Originally founded in 1655 as Ashford, then renamed Brookhaven and finally Setauket, this village was the first settlement in what is now the Town of Brookhaven.

 

The original patentees "purchased" the land from a Native American group now called the Setalcott Indians.  During the 16th and 17th centuries, this group, as well as all other native groups in North America, had had their numbers severely reduced by introduced diseases.  The English settlers moved onto the land around the Setauket Millpond that the native people and their ancestors had been using for more than 3,000 years.