Holtsville is a
hamletA hamlet is usually a rural settlement which is too small to be considered a village, though sometimes the word is used for a different sort of community. Historically, when a hamlet became large enough to justify building a church, it was then classified as a village...
(and
census-designated placeA census-designated place is a concentration of population identified by the United States Census Bureau for statistical purposes. CDPs are delineated for each decennial census as the statistical counterparts of incorporated places such as cities, towns and villages...
) in
Suffolk CountySuffolk County is a county located in the U.S. state of New York on the eastern portion of Long Island. As of the 2010 census, the population was 1,493,350. It was named for the county of Suffolk in England, from which its earliest settlers came...
,
New YorkNew York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
,
United StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. The population was 17,006 at the 2000 census.
Holtsville is the location of an
IRSThe Internal Revenue Service is the revenue service of the United States federal government. The agency is a bureau of the Department of the Treasury, and is under the immediate direction of the Commissioner of Internal Revenue...
Processing Center (which has the lowest assigned numerical
ZIP CodeZIP codes are a system of postal codes used by the United States Postal Service since 1963. The term ZIP, an acronym for Zone Improvement Plan, is properly written in capital letters and was chosen to suggest that the mail travels more efficiently, and therefore more quickly, when senders use the...
, 00501) and is in the
Town of BrookhavenThe Town of Brookhaven is one of the ten towns into which Suffolk County, New York, United States, has been divided. Part of the New York metropolitan area, it is located in central Suffolk County and is the only town in the county that stretches from the North Shore to the South Shore of Long...
and the
Town of IslipThe Town of Islip is one of ten towns in Suffolk County, New York . Located on the south shore of Long Island, the town population was 322,612 at the 2000 census. The smaller, unincorporated hamlet of Islip lies within the town.-Demographics:...
.
History and Overview
The hamlet known today as Holtsville included only a few farmhouses in the late 18th century. In 1843, the
Long Island Rail RoadThe Long Island Rail Road or LIRR is a commuter rail system serving the length of Long Island, New York. It is the busiest commuter railroad in North America, serving about 81.5 million passengers each year. Established in 1834 and having operated continuously since then, it is the oldest US...
opened its
Waverly StationHoltsville was a station stop on the Greenport Branch of the Long Island Rail Road. It was located off of Waverly Avenue between Long Island Avenue and Furrows Road in Holtsville, New York.-History:...
. Maps from that period label the area as
Waverly, and a stagecoach line ran north-south along present day Waverly Avenue. As another town named
Waverly----Waverly is the largest village in Tioga County, New York, United States. It is located southeast of Elmira in the Southern Tier region. This village was incorporated as the southwest part of the town of Barton in 1854...
already existed in Upstate New York, the name of the town was changed to
HoltsvilleHoltsville was a station stop on the Greenport Branch of the Long Island Rail Road. It was located off of Waverly Avenue between Long Island Avenue and Furrows Road in Holtsville, New York.-History:...
in 1860, in honor of U.S. Postmaster General
Joseph HoltGeneral Joseph Holt was a leading member of the Buchanan administration and was Judge Advocate General of the United States Army, most notably during the Lincoln assassination trials.-Early life:...
. As of 1874, Holtsville consisted of 15 houses, a school, and a general store. The train station retained the name "Waverly" for some time, but was eventually also changed to Holtsville, probably in the 1890s, after farmers complained about their shipments going to upstate by mistake. In 1916, the Suffolk County Tuberculosis Sanatorium opened on land that was considered Holtsville at the time, but is now part of the hamlet of
SeldenSelden is a hamlet in the town of Brookhaven in Suffolk County, New York, United States. The population was 21,861 at the 2000 census.-Early Settlement:...
. The site later became the location of the main campus of
Suffolk County Community CollegeSuffolk County Community College is a two-year public college on Long Island, NY sponsored by SUNY and Suffolk County, New York in the USA....
.
The Internal Revenue Service opened a large processing center on a 67 acres (271,139.6 m²) site in the hamlet in 1972.
The rail era in Holtsville ended in 1998, when a number of LIRR stations closed due to low ridership.
