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is in Suffolk County, New York on the north shore of Long Island. The population was 27,680 at the 2000 census. The name signifies that the mouth of the Peconic River is in this town. Riverhead is the county seat of Suffolk County.
The town was created in 1792 when the New York State Legislature divided it from the extant Southold, New York. The Southold land mostly had been "purchased" from the local Native Americans by in 1649, with an additional portion purchased from Col. William Smith and divided among settlers in 1742. The poor section of Southold, with no harbor and little commerce, the town was separated at the behest of its inhabitants, who "represented to the Legislature that their town is so long that it is very inconvenient for them to attend at town meetings, and also to transact the other necessary business of the said town, and have prayed that the same may be divided into two towns". On March 13, 1792, the Legislature passed a bill splitting off this section under the name River Head. The new enclave's first town meeting was scheduled to be hold April 3, 1792. River Head was named the county seat (called "county town" at the time), and its name was later combined as Riverhead. By 1902, its approximate population was 2,500.