Laurel is a hamlet located in Suffolk County, Long Island, New York. It is within both the Town of Southold and the Town of Riverhead.
As of the 2010 census, there were 1,394 people, 524 households, and 386 families residing in the hamlet. The median income for a household in the community was $77,335. Laurel ZIP Code is 11948. Area Code is 631. The latitude of Laurel is 40.969N. The longitude is -72.562W. It is in the Eastern Standard time zone. Elevation is 20 feet.
The neighborhood was originally known as the “Middle Ground” between Southold and the Town of Riverhead. In 1792, the Town of Riverhead was split from the Town of Southold and the new border ran through the little farming community, dividing it in half. Then, the community was later called Franklinville, but renounced that name for Laurel in 1890 due to a conflict of names with another Franklinville. It may also have been inspired by the area’s abundance of laurel trees and bushes.
During winter, there were many homesteaders gathered seaweed along Long Island Sound and piled it around the foundations of their homes for insulation. The Franklinville Academy was a very popular school in the neighborhood which was founded in 1832. Pastors of local churches normally served as teachers and unfortunately the school was closed in 1889 after losing many of its tuition-paying pupils to the emerging public schools. According to research in New York, Laurel is very safe place to live with no registered sex offenders living here in 2007.
The racial-makeup of Laurel comprises of 97.05% White, 1.26% African American, 0.25% Native American, 0.08% from other races, and 1.35% from two or more races. Most of its resident’s ancestries were Irish, Italian, German, Polish, English, Scotch-Irish, French, and Swedish.
The Mattituck-Laurel Library is a Public library that contains a total of 62,000 volumes of books. It is a member of the Suffolk Cooperative Library System and as such will borrow materials from other libraries in Suffolk County. The library has 2 meeting rooms available to the public. The conference room is ideal for a small meeting of between 5 and 20 people. The large community room can handle a maximum of 125 people.
The Laurel Lake Vineyards is the most famous winery of the entire Long Island in producing great and delicious different wines at affordable prices. It was acquired by a group of Chilean and American investors. There modern winery and tasting room features a spacious main hall and wrap-around porch. It also offers a wide array of wine accessories and related gifts.
