Bell Town

The Rev. Mary Cooper at a ceremony Saturday marking the dedication of Riverhead's first heritage area, Bell Town, a community founded by Cooper's father Mansfield Bell and his three brothers, grandsons of slaves who migrated from Powhatan County, Virginia during the Great Migration in the 1930s, a historical period marking the movement of approximately 6 million Black Americans away from the Jim Crow South to escape racial discrimination, violence, segregation and poor economic conditions.

The town board Tuesday will designate the Bell Town Heritage Area in Aquebogue, an area located north of Hubbard Avenue settled in the 1930s by four brothers from Powhatan County, Virginia, grandsons of slaves, who migrated north to Riverhead in an era known as the Great Migration.