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East Hampton (town), New York
Encyclopedia
The Town of East Hampton is located in southeastern Suffolk County
, New York
, at the eastern end of the South Shore
of Long Island
. It is the easternmost town in the state of New York. At the time of the United States 2000 Census, it had a total population of 19,719.
The town includes the village of East Hampton
, as well as the hamlets of Montauk
, Amagansett
, Wainscott
, and Springs
.
East Hampton is a peninsula
featuring eight state parks. It is bordered on the south by the Atlantic Ocean
, to the east by Block Island Sound
and to the north by Gardiners Bay
, Napeague Bay and Fort Pond Bay
.
The town consists of 70 square miles (181.3 km²) and stretches nearly 25 miles (40.2 km), from Wainscott
in the west to Montauk Point in the east. It is about six miles (10 km) wide at its widest point and less than a mile at its narrowest point. The town has jurisdiction over Gardiners Island, which is the largest privately owned island in the United States. The town has 70 miles (112.7 km) of shoreline.
This area had long been inhabited by varying cultures of indigenous peoples
. At the time of European contact, East Hampton was home to several Algonquian
-speaking groups identified by their geographic locations. The historical people known as the Montaukett
controlled most of the territory at the east end of Long Island. They were closely related to Algonquian peoples across Long island Sound, such as the Pequot
and Narragansett
. Native Americans at the western part of Long Island were part of the Lenape
nation, although they were also identified by geographic location.
Chief Wyandanch
negotiated with English colonists in the late-17th century for the sale of land in the East Hampton area. The differing concepts held by the Montaukett and English about property and its use contributed to the Native Americans' dispossession. The first Montaukett sale of land in present-day East Hampton was to English colonist Lion Gardiner
, of what was to become Gardiner's Island, for "a large black dog, some powder and shot, and a few Dutch blankets." The next trade involved the land extending from Southampton to the foot of the bluffs, at what is now Hither Hills State Park
, for 24 hatchet
s, 24 coats, 20 looking glass
es and 100 muxes
.
In 1660 Chief Wyandanch's widow signed away the rest of the land from Hither Hills to the tip of Montauk for 100 pounds, to be paid in 10 equal installments of "Indian corn or good wampum
at six to a penny". The sales provided that the Montaukett were permitted to stay on the land, to hunt and fish at will, and to harvest the tails and fins of whales that beached on the East Hampton shores. Town officials who bought the land filed for reimbursement for the rum
with which they had plied the tribe during negotiations.
Many of the Montaukett died during the 17th and 18th centuries from epidemic
s of smallpox
, a Eurasia
n disease carried by English and Dutch colonists, to which the Indians had no immunity. After the American Revolution
,some Montaukett relocated with Shinnecock
to Oneida County
in upstate New York, led by the Mohegan
missionary
Samson Occom
, to try to escape settlers' encroachment. They formed the Brothertown Indians
with other refugee Indian people from New England, and gave up some of their traditions. In 1831-1836, the Brothertown Indians migrated to Wisconsin
, where they founded the settlement of Brothertown
.
Some Montaukett continued to live on Long Island. In the late nineteenth century, their most well-known member was the legendary Stephen Talkhouse
. Their area on Lake Montauk was called Indian Fields until 1879. With their population reduced, over the years, they intermarried with other peoples of the area, and many of their descendants were brought up in Indian traditions. When Arthur W. Benson
forced a government auction of Montauk, in which he bought nearly the entire east end of the town, he evicted the Montuakett. They relocated to Freetown
, a community established by free people of color on the northern edge of East Hampton Village. The tribe made several attempts to get the courts to declare the evictions illegal, but failed. In the 1990s, the Montauketts again began pressing their case for formal recognition. The Shinnecock, who were historically the same culture, have received federal recognition as a tribe.
Montaukett artifacts and sweat lodge
s are visible on trails at Theodore Roosevelt County Park
. The park was formerly called Montauk County Park.
East Hampton was the first English settlement in the state of New York. Lion Gardiner in 1639 purchased land, what became known as Gardiner's Island, from the Montaukett
people. In 1648 a royal British charter recognized the island as a wholly contained colony, independent of both New York and Connecticut; a status it was to keep until after the American Revolution, when it came under New York State and East Hampton authority.
On June 12, 1640, nine Puritan
families from Lynn, Massachusetts
landed at what is now known as Conscious Point, in Southhampton; some later migrated to what is now known as East Hampton. Among the first English settlers in East Hampton were Joshua Barnes, Robert Bond, David Howe, John Hand, John Mulford, Robert Rose, John Stretton, Thomas Talmadge and Thomas Thompson, along with their wives and children.
The Mulford Farmhouse
, on James Lane, is the best-preserved 17th-century English colonial house in East Hampton. The barn dates to 1721, and the complex is operated as a living museum
. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places
. It was built in 1680 for Josiah Hobart, a prominent early settler, named in the first formal deed of conveyance of East Hampton. This was known as the East-Hampton or Dongan Patent. The 1686 instrument granting East Hampton to its new proprietors was signed by Thomas Dongan, then Governor of New York. The patent named Capt. Hobart one of "Trustees of the freeholders and commonalty of the town of East-Hampton". A son of Rev. Peter Hobart, founding minister of Old Ship Church
in Hingham, Massachusetts
, Josiah Hobart and his brother Joshua both came to Long Island with their families. Josiah Hobart settled in East Hampton, where he served as High Sheriff of Suffolk County; and his brother Joshua, a minister, went to Southold
, where he served the town for 45 years.
East Hampton was the third Connecticut settlement on the East end of Long Island. East Hampton formally united with Connecticut in 1657. Long Island was formally declared to be part of New York (and also subject to English law) by Charles II of England
after four British frigates captured what is today New York City
, releasing East Hampton from its Connecticut governance.
East Hampton was first called Maidstone
, after Maidstone, England. The name was later changed to "Easthampton", reflecting the geographic names of its neighbors, Southampton and Westhampton. In 1885 the name was split into two words, after the local newspaper the East Hampton Star began using the two-word name. "Maidstone" is frequently used in place names throughout the town, including the Maidstone Golf Club.
Deep Hollow Ranch
, established in 1658 in Montauk, is the oldest continuously operating cattle ranch in the United States.
While East Hampton was originally primarily agricultural, the settlers soon discovered that whales frequently beached
themselves along the South shore of the town and that the whales could then be carved up for food and oil. The proper handling of this phenomenon was to be written into town laws. As the demand for whale products grew, residents became more aggressive in their harvesting techniques. No longer content to settle for harvesting beached whales, they began harvesting live whales that were coming near shore.
Northwest Harbor, located at Northwest Landing
, was the town's first harbor. The harbor turned out to be too shallow for large ships, so it was moved two miles (3 km) West, to Sag Harbor, which derived its name from the fact that it was just north of the settlement of Sagaponack, New York
in Southampton.
At its peak, in 1847, 60 whale ships were based in the village, employing 800 men in related businesses. It was to be written about by Herman Melville
in Moby-Dick
. The port rivaled that of New York. After 1847 the whaling industry dropped off dramatically.
Among the sea captains of Sag Harbor were ancestors of Howard Dean
who was born in East Hampton.
The most famous voyages out of Sag Harbor were those by Mercator Cooper
, who in 1845 picked up shipwrecked Japanese sailors in the Bonin Islands and returned them to Tokyo
. In 1853 Cooper broke through the ice shelf to become the first person to land on East Antarctica
.
East Hampton continues to have a large maritime presence, as Montauk is New York State's largest fishing port. The Town is famed for its commercial sports fishing, made particularly famous by Frank Mundus
. One of the largest buildings in the town is Promised Land fish meal factory at Napeague.
and Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis
spent their childhoods there. Theodore Roosevelt
was briefly quarantined in Montauk, at Camp Wyckoff, after returning from the Spanish-American War. Bill Clinton
and Hillary Clinton spent week long summer vacations in 1998 and 1999.
Julia Gardiner was born on Gardiners Island and her father had a house in East Hampton village. On February 28, 1844, she and her father, David Gardiner
, were part of the Presidential party aboard the USS Princeton (1843)
when a malfunctioning cannon exploded, killing her father, along with two Cabinet officers. According to legend Julia fainted into the arms of President John Tyler (who had earlier lost his first wife). They married four months later, creating a national scandal, since there was a 30 a year difference in their ages.
Although Tyler was a member of the wealthy Gardiner family and a former First Lady of the United States, she had economic problems after the American Civil War
, due to her support of the Confederate States of America
, along with President Tyler
.
She is buried with the President in Richmond, Virginia
. Her father and one of her sons are buried in the South End Burial Ground in East Hampton.
Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis
was born at Southampton Hospital on July 28, 1929. She would have been born in New York City but she was six weeks late and her parents, Janet Norton Lee and John Vernou Bouvier III
, were staying at the Further Lane, East Hampton, home of her grandfather, John Vernou Bouvier III, named Lasata
Her parents were married at St. Philomena's Catholic Church in East Hampton on July 7, 1928. The reception was held at the East Hampton village home of her maternal grandparents James T. Lee and Margaret Lee, on Lily Pond.
Her family were members of the Maidstone Club
. She and her younger sister, Lee Bouvier, spent their summers at the house until she was 10, when her parents divorced.
Her connection to East Hampton got national attention in the 1970s following news reports and the documentary, Grey Gardens
. Her aunt, Edith Ewing Bouvier Beale
, and cousin, Edith Bouvier Beale
, were living in poverty in a mansion after which the film was named. She and her husband, Aristotle Onassis
, donated money to improve the plight of her relatives. Grey Gardens (musical)
was also made into a Broadway musical. A new documentary on the estate was released in 2006.
Jacqueline's sister, Lee Radziwill
, continued to own the Lily Pond Lane home of her maternal grandparents until 2002. The Bouvier family cemetery plot is at Most Holy Trinity Catholic Cemetery
on Cedar Street. Jackie's father, maternal grandmother, paternal grandparents, and paternal great-grandparents, as well as various relatives, including Edith Bouvier Beale, are buried in the cemetery.
. Clinton gave a Saturday radio chat from the Amagansett fire station.
In June 2008, at the conclusion of Hillary Clinton's Presidential bid, she stayed at the Wiborg Beach home of Thomas H. Lee
in East Hampton Village.
Slavery in New York was legal until 1827. During the War of 1812
, the Gardiners used slaves to transport supplies back and forth to Gardiner's Island. According to the Gardiners, slaves were easier to pass through British blockades since it was "obvious" that they were "owned."
During this period Sag Harbor rose to a port status, rivaling New York, due to its whale oil trade, with slaves extensively working the docks.
After the repeal of slavery, Gardiner's slaves set up small houses Freetown (East Hampton)
, just north of East Hampton village, while Sag Harbor's freed slaves developed the Eastside community in Sag Harbor.
On August 26, 1839, members of La Amistad
, a slave ship which had been commandeered by its captives, in Cuba
, dropped anchor at Culloden Point
and came ashore at Montauk to get supplies. The slaves, who were inexperienced navigators, thought they were on course to Africa. Members of the U.S. Navy
ship USS Washington
, seeing the slaves on shore, arrested them and took them to Connecticut. The Amistad case
was decided by the U.S. Supreme Court
in 1841. John Quincy Adams
argued
for the Africans. The court decided in their favor, opining that the initial capture of the Africans was illegal, so they were freed.
One of the imprisoned slaves was to become a valet for President John Tyler
and was killed aboard USS Princeton
along with David Gardiner, who was on board with his daughter Julia Gardiner Tyler
.
In 1845 Pyrrhus Concer
was aboard the Manhattan, a ship captained by Mercator Cooper
, which picked up shipwrecked Japanese sailors in the Bonin Islands. The ship was allowed to enter Tokyo Bay
under escort to return the sailors and became the first American ship to visit Tokyo. Concer was the first African-American the Japanese had seen and is depicted in their drawings of the event.
East Hampton film director Steven Spielberg popularized the event in the 1997 film
Amistad.
East Hampton from its earliest days with the settlement of Gardiners Island has had a reputation as being a home for the wealthy especially after the Gardiners married into almost all the wealthy New York families.
East Hampton however largely remained undeveloped until 1880 when Austin Corbin
extended the Long Island Rail Road
from Bridgehampton, New York
to Montauk. As part of the development Arthur W. Benson
forced an auction paid US$151,000 for 10,000 acres (40 km²) around Montauk and forced the eviction of the Montaukket Native Americans there.
Benson brought in architect Stanford White
to design six "cottages" near Ditch Plains in Montauk and they formed the Montauk Association to govern their exclusive neighborhood. Among the cottages was Tick Hall, owned by Dick Cavett
. It burned in 1993 but Cavett rebuilt it filming the process for a television documentary.
Corbin had more industrial desires for building the train to Montauk. He thought a new port city would develop around the train station on Fort Pond Bay and that ocean going ships from Europe would dock there and the passengers would take the train into New York – thus saving a day in transit.
The grand plans for Montauk did not pan out and the land was sold to the United States Army which was to use most of the land for Army, Navy and Air Force bases through World War II with Theodore Roosevelt making a much publicized visit there at Camp Wyckoff at the end of the Spanish-American War.
One of the side benefits of the railroad extension was a building boom of mansions in the newly accessible village of East Hampton resulting in the wealthy venturing further east from Southampton with the Maidstone Golf Club opening 1891.
In 1926 Carl G. Fisher
was to resurrect the dream of an urban Montauk with plans to turn it into the Miami Beach of the north. He bought the former Benson property for $2.5 million (which was then surplus government property following the end of World War I). He built the 6-story Montauk Improvement Building in downtown Montauk (which is still the town's tallest occupied structure - as zoning has forbidden highrise structures), the Montauk Manor (which was a luxury hotel), dredged Lake Montauk and opened it to Block Island Sound to support his Montauk Yacht Club and the associated Star Island Casnio as well as the Montauk Downs
golf club. Fisher was to lose his fortune in the Crash of 1929 and the land was sold back to the military in World War II.
Through the years East Hampton's wealth has evolved emanating out from the village taking over the farmland that had once been dominated by potato
fields. The most dazzling row of mansions remains in the village of East Hampton on the closest road paralleling the ocean along Further Lane and Lily Pond Lane.
While ostentatious displays of wealth occurred near the ocean ("south of the Montauk Highway
") much simpler houses and bungalows have been built through the years throughout its history particularly in Springs and Montauk. In the 1950s and 1960s following the Kitchen Debate
between Nikita Khrushchev
and Richard Nixon
more than cheap affordable prefabricated housing second homes called Leisurama
were built in Montauk at Culloden Point.
In November 2006, the median price of a house in the Town was US $895,000 compared with a national median for the U.S. of $225,000. Several houses in East Hampton now sell for prices in the tens of millions of dollars. Living in East Hampton is expensive. In 2007 the cost of living was 168% of the national average.
East Hampton's reputation as an artists colony began with painter Jackson Pollock
, who resided in Springs, New York
in the 1940s and 1950s, with Lee Krasner
, at what is now known as the Pollock-Krasner House and Studio
. Many of his most famous paintings were painted in the barn, which he had converted into a studio. The property is now open to the public for tours, by appointment. It is now owned by State University of New York at Stony Brook
with scheduled appointments to see his studio, which was left unchanged after his death.
