The region was once called South Huntington. Nathaniel Conklin moved his family to the area, eventually calling it "New Babylon", naming it after the ancient city of Babylon around 1803. The town was officially formed in 1872 by a partition of the Town of Huntington.
Communities and locations
Villages
Amityville, in the southwest part of the town.
Babylon, in the southeast part of the town.
Lindenhurst, in the south part of the town, between villages of Babylon and Amityville.
Fire Island Inlet, a passage between the Atlantic Ocean and the Great South Bay.
The town was featured in the American version of Gordon Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares. Ramsay spent a week at Peter's a local Italian eatery that's now out of business.
Tanner Park, Town of Babylon, Copaigue, New York
Local media
102.3FM is licensed to Babylon with studios at 555 Sunrise Highway. The Babylon Beacon has operated as the newspaper of choice covering the town for many years.
Geography
The west town line is the border of Nassau County, New York, and the south town line is the Atlantic Ocean. According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 114.2 square miles, of which, 52.3 square miles of it is land and 61.9 square miles of it is water. The total area is 54.20% water.
Transportation
Airports
is an airport in East Farmingdale originally built by Fairchild Aircraft in 1927, and acquired by Republic Aviation in 1939. Currently, it also houses the American Airpower Museum. Zahn's Airport also existed in North Amityville from 1936 to 1980.
Railroad lines
The Long Island Rail Road's Babylon Branch is the primary railroad line in the town running from the Nassau County Line and terminating in the Village of Babylon with stations from Amityville to Babylon. Rail freight service also exists along the Central Branch which also uses some Montauk Branch trains running from the Main Line in Bethpage. East of Babylon station, the Montauk Branch continues across the Babylon-Islip Town Line. Additionally, the Main Line runs through the northern part of the town with stations in Pinelawn, Wyandanch and Deer Park.
As of the census of 2000, there were 211,792 people, 69,048 households, and 52,407 families residing in the town. The population density was 4,050.0 people per square mile. There were 71,186 housing units at an average density of 1,361.3 per square mile. The racial makeup of the town was 76.34% White, 15.65% Black or African American, 0.27% Native American, 1.89% Asian, 0.03% Pacific Islander, 3.36% from other races, and 2.47% from two or more races. 10.05% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. There were 69,048 households out of which 35.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 57.6% were married couples living together, 13.7% had a female householder with no husband present, and 24.1% were non-families. 19.1% of all households were made up of individuals and 8.5% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 3.03 and the average family size was 3.45. In the town, the population was spread out with 26.0% under the age of 18, 7.5% from 18 to 24, 32.4% from 25 to 44, 21.6% from 45 to 64, and 12.4% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 36 years. For every 100 females, there were 93.0 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 89.3 males. The median income for a household in the town was $60,064, and the median income for a family was $66,261. Males had a median income of $45,160 versus $32,062 for females. The per capita income for the town was $22,844. 6.7% of the population and 4.6% of families were below the poverty line. Out of the total population, 7.4% of those under the age of 18 and 7.4% of those 65 and older were living below the poverty line.
