Beginnings:
Believed to be named for an Indian who once lived there, the area today encompassing Moriches, Center Moriches and East Moriches went through a dozen spellings after the first Europeans arrived. Take your pick: Meritche, Merquices, Maritches, Marigies, Meritces, Moritches, Muriches, Moricha and Meriches all have been spotted in historical records. Col. William (Tangier) Smith, who already owned hundreds of acres in Brookhaven known as the Manor of St. George, snagged some land in the Moriches area in patents of 1691 and 1697. But he retained little of those purchases due to competing claims from earlier settlers who had deeds with the Indians.
Turning Point:
The railroad arrived in 1881, opening the Moriches to vacationing New Yorkers. Among them was 16-year-old Julia Hand of Brooklyn, whose family operated the Hand rooming house on the banks of Senix Creek. Julia kept a diary of her 16th summer in the Moriches in 1886, offering a slice of life in the 19th-Century seaside town. When she wasn't doing chores at the boarding house, Julia rowed along the creeks, sailed on the bay and picnicked at the beach. On Aug. 12, she wrote: ``Had a regular Jones breeze all day. We went to the beach in the morning & Mrs. J. took some trimming along which she unearthed for the occasion & insisted on my showing her every stitch, she talked so much that Sandy commenced to hunt for a cork - with a bottle on the end of it, & we laughed every minute.''
Claim to Fame:
The old Ketcham Inn or Terry's Hotel, as it was known from 1783 to 1852, was built on the stagecoach route from Brooklyn to Sag Harbor (today Main Street in Center Moriches) and was a popular rest stop for many years. By far the inn's most famous guests, Thomas Jefferson and James Madison, sojourned there in 1791 during their historic visit to Long Island. Restoration of the old inn, a portion of which dates to 1693, is under way, spearheaded by the Ketcham Inn Foundation Inc.
Radio Days:
The golden age of radio, circa the 1920s, brought an early radio station to the east end of Smith Street in East Moriches. Run by the Independent Wireless Co., the station housed a spark transmitter used to communicate with ships off shore. Only problem was the transmissions wiped out popular radio programs like ``Amos 'n' Andy,'' prompting residents to form a protest group called the Suffolk County Radio Protective League. A compromise was struck. The company agreed to keep the station silent during the prime-time shows, unless there was an SOS call. Today, nothing remains of the station, but the area still carries the name Radio Point. In July, 1996, East Moriches was the site of one of the most urgent emergency calls in Long Island history: the explosion of TWA Flight 800.
Geography:
East Moriches is located at 40°48'23?N, 72°45'24?W (40.806287, -72.756735)GR1.According to the United States Census Bureau, the CDP has a total area of 14.5 km² (5.6 mi²). 14.1 km² (5.4 mi²) of it is land and 0.4 km² (0.2 mi²) of it (2.68%) is water.
Demographics:
As of the censusGR2 of 2000, there were 4,550 people, 1,510 households, and 1,182 families residing in the CDP. The population density was 322.9/km² (836.3/mi²). There were 1,668 housing units at an average density of 118.4/km² (306.6/mi²). The racial makeup of the CDP was 94.55% White, 1.58% African American, 0.04% Native American, 1.45% Asian, 0.24% Pacific Islander, 1.01% from other races, and 1.12% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 5.16% of the population.There were 1,510 households out of which 39.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 67.5% were married couples living together, 6.8% had a female householder with no husband present, and 21.7% were non-families. 17.0% of all households were made up of individuals and 7.4% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.90 and the average family size was 3.27.In the CDP the population was spread out with 26.4% under the age of 18, 6.0% from 18 to 24, 30.2% from 25 to 44, 24.9% from 45 to 64, and 12.5% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 38 years. For every 100 females there were 97.1 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 93.8 males.The median income for a household in the CDP was $62,005, and the median income for a family was $71,000. Males had a median income of $50,991 versus $30,650 for females. The per capita income for the CDP was $24,086. About 2.2% of families and 3.5% of the population were below the poverty line, including 2.2% of those under age 18 and 5.8% of those age 65 or over.
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