Among the other artists who popularized East Hampton as an artists colony were Willem de Kooning
, Mark Rothko
, Franz Kline
, Ian Hornak
, Larry Rivers
, Alfonso Ossorio, Robert Motherwell
, Andy Warhol
and Thomas Moran
, as well as art dealers Leo Castelli
and Ileana Sonnabend
.
Pollock died in 1956 while driving with his mistress, Ruth Kligman
, and a friend of hers, on Springs Fireplace Road, after picking them up at the Long Island Railroad station in East Hampton.
Pollock and Krasner are buried in Green River Cemetery
, in Springs, along with many of the artists of their generation. Pollock's influence continues to be felt in the community.
Marcia Gay Harden
won a 2000 Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress
for portraying Krasner in Pollock (film)
which was shot in East Hampton as the dream project of Ed Harris
, who was also nominated for Best Actor.
An ongoing debate rages over whether 24 paintings and drawings found in a Wainscott locker in 2003 are Pollock originals. Physicists have argued over whether fractals can be used to authenticate the paintings. The debate is still inconclusive.
Andy Warhol
and his longtime collaborator, Paul Morrissey
, had a large, waterfront estate in Montauk called Eothen. Among their guests were Jacqueline Onassis, Lee Radziwill
, the Rolling Stones, Bianca Jagger
, Jerry Hall
, Liza Minnelli
, Elizabeth Taylor
, John Lennon
, John Phillips
, and Halston
.
In 1993 the Andy Warhol Foundation donated 15.6 acres (63,131 m²) of the estate to the Nature Conservancy for the Andy Warhol Visual Arts Preserve which is run in conjunction with Art Barge in nearby Napeague.
Two major natural disasters that affected East Hampton include the Hurricane of 1938 and Hurricane Carol
, in 1954, both of which found the Atlantic Ocean splitting the town in two at Napeague. The 1938 storm also washed up so much sand that the Cedar Point Lighthouse
, which had been on island, became connected to mainland. The 1954 storm also toppled the MacKay Radio towers at Napeague.
East Hampton does not have the barrier beaches that run almost the entire length of the south shore of Long Island from Coney Island to Southampton. East Hampton's ocean beaches are connected to the mainland, which prevents them from being washed over in storms.
Due to storms on Fort Pond Bay, the hamlet of Montauk was actually moved by the Navy at the end of World War II. The hamlet was originally located at the train station, but was constantly being flooded.
East Hampton is regularly hit by hurricanes and Nor'easter
s. Given the town's generally flat topography, water often accumulates on town roads stranding motorists in heavy rains.
The town's most serious environmental problem is beach erosion. The town has severely restricted development on ocean front property, thus limiting impact. The Montauk Lighthouse, which used to be almost 300 feet (91.4 m) from the cliffs is now 56 feet (17.1 m) from the cliffs. The most threatened areas now are in the hamlet of Montauk, which is the only community in the town with its business district next to the ocean, as are the oceanfront estates of East Hampton. At Georgica Pond the United States Corps of Engineers built Groynes to protect the mansions. The construction is a source of friction with Southampton, which says the jetties interrupt the Longshore drift
, greatly increasing beach erosion there.
The lack of beach front development, including the fact there are no boardwalk
promenades, which are features of many developed beach communities, has contributed to East Hampton beaches being listed among the best beaches in the country.
, United States Army
, and United States Air Force
bases, the last of which closed in the 1980s. It currently has a United States Coast Guard
headquarters.
Skirmishes and military incidents took place in the town from the 17th century through World War II.
The biggest recorded loss of life in the various skirmishes and conflicts in East Hampton was "Massacre Valley" in 1653 in Montauk when 30 members of the Montaukett tribe were killed by members of the Narragansett
tribe at the foot of what is now Montauk Manor.
The Montauketts had a thriving wampum
(made from whelk
shells on the East Hampton beaches) trade Connecticut tribes. The arrangements were disrupted in 1637 by the Pequot War
which was to solidify English domination of New England and change the balance of power among Native American tribes.
The Pequot War was to contribute to the Montauketts selling Gardiners Island, East Hampton and Southhampton to the English with the understanding the English would protect the Montauketts from attacks from Connecticut. However a war broke out between the Montauketts and the Narragansett, the nominal Native American victors in Pequot War.
In 1653 the Narragansetts under Ninigret
attacked and burned the Montaukett village, killed 30 and captured one of Wyandanch's daughters. The daughter was ransomed with the aid of Lion Gardiner (who in turn was to get large portion of Smithtown, New York
in appreciation). The Montauketts temporarily moved closer to East Hampton village and the English ordered ships in Long Island Sound to sink Narragansett canoes. The skirmishes were to end in 1657.
who was hanged after his booty on Gardiners Island was introduced at his trial.
Kidd is said to have buried treasure all over Long Island. Money Ponds at the Montauk Lighthouse are named because of treasure reported to have been left there.
In June 1699 Kidd was stopped on the island while sailing to Boston to try to clear his name. With the permission of the proprietor, Mrs. Gardiner, he buried $30,000 in treasure in a ravine between Bostwick's Point and the Manor House. For her troubles he gave her a piece of gold cloth (a piece of which is now at the East Hampton library) that was captured from a Moorish ship off Madagascar
, as well as a bag of sugar. Kidd warned that if it was not there when he returned he would kill Gardiner. Kidd was tried in Boston and Gardiner was ordered to deliver the treasure as evidence. The booty included gold dust, bars of silver, Spanish dollar
s, rubies, diamonds, candlesticks and porringer
s. Gardiner kept one of the diamonds, which he gave his daughter. A plaque on the island marks the spot, but it's on private property.
In 1775 the British first ventured toward Long Island at Fort Pond Bay
at Montauk during the Siege of Boston
. John Dayton, who had limited troops at his disposal, feigned that he had more by walking them back and forth across a hill turning their coats inside out to make it look like there more of them (a tactic referred to as Dayton's Ruse). The British would not formally attack Long Island until 1776.
After the fall of Long Island during the Battle of Long Island
, the East Hampton ports of Northwest and Sag Harbor were blockaded by the British and the British used Gardiner's Island for a hunting preserve.
The first American victory in New York after the Battle of Long Island was Meigs Raid
on Sag Harbor (sometimes called the Battle of Sag Harbor) when continentals from Connecticut raided the British earth works in the village and burned the ships and wharfs on the East Hampton side of the village. The Americans killed six and transported 90 British prisoners back to Connecticut without losing a single soldier.
A story often circulated is the story of Isaac Van Scoy who had a farm in Northwest. According to the tales the British raided his farmhouse and he killed one soldier with a pitchfork. Van Scoy was reported to have eventually been captured and taken to a prison ship in Sag Harbor where he escaped. The earthen remains of Van Scoy's house are still visible in the Northwest Preserve where he is buried (American flags mark his grave on holidays). His name is applied to various placenames in the area including Van Scoy Pond.
The manor house on Gardiners Island had just been built in 1774 and members of the British forces were to use it throughout the war – with or without permission. Among the British guests were Henry Clinton
and John André
. At one point Major Andre and Gardiner son Nathaniel Gardiner, who was a surgeon for the New Hampshire Continental Infantry, exchanged toasts on the island. Gardiner would later be the American surgeon who attended to Andre when he was executed after being caught spying with Benedict Arnold
.
The British fleet used East Hampton waters for blockading Connecticut and planning for a new offense to retake New England (that never took place). One of the ships, the HMS Culloden (1776)
ran aground at what is now called Culloden Point
in Montauk during a winter storm on January 24, 1781. The ship was scuttled and burned. In the 1970s remains of the ship were discovered and is now Long Island's only underwater park. Remains of the ship can be seen at the East Hampton Marine Museum in Amagansett.
After the war, Gardiners Island which had been considered an independent colony was officially added to New York and East Hampton.
George Washington
was to authorize construction of the Montauk Point Lighthouse
.
During the War of 1812
British frigates once again controlled the northern bays of East Hampton with frigates headquartered in Gardiners Bay particularly harassing ships going into Sag Harbor.
Sag Harbor had a fort manned by 3,000 troops on Turkey Hill. July 11, 1813 One hundred British Marines raided the wharf but were driven back after setting fire to one sloop by Americans led by Capt. David Hand.
During the War of 1812
a British fleet of seven ships of the line and several smaller frigates anchored in Cherry Harbor and conducted raids on American shipping Long Island Sound
. Crews would come ashore for provisions which were purchased at market prices. During one of the British excursions, Americans captured some of the crew. The British came to arrest then Lord of the Manor John Lyon Gardiner. Gardiner, who was a delicate man, adopted the "green room defense" where he stayed in a bed with green curtains surrounded by medicine to make him look feeble. The British, not wanting a sick man on board, let him be.
The British were to bury several personnel on the island. Some of the British fleet that burned Washington
assembled in the harbor in 1814.
Gardiner's supply boats were manned by slaves during the war and this made it easier for them to pass through British lines. Many of the Gardiner slaves were to live in the Freetown (East Hampton)
, just north of East Hampton (village), New York
.
, some of the Sag Harbor whaling ships were scuttled in Charleston, South Carolina
harbor to blockade the city.
The USS Montauk (1862)
, a Monitor (warship)
which was constructed at the Continental Iron Works in Greenpoint, Brooklyn
, saw considerable action throughout the war. In 1865 the ship, docked at the Washington Navy Yard
, was used as the prison for accused Abraham Lincoln assassination
conspirators and the autopsy and identification of the body of assassin John Wilkes Booth
.
During the Spanish-American War
, the Army built Fort Tyler on Gardiners Point Island
in an attempt to protect Long Island.
A more important fort was the massive Camp Wickoff (also called Wyckoff) which stretched from the current Montauk Long Island Railroad station to the Montauk Point Lighthouse.
The area was used to quarantine soldiers coming from the conflict. The most prominent group among the 20,000 soldiers who passed through the base were Theodore Roosevelt
and his Rough Riders
. The tented camp became a national scandal over the poor treatment of troops (256 died there) and President William McKinley
visited to emphasize improvements. Exhibits and artifacts from the camp are at Theodore Roosevelt County Park
.
, the E.W. Bliss Company of Brooklyn, New York tested torpedoes in the harbor, a half mile north of Sag Harbor. As part of the process, Long Wharf in Sag Harbor was reinforced with concrete and rail spurs built along the wharf as the torpedoes were loaded onto ships for testing. They were shipped via the Long Island Road, along the Sag Harbor to the wharf which was owned by the railroad at the time. Among those observing the tests was Thomas Alva Edison. Most of the today's buildings on the wharf, including the Bay Street Theatre, were built during this time. The torpedoes, which did not have exploding warheads, are occasionally found by divers on the bay floor.
During World War II, coastal fortifications were set up along the eastern tip of Long Island at Montauk. A concrete observation tower as built next to the Montauk Lighthouse. 16 inch naval guns were placed in adjacent bunkers at Camp Hero. The observation tower is still next to the lighthouse and the additional bunkers are visible at Camp Hero State Park as well as Shadmoor State Park
.
On June 13, 1942, as part of Operation Pastorius
four German agents led by George John Dasch
were landed by U202 at what is now Atlantic Avenue Beach (sometimes called Coast Guard Beach) in Amagansett. Confronted by Coast Guardsman John C. Cullen, they said they were Southampton fishermen. When one of the four said something in a foreign tongue, they offered him $300 to keep quiet. The agents disappeared into the night after he sought out his supervisor. When reinforcements arrived they discovered German cigarettes on the beach along with four heavy, waterproof oaken boxes buried in the sand filled with brick-sized blocks of high explosives, bombs disguised as lumps of coal
, bomb-timing mechanisms of German make, and innocent-looking “pen-and-pencil sets” that were actually incendiary weapons.
The agents rode the Long Island Railroad into New York City and were ultimately captured along with four others who had come ashore at Jacksonville, Florida
. Six of the agents were to be executed.
In May 2007 the original Coast Guard station was moved to the property at the Town Marine Museum in Amagansett across the dunes from its original Atlantic Avenue beach location. The station was moved in 1966 to private property to save it from demolition by Joel Carmichael The Marine Museum itself was the former barracks for the Coast Guard.
The Navy appropriated almost all of Montauk during the war for facilities including Montauk Manor which was used as a dormitory. Torpedoes were tested in Lake Montauk. Ships and dirigibles docked on Navy Road on Fort Pond Bay. The Navy was to find Fort Pond inhospitable since it was shallow. Dredging was to contribute to problems with flooding. After the war the Navy moved the residential section of Montauk which had been on the bay by the Long Island Rail station a mile to the south to get away from the flooding. One of the biggest legacies of the Navy presence was to be the dredging of Lake Montauk so that it replaced Fort Pond as Montauk's dock. The Coast Guard is now headquartered there on Star Island.
After the war most of the property was disposed of as surplus except for gun emplacements at Camp Hero next to the Montauk Point Lighthouse. Although the gun emplacements were obsolete, the camp was designated an Air Force Base supporting a 135 feet (41.1 m) wide radar called the AN/FPS-35
in the early 1960s to detect bombers headed for New York City. The massive radar and huge then state of the art computers quickly became obsolete. While all the other radars were to be torn down the one on Montauk was saved largely because it was a better landmark than the lighthouse on Long Island Sound.
The base was officially decommissioned in the 1980s. The support buildings now form a ghost town and the radar has officially been added to the National Register of Historic Places.
In 1992 Long Island residents Preston B. Nichols and Peter Moon wrote a science fiction book The Montauk Project: Experiments in Time
(ISBN 0-9631889-0-9) in which it was claimed the radar was used by the government to conduct time travel experiments. The book has been perceived by some to be true and the base has assumed something of a cult status among conspiracy buffs. It was also featured in a segment of X-Files.
The town actually has two governments that sometimes conflict with each other.
The most visible government is the Town Board which consists of five people including its head called the Town Supervisor who are responsible for the taxes, roads, police, parks, zoning and general governance of the town. Its authority was established by the State of New York in 1788. The government operates from a 13 acres (52,609.2 m²) campus on Pantigo Road.
The second lesser known government is the Trustees of the Freeholders and Commonalty of the Town of East Hampton which is formally responsible for day to day decisions of common property in the town. The Trustees derive their power from the Dongan Patent of December 9, 1686 which set up self governance for the town. The patent (a land grant
) establishing the trustees was an act by Thomas Dongan, the Royal Governor of New York. Most of the time the trustees, who operate from the Town's Lamb Building on Bluff Road in Amagansett are in synch with the Town Board although there are occasionally conflicts. Among the common properties the trustees operate is Georgica Pond
and they make decisions about when the tidal pond is drained and filled. These actions often make headlines given they affect the flooding of basements of neighboring celebrities. In 1998, the pond was drained just a few days before President Bill Clinton
was to spend his summer vacation at the home of Steven Spielberg
.
The Town is often an early adopter of initiatives including domestic partnership
registration. In 1999, it imposed a 2 percent tax on residential real estate sales in excess of $250,000 for the purpose of buying open space. The money has contributed to the town having more than 200 miles (321.9 km) of trails including the Paumanok Path
. Between 2002 and 2005 the tax raised $71 million. In 2006 the town adopted a dark skies
ordinance which is now being considered as a model for wider use in New York State.
Despite East Hampton's great wealth, its fire department and ambulance are both volunteer services. President Bill Clinton
was to give his weekend radio address from the Amagansett Volunteer Fire Station in August 1998 during his vacation in the town.
