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History · East Patchogue

East Patchogue’s post office opened in 1878, and 14% of its homes were built before 1940

3 places in town are on the National Register. Below: 6 old photos and papers from 1873 on.

1878first post office
3on the National Register
14%homes built before 1940
6old photos & papers
3famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From East Patchogue’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How East Patchogue began

When was East Patchogue founded?

1878

The East Patchogue post office opened in 1878, the earliest record of the town by name.

2020 census: 21,580148 years
Founding year: the first East Patchogue post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
The story

How East Patchogue came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of East Patchogue.

Read it all →

Patchogue has historically been a major shopping and commerce hub of Suffolk County. "Patchogue" in the narrow sense is an incorporated village with narrow limits, only about a mile and a half wide. East Patchogue includes the eastern portion of Patchogue in the wider sense, as well as the area east of that but still west of the incorporated village of Bellport. This double meaning of "East Patchogue" is reflected in the naming of New York State Route 27A: It is called "East Main Street" in the western portion of East Patchogue, and "Montauk Highway" (as it typically is outside of villages) in the eastern portion. The western side of East Patchogue is in the Patchogue-Medford School District, while the eastern side is in the South Country Central School District, and its high-school students attend Bellport High School.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

East Patchogue, 1873 to 1971

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1873In the archivePart of Brookhaven, Sufffolk Co. L.I
  3. 1882In the archiveSwan River Mill
  4. 20th century
  5. 1902In the archiveSuffolk County, V. 1, Double Page Plate No. 3 (Map bounded by Part of town of Islip and B…
  6. 1915In the archiveGreat River;
  7. 1947Born hereTom Baldwin is born here
  8. 1968Born hereDenise Jefferson Casper is born here
  9. 1971Born hereDaniel J. Bernstein is born here
By decade

East Patchogue, decade by decade

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

1870s–1900s5 items
Part of Brookhaven, Sufffolk Co. L.I1873Part of Brookhaven, Sufffolk Co. L.IMap1873 Beers Map of Yaphank, Millers Place, Brook Haven and East Patchogue, Long Island, New York - Geographicus - Yaphan…18731873 Beers Map of Yaphank, Millers Place, Brook Haven…MapSwan River Mill1882Swan River MillSouth Part of Brookhaven. (Township)c. 1888South Part of Brookhaven. (Township)Suffolk County, V. 1, Double Page Plate No. 3 (Map bounded by Part of town of Islip and Brookhaven)1902Suffolk County, V. 1, Double Page Plate No. 3 (Map bo…Map
1910s1 item
Great River;1915Great River;
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.

Swan River Mill
Retake this viewSwan River Mill, 1882

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

Retake this view · +15
On the National Register

3 historic places in East Patchogue

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

places listed
3
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
4
each building in a district counts

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

Famous people

3 famous people were born in East Patchogue

Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.

See all →
D
Daniel J. BernsteinAmerican German mathematician, cryptologist and… · b. 1971
Denise Jefferson CasperAmerican judge · b. 1968
T
Tom BaldwinRacecar driver · b. 1947
Help out

Finish East Patchogue’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 viewSwan River Mill: 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.

Bellport2 historic placesANorth BellportIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townNorth PatchogueIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townPatchogue4 historic placesA−MedfordIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about East Patchogue’s history

What year was East Patchogue founded?

The East Patchogue post office opened in 1878, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

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 and Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.