Origins and early history Stony Brook was first settled in the late 17th century. It was originally known by the native name
Wopowog and then as Stony Brook, with both names likely referring to the interconnected bodies of water at the hamlet's western edge. It began as a
satellite community of adjacent
Setauket, New York, the
Town of Brookhaven's first settlement, and its land was included in the initial 1655 purchase from the native
Setalcott tribe. A
gristmill was built in 1699 on the water body now known as the
Mill Pond, currently drained after severe rain breached it in the early hours of August 19, 2024. The current structure, which replaced the original in 1751, ground grain into the 1940s and has since been repurposed for public
tours. For religious services and education, the hamlet's original residents had to attend institutions in the neighboring communities of Setauket and
St. James. In the latter half of the
18th century, activity began to shift from the mill area north toward the
harbor as new residences, a number of which still stand, were constructed. Stony Brook was a remote area through the 18th century aside for a modest amount of commerce near the mill at the intersection of Main Street and Harbor Road. The community's development was stalled by its poorly accessible harbor relative to nearby Setauket and
Port Jefferson. In the 1840s, local painter
William Sidney Mount led a call for the harbor's
dredging. This was completed twice, but after the harbor filled in both times the effort was abandoned. Lacking the resources of its neighboring harbor settlements, Stony Brook based its economy on agriculture and the
cordwood industry.
Growth The
Long Island Rail Road reached Stony Brook in the 1870s, creating an easy link between New York City and the citizens of Stony Brook. Stony Brook quickly became a popular summer resort for city dwellers attempting to escape the hazards and stress of urban life. The establishment of the
Stony Brook Assembly in 1909 also helped to draw more residents to the local area. A number of these newcomers constructed houses and
cottages, many of which were either originally made for year-round use or have since been converted to such. Nevertheless, the majority of residences were local farmers and businessmen who depended on all necessities being in easy reach. Most businesses were then on the compact plot that would become the contemporary village green. Unlike today, the shops in this area were utilitarian and haphazardly arranged. The history of the unincorporated "village" is closely linked to that of
Ward Melville, a local businessman who owned what would become the
CVS Corporation. At one point owned much of what his family coined as the
Three Village area (consisting of Stony Brook, the hamlet of
Setauket, and the
incorporated village of
Old Field). Beginning in 1939 with the creation of his Stony Brook Community Fund, Melville used his wealth to begin the transformation of part of the hamlet into his idea of an idyllic
New England village, the
Stony Brook Village Center, with white
clapboard buildings and quaint stores. The focus had been in the previous center of the village's commerce, which now consists of a village green and a crescent of stores embellished with stone walkways and seasonal gardening. To accomplish this, Melville moved many of the existing shops in the plot into the crescent and modified their details for consistency, a design model similar to that of
Colonial Williamsburg. As a centerpiece to the crescent, Melville built the
Stony Brook Post Office, decorated by a large eagle that flaps its wings to mark each hour.
Modern development campusMelville donated the land and funds to New York for establishing a branch of the
State University of New York in the area. This led what was then called the
State University College on Long Island, at the time in constrictive
Oyster Bay quarters, to relocate and change its name to
Stony Brook University. Melville also donated land and funds for the local school district. The
Three Village Central School District today serves several communities in the vicinity and has named its flagship
Ward Melville High School after the philanthropist. Tourist attractions include the
Stony Brook Grist Mill and the
Long Island Museum of American Art, History, and Carriages, a large complex of buildings originally known as the Stony Brook Carriage House and Suffolk Museum. Other Stony Brook attractions are the 19th-century
William Sidney Mount House, the
St. James Episcopal Chapel, and the
West Meadow Beach Historic District. ==Geography==