Although residences in the town are often in architectural magazines, the town offices consist of a several double wide trailers
hidden from the street by a nondescript flat-roofed building. In 2006 the town announced plans to turn its campus into a collection of historic East Hampton buildings that had been moved over the course of 30 years to the 40 acres (161,874.4 m²) Further Lane home of Adelaide de Menil, heiress to the Schlumberger
oil fortune. The move was part of the sale of their home to Baron Funds financier Ron Baron for $103 million which in 2007 was declared the highest price ever paid for a single home The new complex is to be designed Robert A.M. Stern (who also designed the East Hampton Library in 1997).
The township has aggressively pursued zoning ordinances to protect its residential and rural character. Consequently, there are no chain fast food restaurant
s and or big box stores (unlike Southampton which has numerous fast food chains and stores such as K-Mart). The village of East Hampton
formerly also pursued the no chain rules. However, since the mid-1990s chains have begun making inroads including the opening of Starbucks
(currently there is only one in the whole town) as well as Tiffany's
.
Demographics in East Hampton are skewed by the fact that more than half the houses are owned as second homes (often from some of the wealthiest people in the country). The main industry for East Hampton is support for its residential community.
As of the census
of 2000, there were 19,719 people, households, and families residing in East Hampton. The population density
is 643.1 people per square mile (248.2/km²). There are 2,251 housing units at an average density of 403.6 per square mile (155.8/km²). The racial makeup of the town is 82.46% White, 16.62% Hispanic or Latino of any race, 7.39% Black or African American, 0.08% Native American, 1.62% Asian, 0.08% Pacific Islander, 5.94% from other races, and 2.43% from two or more races.
There are 1,445 households out of which 27.3% have children under the age of 18 living with them, 44.2% are married couples
living together, 12.2% have a female householder with no husband present, and 39.0% are non-families. 31.9% of all households are made up of individuals and 16.8% have someone living alone who is 65 years of age or older. The average household size is 2.47 and the average family size is 3.07.
In the town the population is spread out with 22.3% under the age of 18, 6.7% from 18 to 24, 28.0% from 25 to 44, 25.8% from 45 to 64, and 17.2% who are 65 years of age or older. The median age is 41 years. For every 100 females there are 92.6 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there are 90.2 males.
The median income for a household in the town is $52,201, and the median income for a family is $55,357. Males have a median income of $38,566 versus $29,750 for females. The per capita income
for the CDP is $25,725. 12.2% of the population and 10.3% of families are below the poverty line. Out of the total population, 20.5% of those under the age of 18 and 4.2% of those 65 and older are living below the poverty line.
, which were nesting on the beach nearby. Village administration has since postponed the fireworks display to Labor Day weekend indefinitely for years to come.
A big draw in the summer had also been the shark fishing tournaments in Montauk. However in 2007 the Humane Society
and other organizations have been protesting the cruelty of the tournament
Each Summer, the Artists and Writers Softball Game, a charity benefit, is held. Past players include John Irving
, Norman Mailer
, Kurt Vonnegut
, Dustin Hoffman
, Bill Clinton
, and singer Paul Simon
.
Every October the town hosts the Hamptons International Film Festival
, a rather large production with independent films shown in several local theatres. It has a fairly large draw from the New York City
crowd.
East Hampton does not have any colleges although the now disbanded Clinton Academy on Main Street was the first chartered Academy authorized by the New York State Board of Regents in 1784. Three high schools are in the town:
American educator Catharine Beecher
was born in East Hampton.
Suffolk County, New York
Suffolk County is a county located in the U.S. state of New York on the eastern portion of Long Island. As of the 2010 census, the population was 1,493,350. It was named for the county of Suffolk in England, from which its earliest settlers came...
, New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
, at the eastern end of the South Shore
South Shore (Long Island)
The South Shore of Long Island, in the U.S. state of New York, is the area along Long Island's Atlantic Ocean shoreline. Though some consider the South Shore to include parts of Queens, particularly the beach communities in the Rockaways such as Belle Harbor, the term is generally used to refer to...
of Long Island
Long Island
Long Island is an island located in the southeast part of the U.S. state of New York, just east of Manhattan. Stretching northeast into the Atlantic Ocean, Long Island contains four counties, two of which are boroughs of New York City , and two of which are mainly suburban...
. It is the easternmost town in the state of New York. At the time of the United States 2000 Census, it had a total population of 19,719.
The town includes the village of East Hampton
East Hampton (village), New York
The Village of East Hampton is a village in Town of East Hampton, New York. It is located in Suffolk County, on the South Fork of eastern Long Island...
, as well as the hamlets of Montauk
Montauk, New York
Montauk [ˈmɒntɒk] is a census-designated place that roughly corresponds to the hamlet with the same name located in the town of East Hampton in Suffolk County, New York, United States on the South Shore of Long Island. As of the United States 2000 Census, the CDP population was 3,851 as of 2000...
, Amagansett
Amagansett, New York
Amagansett is a census-designated place that roughly corresponds to the hamlet by the same name in the town of East Hampton in Suffolk County, New York on the South Shore of Long Island. As of the United States 2000 Census, the CDP population was 1,067. Amagansett hamlet was founded in 1680.The...
, Wainscott
Wainscott, New York
Wainscott is a census-designated place that roughly corresponds to the hamlet with the same name in the town of East Hampton in Suffolk County, New York on the South Fork of Long Island. As of the United States 2000 Census, the CDP population was 628...
, and Springs
Springs, New York
Springs is a census-designated place roughly corresponding to the hamlet by the same name in the town of East Hampton in Suffolk County, New York on the South Fork of Long Island. As of the United States 2000 Census, the hamlet population was 4,950...
.
East Hampton is a peninsula
Peninsula
A peninsula is a piece of land that is bordered by water on three sides but connected to mainland. In many Germanic and Celtic languages and also in Baltic, Slavic and Hungarian, peninsulas are called "half-islands"....
featuring eight state parks. It is bordered on the south by the Atlantic Ocean
Atlantic Ocean
The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's oceanic divisions. With a total area of about , it covers approximately 20% of the Earth's surface and about 26% of its water surface area...
, to the east by Block Island Sound
Block Island Sound
Block Island Sound is a strait in the open Atlantic Ocean, approximately wide, separating Block Island from the coast of Rhode Island in the United States...
and to the north by Gardiners Bay
Gardiners Bay
Gardiners Bay is a small arm of the Atlantic Ocean, approximately 10 mi long and 8 mi wide in the U.S. state of New York between the two flukelike peninsulas at the eastern end of Long Island...
, Napeague Bay and Fort Pond Bay
Fort Pond Bay
Fort Pond Bay is a bay off Long Island Sound at Montauk, New York that was site of the first port on the end of Long Island. The bay has a long naval and civilian history.-New-York Province and the American Revolution:...
.
The town consists of 70 square miles (181.3 km²) and stretches nearly 25 miles (40.2 km), from Wainscott
Wainscott, New York
Wainscott is a census-designated place that roughly corresponds to the hamlet with the same name in the town of East Hampton in Suffolk County, New York on the South Fork of Long Island. As of the United States 2000 Census, the CDP population was 628...
in the west to Montauk Point in the east. It is about six miles (10 km) wide at its widest point and less than a mile at its narrowest point. The town has jurisdiction over Gardiners Island, which is the largest privately owned island in the United States. The town has 70 miles (112.7 km) of shoreline.
Native-American history
Indigenous peoples
Indigenous peoples are ethnic groups that are defined as indigenous according to one of the various definitions of the term, there is no universally accepted definition but most of which carry connotations of being the "original inhabitants" of a territory....
. At the time of European contact, East Hampton was home to several Algonquian
Algonquian languages
The Algonquian languages also Algonkian) are a subfamily of Native American languages which includes most of the languages in the Algic language family. The name of the Algonquian language family is distinguished from the orthographically similar Algonquin dialect of the Ojibwe language, which is a...
-speaking groups identified by their geographic locations. The historical people known as the Montaukett
Montaukett
The Montaukett is an Algonquian-speaking Native American group native to the eastern end of Long Island, New York and one of the thirteen historical indigenous centers...
controlled most of the territory at the east end of Long Island. They were closely related to Algonquian peoples across Long island Sound, such as the Pequot
Pequot
Pequot people are a tribe of Native Americans who, in the 17th century, inhabited much of what is now Connecticut. They were of the Algonquian language family. The Pequot War and Mystic massacre reduced the Pequot's sociopolitical influence in southern New England...
and Narragansett
Narragansett (tribe)
The Narragansett tribe are an Algonquian Native American tribe from Rhode Island. In 1983 they regained federal recognition as the Narragansett Indian Tribe of Rhode Island. In 2009, the United States Supreme Court ruled against their request that the Department of Interior take land into trust...
. Native Americans at the western part of Long Island were part of the Lenape
Lenape
The Lenape are an Algonquian group of Native Americans of the Northeastern Woodlands. They are also called Delaware Indians. As a result of the American Revolutionary War and later Indian removals from the eastern United States, today the main groups live in Canada, where they are enrolled in the...
nation, although they were also identified by geographic location.
Chief Wyandanch
Chief Wyandanch
Wyandanch was a sachem of the Montaukett Indians in the mid 17th century on eastern Long Island...
negotiated with English colonists in the late-17th century for the sale of land in the East Hampton area. The differing concepts held by the Montaukett and English about property and its use contributed to the Native Americans' dispossession. The first Montaukett sale of land in present-day East Hampton was to English colonist Lion Gardiner
Lion Gardiner
Lion Gardiner , an early English settler and soldier in the New World, founded the first English settlement in what became the state of New York on Long Island. His legacy includes Gardiners Island, which is held by his descendants.-Early life:...
, of what was to become Gardiner's Island, for "a large black dog, some powder and shot, and a few Dutch blankets." The next trade involved the land extending from Southampton to the foot of the bluffs, at what is now Hither Hills State Park
Hither Hills State Park
Hither Hills State Park is a state park located on the southern shore near the eastern tip of Long Island in Suffolk County, New York in the USA.The park is located on the South Fork of Long Island at Napeague, New York...
, for 24 hatchet
Hatchet
A hatchet is a single-handed striking tool with a sharp blade used to cut and split wood...
s, 24 coats, 20 looking glass
Mirror
A mirror is an object that reflects light or sound in a way that preserves much of its original quality prior to its contact with the mirror. Some mirrors also filter out some wavelengths, while preserving other wavelengths in the reflection...
es and 100 muxes
Stitching awl
A stitching awl is a simple tool with which holes can be punctured in a variety of materials, or existing holes can be enlarged. It is also used for sewing heavy materials, such as leather or canvas. It is a thin, tapered metal shaft, coming to a sharp point, either straight or slightly bent....
.
In 1660 Chief Wyandanch's widow signed away the rest of the land from Hither Hills to the tip of Montauk for 100 pounds, to be paid in 10 equal installments of "Indian corn or good wampum
Wampum
Wampum are traditional, sacred shell beads of the Eastern Woodlands tribes of the indigenous people of North America. Wampum include the white shell beads fashioned from the North Atlantic channeled whelk shell; and the white and purple beads made from the quahog, or Western North Atlantic...
at six to a penny". The sales provided that the Montaukett were permitted to stay on the land, to hunt and fish at will, and to harvest the tails and fins of whales that beached on the East Hampton shores. Town officials who bought the land filed for reimbursement for the rum
Rum
Rum is a distilled alcoholic beverage made from sugarcane by-products such as molasses, or directly from sugarcane juice, by a process of fermentation and distillation. The distillate, a clear liquid, is then usually aged in oak barrels...
with which they had plied the tribe during negotiations.
Many of the Montaukett died during the 17th and 18th centuries from epidemic
Epidemic
In epidemiology, an epidemic , occurs when new cases of a certain disease, in a given human population, and during a given period, substantially exceed what is expected based on recent experience...
s of smallpox
Smallpox
Smallpox was an infectious disease unique to humans, caused by either of two virus variants, Variola major and Variola minor. The disease is also known by the Latin names Variola or Variola vera, which is a derivative of the Latin varius, meaning "spotted", or varus, meaning "pimple"...
, a Eurasia
Eurasia
Eurasia is a continent or supercontinent comprising the traditional continents of Europe and Asia ; covering about 52,990,000 km2 or about 10.6% of the Earth's surface located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres...
n disease carried by English and Dutch colonists, to which the Indians had no immunity. After the American Revolution
American Revolution
The American Revolution was the political upheaval during the last half of the 18th century in which thirteen colonies in North America joined together to break free from the British Empire, combining to become the United States of America...
,some Montaukett relocated with Shinnecock
Shinnecock Indian Nation
The Shinnecock Indian Nation is a federally recognized tribe, headquartered in Suffolk County, New York, on the south shore of Long Island. Shinnecock are an Algonquian people from Long Island...
to Oneida County
Oneida County, New York
Oneida County is a county located in the U.S. state of New York. As of the 2010 census, the population was 234,878. The county seat is Utica. The name is in honor of the Oneida, an Iroquoian tribe that formerly occupied the region....
in upstate New York, led by the Mohegan
Mohegan
The Mohegan tribe is an Algonquian-speaking tribe that lives in the eastern upper Thames River valley of Connecticut. Mohegan translates to "People of the Wolf". At the time of European contact, the Mohegan and Pequot were one people, historically living in the lower Connecticut region...
missionary
Missionary
A missionary is a member of a religious group sent into an area to do evangelism or ministries of service, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care and economic development. The word "mission" originates from 1598 when the Jesuits sent members abroad, derived from the Latin...
Samson Occom
Samson Occom
The Reverend Samson Occom was a Native American Presbyterian clergyman and a member of the Mohegan nation near New London, Connecticut...
, to try to escape settlers' encroachment. They formed the Brothertown Indians
Brothertown Indians
The Brothertown Indians are Native American descendants of the Pequot and Mohegan tribes in southern New England...
with other refugee Indian people from New England, and gave up some of their traditions. In 1831-1836, the Brothertown Indians migrated to Wisconsin
Wisconsin
Wisconsin is a U.S. state located in the north-central United States and is part of the Midwest. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michigan to the northeast, and Lake Superior to the north. Wisconsin's capital is...
, where they founded the settlement of Brothertown
Brothertown, Wisconsin
Brothertown is a town in Calumet County in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. The population was 1,404 at the 2000 census. The unincorporated communities of Brothertown, Charlesburg, Eckers Lakeland, Jericho, Maple Heights, and Quinney are located in the town...
.
Some Montaukett continued to live on Long Island. In the late nineteenth century, their most well-known member was the legendary Stephen Talkhouse
Stephen Talkhouse
Stephen Talkhouse was a Montaukett Native American of the late 19th century who was famed for his 25-50 mile daily round trip walks from Montauk, New York to East Hampton and Sag Harbor...
. Their area on Lake Montauk was called Indian Fields until 1879. With their population reduced, over the years, they intermarried with other peoples of the area, and many of their descendants were brought up in Indian traditions. When Arthur W. Benson
Arthur W. Benson
Arthur W. Benson was a president of Brooklyn Gas Light who developed the New York City suburbs of Bensonhurst and Montauk.Benson founded the Brooklyn Gas Light company in 1823, when Brooklyn had 9,000 people....
forced a government auction of Montauk, in which he bought nearly the entire east end of the town, he evicted the Montuakett. They relocated to Freetown
Freetown
Freetown is the capital and largest city of Sierra Leone, a country in West Africa. It is a major port city on the Atlantic Ocean located in the Western Area of the country, and had a city proper population of 772,873 at the 2004 census. The city is the economic, financial, and cultural center of...
