27 of Smithtown’s places are on the National Register
More historic than 49% of U.S. towns · #680 of 758 in New York. What drives it
Most of Smithtown was built recently: 5% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1968. Below: 7 old photos and papers, maps from 1902 on, and the census since 1790.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Smithtown is more historic than 49% of U.S. towns, #680 of 758 in New York. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
B−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Smithtown’s overall grade.
Among the 400 U.S. cities of 100,000 or more, Smithtown ranks #246 on History.
New York towns list more on the Register than most of the country (a typical New York town has 12.3 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Smithtown’s 11.0 sits near the middle of its state (47% of New York towns have fewer) while its 128 historic buildings outnumber those of 91% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on two of the three inputs, so a change in either one moves the letter more than it would with three. The pre-1940 share (±0.8 points) is firm at this size.
Founding year: our sources. Homes: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register: National Park Service, May 2026 list; each listing counted once (boundary changes and added documentation belong to their listing), and a historic district counts its contributing buildings. How TownRatings grades history →
What stands out about Smithtown’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
Places that used to be
Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds
Smithtown’s post office has been open since 1794. Four other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.
Smithtown
1794–today
Winnacomac
1799–1799
Commack
1839–today
Smithtown Branch
1849–1953
Saint James
1856–today
Saint Johnland
1876–1890
Kings Park
1890–today
Fort Salonga
1893–1924
Nesconset
1908–today
17901910today
Hamlets and corners on the map
East HauppaugeFort SalongaHauppaugeHead of the HarborKings ParkLake RonkonkomaMiddlevilleNesconsetNissequogueSaint JamesSan RemoThe LandingVillage of the Branch
Gone or out of use
Commack Drive-InlocaleE C Hoyt NurserieslocaleHoney Hollow Elementary SchoolschoolIndian Head FarmlocaleKings Park Central High SchoolschoolKings Park Psychiatric CenterhospitalNew York Avenue Junior High SchoolschoolSmithtown All Weather Drive-InlocaleSweetbriar Schoolschool
9cemeteries and burying grounds inside Smithtown
Hauppauge Methodist EpiscopalHoly CrossLandingMillsSaint James EpiscopalSaint James MethodistSaint JohnlandSaint PatrickSmithtown
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
On the map
Smithtown on the map, 1902 to 1979
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Smithtown. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1902Setauket 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 Smithtown.
The land that would become the town was previously inhabited by the Nissequogue Native Americans.
An oft-repeated but apocryphal story has it that, after rescuing a Native American chief's abducted daughter, Richard Smith was told that the chief would grant title to all of the land Smith could encircle in one day while riding a bull. Smith chose to ride the bull on the longest day of the year (summer solstice) 1665, to enable him to ride longer "in one day." The land he acquired in this way is said to approximate the current town's borders. A large statue of Smith's bull, known as Whisper, pays homage to the legend at the fork of Jericho Turnpike (New York State Route 25) and St. Johnland Road (New York State Route 25A).
Passages that mention Smithtown, cut from the printed page as they were published.
...History of Suffolk county, New York1882 · page 31Read the page →
Read the text
jurisdiction of Queens and Suffolk counties, and of the towns bordering on Long Island Sound, over the waters of the sound to that line, thus bringing within the town of Smithtown the large sheet of water between Eaton's Neck and Crane Neck, above alluded to as Smithtown Bay; and the northern boundary of Smithtown is now not Long Island Sound but the line running easterly through the sound between this State and Con-
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
...History of Suffolk county, New York1882 · page 39Read the page →
Read the text
Hauppauge Neck as owned by the Smiths was only that portion of it which lay in Smithtown. The neck ran across the town of Islip and was the tract included in Gibbs's patent of 1692. The road which is the boundary line between Smithtown and Islip separated the Smith estates from the settlement on the Islip side of the road, which was composed of a number of families mostly of the name of Wheeler. The settlement was
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
Smithtown, 1794 to 1994
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
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.
Smithtown is more historic than 49% of U.S. towns, #680 of 758 in New York. The History grade combines the town’s founding era, the share of homes built before 1940 and its National Register listings. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.
What is on the National Register in Smithtown?
27 listings: 11 buildings, among them the First Presbyterian Church (a National Historic Landmark since 1994), and 16 historic districts with 111 contributing buildings. 128 historic buildings in all.
How old are the homes in Smithtown?
5% of Smithtown’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate), against a typical 27% for a New York town; the median home was built in 1968.
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).
From Wikimedia Commons (10), the Library of Congress (2), the National Register of Historic Places (27), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock), the USGS Geographic Names Information System 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.
★ Landmark
1902
1902
1917
1917
2007
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