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WELCOME TO THE ONLINE EXHIBIT OF
CHICKEN HILL: A COMMUNITY LOST TO TIME

Why exhibit Chicken Hill? The small working class enclave of Chicken Hill is typical of many such neighborhoods throughout the United States. These communities arose, functioned and disappeared for all kinds of local reasons but their legacy persists in the fabric of the communities that followed.

At Setauket, the Chicken Hill neighborhood was a mutli-national, multi-religious polyglot combining Eastern Europeans with Native Americans and African Americans.  It's origins were mid-nineteenth century.  As the wave of suburbanization in the 1960's swept over Chicken Hill, most were forced from their rented homes and the fabric of Chicken Hill was torn.  Some were able to remain in the Three Village Community to raise their families.

The youngsters that forged relationships on Chicken Hill became the adults that established the core of the new community.  They became government employees and representatives. They volunteered at fire departments. They formed and presided over fraternal organizations and church societies. To understand this subtle history of these people's lives is to provide insight into how and why our communities work today.