, a community established by free people of color on the northern edge of East Hampton Village. The tribe made several attempts to get the courts to declare the evictions illegal, but failed. In the 1990s, the Montauketts again began pressing their case for formal recognition. The Shinnecock, who were historically the same culture, have received federal recognition as a tribe.
Montaukett artifacts and sweat lodge
Sweat lodge
The sweat lodge is a ceremonial sauna and is an important event in some North American First Nations or Native American cultures...
s are visible on trails at Theodore Roosevelt County Park
Theodore Roosevelt County Park
Theodore Roosevelt County Park is located approximately east of Montauk, New York. The park is in size, running from Montauk Highway north to Block Island Sound and is bordered on the east by Montauk Point State Park...
. The park was formerly called Montauk County Park.
Settlement
Montaukett
The Montaukett is an Algonquian-speaking Native American group native to the eastern end of Long Island, New York and one of the thirteen historical indigenous centers...
people. In 1648 a royal British charter recognized the island as a wholly contained colony, independent of both New York and Connecticut; a status it was to keep until after the American Revolution, when it came under New York State and East Hampton authority.
On June 12, 1640, nine Puritan
Puritan
The Puritans were a significant grouping of English Protestants in the 16th and 17th centuries. Puritanism in this sense was founded by some Marian exiles from the clergy shortly after the accession of Elizabeth I of England in 1558, as an activist movement within the Church of England...
families from Lynn, Massachusetts
Lynn, Massachusetts
Lynn is a city in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 89,050 at the 2000 census. An old industrial center, Lynn is home to Lynn Beach and Lynn Heritage State Park and is about north of downtown Boston.-17th century:...
landed at what is now known as Conscious Point, in Southhampton; some later migrated to what is now known as East Hampton. Among the first English settlers in East Hampton were Joshua Barnes, Robert Bond, David Howe, John Hand, John Mulford, Robert Rose, John Stretton, Thomas Talmadge and Thomas Thompson, along with their wives and children.
The Mulford Farmhouse
Mulford Farmhouse
Mulford Farm in East Hampton, Long Island, New York, is one of America's most significant, intact English colonial farmsteads. The Mulford farmhouse was built in 1680 by High Sheriff Josiah Hobart, an important early official of the first New York Royal Province government. Samuel "Fish Hook"...
, on James Lane, is the best-preserved 17th-century English colonial house in East Hampton. The barn dates to 1721, and the complex is operated as a living museum
Living museum
A living museum is a type of museum, in which historical events showing the life in ancient times are performed, especially in ethnographic or historical views, or processes for producing a commercial product in terms of technical and technological developments are shown, especially the craft...
. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
. It was built in 1680 for Josiah Hobart, a prominent early settler, named in the first formal deed of conveyance of East Hampton. This was known as the East-Hampton or Dongan Patent. The 1686 instrument granting East Hampton to its new proprietors was signed by Thomas Dongan, then Governor of New York. The patent named Capt. Hobart one of "Trustees of the freeholders and commonalty of the town of East-Hampton". A son of Rev. Peter Hobart, founding minister of Old Ship Church
Old Ship Church
The Old Ship Church was built in 1681 in Hingham, Massachusetts in the United States. It is the oldest church in continuous ecclesiastical use in the United States. It is the only remaining 17th century Puritan meetinghouse in America...
in Hingham, Massachusetts
Hingham, Massachusetts
Hingham is a town in northern Plymouth County on the South Shore of the U.S. state of Massachusetts and suburb in Greater Boston. The United States Census Bureau 2008 estimated population was 22,561...
, Josiah Hobart and his brother Joshua both came to Long Island with their families. Josiah Hobart settled in East Hampton, where he served as High Sheriff of Suffolk County; and his brother Joshua, a minister, went to Southold
Southold, New York
Southold is one of ten towns in Suffolk County, New York, United States. It is located in the northeastern tip of the county, on the North Fork of Long Island. The population was 20,599 at the 2000 census...
, where he served the town for 45 years.
East Hampton was the third Connecticut settlement on the East end of Long Island. East Hampton formally united with Connecticut in 1657. Long Island was formally declared to be part of New York (and also subject to English law) by Charles II of England
Charles II of England
Charles II was monarch of the three kingdoms of England, Scotland, and Ireland.Charles II's father, King Charles I, was executed at Whitehall on 30 January 1649, at the climax of the English Civil War...
after four British frigates captured what is today New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, releasing East Hampton from its Connecticut governance.
East Hampton was first called Maidstone
Maidstone
Maidstone is the county town of Kent, England, south-east of London. The River Medway runs through the centre of the town linking Maidstone to Rochester and the Thames Estuary. Historically, the river was a source and route for much of the town's trade. Maidstone was the centre of the agricultural...
, after Maidstone, England. The name was later changed to "Easthampton", reflecting the geographic names of its neighbors, Southampton and Westhampton. In 1885 the name was split into two words, after the local newspaper the East Hampton Star began using the two-word name. "Maidstone" is frequently used in place names throughout the town, including the Maidstone Golf Club.
Theodore Roosevelt County Park
Theodore Roosevelt County Park is located approximately east of Montauk, New York. The park is in size, running from Montauk Highway north to Block Island Sound and is bordered on the east by Montauk Point State Park...
, established in 1658 in Montauk, is the oldest continuously operating cattle ranch in the United States.
Whaling Capital
Beached whale
A beached whale is a whale that has stranded itself on land, usually on a beach. Beached whales often die due to dehydration, the body collapsing under its own weight, or drowning when high tide covers the blowhole.-Species:...
themselves along the South shore of the town and that the whales could then be carved up for food and oil. The proper handling of this phenomenon was to be written into town laws. As the demand for whale products grew, residents became more aggressive in their harvesting techniques. No longer content to settle for harvesting beached whales, they began harvesting live whales that were coming near shore.
Northwest Harbor, located at Northwest Landing
Northwest Harbor, New York
Northwest Harbor is a census-designated place named for the bay on the South Fork of Long Island connecting Sag Harbor, Shelter Island and East Hampton town to Gardiners Bay and the open waters of the Atlantic Ocean. The bay derives its name from being northwest of East Hampton village...
, was the town's first harbor. The harbor turned out to be too shallow for large ships, so it was moved two miles (3 km) West, to Sag Harbor, which derived its name from the fact that it was just north of the settlement of Sagaponack, New York
Sagaponack, New York
Sagaponack is a village in the town of Southampton in Suffolk County, New York, United States. The village incorporated on September 2, 2005, in the wake of the failed attempt by Dunehampton, New York to incorporate. Dunehampton's incorporation would have blocked Sagaponack from Atlantic Ocean...
in Southampton.
At its peak, in 1847, 60 whale ships were based in the village, employing 800 men in related businesses. It was to be written about by Herman Melville
Herman Melville
Herman Melville was an American novelist, short story writer, essayist, and poet. He is best known for his novel Moby-Dick and the posthumous novella Billy Budd....
in Moby-Dick
Moby-Dick
Moby-Dick; or, The Whale, was written by American author Herman Melville and first published in 1851. It is considered by some to be a Great American Novel and a treasure of world literature. The story tells the adventures of wandering sailor Ishmael, and his voyage on the whaleship Pequod,...
. The port rivaled that of New York. After 1847 the whaling industry dropped off dramatically.
Among the sea captains of Sag Harbor were ancestors of Howard Dean
Howard Dean
Howard Brush Dean III is an American politician and physician from Vermont. He served six terms as the 79th Governor of Vermont and ran unsuccessfully for the 2004 Democratic presidential nomination. He was chairman of the Democratic National Committee from 2005 to 2009. Although his U.S...
who was born in East Hampton.
The most famous voyages out of Sag Harbor were those by Mercator Cooper
Mercator Cooper
Mercator Cooper was a ship's captain who is credited with the first formal American visit to Tokyo, Japan and the first formal landing on the mainland East Antarctica....
, who in 1845 picked up shipwrecked Japanese sailors in the Bonin Islands and returned them to Tokyo
Tokyo
, ; officially , is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan. Tokyo is the capital of Japan, the center of the Greater Tokyo Area, and the largest metropolitan area of Japan. It is the seat of the Japanese government and the Imperial Palace, and the home of the Japanese Imperial Family...
. In 1853 Cooper broke through the ice shelf to become the first person to land on East Antarctica
East Antarctica
East Antarctica, also called Greater Antarctica, constitutes the majority of the Antarctic continent, lying on the Indian Ocean side of the Transantarctic Mountains...
.
East Hampton continues to have a large maritime presence, as Montauk is New York State's largest fishing port. The Town is famed for its commercial sports fishing, made particularly famous by Frank Mundus
Frank Mundus
Frank Mundus was a sport fisherman at Montauk, New York who is said to be the inspiration for the character Quint in the movie and book Jaws...
. One of the largest buildings in the town is Promised Land fish meal factory at Napeague.
Presidents and First Ladies
First Ladies Julia Gardiner TylerJulia Gardiner Tyler
Julia Gardiner Tyler , second wife of John Tyler, was First Lady of the United States from June 26, 1844, to March 4, 1845.-Early life:...
and Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis
Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis
Jacqueline Lee Bouvier "Jackie" Kennedy Onassis was the wife of the 35th President of the United States, John F. Kennedy, and served as First Lady of the United States during his presidency from 1961 until his assassination in 1963. Five years later she married Greek shipping magnate Aristotle...
spent their childhoods there. Theodore Roosevelt
Theodore Roosevelt
Theodore "Teddy" Roosevelt was the 26th President of the United States . He is noted for his exuberant personality, range of interests and achievements, and his leadership of the Progressive Movement, as well as his "cowboy" persona and robust masculinity...
was briefly quarantined in Montauk, at Camp Wyckoff, after returning from the Spanish-American War. Bill Clinton
Bill Clinton
William Jefferson "Bill" Clinton is an American politician who served as the 42nd President of the United States from 1993 to 2001. Inaugurated at age 46, he was the third-youngest president. He took office at the end of the Cold War, and was the first president of the baby boomer generation...
and Hillary Clinton spent week long summer vacations in 1998 and 1999.
Julia Gardiner Tyler
David Gardiner
David Gardiner was the father of Julia Gardiner Tyler, wife of U.S. President John Tyler.-Life:Gardiner was a descendant of Lion Gardiner and lived on Gardiners Island in East Hampton, New York...
, were part of the Presidential party aboard the USS Princeton (1843)
USS Princeton (1843)
The first Princeton was the first screw steam warship in the United States Navy. She was launched in 1843, decommissioned in 1847, and broken up in 1849....
when a malfunctioning cannon exploded, killing her father, along with two Cabinet officers. According to legend Julia fainted into the arms of President John Tyler (who had earlier lost his first wife). They married four months later, creating a national scandal, since there was a 30 a year difference in their ages.
Although Tyler was a member of the wealthy Gardiner family and a former First Lady of the United States, she had economic problems after the American Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
, due to her support of the Confederate States of America
Confederate States of America
The Confederate States of America was a government set up from 1861 to 1865 by 11 Southern slave states of the United States of America that had declared their secession from the U.S...
, along with President Tyler
John Tyler
John Tyler was the tenth President of the United States . A native of Virginia, Tyler served as a state legislator, governor, U.S. representative, and U.S. senator before being elected Vice President . He was the first to succeed to the office of President following the death of a predecessor...
.
She is buried with the President in Richmond, Virginia
Richmond, Virginia
Richmond is the capital of the Commonwealth of Virginia, in the United States. It is an independent city and not part of any county. Richmond is the center of the Richmond Metropolitan Statistical Area and the Greater Richmond area...
. Her father and one of her sons are buried in the South End Burial Ground in East Hampton.
Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy Onassis
Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis
Jacqueline Lee Bouvier "Jackie" Kennedy Onassis was the wife of the 35th President of the United States, John F. Kennedy, and served as First Lady of the United States during his presidency from 1961 until his assassination in 1963. Five years later she married Greek shipping magnate Aristotle...
was born at Southampton Hospital on July 28, 1929. She would have been born in New York City but she was six weeks late and her parents, Janet Norton Lee and John Vernou Bouvier III
John Vernou Bouvier III
John Vernou "Black Jack" Bouvier III was an American socialite and Wall Street stockbroker. He was the father of former First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis and Princess Lee Radziwill...
, were staying at the Further Lane, East Hampton, home of her grandfather, John Vernou Bouvier III, named Lasata
Lasata
Lasata was the girlhood summer home of First Lady of the United States Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis in East Hampton, New York until she was about 12....
Her parents were married at St. Philomena's Catholic Church in East Hampton on July 7, 1928. The reception was held at the East Hampton village home of her maternal grandparents James T. Lee and Margaret Lee, on Lily Pond.
Her family were members of the Maidstone Club
Maidstone Club
The Maidstone Club is a private country club on the Atlantic Ocean in the village of East Hampton, New York.In addition to a private beach, pool, tennis house, and club house, Maidstone has both an 18-hole and 9-hole private golf course....
. She and her younger sister, Lee Bouvier, spent their summers at the house until she was 10, when her parents divorced.
Her connection to East Hampton got national attention in the 1970s following news reports and the documentary, Grey Gardens
Grey Gardens
Grey Gardens is a 1975 documentary film by Albert and David Maysles, with Susan Froemke, Ellen Hovde, and Muffie Meyer. The film depicts the everyday lives of two reclusive socialites, a mother and daughter both named Edith Beale, who lived at Grey Gardens, a decrepit mansion at 3 West End Road in...
. Her aunt, Edith Ewing Bouvier Beale
Edith Ewing Bouvier Beale
Edith Ewing Bouvier Beale , aunt of Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy Onassis, was an American amateur singer, known for her eccentric lifestyle, and part of the New York high society...
, and cousin, Edith Bouvier Beale
Edith Bouvier Beale
Edith Bouvier Beale was an American socialite, fashion model and cabaret performer. She was a first cousin of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis and Lee Radziwill...
, were living in poverty in a mansion after which the film was named. She and her husband, Aristotle Onassis
Aristotle Onassis
Aristotle Sokratis Onassis , commonly called Ari or Aristo Onassis, was a prominent Greek shipping magnate.- Early life :Onassis was born in Karatass, a suburb of Smyrna to Socrates and Penelope Onassis...
, donated money to improve the plight of her relatives. Grey Gardens (musical)
Grey Gardens (musical)
Grey Gardens is an American musical with book by Doug Wright, music by Scott Frankel, and lyrics by Michael Korie, based on the 1975 documentary of the same title about the lives of Edith Ewing Bouvier Beale and her daughter Edith Bouvier Beale by Albert and David Maysles. The Beales were...
was also made into a Broadway musical. A new documentary on the estate was released in 2006.
Jacqueline's sister, Lee Radziwill
Lee Radziwill
Caroline Lee Bouvier Canfield Radziwill Ross best known as Lee Radziwill, is an American socialite, public relations executive, and former actress and interior decorator. She is the younger sister of the late First Lady, Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis...
, continued to own the Lily Pond Lane home of her maternal grandparents until 2002. The Bouvier family cemetery plot is at Most Holy Trinity Catholic Cemetery
Most Holy Trinity Catholic Cemetery
Most Holy Trinity Catholic Cemetery is a cemetery in East Hampton, New York that is the burial ground for the paternal ancestors and relatives of First Lady of the United States Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis....
on Cedar Street. Jackie's father, maternal grandmother, paternal grandparents, and paternal great-grandparents, as well as various relatives, including Edith Bouvier Beale, are buried in the cemetery.
