good Samaritan Hospital Medical Care Center (Acute Care Hospitals, voluntary non-profit–church, provides emergency services, about 8 miles away in West Islip) Long Island Community Hospital (Acute Care Hospitals, voluntary non-profit–private, provides emergency services, about 9 miles away in Patchogue) Stony Brook University Hospital (Acute Care Hospitals, voluntary non-profit–private, provides emergency services, about 21 miles away in Stony Brook; the largest academic medical center on Long Island)

Membership Organizations Great River Community Association's (GRCA) mission is to foster, promote and protect the civic and community interests of the residents of Great River. GRCA sponsors a variety of events during the year for residents to enjoy. Ex: Easter Egg Hunt, Memorial Day Parade, Paint & Sip at the Firehouse, Halloween Parade, and a Holiday- Tree and Menorah Lighting Party. The community also enjoys an Annual Holiday Boat Parade complete with Grucci Fireworks on the Beautiful Connetquot River.

Troop 205 of the Suffolk County Council (Boy Scouts of America) Sagtikos District is an active participant in the community of Youth organizations in the United States. Eagle Scout, the highest scouting achievement, has been bestowed approximately eighty-five (85) times since 1991 to participants in Troop 205 from the local Islip area.

Transportation