Brentwood, New York
census-designated place in Suffolk County, New York, United States
Brentwood is a hamlet in the Town of Islip in Suffolk County, on Long Island, in New York, United States. The population was 62,387 at the 2020 Census, making it the most populous CDP in Suffolk County and on all of Long Island outside of New York City.
History
Early history
In 1844, the area was established as Thompson Station and Suffolk Station, two new stations on the expansion of the Main Line of the Long Island Rail Road.
On March 21, 1851, it became the utopian community named Modern Times. The colony was established on 750 acres (3.0 km2) of land by Josiah Warren and Stephen Pearl Andrews. In 1864, it was renamed Brentwood after the town of Brentwood, Essex, in England.
By contract, all the land in the colony was bought and sold at cost, with 3 acres (12,000 m2) being the maximum allowable lot size. The community was said to be based on the idea of individual sovereignty and individual responsibility. Individuals were encouraged to pursue their self-interest as they saw fit. All products of labor were considered private property.
Begin with the source’s own compact description: “Brentwood, New York” is census-designated place in Suffolk County, New York, United States. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Brentwood, York and census-designated, not as a finished interpretation.
Why this record matters
The phrase “census-designated place in Suffolk County, New York, United States” supplies a clear boundary for inquiry. It also exposes the unanswered questions: who defined that boundary, when it became stable and which sources sit outside it.
The strongest evidence will usually combine a dated visual record with documents produced by the authority responsible for the place. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jul 5, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q3300932. VIAF identifies the subject as 135006613. The Library of Congress control number is n91065002. Authority coordinates are 40.782, -73.244. 1 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 2020, 1844, 1851 and 1864.
Architectural summaries often privilege surviving fabric and can understate demolished phases, contested use or displaced communities. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Treat names, boundaries and functions as historically changeable. Maps, plans, inventories and administrative records can clarify what the place meant at different dates.
- Historic place names
- Jurisdictional context
- Routes into maps and plans
Contemporary maps, plans, listed-building records, estate papers and the responsible local or national archive.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Brentwood, New York”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Brentwood, New York primary sources, Brentwood, New York archive and Brentwood research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Brentwood, New York”?
- What physical evidence or contemporary plan supports the description?
- Which authority defined the place, boundary or structure at the relevant date?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Brentwood, New York” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.