A town supervisor and a five man board create legislation and make civic decisions at Southold Town Hall for the 20,600 residents of Southold Town, which includes the hamlets of Orient, East Marion, Southold, Peconic, Cutchogue, New Suffolk, Mattituck, the eastern half of Laurel, Greenport Village and Fishers Island — the town's most isolated hamlet located 11 miles east of Orient Point.
Tax assessors, the building department and the Justice Court are also located in Town Hall. The highway department is located in Peconic and the planning department and zoning board are located in an annex above Capital One Bank in Southold. Town Board meetings and work sessions take place at Town Hall every other Tuesday.
Southold was formed by a group of English settlers in 1640, shortly after the Dutch settled around Albany and Manhattan. Until Shelter Island and Riverhead separated from Southold Town in the 1700s, the region included all lands from Shelter Island and Orient Point to Wading River. Greenport became an incorporated village in 1838 but is still under some jurisdiction of Southold Town.