BAITING HOLLOW, LONG ISLAND

Baiting Hollow, Long Island

Baiting Hollow is a hamlet and census-designated place located in Suffolk County, Long Island, New York. It is within the Town of Riverhead. As of the 2000 census, there were 1,449 people, 600 households, and 429 families residing in the CDP. The median income for a household in the CDP was $80,622, and the median income for a family was $86,455. Males had a median income of $48,036 and only $51,685 for females. According to the United States Census Bureau, Baiting Hollow has a total area of 5.4 square miles, of which, 3.2 square miles of it is land and 2.2 square miles of it (40.52%) is water. The latitude of Baiting Hollow is 40.956N. The longitude is -72.744W. It is in the Eastern Standard time zone. Elevation is 105 feet.

In 1660, this section of the original Aquebogue purchase was divvied into 60 lots and there was not much activity there until the late 18th Century. The building of a cart path through the ``Great Woods'' in 1702 provides easing travel from Southold to Brookhaven Town. The neighborhood was named for a local pond, where travelers watered their horses. The former and merged names of Baiting Hollow include Fresh Pond. In later years, the Baiting Hollow farmers have tried planting several crops and trees such as corn, potatoes, cauliflower, mulberry trees, and even daffodils as their source of living. Then, Baiting Hollow developed a reputation for experimental farming and drew agricultural specialists interested in studying plant diseases and pesky insects. In 1923, New York State purchased the old Homan farm on Sound Avenue and founded a research farm that is still operating up to now.

About 17% of Baiting Hollow residents were German ancestries and 16% were Irish. The racial-makeup of the neighborhood comprises of 96.27% White, 1.38% African American, 0.55% Asian, 0.97% from other races, and 0.83% from two or more races. Baiting Hollow used as a setting in a short story titled “Vanity, Vanity” by Theodore Dreiser, author of “An American Tragedy'” and “Sister Carrie”. The Wildwood State Park is a famous park in Baiting Hollow that composes of 600 acres of undeveloped hardwood forest terminating on the high bluff overlooking Long Island Sound. The park offers a beach, a playground, picnic tables, hiking and biking, fishing, a campground with tent and trailer sites, cross-country skiing, recreation programs, and a food concession. Everyone can relax at shaded picnic tables as their children enjoy the nearby playground. Another is the Splish Splash Water Park which is located a mere five minutes from Baiting Hollow. This park was ranked as the fifth best water park in the United States of America by the Travel Channel.