Bill and Hillary Clinton
In 1998 and 1999 as talk surfaced that Hillary Clinton was considering a Senate run from New York, they began summering in East Hampton, where they stayed at the Georgica Pond home of Steven SpielbergSteven Spielberg
Steven Allan Spielberg KBE is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, video game designer, and studio entrepreneur. In a career of more than four decades, Spielberg's films have covered many themes and genres. Spielberg's early science-fiction and adventure films were seen as an...
. Clinton gave a Saturday radio chat from the Amagansett fire station.
In June 2008, at the conclusion of Hillary Clinton's Presidential bid, she stayed at the Wiborg Beach home of Thomas H. Lee
Thomas H. Lee
Thomas H. Lee is an American businessman, financier and investor and is credited with being one of the early pioneers in private equity and specifically leveraged buyouts. Thomas H. Lee Partners , the firm he founded in 1974, is among the oldest and largest private equity firms globally...
in East Hampton Village.
African-American History
East Hampton has played an important role in African-American history.Slavery in New York was legal until 1827. During the War of 1812
War of 1812
The War of 1812 was a military conflict fought between the forces of the United States of America and those of the British Empire. The Americans declared war in 1812 for several reasons, including trade restrictions because of Britain's ongoing war with France, impressment of American merchant...
, the Gardiners used slaves to transport supplies back and forth to Gardiner's Island. According to the Gardiners, slaves were easier to pass through British blockades since it was "obvious" that they were "owned."
During this period Sag Harbor rose to a port status, rivaling New York, due to its whale oil trade, with slaves extensively working the docks.
After the repeal of slavery, Gardiner's slaves set up small houses Freetown (East Hampton)
Freetown (East Hampton)
Freetown is an area in East Hampton , New York originally inhabited by freed slaves and Native Americans.East Hampton in the early 19th century was lightly populated and one of the biggest slave holders were descendents of Lion Gardiner who owned Gardiner's Island...
, just north of East Hampton village, while Sag Harbor's freed slaves developed the Eastside community in Sag Harbor.
On August 26, 1839, members of La Amistad
La Amistad
La Amistad was a ship notable as the scene of a revolt by African captives being transported from Havana to Puerto Principe, Cuba. It was a 19th-century two-masted schooner built in Spain and owned by a Spaniard living in Cuba...
, a slave ship which had been commandeered by its captives, in Cuba
Cuba
The Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...
, dropped anchor at Culloden Point
Culloden Point
Culloden Point is a small peninsula north of Montauk, New York that marks the east side entrance to Fort Pond Bay from Long Island Sound.-HMS Culloden:The British ship HMS Culloden ran aground here in 1781 while pursuing a French frigate...
and came ashore at Montauk to get supplies. The slaves, who were inexperienced navigators, thought they were on course to Africa. Members of the U.S. Navy
United States Navy
The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...
ship USS Washington
USS Washington (1837)
The sixth USS Washington was a revenue cutter in the United States Navy. She discovered Amistad after the slaves onboard had seized control of that schooner in an 1839 mutiny. The sixth USS Washington was a revenue cutter in the United States Navy. She discovered Amistad after the slaves onboard...
, seeing the slaves on shore, arrested them and took them to Connecticut. The Amistad case
Amistad (1841)
The Amistad, also known as United States v. Libellants and Claimants of the Schooner Amistad, 40 U.S. 518 , was a United States Supreme Court case resulting from the rebellion of slaves on board the Spanish schooner Amistad in 1839...
was decided by the U.S. Supreme Court
Supreme Court of the United States
The Supreme Court of the United States is the highest court in the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all state and federal courts, and original jurisdiction over a small range of cases...
in 1841. John Quincy Adams
John Quincy Adams
John Quincy Adams was the sixth President of the United States . He served as an American diplomat, Senator, and Congressional representative. He was a member of the Federalist, Democratic-Republican, National Republican, and later Anti-Masonic and Whig parties. Adams was the son of former...
argued
Oral argument
Oral arguments are spoken presentations to a judge or appellate court by a lawyer of the legal reasons why they should prevail. Oral argument at the appellate level accompanies written briefs, which also advance the argument of each party in the legal dispute...
for the Africans. The court decided in their favor, opining that the initial capture of the Africans was illegal, so they were freed.
One of the imprisoned slaves was to become a valet for President John Tyler
John Tyler
John Tyler was the tenth President of the United States . A native of Virginia, Tyler served as a state legislator, governor, U.S. representative, and U.S. senator before being elected Vice President . He was the first to succeed to the office of President following the death of a predecessor...
and was killed aboard USS Princeton
USS Princeton (1843)
The first Princeton was the first screw steam warship in the United States Navy. She was launched in 1843, decommissioned in 1847, and broken up in 1849....
along with David Gardiner, who was on board with his daughter Julia Gardiner Tyler
Julia Gardiner Tyler
Julia Gardiner Tyler , second wife of John Tyler, was First Lady of the United States from June 26, 1844, to March 4, 1845.-Early life:...
.
In 1845 Pyrrhus Concer
Pyrrhus Concer
Pyrrhus Concer was a former slave from Southampton, New York who was aboard the ship the Manhattan that was the first American ship to visit Tokyo in 1845....
was aboard the Manhattan, a ship captained by Mercator Cooper
Mercator Cooper
Mercator Cooper was a ship's captain who is credited with the first formal American visit to Tokyo, Japan and the first formal landing on the mainland East Antarctica....
, which picked up shipwrecked Japanese sailors in the Bonin Islands. The ship was allowed to enter Tokyo Bay
Tokyo Bay
is a bay in the southern Kantō region of Japan. Its old name was .-Geography:Tokyo Bay is surrounded by the Bōsō Peninsula to the east and the Miura Peninsula to the west. In a narrow sense, Tokyo Bay is the area north of the straight line formed by the on the Miura Peninsula on one end and on...
under escort to return the sailors and became the first American ship to visit Tokyo. Concer was the first African-American the Japanese had seen and is depicted in their drawings of the event.
East Hampton film director Steven Spielberg popularized the event in the 1997 film
1997 in film
-Events:* The original Star Wars trilogy's Special Editions are released.* Production begins on Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace.* Titanic becomes the first film to gross US$1,000,000,000 at the box office making it the highest grossing film in history until Avatar broke the record in 2010.*...
Amistad.
Playground for the Rich
East Hampton however largely remained undeveloped until 1880 when Austin Corbin
Austin Corbin
Austin Corbin was a 19th-century American railroad executive and robber baron. He consolidated the rail lines on Long Island bringing them under the profitable umbrella of the Long Island Rail Road....
extended the Long Island Rail Road
Long Island Rail Road
The Long Island Rail Road or LIRR is a commuter rail system serving the length of Long Island, New York. It is the busiest commuter railroad in North America, serving about 81.5 million passengers each year. Established in 1834 and having operated continuously since then, it is the oldest US...
from Bridgehampton, New York
Bridgehampton, New York
Bridgehampton is a hamlet in the South Fork of Suffolk County, New York, United States. The population was 1,381 at the 2000 census....
to Montauk. As part of the development Arthur W. Benson
Arthur W. Benson
Arthur W. Benson was a president of Brooklyn Gas Light who developed the New York City suburbs of Bensonhurst and Montauk.Benson founded the Brooklyn Gas Light company in 1823, when Brooklyn had 9,000 people....
forced an auction paid US$151,000 for 10,000 acres (40 km²) around Montauk and forced the eviction of the Montaukket Native Americans there.
Benson brought in architect Stanford White
Stanford White
Stanford White was an American architect and partner in the architectural firm of McKim, Mead & White, the frontrunner among Beaux-Arts firms. He designed a long series of houses for the rich and the very rich, and various public, institutional, and religious buildings, some of which can be found...
to design six "cottages" near Ditch Plains in Montauk and they formed the Montauk Association to govern their exclusive neighborhood. Among the cottages was Tick Hall, owned by Dick Cavett
Dick Cavett
Richard Alva "Dick" Cavett is a former American television talk show host known for his conversational style and in-depth discussion of issues...
. It burned in 1993 but Cavett rebuilt it filming the process for a television documentary.
Corbin had more industrial desires for building the train to Montauk. He thought a new port city would develop around the train station on Fort Pond Bay and that ocean going ships from Europe would dock there and the passengers would take the train into New York – thus saving a day in transit.
The grand plans for Montauk did not pan out and the land was sold to the United States Army which was to use most of the land for Army, Navy and Air Force bases through World War II with Theodore Roosevelt making a much publicized visit there at Camp Wyckoff at the end of the Spanish-American War.
One of the side benefits of the railroad extension was a building boom of mansions in the newly accessible village of East Hampton resulting in the wealthy venturing further east from Southampton with the Maidstone Golf Club opening 1891.
In 1926 Carl G. Fisher
Carl G. Fisher
Carl Graham Fisher was an American entrepreneur. Despite having severe astigmatism, he became a seemingly tireless pioneer and promoter of the automotive, auto racing, and real estate development industries...
was to resurrect the dream of an urban Montauk with plans to turn it into the Miami Beach of the north. He bought the former Benson property for $2.5 million (which was then surplus government property following the end of World War I). He built the 6-story Montauk Improvement Building in downtown Montauk (which is still the town's tallest occupied structure - as zoning has forbidden highrise structures), the Montauk Manor (which was a luxury hotel), dredged Lake Montauk and opened it to Block Island Sound to support his Montauk Yacht Club and the associated Star Island Casnio as well as the Montauk Downs
Montauk Downs State Park
Montauk Downs State Park is a state park in Montauk, New York, USA. The park is located in Suffolk County near the eastern tip of Long Island's South Fork, about east of the village of Montauk...
golf club. Fisher was to lose his fortune in the Crash of 1929 and the land was sold back to the military in World War II.
Through the years East Hampton's wealth has evolved emanating out from the village taking over the farmland that had once been dominated by potato
Potato
The potato is a starchy, tuberous crop from the perennial Solanum tuberosum of the Solanaceae family . The word potato may refer to the plant itself as well as the edible tuber. In the region of the Andes, there are some other closely related cultivated potato species...
fields. The most dazzling row of mansions remains in the village of East Hampton on the closest road paralleling the ocean along Further Lane and Lily Pond Lane.
While ostentatious displays of wealth occurred near the ocean ("south of the Montauk Highway
Montauk Highway
Montauk Highway is one of the original through highways of Long Island, New York, extending from Jamaica, in the New York City borough of Queens to Montauk Point in Suffolk County, a distance of approximately 100 miles ....
") much simpler houses and bungalows have been built through the years throughout its history particularly in Springs and Montauk. In the 1950s and 1960s following the Kitchen Debate
Kitchen Debate
The Kitchen Debate was a series of impromptu exchanges between then U.S. Vice President Richard Nixon and Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev at the opening of the American National Exhibition at Sokolniki Park in Moscow on July 24, 1959. For the exhibition, an entire house was built that the...
between Nikita Khrushchev
Nikita Khrushchev
Nikita Sergeyevich Khrushchev led the Soviet Union during part of the Cold War. He served as First Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1953 to 1964, and as Chairman of the Council of Ministers, or Premier, from 1958 to 1964...
and Richard Nixon
Richard Nixon
Richard Milhous Nixon was the 37th President of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. The only president to resign the office, Nixon had previously served as a US representative and senator from California and as the 36th Vice President of the United States from 1953 to 1961 under...
more than cheap affordable prefabricated housing second homes called Leisurama
Leisurama
Leisurama is a development of vacation homes in Montauk, New York, that was constructed between 1963 and 1965 following the developer's success with a model home at the 1959 American Exhibition in Moscow...
were built in Montauk at Culloden Point.
In November 2006, the median price of a house in the Town was US $895,000 compared with a national median for the U.S. of $225,000. Several houses in East Hampton now sell for prices in the tens of millions of dollars. Living in East Hampton is expensive. In 2007 the cost of living was 168% of the national average.
Artist Colony
Jackson Pollock
Paul Jackson Pollock , known as Jackson Pollock, was an influential American painter and a major figure in the abstract expressionist movement. During his lifetime, Pollock enjoyed considerable fame and notoriety. He was regarded as a mostly reclusive artist. He had a volatile personality, and...
, who resided in Springs, New York
Springs, New York
Springs is a census-designated place roughly corresponding to the hamlet by the same name in the town of East Hampton in Suffolk County, New York on the South Fork of Long Island. As of the United States 2000 Census, the hamlet population was 4,950...
in the 1940s and 1950s, with Lee Krasner
Lee Krasner
Lee Krasner was an influential abstract expressionist painter in the second half of the 20th century. On October 25, 1945, she married artist Jackson Pollock, who was also influential in the Abstract Expressionism movement....
, at what is now known as the Pollock-Krasner House and Studio
Pollock-Krasner House and Studio
In November 1945, Jackson Pollock and his wife Lee Krasner moved to what is now known as the Pollock-Krasner House and Studio in Springs in the town of East Hampton on Long Island, New York. The wood-frame house on with a nearby barn is on Accobonac Creek....
. Many of his most famous paintings were painted in the barn, which he had converted into a studio. The property is now open to the public for tours, by appointment. It is now owned by State University of New York at Stony Brook
State University of New York at Stony Brook
The State University of New York at Stony Brook, also known as Stony Brook University, is a public research university located in Stony Brook, New York, on the North Shore of Long Island, about east of Manhattan....
with scheduled appointments to see his studio, which was left unchanged after his death.
Among the other artists who popularized East Hampton as an artists colony were Willem de Kooning
Willem de Kooning
Willem de Kooning was a Dutch American abstract expressionist artist who was born in Rotterdam, the Netherlands....
, Mark Rothko
Mark Rothko
Mark Rothko, born Marcus Rothkowitz , was a Russian-born American painter. He is classified as an abstract expressionist, although he himself rejected this label, and even resisted classification as an "abstract painter".- Childhood :Mark Rothko was born in Dvinsk, Vitebsk Province, Russian...
, Franz Kline
Franz Kline
Franz Jozef Kline was an American painter mainly associated with the Abstract Expressionist movement centered around New York in the 1940s and 1950s. He was born in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, and attended Girard College, an academy in Philadelphia for fatherless boys...
, Ian Hornak
Ian Hornak
Ian Hornak was an American draughtsman, painter and printmaker associated with the Hyperrealist and Photorealist art movements.-Biography:...
, Larry Rivers
Larry Rivers
Larry Rivers was an American artist, musician, filmmaker and occasional actor. Rivers resided and maintained studios in New York City, Southampton, New York and Zihuatanejo, Mexico.-Biography:...
, Alfonso Ossorio, Robert Motherwell
Robert Motherwell
Robert Motherwell American painter, printmaker and editor. He was one of the youngest of the New York School , which also included Jackson Pollock, Mark Rothko, Willem de Kooning, and Philip Guston....
, Andy Warhol
Andy Warhol
Andrew Warhola , known as Andy Warhol, was an American painter, printmaker, and filmmaker who was a leading figure in the visual art movement known as pop art...
and Thomas Moran
Thomas Moran
Thomas Moran from Bolton, England was an American painter and printmaker of the Hudson River School in New York whose work often featured the Rocky Mountains. Moran and his family took residence in New York where he obtained work as an artist...
