flora & fauna

About forestry service, 11972, Speonk, NY, US, New York

Peconic is a census-designated place (CDP) that roughly corresponds to the hamlet by the same name in the Town of Southold in Suffolk County, New York, United States. The CDP's population was 683 at the 2010 census. == History == The community derives its name from Peconic Bay, which in turn derives its name from a Native American word meaning "nut trees". The area was originally called "Hermitage", and the name "Peconic" was adopted later. During the late 1800s and early 1900s, it was home to the Peconic School, an artist colony initially led by painters Benjamin Rutherfurd Fitz, Edward August Bell, Henry Prellwitz and Edith Mitchill Prellwitz. Albert Einstein was staying in Peconic in 1939 when he signed the famous Einstein–Szilárd letter to President Franklin Delano Roosevelt. Goldsmith's Inlet was the site of a tidal mill that was improved with a windmill in 1870. == Geography == According to the United States Census Bureau, the hamlet has a total area of 3.5 square miles (9.1 km2), of which 3.4 square miles (8.8 km2) is land and 0.12 square miles (0.3 km2), or 3.58%, is water. == Demographics == As of the census of 2000, there were 1,081 people, 426 households, and 310 families residing in the CDP. The population density was 223.8 inhabitants per square mile (86.4/km2). There were 682 housing units at an average density of 141.2 per square mile (54.5/km2).