Northport is a village in Suffolk County, New York on the North Shore of Long Island. As of the United States 2000 Census, the village population was 7,606. Students attend the Northport-East Northport Union Free School District.

The Village of Northport sits along New York State Route 25A in the Town of Huntington, on Long Island's picturesque North Shore. It is known for its bucolic main street which still bears trolley rails from a long discontinued streetcar that brought people to the village from the Long Island Rail Road station in East Northport. Main Street ends at the village dock and village green, site of numerous "concerts in the park" on summer evenings. It has a number of fine restaurants and ice cream parlors, antique stores, as well as an old-style barbershop, and other independent retailers.

History

---

European Settlement
The original inhabitants of the area now known as Northport were the Matinecocks, one of 13 Native American tribes of Long Island. The Matinecocks called this land "Opcathontyche", which meant "wading place creek". After Dutch interest a few years earlier, the land was sold by Chief Asharoken, head of the Matinecocks, to three Englishmen in 1656.

With land that was well suited for farming, the early settlers grazed cattle on pastures around the harbor. The area soon became known as Great Cow Harbor. (The nearby village of Centerport was known as Little Cow Harbor.)

Growth, Change, and Shipbuilding
Around the Revolutionary War, a concentration of 31 families began settling around where Main Street and Route 25A now intersect. This settlement became known as Red Hook. This was an essential transportation link for the village, especially for the growing commuter population. However, just a few years later the LIRR decided to move the Northport station to a new location in Larkfield (which would later become known as East Northport) to facilitate further railway extension to Port Jefferson. The new railway station located on Larkfield Road retained the station name of Northport and was opened on January 13, 1873.

After the old bypassed village station closed in 1899, Northport decided to build a 2½ mile trolley line to take commuters between Main Street and the new Northport station located in Larkfield. The new commuter trolley opened in mid-April of 1902. The trolley would eventually become obsolete with the invention of the automobile and the trolley made its last scheduled commuter run on August 19, 1924. The tracks remain a defining feature of Main Street to this day.

Modern Northport
After nearly a century of heavy commercial use, the waterfront which had supported the community for generations, had fallen into decay by the 1920's. The village decided to purchase the land along the harbor and created Northport Memorial Park in 1932. The area has since been utilized for home and condo developments.

In 1997 the motion picture In & Out was filmed in Northport. The diner in the movie was then known as Otto's Shipwreck Diner, now known as Tim's Shipwreck Diner. Main Street was made up to play the role...