Brookhaven, New York

Brookhaven, New York is a town in central Suffolk County, New York. As of the 2000 census, the population was 448,519. The town has an area of 368 square miles. It has coastline on both the Atlantic Ocean and Long Island Sound. Riverhead and Southampton lie to the east, and Smithtown and Islip lie to the west.

Brookhaven includes eight villages and all or part of 51 hamlets. One of those hamlets is also named Brookhaven.

The first known inhabitants were Algonkian-speaking Native Americans, of the Setauket and Unkechaug tribes. The first English settlers arrived in 1655, and purchased land from the inhabitants. Early English settlers farmed, fished, and hunted whales.