, as well as art dealers Leo Castelli
Leo Castelli
Leo Castelli was an American art dealer. He was best known to the public as an art dealer whose gallery showcased cutting edge Contemporary art for five decades...
and Ileana Sonnabend
Ileana Sonnabend
Ileana Sonnabend was a dealer of 20th century art. She ran a contemporary art gallery in Paris during the early 1960s. After leaving Paris, she opened a Sonnabend Gallery in New York City in 1971, at 420 West Broadway, in SoHo...
.
Pollock died in 1956 while driving with his mistress, Ruth Kligman
Ruth Kligman
Ruth Kligman was an American abstract artist and writer most commonly known as the muse of several other American artists of the mid-20th century including Jackson Pollock and Willem de Kooning....
, and a friend of hers, on Springs Fireplace Road, after picking them up at the Long Island Railroad station in East Hampton.
Pollock and Krasner are buried in Green River Cemetery
Green River Cemetery
Green River Cemetery is a cemetery in the hamlet of Springs, New York within the Town of East Hampton.The cemetery was originally intended for the blue collar local families of the Springs neighborhood who supported the ocean mansions in East Hampton , New York...
, in Springs, along with many of the artists of their generation. Pollock's influence continues to be felt in the community.
Marcia Gay Harden
Marcia Gay Harden
Marcia Gay Harden is an American film and theatre actress. Harden's breakthrough role was in Miller's Crossing and then The First Wives Club which was followed by several roles which gained her wider fame including the hit comedy Flubber and Meet Joe Black...
won a 2000 Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress
Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress
Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role is one of the Academy Awards of Merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize an actress who has delivered an outstanding performance while working within the film industry. Since its inception, however, the...
for portraying Krasner in Pollock (film)
Pollock (film)
Pollock is a 2000 biographical drama film which tells the life story of painter Jackson Pollock. It stars Ed Harris, Jennifer Connelly, Robert Knott, Bud Cort, Molly Regan, Marcia Gay Harden and Sada Thompson.-Plot:...
which was shot in East Hampton as the dream project of Ed Harris
Ed Harris
Edward Allen "Ed" Harris is an American actor, writer, and director, known for his performances in Appaloosa, Radio, The Rock, The Abyss, Apollo 13, A Beautiful Mind, A History of Violence, and The Truman Show. Harris has also narrated commercials for The Home Depot and other companies...
, who was also nominated for Best Actor.
An ongoing debate rages over whether 24 paintings and drawings found in a Wainscott locker in 2003 are Pollock originals. Physicists have argued over whether fractals can be used to authenticate the paintings. The debate is still inconclusive.
Andy Warhol
Andy Warhol
Andrew Warhola , known as Andy Warhol, was an American painter, printmaker, and filmmaker who was a leading figure in the visual art movement known as pop art...
and his longtime collaborator, Paul Morrissey
Paul Morrissey
Paul Morrissey is an American film director, best-known for his association with Andy Warhol.Morrissey attended Ampleforth College, a private Roman Catholic boarding school and Fordham University, both Roman Catholic schools, and later served in the United States Army...
, had a large, waterfront estate in Montauk called Eothen. Among their guests were Jacqueline Onassis, Lee Radziwill
Lee Radziwill
Caroline Lee Bouvier Canfield Radziwill Ross best known as Lee Radziwill, is an American socialite, public relations executive, and former actress and interior decorator. She is the younger sister of the late First Lady, Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis...
, the Rolling Stones, Bianca Jagger
Bianca Jagger
Bianca Jagger is a Nicaraguan-born social and human rights advocate and a former actress and model...
, Jerry Hall
Jerry Hall
Jerry Faye Hall is an American model and actress, also known for her long-term relationship with Mick Jagger, with whom she had four children.-Early life:...
, Liza Minnelli
Liza Minnelli
Liza May Minnelli is an American actress and singer. She is the daughter of singer and actress Judy Garland and film director Vincente Minnelli....
, Elizabeth Taylor
Elizabeth Taylor
Dame Elizabeth Rosemond "Liz" Taylor, DBE was a British-American actress. From her early years as a child star with MGM, she became one of the great screen actresses of Hollywood's Golden Age...
, John Lennon
John Lennon
John Winston Lennon, MBE was an English musician and singer-songwriter who rose to worldwide fame as one of the founding members of The Beatles, one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music...
, John Phillips
John Phillips
-18th century and earlier:* John Phillips , Bishop of Sodor and Man in the Church of England* John Phillips , author and secretary to John Milton* John Phillips -18th century and earlier:* John Phillips (bishop of Sodor and Man) (1605–1633), Bishop of Sodor and Man in the Church of England* John...
, and Halston
Halston
Roy Halston Frowick, also known as Halston was a clothing designer of the 1970s. His long dresses or copies of his style were popular fashion wear in mid-1970s discotheques.-Early life and career:...
.
In 1993 the Andy Warhol Foundation donated 15.6 acres (63,131 m²) of the estate to the Nature Conservancy for the Andy Warhol Visual Arts Preserve which is run in conjunction with Art Barge in nearby Napeague.
Natural Disasters
Hurricane Carol
Hurricane Carol was among the worst tropical cyclones to affect the New England region of the United States. It developed from a tropical wave near the Bahamas on August 25, 1954, and gradually strengthened as it moved northwestward. On August 27, Carol intensified to reach winds of , but weakened...
, in 1954, both of which found the Atlantic Ocean splitting the town in two at Napeague. The 1938 storm also washed up so much sand that the Cedar Point Lighthouse
Cedar Point County Park
Cedar Point County Park is a park in East Hampton, New York that is owned by the government of Suffolk County, New York. It has commanding views of Gardiners Bay and is famed for its decommissioned lighthouse.-History:...
, which had been on island, became connected to mainland. The 1954 storm also toppled the MacKay Radio towers at Napeague.
East Hampton does not have the barrier beaches that run almost the entire length of the south shore of Long Island from Coney Island to Southampton. East Hampton's ocean beaches are connected to the mainland, which prevents them from being washed over in storms.
Due to storms on Fort Pond Bay, the hamlet of Montauk was actually moved by the Navy at the end of World War II. The hamlet was originally located at the train station, but was constantly being flooded.
East Hampton is regularly hit by hurricanes and Nor'easter
Nor'easter
A nor'easter is a type of macro-scale storm along the East Coast of the United States and Atlantic Canada, so named because the storm travels to the northeast from the south and the winds come from the northeast, especially in the coastal areas of the Northeastern United States and Atlantic Canada...
s. Given the town's generally flat topography, water often accumulates on town roads stranding motorists in heavy rains.
The town's most serious environmental problem is beach erosion. The town has severely restricted development on ocean front property, thus limiting impact. The Montauk Lighthouse, which used to be almost 300 feet (91.4 m) from the cliffs is now 56 feet (17.1 m) from the cliffs. The most threatened areas now are in the hamlet of Montauk, which is the only community in the town with its business district next to the ocean, as are the oceanfront estates of East Hampton. At Georgica Pond the United States Corps of Engineers built Groynes to protect the mansions. The construction is a source of friction with Southampton, which says the jetties interrupt the Longshore drift
Longshore drift
Longshore drift consists of the transportation of sediments along a coast at an angle to the shoreline, which is dependent on prevailing wind direction, swash and backwash. This process occurs in the littoral zone, and in or within close proximity to the surf zone...
, greatly increasing beach erosion there.
The lack of beach front development, including the fact there are no boardwalk
Boardwalk
A boardwalk, in the conventional sense, is a wooden walkway for pedestrians and sometimes vehicles, often found along beaches, but they are also common as paths through wetlands, coastal dunes, and other sensitive environments....
promenades, which are features of many developed beach communities, has contributed to East Hampton beaches being listed among the best beaches in the country.
Military History
While East Hampton is considered almost exclusively a residential community, it has been the home of United States NavyUnited States Navy
The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...
, United States Army
United States Army
The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...
, and United States Air Force
United States Air Force
The United States Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the American uniformed services. Initially part of the United States Army, the USAF was formed as a separate branch of the military on September 18, 1947 under the National Security Act of...
bases, the last of which closed in the 1980s. It currently has a United States Coast Guard
United States Coast Guard
The United States Coast Guard is a branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven U.S. uniformed services. The Coast Guard is a maritime, military, multi-mission service unique among the military branches for having a maritime law enforcement mission and a federal regulatory agency...
headquarters.
Skirmishes and military incidents took place in the town from the 17th century through World War II.
Massacre Valley
Narragansett (tribe)
The Narragansett tribe are an Algonquian Native American tribe from Rhode Island. In 1983 they regained federal recognition as the Narragansett Indian Tribe of Rhode Island. In 2009, the United States Supreme Court ruled against their request that the Department of Interior take land into trust...
tribe at the foot of what is now Montauk Manor.
The Montauketts had a thriving wampum
Wampum
Wampum are traditional, sacred shell beads of the Eastern Woodlands tribes of the indigenous people of North America. Wampum include the white shell beads fashioned from the North Atlantic channeled whelk shell; and the white and purple beads made from the quahog, or Western North Atlantic...
(made from whelk
Whelk
Whelk, also spelled welk or even "wilks", is a common name used to mean one or more kinds of sea snail. The species, genera and families referred to using this common name vary a great deal from one geographic area to another...
shells on the East Hampton beaches) trade Connecticut tribes. The arrangements were disrupted in 1637 by the Pequot War
Pequot War
The Pequot War was an armed conflict between 1634–1638 between the Pequot tribe against an alliance of the Massachusetts Bay, Plymouth, and Saybrook colonies who were aided by their Native American allies . Hundreds were killed; hundreds more were captured and sold into slavery to the West Indies. ...
which was to solidify English domination of New England and change the balance of power among Native American tribes.
The Pequot War was to contribute to the Montauketts selling Gardiners Island, East Hampton and Southhampton to the English with the understanding the English would protect the Montauketts from attacks from Connecticut. However a war broke out between the Montauketts and the Narragansett, the nominal Native American victors in Pequot War.
In 1653 the Narragansetts under Ninigret
Ninigret
thumb|Ninigret in 1681, painting currently at the [[Rhode Island School of Design Museum]]Ninigret was a seventeenth century sachem of the eastern Niantic Native American tribe in New England. Ninigret allied with the English settlers and Narragansetts against the Pequots...
attacked and burned the Montaukett village, killed 30 and captured one of Wyandanch's daughters. The daughter was ransomed with the aid of Lion Gardiner (who in turn was to get large portion of Smithtown, New York
Smithtown, New York
As of the census of 2000, there were 115,715 people, 38,487 households, and 31,482 families residing in the town. The population density was 2,159.9 people per square mile . There were 39,357 housing units at an average density of 734.6 per square mile...
in appreciation). The Montauketts temporarily moved closer to East Hampton village and the English ordered ships in Long Island Sound to sink Narragansett canoes. The skirmishes were to end in 1657.
Captain Kidd
East Hampton had pirates on its waterways in the 17th century and early 18th century, the most notable of which was Captain KiddWilliam Kidd
William "Captain" Kidd was a Scottish sailor remembered for his trial and execution for piracy after returning from a voyage to the Indian Ocean. Some modern historians deem his piratical reputation unjust, as there is evidence that Kidd acted only as a privateer...
who was hanged after his booty on Gardiners Island was introduced at his trial.
Kidd is said to have buried treasure all over Long Island. Money Ponds at the Montauk Lighthouse are named because of treasure reported to have been left there.
In June 1699 Kidd was stopped on the island while sailing to Boston to try to clear his name. With the permission of the proprietor, Mrs. Gardiner, he buried $30,000 in treasure in a ravine between Bostwick's Point and the Manor House. For her troubles he gave her a piece of gold cloth (a piece of which is now at the East Hampton library) that was captured from a Moorish ship off Madagascar
Madagascar
The Republic of Madagascar is an island country located in the Indian Ocean off the southeastern coast of Africa...
, as well as a bag of sugar. Kidd warned that if it was not there when he returned he would kill Gardiner. Kidd was tried in Boston and Gardiner was ordered to deliver the treasure as evidence. The booty included gold dust, bars of silver, Spanish dollar
Spanish dollar
The Spanish dollar is a silver coin, of approximately 38 mm diameter, worth eight reales, that was minted in the Spanish Empire after a Spanish currency reform in 1497. Its purpose was to correspond to the German thaler...
s, rubies, diamonds, candlesticks and porringer
Porringer
A porringer is a small dish from which Europeans and colonial Americans ate their gruel or porridge, or other soft foods.Porringers were shallow bowls, between 4" to 6" in diameter, and 1½" to 3" deep; the form originates in the medieval period in Europe and they were made in wood, ceramic, pewter...
s. Gardiner kept one of the diamonds, which he gave his daughter. A plaque on the island marks the spot, but it's on private property.
American Revolution
Fort Pond Bay
Fort Pond Bay is a bay off Long Island Sound at Montauk, New York that was site of the first port on the end of Long Island. The bay has a long naval and civilian history.-New-York Province and the American Revolution:...
at Montauk during the Siege of Boston
Siege of Boston
The Siege of Boston was the opening phase of the American Revolutionary War, in which New England militiamen—who later became part of the Continental Army—surrounded the town of Boston, Massachusetts, to prevent movement by the British Army garrisoned within...
. John Dayton, who had limited troops at his disposal, feigned that he had more by walking them back and forth across a hill turning their coats inside out to make it look like there more of them (a tactic referred to as Dayton's Ruse). The British would not formally attack Long Island until 1776.
After the fall of Long Island during the Battle of Long Island
Battle of Long Island
The Battle of Long Island, also known as the Battle of Brooklyn or the Battle of Brooklyn Heights, fought on August 27, 1776, was the first major battle in the American Revolutionary War following the United States Declaration of Independence, the largest battle of the entire conflict, and the...
, the East Hampton ports of Northwest and Sag Harbor were blockaded by the British and the British used Gardiner's Island for a hunting preserve.
The first American victory in New York after the Battle of Long Island was Meigs Raid
Meigs Raid
The Meigs Raid was a military raid by American Continental Army forces, under the command of Connecticut Colonel Return Jonathan Meigs, on a British Loyalist foraging party at Sag Harbor, New York on May 24, 1777 during the American Revolutionary War. Six Loyalists were killed and 90 captured...
on Sag Harbor (sometimes called the Battle of Sag Harbor) when continentals from Connecticut raided the British earth works in the village and burned the ships and wharfs on the East Hampton side of the village. The Americans killed six and transported 90 British prisoners back to Connecticut without losing a single soldier.
A story often circulated is the story of Isaac Van Scoy who had a farm in Northwest. According to the tales the British raided his farmhouse and he killed one soldier with a pitchfork. Van Scoy was reported to have eventually been captured and taken to a prison ship in Sag Harbor where he escaped. The earthen remains of Van Scoy's house are still visible in the Northwest Preserve where he is buried (American flags mark his grave on holidays). His name is applied to various placenames in the area including Van Scoy Pond.
The manor house on Gardiners Island had just been built in 1774 and members of the British forces were to use it throughout the war – with or without permission. Among the British guests were Henry Clinton
Henry Clinton (American War of Independence)
General Sir Henry Clinton KB was a British army officer and politician, best known for his service as a general during the American War of Independence. First arriving in Boston in May 1775, from 1778 to 1782 he was the British Commander-in-Chief in North America...
and John André
John André
John André was a British army officer hanged as a spy during the American War of Independence. This was due to an incident in which he attempted to assist Benedict Arnold's attempted surrender of the fort at West Point, New York to the British.-Early life:André was born on May 2, 1750 in London to...
