Guest, Sign inJoin

Post to Centerport

We’ll email a one-tap link to publish your post. No password, and nothing is public until you click it.
Already a member? Sign in
–Not graded
History · Centerport

22% of Centerport’s homes were built before 1940

6 places in town are on the National Register. Below: 6 old photos and papers, maps from 1901 on, and the census since 2000.

6on the National Register
22%homes built before 1940
6old photos & papers
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Centerport’s archive · credits on each photo

What stands out about Centerport’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

On the map since 19013 editions of the USGS map, 1901 to 1967. Watch Centerport change.Landmarks on the Register6 places on the National Register.Old housesHalf of Centerport’s homes were built before 1957.
★ What stands out · On the map

Centerport on the map, 1901 to 1967

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Centerport. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

Centerport on the 1901 USGS mapCenterport on the 1954 USGS mapCenterport on the 1967 USGS map1901Northport sheet · 1:62,500

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Centerport.

On the National Register

6 historic places in Centerport

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

places listed
6
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
9
each building in a district counts

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

The story

How Centerport came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Centerport.

Read it all →

What is now Centerport was originally inhabited by Matinecock Native Americans. In the 17th century, European colonists – primarily English along with some Dutch – began to settle the area.

Suydam House, a saltbox house built in 1730, is one of the oldest surviving houses in Centerport.

Camp Alvernia in Centerport was the first Catholic summer camp in the United States, established in 1888. The camp remained in operation as of 2026, serving over 900 local children aged 3–14 each summer.

ChaptersEtymology

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

From the old history books

What they wrote about Centerport in 1882

Passages that mention Centerport, cut from the printed page as they were published.

The Baptist church of Cold Spring was organized in 1842, by a union of the Baptists of Cold Spring, Huntington and Centerport. The meeting of organization was held at Centerport. For some years this church Melville.
...History of Suffolk county, New York1882 · page 49Read the page →
Read the text

The Baptist church of Cold Spring was organized in 1842, by a union of the Baptists of Cold Spring, Huntington and Centerport. The meeting of organization was held at Centerport. For some years this church Melville.

Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.

Scans and text from the Internet Archive. Books published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.

Timeline

Centerport, 1873 to 1913

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 19th century
  2. 1873In the archiveTown of Huntington, Suffolk Co. - Amityville, Town of Huntington, Suffolk Co. - Cold Spri…
  3. 20th century
  4. 1901On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  5. 1902In the archiveSuffolk County, V. 2, Double Page Plate No. 1 (Map bounded by Lloyds Neck, Eaton Neck, No…
  6. 1913In the archiveHall's Resort
By decade

Centerport, decade by decade

3 decades in the archive, from the 1870s to the 1910s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1870s–1910s6 items
Town of Huntington, Suffolk Co. - Amityville, Town of Huntington, Suffolk Co. - Cold Spring, Town of Huntington, Suffol…1873Town of Huntington, Suffolk Co. - Amityville, Town of…MapSuffolk County, V. 2, Double Page Plate No. 1 (Map bounded by Lloyds Neck, Eaton Neck, North Port, East North Port, Lit…1902Suffolk County, V. 2, Double Page Plate No. 1 (Map bo…MapSuffolk County, V. 2, Double Page Plate No. 16 (Map bounded by Center Port, East North Port, Fair Ground)1902Suffolk County, V. 2, Double Page Plate No. 16 (Map b…MapHall's Resort1913–1919Hall's ResortCenterport; Smith Town1915Centerport; Smith TownPart of Huntington Suffolk County1915Part of Huntington Suffolk County
1920s–1990snothing yet
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Add from your album
Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

Hall's Resort
Retake this viewHall's Resort, 1913–1919

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Centerport’s page.

Retake this view · +15
People over time

Centerport, census by census

05001,0001,5002,0002,5003,0003,5004,0004,5005,0005,5006,0006,50020002020Peak: 5,822

Between 5,446 and 5,822 people in every census since 2000.

3 censuses, 2000–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Centerport’s Wikipedia page.

Help out

Finish Centerport’s story

Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
2 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewHall's Resort: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

Greenlawn2 historic placesnot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townEast NorthportIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townNorthport4 historic placesAAsharoken3 historic placesnot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townHuntington Bay9 historic placesA

Questions about Centerport’s history

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
Start a conversation
Sources

Where this page comes from

Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021). How TownRatings grades history →

From Wikimedia Commons (6), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia) and old county and town histories (Internet Archive). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.