According to an article in today's (Sunday, November 19) NEWSDAY, "When 
contractors began working on the historic Prosper King house in Hampton Bays, they 
had two goals -- to replace its crumbling foundation and to restore its 
mid-1800s look.  But, after they began to take apart some additions that dated back 
to the 1930s and then lifted the house up on steel girders, they discovered 
the house was at least a generation older, possibly going back to the 1790s."

For the complete article, "Old house suddenly a lot older: Renovation of 
historic landmark in Hampton Bays reveals that it goes back even further", please 
go to (you may need to MANUALLY copy and paste the entire URL into your 
browser):

http://www.newsday.com/news/printedition/longisland/ny-lihous184982389nov19,0,
2623953.story?coll=ny-linews-print


The pertinent geography:

Originally known as Good Ground until 1922, Hampton Bays is a hamlet (an 
unincorporated area) in the central section of the Town of Southampton, in the 
southeast part of Suffolk County.  There are currently 7 villages (municipal 
corporations) and 15 hamlets (unincorporated areas) all or partly in the Town of 
Southampton.  There are no cities and 10 towns in Suffolk County.  There are 2 
Indian reservations in Suffolk County.  (I'm including after my name a NYS 
Geographic Glossary with the NYS definitions of county, city, town, village, 
hamlet and postal zone.)

Beginning on the north and moving in a clockwise direction, the Hamlet of 
Hampton Bays in the Town of Southampton is bordered on the north by the Great 
Peconic Bay; on the east by the Hamlet of Tuckahoe, the Hamlet of Shinnecock 
Hills and the Shinnecock Indian Reservation; on the south by the Village of 
Southampton and the Atlantic Ocean; and, on the west by the Hamlet of Quogue, the 
Hamlet of East Quogue and the Hamlet of Flanders.

And, as occurs in every one of Suffolk County's 157 communities (0 cities, 32 
villages and 125 hamlets), the Hamlet of Hampton Bays has a different border 
than does the "Hampton Bays, NY 11946" postal zone (i.e., a place can have a 
Hampton Bays mailing address and not be in Hampton Bays and a place can be in 
Hampton Bays and have other than a Hampton Bays mailing address).  Those places 
that have a "Hampton Bays, NY" mailing address that are not in the Hamlet of 
Hampton Bays are in the Hamlet of Shinnecock Hills.  At the same time, there 
are places in the Hamlet of Hampton Bays that have an "East Quogue, NY 11942" 
mailing address.

For those who have their copy of the 2005 or earlier edition of the LI 
Population Survey or have already downloaded the report from the Long Island Power 
Authority web site (eMail me directly if you need instructions on how to access 
and download the report), you'll find the Hamlet of Hampton Bays in the Town 
of Southampton, Suffolk County on pages 15 & 28 (map) and 29 (population 
estimate).

I hope this information is useful or, at least, interesting.

Regards,

Walter Greenspan
Great Falls, MT & Jericho, NY


.   Cities, Towns, Villages, Hamlets and Postal Zones in New York State

New York State is divided into counties.

County
A county is a municipal corporation, a subdivision of the state, created to 
perform state functions; a "regional" government.  All counties are divided 
into cities, towns and Indian reservations.

City
A city is a unique governmental entity with its own special charter.  Cities 
are not sub-divided, except into neighborhoods, which are informal geographic 
areas.

Town
A town is a municipal corporation and encompasses all territory within the 
state except that within cities or Indian reservations.  Towns can be 
sub-divided into villages and hamlets.

Village
A village is a general purpose municipal corporation formed voluntarily by 
the residents of an area in one or more towns to provide themselves with 
municipal services.  The pattern of village organization is similar to those of a 
city.  A village is divided into neighborhoods, which are informal geographic 
areas.

Hamlet
A hamlet is an unincorporated area in one or more towns that is governed 
at-large by the town(s) it is in.  A hamlet is divided into neighborhoods, which 
are informal geographic areas.

Postal Zone "City" and "Town"
A postal zone "City" and "Town" is an administrative district established by 
the U.S. Postal Service to deliver the mail.  Postal zone "City" and "Town" 
may not (but are encouraged to) conform to municipal or community borders.  
Thus, postal zone location does not always determine city, village or hamlet 
location.


Please be aware:  In many areas of New York State, the problem of 
non-conforming postal zones leads to a situation where the majority of places have a 
different community name in their mailing address than the community where that 
place is actually located.