. At one point Major Andre and Gardiner son Nathaniel Gardiner, who was a surgeon for the New Hampshire Continental Infantry, exchanged toasts on the island. Gardiner would later be the American surgeon who attended to Andre when he was executed after being caught spying with Benedict Arnold
Benedict Arnold
Benedict Arnold V was a general during the American Revolutionary War. He began the war in the Continental Army but later defected to the British Army. While a general on the American side, he obtained command of the fort at West Point, New York, and plotted to surrender it to the British forces...
.
The British fleet used East Hampton waters for blockading Connecticut and planning for a new offense to retake New England (that never took place). One of the ships, the HMS Culloden (1776)
HMS Culloden (1776)
HMS Culloden was a 74-gun third-rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, built at Deptford Dockyard, England, and launched on 18 May 1776...
ran aground at what is now called Culloden Point
Culloden Point
Culloden Point is a small peninsula north of Montauk, New York that marks the east side entrance to Fort Pond Bay from Long Island Sound.-HMS Culloden:The British ship HMS Culloden ran aground here in 1781 while pursuing a French frigate...
in Montauk during a winter storm on January 24, 1781. The ship was scuttled and burned. In the 1970s remains of the ship were discovered and is now Long Island's only underwater park. Remains of the ship can be seen at the East Hampton Marine Museum in Amagansett.
After the war, Gardiners Island which had been considered an independent colony was officially added to New York and East Hampton.
George Washington
George Washington
George Washington was the dominant military and political leader of the new United States of America from 1775 to 1799. He led the American victory over Great Britain in the American Revolutionary War as commander-in-chief of the Continental Army from 1775 to 1783, and presided over the writing of...
was to authorize construction of the Montauk Point Lighthouse
Montauk Point Lighthouse
The Montauk Point Light is a lighthouse located in Montauk Point State Park at the easternmost point of Long Island, in the Town of East Hampton, Suffolk County, New York...
.
War of 1812
War of 1812
The War of 1812 was a military conflict fought between the forces of the United States of America and those of the British Empire. The Americans declared war in 1812 for several reasons, including trade restrictions because of Britain's ongoing war with France, impressment of American merchant...
British frigates once again controlled the northern bays of East Hampton with frigates headquartered in Gardiners Bay particularly harassing ships going into Sag Harbor.
Sag Harbor had a fort manned by 3,000 troops on Turkey Hill. July 11, 1813 One hundred British Marines raided the wharf but were driven back after setting fire to one sloop by Americans led by Capt. David Hand.
During the War of 1812
War of 1812
The War of 1812 was a military conflict fought between the forces of the United States of America and those of the British Empire. The Americans declared war in 1812 for several reasons, including trade restrictions because of Britain's ongoing war with France, impressment of American merchant...
a British fleet of seven ships of the line and several smaller frigates anchored in Cherry Harbor and conducted raids on American shipping Long Island Sound
Long Island Sound
Long Island Sound is an estuary of the Atlantic Ocean, located in the United States between Connecticut to the north and Long Island, New York to the south. The mouth of the Connecticut River at Old Saybrook, Connecticut, empties into the sound. On its western end the sound is bounded by the Bronx...
. Crews would come ashore for provisions which were purchased at market prices. During one of the British excursions, Americans captured some of the crew. The British came to arrest then Lord of the Manor John Lyon Gardiner. Gardiner, who was a delicate man, adopted the "green room defense" where he stayed in a bed with green curtains surrounded by medicine to make him look feeble. The British, not wanting a sick man on board, let him be.
The British were to bury several personnel on the island. Some of the British fleet that burned Washington
Burning of Washington
The Burning of Washington was an armed conflict during the War of 1812 between the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and the United States of America. On August 24, 1814, led by General Robert Ross, a British force occupied Washington, D.C. and set fire to many public buildings following...
assembled in the harbor in 1814.
Gardiner's supply boats were manned by slaves during the war and this made it easier for them to pass through British lines. Many of the Gardiner slaves were to live in the Freetown (East Hampton)
Freetown (East Hampton)
Freetown is an area in East Hampton , New York originally inhabited by freed slaves and Native Americans.East Hampton in the early 19th century was lightly populated and one of the biggest slave holders were descendents of Lion Gardiner who owned Gardiner's Island...
, just north of East Hampton (village), New York
East Hampton (village), New York
The Village of East Hampton is a village in Town of East Hampton, New York. It is located in Suffolk County, on the South Fork of eastern Long Island...
.
American Civil War
During the American Civil WarAmerican Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
, some of the Sag Harbor whaling ships were scuttled in Charleston, South Carolina
Charleston, South Carolina
Charleston is the second largest city in the U.S. state of South Carolina. It was made the county seat of Charleston County in 1901 when Charleston County was founded. The city's original name was Charles Towne in 1670, and it moved to its present location from a location on the west bank of the...
harbor to blockade the city.
The USS Montauk (1862)
USS Montauk (1862)
The first USS Montauk was a single-turreted monitor in the United States Navy during the American Civil War.It saw action throughout the war and was used as the floating prison for the conspirators in the Abraham Lincoln assassination and was the site of the autopsy and identification of assassin...
, a Monitor (warship)
Monitor (warship)
A monitor was a class of relatively small warship which was neither fast nor strongly armoured but carried disproportionately large guns. They were used by some navies from the 1860s until the end of World War II, and saw their final use by the United States Navy during the Vietnam War.The monitors...
which was constructed at the Continental Iron Works in Greenpoint, Brooklyn
Greenpoint, Brooklyn
Greenpoint is the northernmost neighborhood in the New York City borough of Brooklyn. It is bordered on the southwest by Williamsburg at the Bushwick inlet, on the southeast by the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway and East Williamsburg, on the north by Newtown Creek and Long Island City, Queens at the...
, saw considerable action throughout the war. In 1865 the ship, docked at the Washington Navy Yard
Washington Navy Yard
The Washington Navy Yard is the former shipyard and ordnance plant of the United States Navy in Southeast Washington, D.C. It is the oldest shore establishment of the U.S. Navy...
, was used as the prison for accused Abraham Lincoln assassination
Abraham Lincoln assassination
The assassination of United States President Abraham Lincoln took place on Good Friday, April 14, 1865, as the American Civil War was drawing to a close. The assassination occurred five days after the commanding General of the Army of Northern Virginia, Robert E. Lee, and his battered Army of...
conspirators and the autopsy and identification of the body of assassin John Wilkes Booth
John Wilkes Booth
John Wilkes Booth was an American stage actor who assassinated President Abraham Lincoln at Ford's Theatre, in Washington, D.C., on April 14, 1865. Booth was a member of the prominent 19th century Booth theatrical family from Maryland and, by the 1860s, was a well-known actor...
.
Spanish-American War
Spanish-American War
The Spanish–American War was a conflict in 1898 between Spain and the United States, effectively the result of American intervention in the ongoing Cuban War of Independence...
, the Army built Fort Tyler on Gardiners Point Island
Gardiners Point Island
Gardiners Point Island is an island in Block Island Sound that was the former location of the Gardiner Island Lighthouse as well as Fort Tyler....
in an attempt to protect Long Island.
A more important fort was the massive Camp Wickoff (also called Wyckoff) which stretched from the current Montauk Long Island Railroad station to the Montauk Point Lighthouse.
The area was used to quarantine soldiers coming from the conflict. The most prominent group among the 20,000 soldiers who passed through the base were Theodore Roosevelt
Theodore Roosevelt
Theodore "Teddy" Roosevelt was the 26th President of the United States . He is noted for his exuberant personality, range of interests and achievements, and his leadership of the Progressive Movement, as well as his "cowboy" persona and robust masculinity...
and his Rough Riders
Rough Riders
The Rough Riders is the name bestowed on the 1st United States Volunteer Cavalry, one of three such regiments raised in 1898 for the Spanish-American War and the only one of the three to see action. The United States Army was weakened and left with little manpower after the American Civil War...
. The tented camp became a national scandal over the poor treatment of troops (256 died there) and President William McKinley
William McKinley
William McKinley, Jr. was the 25th President of the United States . He is best known for winning fiercely fought elections, while supporting the gold standard and high tariffs; he succeeded in forging a Republican coalition that for the most part dominated national politics until the 1930s...
visited to emphasize improvements. Exhibits and artifacts from the camp are at Theodore Roosevelt County Park
Theodore Roosevelt County Park
Theodore Roosevelt County Park is located approximately east of Montauk, New York. The park is in size, running from Montauk Highway north to Block Island Sound and is bordered on the east by Montauk Point State Park...
.
World War I
During World War IWorld War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
, the E.W. Bliss Company of Brooklyn, New York tested torpedoes in the harbor, a half mile north of Sag Harbor. As part of the process, Long Wharf in Sag Harbor was reinforced with concrete and rail spurs built along the wharf as the torpedoes were loaded onto ships for testing. They were shipped via the Long Island Road, along the Sag Harbor to the wharf which was owned by the railroad at the time. Among those observing the tests was Thomas Alva Edison. Most of the today's buildings on the wharf, including the Bay Street Theatre, were built during this time. The torpedoes, which did not have exploding warheads, are occasionally found by divers on the bay floor.
World War II
Shadmoor State Park
Shadmoor State Park is a state park located in Suffolk County, New York in the USA. The park is in the East Hampton , New York on the South Fork of Long Island, east of Montauk village....
.
On June 13, 1942, as part of Operation Pastorius
Operation Pastorius
Operation Pastorius was a failed plan for sabotage via a series of attacks by Nazi German agents inside the United States. The operation was staged in June 1942 and was to be directed against strategic U.S. economic targets...
four German agents led by George John Dasch
George John Dasch
George John Dasch was a German spy and saboteur who landed on American soil during World War II. He helped to destroy Nazi Germany’s espionage program in the United States by defecting to the American cause, but was tried and convicted of treason and espionage.-Early life:Georg Johann Dasch was...
were landed by U202 at what is now Atlantic Avenue Beach (sometimes called Coast Guard Beach) in Amagansett. Confronted by Coast Guardsman John C. Cullen, they said they were Southampton fishermen. When one of the four said something in a foreign tongue, they offered him $300 to keep quiet. The agents disappeared into the night after he sought out his supervisor. When reinforcements arrived they discovered German cigarettes on the beach along with four heavy, waterproof oaken boxes buried in the sand filled with brick-sized blocks of high explosives, bombs disguised as lumps of coal
Coal torpedo
The coal torpedo was a hollow iron casting filled with explosives and covered in coal dust, deployed by the Confederate Secret Service during the American Civil War, and intended for doing harm to Union steam transportation. When shoveled into the firebox amongst the coal, the resulting explosion...
, bomb-timing mechanisms of German make, and innocent-looking “pen-and-pencil sets” that were actually incendiary weapons.
The agents rode the Long Island Railroad into New York City and were ultimately captured along with four others who had come ashore at Jacksonville, Florida
Jacksonville, Florida
Jacksonville is the largest city in the U.S. state of Florida in terms of both population and land area, and the largest city by area in the contiguous United States. It is the county seat of Duval County, with which the city government consolidated in 1968...
. Six of the agents were to be executed.
In May 2007 the original Coast Guard station was moved to the property at the Town Marine Museum in Amagansett across the dunes from its original Atlantic Avenue beach location. The station was moved in 1966 to private property to save it from demolition by Joel Carmichael The Marine Museum itself was the former barracks for the Coast Guard.
The Navy appropriated almost all of Montauk during the war for facilities including Montauk Manor which was used as a dormitory. Torpedoes were tested in Lake Montauk. Ships and dirigibles docked on Navy Road on Fort Pond Bay. The Navy was to find Fort Pond inhospitable since it was shallow. Dredging was to contribute to problems with flooding. After the war the Navy moved the residential section of Montauk which had been on the bay by the Long Island Rail station a mile to the south to get away from the flooding. One of the biggest legacies of the Navy presence was to be the dredging of Lake Montauk so that it replaced Fort Pond as Montauk's dock. The Coast Guard is now headquartered there on Star Island.
Cold War
AN/FPS-35
The AN/FPS-35 radar was a long range radar used in the early 1960s.Sperry Corporation built 12 long range radars in the 1960s to succeed existing Semi Automatic Ground Environment to provide enhanced electronic countermeasures . The systems operated at 420 to 450 MHz. The antennas weighed 70...
in the early 1960s to detect bombers headed for New York City. The massive radar and huge then state of the art computers quickly became obsolete. While all the other radars were to be torn down the one on Montauk was saved largely because it was a better landmark than the lighthouse on Long Island Sound.
The base was officially decommissioned in the 1980s. The support buildings now form a ghost town and the radar has officially been added to the National Register of Historic Places.
In 1992 Long Island residents Preston B. Nichols and Peter Moon wrote a science fiction book The Montauk Project: Experiments in Time
Montauk Project
The Montauk Project was alleged to be a series of secret United States government projects conducted at Camp Hero or Montauk Air Force Station on Montauk, Long Island for the purpose of developing psychological warfare techniques and exotic research including time travel...
(ISBN 0-9631889-0-9) in which it was claimed the radar was used by the government to conduct time travel experiments. The book has been perceived by some to be true and the base has assumed something of a cult status among conspiracy buffs. It was also featured in a segment of X-Files.
Government
The most visible government is the Town Board which consists of five people including its head called the Town Supervisor who are responsible for the taxes, roads, police, parks, zoning and general governance of the town. Its authority was established by the State of New York in 1788. The government operates from a 13 acres (52,609.2 m²) campus on Pantigo Road.
The second lesser known government is the Trustees of the Freeholders and Commonalty of the Town of East Hampton which is formally responsible for day to day decisions of common property in the town. The Trustees derive their power from the Dongan Patent of December 9, 1686 which set up self governance for the town. The patent (a land grant
Land grant
A land grant is a gift of real estate – land or its privileges – made by a government or other authority as a reward for services to an individual, especially in return for military service...
) establishing the trustees was an act by Thomas Dongan, the Royal Governor of New York. Most of the time the trustees, who operate from the Town's Lamb Building on Bluff Road in Amagansett are in synch with the Town Board although there are occasionally conflicts. Among the common properties the trustees operate is Georgica Pond
Georgica Pond
Georgica Pond is a coastal lagoon on the west border of East Hampton Village and Wainscott, and was the site of a Summer White House of Bill Clinton in 1998 and 1999....
and they make decisions about when the tidal pond is drained and filled. These actions often make headlines given they affect the flooding of basements of neighboring celebrities. In 1998, the pond was drained just a few days before President Bill Clinton
Bill Clinton
William Jefferson "Bill" Clinton is an American politician who served as the 42nd President of the United States from 1993 to 2001. Inaugurated at age 46, he was the third-youngest president. He took office at the end of the Cold War, and was the first president of the baby boomer generation...
was to spend his summer vacation at the home of Steven Spielberg
Steven Spielberg
Steven Allan Spielberg KBE is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, video game designer, and studio entrepreneur. In a career of more than four decades, Spielberg's films have covered many themes and genres. Spielberg's early science-fiction and adventure films were seen as an...
.
