Nesconset, New York

Nesconset is a hamlet and census-designated place (CDP) located within the Town of Smithtown, in Suffolk County, Long Island, New York, United States. The population was 13,207 at the time of the 2020 census.

History

At the time of colonization, the area that would become Nesconset was likely a seasonal hunting ground visited by both eastern Algonquin-speaking and western Munsee-speaking people who lived in clans. These clans likely banded together seasonally to share resources in winter, or to unify against a common threat. By the 18th century, Kieft's War and Old World disease had reduced Long Island's indigenous society to a few thousand people who resided in either reservations or mission-towns across Long Island. From these remaining communities, colonists ascribed tribal names to better identify parties engaging in land transactions. One of these remaining groups was in early Smithtown and would be known to them as the Nissequogue or Nesaquake (a likely descendant of today's Matinecock tribe). The tribe's principal sachem was known as Nassaconsett or Nassetteconsett, for whom Nesconset is named. Early attempts by western scholars to trace the etymology of the name suggest that Nassaconsett was a place name ascribed to the sachem, possibly by European settlers. The proposed etymology from 1911 claims Nassaconsett translates to "at or near the second going over (by wading or otherwise)", likely a reference to a ford on the Nissequogue River.