Guest, Sign inJoin

Post to Orient

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 · Orient

Orient’s post office opened in 1838, and 24% of its homes were built before 1940

2 places in town are on the National Register. Below: 6 old photos and papers and maps from 1904 on.

1838first post office
2on the National Register
24%homes built before 1940
6old photos & papers
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Orient’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Orient began

When was Orient founded?

1838

The Orient post office opened in 1838, the earliest record of the town by name.

2020 census: 999188 years
Founding year: the first Orient post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Orient’s past

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

On the map since 19043 editions of the USGS map, 1904 to 1956. Watch Orient change.Deep rootsA post office since 1838: 188 years of Orient.
★ What stands out · On the map

Orient on the map, 1904 to 1956

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

Orient on the 1904 USGS mapOrient on the 1947 USGS mapOrient on the 1956 USGS map1904Shelter Island 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 Orient.

Timeline

Orient, 1873 to 1920

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1873In the archiveOrient, Town of Southold. - East Marion, Town of Southold, Suffolk Co. - New Suffolk, Tow…
  3. 20th century
  4. 1902In the archiveSuffolk County, V. 2, Double Page Plate No. 12 (Map bounded by Long Island Sound, Terry P…
  5. 1904On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  6. 1911In the archiveThe Congregational Church
  7. 1920In the archiveKing Street
The story so far

Orient, in brief

Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Orient yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.

Orient is a hamlet and census-designated place (CDP) in Suffolk County, Long Island, New York, United States. As of the 2020 census, Orient had a population of 999. Orient and Orient Point are used almost interchangeably. However, Orient Point refers specifically to the physical point at the end of the North Fork of Long Island, while Orient is the hamlet in which the point is located.

Its first post office opened in 1838. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 743 to 999 (+34%).

Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.

By decade

Orient, decade by decade

4 decades in the archive, from the 1870s to the 1920s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1870s–1910s5 items
Orient, Town of Southold. - East Marion, Town of Southold, Suffolk Co. - New Suffolk, Town of Southold, Suffolk Co. - V…1873Orient, Town of Southold. - East Marion, Town of Sout…Suffolk County, V. 2, Double Page Plate No. 12 (Map bounded by Long Island Sound, Terry Pt., Orient, Gardiners Bay, Gre…1902Suffolk County, V. 2, Double Page Plate No. 12 (Map b…MapSuffolk County, V. 2, Double Page Plate No. 27 (Map bounded by Mattituck, Orient, New Suffolk)1902Suffolk County, V. 2, Double Page Plate No. 27 (Map b…MapThe Congregational Church1911The Congregational ChurchOld Heath House, built 16661912Old Heath House, built 1666
1920s1 item
King Street1920King Street
1930s–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.

Orient, Town of Southold. - East Marion, Town of Southold, Suffolk Co. - New Suffolk, Town of Southold, Suffolk Co. - V…
Retake this viewOrient, Town of Southold. - East Marion, Town of Southold, Suffolk Co. - New Suffolk, Town of Southold, Suffolk Co. - V…, 1873

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

Retake this view · +15
On the National Register

2 listings protect 122 historic buildings

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

places listed
2
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
122
each building in a district counts

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

Help out

Finish Orient’s story

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
3 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewOrient, Town of Southold. - East Marion…: 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.

East Marion1 historic placenot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Orient’s history

What year was Orient founded?

The Orient post office opened in 1838, 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 (3), the Library of Congress (3) and U.S. Geological Survey historical maps. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.