The Town is often an early adopter of initiatives including domestic partnership
Domestic partnership
A domestic partnership is a legal or personal relationship between two individuals who live together and share a common domestic life but are neither joined by marriage nor a civil union...
registration. In 1999, it imposed a 2 percent tax on residential real estate sales in excess of $250,000 for the purpose of buying open space. The money has contributed to the town having more than 200 miles (321.9 km) of trails including the Paumanok Path
Paumanok Path
The Paumanok Path is a hiking trail from Rocky Point, New York to Montauk Point State Park on Long Island, New York.It travels through five towns -- Brookhaven, New York, Riverhead, New York, Southampton , New York and East Hampton , New York....
. Between 2002 and 2005 the tax raised $71 million. In 2006 the town adopted a dark skies
Dark-sky movement
The dark-sky movement is a campaign by people who want to reduce light pollution so people can see the stars, to reduce the effects of unnatural lighting on the environment, and to cut down on energy usage....
ordinance which is now being considered as a model for wider use in New York State.
Despite East Hampton's great wealth, its fire department and ambulance are both volunteer services. President Bill Clinton
Bill Clinton
William Jefferson "Bill" Clinton is an American politician who served as the 42nd President of the United States from 1993 to 2001. Inaugurated at age 46, he was the third-youngest president. He took office at the end of the Cold War, and was the first president of the baby boomer generation...
was to give his weekend radio address from the Amagansett Volunteer Fire Station in August 1998 during his vacation in the town.
Mobile home
Mobile homes or static caravans are prefabricated homes built in factories, rather than on site, and then taken to the place where they will be occupied...
hidden from the street by a nondescript flat-roofed building. In 2006 the town announced plans to turn its campus into a collection of historic East Hampton buildings that had been moved over the course of 30 years to the 40 acres (161,874.4 m²) Further Lane home of Adelaide de Menil, heiress to the Schlumberger
Schlumberger
Schlumberger Limited is the world's largest oilfield services company. Schlumberger employs over 110,000 people of more than 140 nationalities working in approximately 80 countries...
oil fortune. The move was part of the sale of their home to Baron Funds financier Ron Baron for $103 million which in 2007 was declared the highest price ever paid for a single home The new complex is to be designed Robert A.M. Stern (who also designed the East Hampton Library in 1997).
The township has aggressively pursued zoning ordinances to protect its residential and rural character. Consequently, there are no chain fast food restaurant
Fast food restaurant
A fast food restaurant, also known as a Quick Service Restaurant or QSR within the industry itself, is a specific type of restaurant characterized both by its fast food cuisine and by minimal table service...
s and or big box stores (unlike Southampton which has numerous fast food chains and stores such as K-Mart). The village of East Hampton
East Hampton (village), New York
The Village of East Hampton is a village in Town of East Hampton, New York. It is located in Suffolk County, on the South Fork of eastern Long Island...
formerly also pursued the no chain rules. However, since the mid-1990s chains have begun making inroads including the opening of Starbucks
Starbucks
Starbucks Corporation is an international coffee and coffeehouse chain based in Seattle, Washington. Starbucks is the largest coffeehouse company in the world, with 17,009 stores in 55 countries, including over 11,000 in the United States, over 1,000 in Canada, over 700 in the United Kingdom, and...
(currently there is only one in the whole town) as well as Tiffany's
Tiffany & Co.
Tiffany & Co. is an American jewelry and silverware company. As part of its branding, the company is strongly associated with its Tiffany Blue , which is a registered trademark.- History :...
.
Demographics
As of the census
Census
A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring and recording information about the members of a given population. It is a regularly occurring and official count of a particular population. The term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common...
of 2000, there were 19,719 people, households, and families residing in East Hampton. The population density
Population density
Population density is a measurement of population per unit area or unit volume. It is frequently applied to living organisms, and particularly to humans...
is 643.1 people per square mile (248.2/km²). There are 2,251 housing units at an average density of 403.6 per square mile (155.8/km²). The racial makeup of the town is 82.46% White, 16.62% Hispanic or Latino of any race, 7.39% Black or African American, 0.08% Native American, 1.62% Asian, 0.08% Pacific Islander, 5.94% from other races, and 2.43% from two or more races.
There are 1,445 households out of which 27.3% have children under the age of 18 living with them, 44.2% are married couples
Marriage
Marriage is a social union or legal contract between people that creates kinship. It is an institution in which interpersonal relationships, usually intimate and sexual, are acknowledged in a variety of ways, depending on the culture or subculture in which it is found...
living together, 12.2% have a female householder with no husband present, and 39.0% are non-families. 31.9% of all households are made up of individuals and 16.8% have someone living alone who is 65 years of age or older. The average household size is 2.47 and the average family size is 3.07.
In the town the population is spread out with 22.3% under the age of 18, 6.7% from 18 to 24, 28.0% from 25 to 44, 25.8% from 45 to 64, and 17.2% who are 65 years of age or older. The median age is 41 years. For every 100 females there are 92.6 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there are 90.2 males.
The median income for a household in the town is $52,201, and the median income for a family is $55,357. Males have a median income of $38,566 versus $29,750 for females. The per capita income
Per capita income
Per capita income or income per person is a measure of mean income within an economic aggregate, such as a country or city. It is calculated by taking a measure of all sources of income in the aggregate and dividing it by the total population...
for the CDP is $25,725. 12.2% of the population and 10.3% of families are below the poverty line. Out of the total population, 20.5% of those under the age of 18 and 4.2% of those 65 and older are living below the poverty line.
Special Events
One of the highlights of the summer is East Hampton Fire Department fireworks display at Main Beach, usually held the Saturday night closest to July 4. The fireworks displays have generated controversy since 2005. In 2005, 2007, and 2008 they were postponed until Labor Day weekend because of the endangered Piping PloverPiping Plover
The Piping Plover is a small sand-colored, sparrow-sized shorebird that nests and feeds along coastal sand and gravel beaches in North America. The adult has yellow-orange legs, a black band across the forehead from eye to eye, and a black ring around the neck...
, which were nesting on the beach nearby. Village administration has since postponed the fireworks display to Labor Day weekend indefinitely for years to come.
A big draw in the summer had also been the shark fishing tournaments in Montauk. However in 2007 the Humane Society
Humane Society
A humane society may be a group that aims to stop human or animal suffering due to cruelty or other reasons, although in many countries, it is now used mostly for societies for the prevention of cruelty to animals...
and other organizations have been protesting the cruelty of the tournament
Each Summer, the Artists and Writers Softball Game, a charity benefit, is held. Past players include John Irving
John Irving
John Winslow Irving is an American novelist and Academy Award-winning screenwriter.Irving achieved critical and popular acclaim after the international success of The World According to Garp in 1978...
, Norman Mailer
Norman Mailer
Norman Kingsley Mailer was an American novelist, journalist, essayist, poet, playwright, screenwriter, and film director.Along with Truman Capote, Joan Didion, Hunter S...
, Kurt Vonnegut
Kurt Vonnegut
Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. was a 20th century American writer. His works such as Cat's Cradle , Slaughterhouse-Five and Breakfast of Champions blend satire, gallows humor and science fiction. He was known for his humanist beliefs and was honorary president of the American Humanist Association.-Early...
, Dustin Hoffman
Dustin Hoffman
Dustin Lee Hoffman is an American actor with a career in film, television, and theatre since 1960. He has been known for his versatile portrayals of antiheroes and vulnerable characters....
, Bill Clinton
Bill Clinton
William Jefferson "Bill" Clinton is an American politician who served as the 42nd President of the United States from 1993 to 2001. Inaugurated at age 46, he was the third-youngest president. He took office at the end of the Cold War, and was the first president of the baby boomer generation...
, and singer Paul Simon
Paul Simon
Paul Frederic Simon is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist.Simon is best known for his success, beginning in 1965, as part of the duo Simon & Garfunkel, with musical partner Art Garfunkel. Simon wrote most of the pair's songs, including three that reached number one on the US singles...
.
Every October the town hosts the Hamptons International Film Festival
Hamptons International Film Festival
Hamptons International Film Festival was founded to provide a forum for independent filmmakers from around the world to express their vision. The Festival is traditionally held for five days in mid-October in theatre venues from Montauk to Southampton and attracts roughly 15,000 visitors annually...
, a rather large production with independent films shown in several local theatres. It has a fairly large draw from the New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
crowd.
Villages (incorporated)
- East Hampton
- Sag HarborSag Harbor, New YorkSag Harbor is an incorporated village in Suffolk County, New York, United States, with parts in both the Towns of East Hampton and Southampton. The population was 2,313 at the 2000 census....
, shared with the Town of SouthamptonSouthampton (town), New YorkThe Town of Southampton is located in southeastern Suffolk County, New York, U.S., partly on the South Fork of Long Island. As of the United States 2000 Census, the town had a total population of 54,712...
Hamlets (unincorporated)
- AmagansettAmagansett, New YorkAmagansett is a census-designated place that roughly corresponds to the hamlet by the same name in the town of East Hampton in Suffolk County, New York on the South Shore of Long Island. As of the United States 2000 Census, the CDP population was 1,067. Amagansett hamlet was founded in 1680.The...
- MontaukMontauk, New YorkMontauk [ˈmɒntɒk] is a census-designated place that roughly corresponds to the hamlet with the same name located in the town of East Hampton in Suffolk County, New York, United States on the South Shore of Long Island. As of the United States 2000 Census, the CDP population was 3,851 as of 2000...
- NapeagueNapeague, New YorkNapeague is a census-designated place that roughly corresponds to the hamlet with the same name in the town of East Hampton in Suffolk County, New York, United States...
- SpringsSprings, New YorkSprings is a census-designated place roughly corresponding to the hamlet by the same name in the town of East Hampton in Suffolk County, New York on the South Fork of Long Island. As of the United States 2000 Census, the hamlet population was 4,950...
- WainscottWainscott, New YorkWainscott is a census-designated place that roughly corresponds to the hamlet with the same name in the town of East Hampton in Suffolk County, New York on the South Fork of Long Island. As of the United States 2000 Census, the CDP population was 628...
Census designated places
In addition to the above the United States Census has two locations using terms that are usually not used by residents of the town:- East Hampton NorthEast Hampton North, New YorkEast Hampton North is a census-designated place in Suffolk County, New York, United States. The population was 3,587 as of the 2000 census.- Geography :East Hampton North is located at ....
(the area just north of the village) - Northwest HarborNorthwest Harbor, New YorkNorthwest Harbor is a census-designated place named for the bay on the South Fork of Long Island connecting Sag Harbor, Shelter Island and East Hampton town to Gardiners Bay and the open waters of the Atlantic Ocean. The bay derives its name from being northwest of East Hampton village...
- The area northwest of the village that is usually referred to as "Northwest" or "Northwest Woods." There is a harbor in the area though.
State Parks
- Amsterdam Beach State ParkAmsterdam Beach State ParkAmsterdam Beach State Park is a New York State Park on the Atlantic Ocean in East Hampton , New York just east of Montauk, New York.The park was formally acquired in 2005 and is between Shadmoor State Park and the Andy Warhol Preserve owned by the Nature Conservancy...
- Camp Hero State ParkCamp Hero State ParkCamp Hero State Park is a park located on Montauk Point, New York that offers a beach, fishing, hiking, a bridle path, biking, and cross-country skiing. It is the former site of Montauk Air Force Station.-Post-military use:...
- Hither Hills State ParkHither Hills State ParkHither Hills State Park is a state park located on the southern shore near the eastern tip of Long Island in Suffolk County, New York in the USA.The park is located on the South Fork of Long Island at Napeague, New York...
- Montauk Downs State ParkMontauk Downs State ParkMontauk Downs State Park is a state park in Montauk, New York, USA. The park is located in Suffolk County near the eastern tip of Long Island's South Fork, about east of the village of Montauk...
- Montauk Point State ParkMontauk Point State ParkMontauk Point State Park is located in the hamlet of Montauk, at the eastern tip of Long Island in the Town of East Hampton, Suffolk County, New York. Montauk Point is the easternmost extremity of the South Fork of Long Island, and thus also of New York State...
- Napeague State ParkNapeague State ParkNapeague State Park is a park on either side of the Montauk Highway, Route 27, on the "Napeague Stretch" between Amagansett, New York and Montauk, New York, in the United States...
- Sag Harbor State Golf CourseSag Harbor State Golf CourseThe Sag Habor State Golf Course is , 9-hole golf facility is located in the middle of a parcel known as the Barcelona Neck Natural Resources Management Area. The golf course is entirely located in the town of East Hampton in Suffolk County, New York....
- Shadmoor State ParkShadmoor State ParkShadmoor State Park is a state park located in Suffolk County, New York in the USA. The park is in the East Hampton , New York on the South Fork of Long Island, east of Montauk village....
Education
- East Hampton High School, part of the East Hampton Union Free School DistrictEast Hampton Union Free School DistrictEast Hampton Union Free School District is a public school district located in the Town of East Hampton on Long Island, in Suffolk County, New York, United States. It includes the village of East Hampton in addition to the surrounding area located north of the village. The superintendent is...
, and the principal school for the entire town outside of Sag Harbor. The school also serves the districts of Springs (which has an elementary school and a middle school) and Montauk (which has an elementary and middle school). Enrollment in 9-12 is 1,046 Its mascot is the BonackersBonackersBonackers is the name for a native people of the Springs area of East Hampton, New York.-History:The name traditionally refers specifically to the working class families who live in an area called Springs in the north of the Town of East Hampton, New York Bonackers is the name for a native people...
which derives its name from Accabonic Harbor at Springs. It is the only school to use a mascot of that name. 'Bonackers' are descendents of the original families that founded East Hampton. - Pierson Middle-High School, part of the Sag Harbor Union Free School DistrictSag Harbor Union Free School DistrictSag Harbor Union Free School District is a public school district located primarily in the Town of Southampton, with a small portion in the Town of East Hampton, on Long Island, in Suffolk County, New York, United States...
, this 6-12 school is physically in East Hampton and serves Sag Harbor, which straddles a border with Southampton. Its enrollment is 502. Its mascot is the Whalers. - Ross School - The largest and best private school on the East End, the Ross School educates students from pre-school through 12th grade. The Ross School has build a strong community of like-minded individuals who care deeply for and about educating the whole child for the whole world.
American educator Catharine Beecher
Catharine Beecher
Catharine Esther Beecher was an American educator known for her forthright opinions on women's education as well as her vehement support of the many benefits of the incorporation of kindergarten into children's education....
was born in East Hampton.
Television stations in East Hampton
- WVVH-TV Hamptons TV, UHF Channel 50, the largest FCC licensed TV station in Suffolk County. It broadcasts from the East Hampton AirportEast Hampton AirportEast Hampton Airport is a public airport in Wainscott, New York, three miles west of the central business district of the village of East Hampton, in Suffolk County, New York, USA. It is owned and operated by the Town of East Hampton....
industrial park in Wainscott.WVVH-TV.
Radio stations in East Hampton
- WEHMWEHMWEHM is an Adult album alternative formatted radio station that is licensed to Manorville, New York and serves the eastern end of Long Island as well as the southeastern shore of Connecticut...
- 96.9 - FM - East Hampton - WMOSWMOSWMOS is a classic rock radio station that targets the Connecticut shoreline even though it is licensed to Stonington, Connecticut. It broadcasts at 102.3 MHz with 3 kilowatts ERP from a tower located in Stonington. The station is owned and operated by Cumulus Media and is "powered by Mohegan...
- 104.7 - FM - Montauk