Holtsville commuters were advised to use
MedfordMedford is a station in the hamlet of Medford, New York on the Main Line of the Long Island Railroad. Medford is located on New York State Route 112 between Peconic Avenue and Long Island Avenue. Access to the station is available from a narrow curving roadway leading off Route 112...
and
RonkonkomaRonkonkoma is a major railroad station and transportation hub along the Main Line of the Long Island Rail Road in Ronkonkoma, New York. The station is the eastern terminus of the Ronkonkoma Branch and the western terminus of the Greenport Branch....
stations; more use Ronkonkoma due to the fact for, except for a few peak-hour trains terminating in Mineola or HIcksville, boarding at Medford would require transfer to an electric train at Ronkonkoma anyway.
Attractions
Holtsville is home to the
Harold H. Malkmes Wildlife Education and Ecology CenterThe Harold H. Malkmes Wildlife Education and Ecology Center is a park, zoo, and ecology site in Holtsville, New York and operated by the Town of Brookhaven, and located on the site of a former landfill.-Attractions:...
, a public zoo and ecological park located on the site of a former landfill.
Geography
Holtsville is located at 40°48′48"N 73°2′50"W (40.813394, -73.047175).
According to the
United States Census BureauThe United States Census Bureau is the government agency that is responsible for the United States Census. It also gathers other national demographic and economic data...
, the CDP has a total area of 7 square miles (18.1 km²), all land.
Demographics
As of the
censusA census is the procedure of systematically acquiring and recording information about the members of a given population. It is a regularly occurring and official count of a particular population. The term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common...
of 2000, there were 17,006 people, 5,316 households, and 4,454 families residing in the CDP. The
population densityPopulation density is a measurement of population per unit area or unit volume. It is frequently applied to living organisms, and particularly to humans...
was 2,444.3 per square mile (943.4/km²). There were 5,418 housing units at an average density of 778.8/sq mi (300.6/km²). The racial makeup of the CDP was 87.0% White, 1.11% African American, 0.18% Native American, 1.74% Asian, 0.01% Pacific Islander, 1.21% from
other racesRace and ethnicity in the United States Census, as defined by the Federal Office of Management and Budget and the United States Census Bureau, are self-identification data items in which residents choose the race or races with which they most closely identify, and indicate whether or not they are...
, and 1.38% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 9.1% of the population.
There were 5,316 households out of which 43.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 70.4% were
married couplesMarriage is a social union or legal contract between people that creates kinship. It is an institution in which interpersonal relationships, usually intimate and sexual, are acknowledged in a variety of ways, depending on the culture or subculture in which it is found...
living together, 9.9% had a female householder with no husband present, and 16.2% were non-families. 12.0% of all households were made up of individuals and 3.4% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 3.19 and the average family size was 3.47.
In the CDP the population was spread out with 28.2% under the age of 18, 7.5% from 18 to 24, 33.5% from 25 to 44, 23.9% from 45 to 64, and 6.9% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 34 years. For every 100 females there were 96.1 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 93.9 males.
The median income for a household in the CDP was $68,544, and the median income for a family was $71,784. Males had a median income of $50,361 versus $31,709 for females. The
per capita incomePer capita income or income per person is a measure of mean income within an economic aggregate, such as a country or city. It is calculated by taking a measure of all sources of income in the aggregate and dividing it by the total population...
for the CDP was $24,031. About 2.4% of families and 3.6% of the population were below the poverty line, including 2.7% of those under age 18 and 4.0% of those age 65 or over.
Former and current residents of note
- Billy Alvino, professional baseball player
- Amy Fisher
Amy Elizabeth Fisher is an American woman who became known as "the Long Island Lolita" by the media in 1992, when, at the age of 17, she shot and severely wounded Mary Jo Buttafuoco, the wife of her lover Joey Buttafuoco...
, former convict, current pornographic actress and journalist
- Holtsville Hal, The Groundhog Day mascot
- Neal Heaton
Neal Heaton is a former Major League Baseball left-handed pitcher who played for the Cleveland Indians, Minnesota Twins, Montreal Expos, Pittsburgh Pirates, Kansas City Royals, Milwaukee Brewers, and New York Yankees from 1982 to 1993.Heaton was drafted by the Indians in the 2nd round of the 1981...
, former Major League Baseball player
- Diane Nelson, former professional horse jockey
- Hugh Maclachlan, former professional middleweight boxer
- Pat Perritt, former collegiate lacrosse player who won National Championship at Syracuse
- Dr. David "Roosevelt" Beech, former Democratic party district mascot
- Belinda Diaz, amateur boxing champion
External links