Thursday, October 1, 2026
Between 1860 and 1942, agriculture remained a defining part of life on Long Island across Nassau and Suffolk counties. During the same period, transportation improvements and expanding connections to New York City began shaping economic changes that would influence Long Island’s future development.
According to the Long Island Farm Bureau, agriculture has been an important industry on Long Island since the earliest periods of Native American cultivation and European settlement.
Before European settlement, the 60,000-acre Hempstead Plains in Nassau — the largest natural prairie east of the Mississippi River — served Indigenous peoples as a vital landscape for hunting, gathering and managing natural resources. English colonists later used the expansive grasslands to graze livestock, establishing agriculture as one of the area’s earliest industries.
The organization reports that fertile soils, access to fresh water, and proximity to major markets helped make Long Island one of New York State’s most significant agricultural regions. The Farm Bureau notes that farmers produced a wide range of crops and agricultural products, including vegetables, potatoes, fruits, poultry, livestock and shellfish.
Historical records published by the Town of Brookhaven show that early residents were primarily engaged in farming, fishing and whaling. The town’s historical records further indicate that additional industries developed during the nineteenth century, but agriculture remained an important part of the local economy.
Transportation became an increasingly important factor in the region’s development. According to the Town of Brookhaven’s historical overview, the arrival of the Long Island Rail Road during the mid-19th century made travel and the movement of goods faster and easier. Historical records of Long Island transportation show that rail service reached the eastern end of the island in 1844, creating stronger links between rural communities and larger markets.
By the late 19th century, however, parts of Nassau County’s rural landscape were undergoing dramatic change as wealthy industrialists purchased North Shore farmland to build lavish country estates, creating the famed Gold Coast.
Even as the North Shore evolved, farming remained a dominant force across central Long Island. Throughout the 19th century and into the first half of the 20th century, the Island ranked among the nation’s leading potato-producing regions.
Farming remained a dominant force across central Long Island. Throughout the 19th century and into the first half of the 20th century, the Island ranked among the nation’s leading potato-producing regions. Thousands of acres were planted with potatoes, supporting a thriving agricultural economy and supplying markets throughout the Northeast.
While much of eastern Suffolk County remained rural during this period, signs of long-term change were emerging. Historical information published by the Town of Brookhaven states that the 20th century witnessed the town’s expansion from an agrarian community into a more diversified economy.
The transition had not yet fully occurred between 1860 and 1942, but the transportation networks and market connections established during those years helped shape the conditions under which later development would occur.
Manorville itself retained strong agricultural roots. Historical accounts of the hamlet describe it as a farming community for many years, reflecting the broader agricultural character that defined much of central and eastern Suffolk County during the late 19th and early 20 centuries.
That era began to fade after World War II. As returning veterans fueled an unprecedented demand for housing, farmland rapidly disappeared beneath subdivisions, highways and commercial development. The transformation was perhaps most evident in Levittown, where beginning in 1947 more than 4,000 acres of former potato fields were converted into what became the nation’s most iconic suburban development, symbolizing the shift from an agricultural landscape to the suburban Long Island recognized today.
