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History · Jamesport

Jamesport’s post office opened in 1842, and 26% of its homes were built before 1940

3 places in town are on the National Register. Below: 3 old photos and papers, maps from 1903 on, and old-book passages.

1842first post office
3on the National Register
26%homes built before 1940
3old photos & papers
Add an old photoShare a memory
Photo: formulanone · CC BY 2.0
Quick answers

How Jamesport began

When was Jamesport founded?

1842

The Jamesport post office opened in 1842, the earliest record of the town by name.

2020 census: 1,609184 years
Founding year: the first Jamesport post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Jamesport’s past

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

A history waiting to be writtenOnly 3 old photos are in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.On the map since 19033 editions of the USGS map, 1903 to 1956. Watch Jamesport change.Deep rootsA post office since 1842: 184 years of Jamesport.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Jamesport’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Jamesport’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
On the map

Jamesport on the map, 1903 to 1956

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

Jamesport on the 1903 USGS mapJamesport on the 1947 USGS mapJamesport on the 1956 USGS map1903Riverhead 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 Jamesport.

The story

How Jamesport came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Jamesport.

Read it all →

Jamesport was first settled in the 1690s and was originally called "Aquebogue." It was renamed "Lower Aquebogue" when another hamlet called "Upper Aquebogue" was established to the west. The Jamesport Meeting House, built in 1731, is the oldest operating church building in Suffolk County

"Jamesport" is named for James Tuthill, who settled with his family in the area south of Lower Aquebogue, on the Peconic Bay, in 1833. Over time, Lower Aquebogue came to be called Jamesport, while the community 1 mile (2 km) to the south, previously called Jamesport, came to be called South Jamesport (and is included in the present-day Jamesport CDP). Upper Aquebogue became Aquebogue.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

From the old history books

What they wrote about Jamesport in 1882

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

The village of Jamesport is one of modern origin. The historian Prime, writing in 1845, says of it: "In 1833 there was not a single habitation here, now some forty." It is very pleasantly situated on a point projecting into Peconic Bay and bearing the Indian name Miamogue. It is regularly laid out,…
...History of Suffolk county, New York1882 · page 9Read the page →
Read the text

The village of Jamesport is one of modern origin. The historian Prime, writing in 1845, says of it: "In 1833 there was not a single habitation here, now some forty." It is very pleasantly situated on a point projecting into Peconic Bay and bearing the Indian name Miamogue. It is regularly laid out, and was designed by its founders as a village of considerable dimensions, but since the first flush of enterprise, which was prompted by

Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Mr. Hawkins is still a middle aged man, full of vigor and usefulness, having accomplished vastly more than the average of men 55 years old. He has a beautiful home in the village of Jamesport, and bids fair to furnish from the next twenty years' achievements material for another biographical sketch…
...History of Suffolk county, New York1882 · page 22Read the page →
Read the text

Mr. Hawkins is still a middle aged man, full of vigor and usefulness, having accomplished vastly more than the average of men 55 years old. He has a beautiful home in the village of Jamesport, and bids fair to furnish from the next twenty years' achievements material for another biographical sketch, in a second Illustrated History, that the growth of Suffolk county may demand within that period.

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.

By decade

Jamesport, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1900s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1900s3 items
Suffolk County, V. 2, Double Page Plate No. 10 (Map bounded by Long Island Sound, New Suffolk, Great Peconig Bay)South …1902Suffolk County, V. 2, Double Page Plate No. 10 (Map b…MapSuffolk County, V. 2, Double Page Plate No. 30 (Map bounded by Map of property of the Heights Association, James Port a…1902Suffolk County, V. 2, Double Page Plate No. 30 (Map b…MapSuffolk County, V. 2, Double Page Plate No. 9 (Map bounded by Long Island Sound, North Ville, Jamesport, South Jamespor…1902Suffolk County, V. 2, Double Page Plate No. 9 (Map bo…Map
1910s–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
Today14 recent
Windpump 20230723 1212502023Windpump 20230723 121250WindTurbineHallicksRd 20230723 1202162023WindTurbineHallicksRd 20230723 120216Wind Turbine 20230723 1113452023Wind Turbine 20230723 111345Hardes Farm 20230723 1212012023Hardes Farm 20230723 121201Jamesport, New York - Aerial2020Jamesport, New York - AerialInn Exterior Dusk DSC 2245 160 REV 3000pix2017Inn Exterior Dusk DSC 2245 160 REV 3000pixSo Jamesport under LIRR Main Line2016So Jamesport under LIRR Main LineSo Jamesport Ped Bridge under LIRR2016So Jamesport Ped Bridge under LIRRWashington Avenue at South Railroad Avenue;2015Washington Avenue at South Railroad Avenue;Jamesport, New York2010Jamesport, New YorkJedediah-Hawkins-House2008Jedediah-Hawkins-HouseHallock-Homestead2008Hallock-HomesteadHallock-Bilunas-Farmstead2008Hallock-Bilunas-Farmstead2006-07-16 - US - New York - Long Island - North Fork - Signs - Visit our Dairy Cows20062006-07-16 - US - New York - Long Island - North Fork…
On the National Register

3 historic places in Jamesport

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

places listed
3
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.

Stories next door

History across the town line

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

AquebogueIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townLaurel1 historic placenot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townRiverhead14 historic placesBSouthold30 historic placesA+

Questions about Jamesport’s history

What year was Jamesport founded?

The Jamesport post office opened in 1842, 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 (17), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps 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.