Program

NYS Historic

Subject

Site

Location

1800 Montauk Hwy, Mastic, NY 11950, USA

Lat/Long

40.806119, -72.834127

Grant Recipient

Mastic Peninsula Historical Society

Forge River was first called the Wegonthontac River, also known as Wegonthak, by local Native Americans as evidenced in this July 20th 1657 deed from the Brookhaven town records:

This writing testifyeth that Wiandance, the Mentake Sachem, have sold to Mr. Richard Woodhull, of Seatauke, two great Necks of Meadow, lying from a River Called Connecticut, and So to a River called Wegonthak, Eastward.

Later, as industry began to grow on Long Island, the Wgonthontac River was renamed Forge River. This was in reference to an iron forge workshop, owned by Colonel Nicoll Floyd, which stood nearby around 1797. The workshop no longer stands, but its legacy endures through Forge River’s name.