Walt Whitman was born in a county.
Long Island is a large , densely-populated island off the East Coast of the United States , beginning at New York Harbor just 0.35 miles ( 0.56 km ) from Manhattan Island and extending eastward into the North Atlantic Ocean . Walt Whitman . Born in Huntington on Long Island , Whitman worked as a journalist , a teacher , a government clerk , and -- in addition to publishing his poetry -- was a volunteer nurse during the American Civil War .