- For census related data, see the entry for Remsenburg-Speonk, New York
----Remsenburg-Speonk is a census-designated place located in the Town of Southhampton, Suffolk County, New York. It consists of the hamlets of Remsenburg and Speonk. The population was 2,675 at the 2000 census...
Remsenburg is a hamlet located in the
Town of SouthhamptonThe 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...
,
Suffolk CountySuffolk County is a county located in the U.S. state of New York on the eastern portion of Long Island. As of the 2000 census, the population was 1,419,369. It was named for the county of Suffolk in England, from which its earliest settlers came. The county seat is Riverhead, though many county...
,
New YorkNew York is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States and is the nation's third most populous. The state is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
.
Remsenburg is an exclusive area of the
HamptonsThe Hamptons refers specifically to the towns of Southampton and East Hampton on the east end of Long Island, New York. These townships occupy the South Fork of Long Island. According to the Census Bureau, the Hamptons have a land area of 552.14 km² . Officially they also have 1,212.99 km² of...
. There are no stoplights and very few commercial businesses.
As early as 1712, meadows in
Speonk were leased to cattle-owners from Southampton. Most of the early settlers of Speonk came west from Southampton and Bridgehampton in the 1740s to clear the forests and build farms. During the 1880s, duck farms thrived in Speonk, but few survived past the turn of the century.
The name Speonk was inspired by a Native American word meaning
high place.
- For census related data, see the entry for Remsenburg-Speonk, New York
----Remsenburg-Speonk is a census-designated place located in the Town of Southhampton, Suffolk County, New York. It consists of the hamlets of Remsenburg and Speonk. The population was 2,675 at the 2000 census...
Remsenburg is a hamlet located in the
Town of SouthhamptonThe 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...
,
Suffolk CountySuffolk County is a county located in the U.S. state of New York on the eastern portion of Long Island. As of the 2000 census, the population was 1,419,369. It was named for the county of Suffolk in England, from which its earliest settlers came. The county seat is Riverhead, though many county...
,
New YorkNew York is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States and is the nation's third most populous. The state is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
.
Remsenburg is an exclusive area of the
HamptonsThe Hamptons refers specifically to the towns of Southampton and East Hampton on the east end of Long Island, New York. These townships occupy the South Fork of Long Island. According to the Census Bureau, the Hamptons have a land area of 552.14 km² . Officially they also have 1,212.99 km² of...
. There are no stoplights and very few commercial businesses.
History
As early as 1712, meadows in
Speonk were leased to cattle-owners from Southampton. Most of the early settlers of Speonk came west from Southampton and Bridgehampton in the 1740s to clear the forests and build farms. During the 1880s, duck farms thrived in Speonk, but few survived past the turn of the century.
The name Speonk was inspired by a Native American word meaning
high place. An 1897
Long Island Rail RoadThe Long Island Rail Road or LIRR is a commuter rail system serving the length of Long Island, New York that has been classified as a Class II railroad by the Surface Transportation Board. It is the busiest commuter railroad in North America, servicing around 81 million passengers each year, and...
catalog listed Speonk, noting that that name "certainly sounds like the call of a frog." Some residents pressed to change the name to
Remsenburg, to honor a prominent resident,
Charles Remsen, who had donated a new Presbyterian Church. Today, both names remain in use, each covering different areas of the community. The area close to the bay is called Remsenburg, and the more bucolic inland area is still called Speonk.
During the twentieth century, its most famous resident was the English writer, P.G. Wodehouse. He wrote many of the escapades of
Bertie WoosterBertram Wilberforce "Bertie" Wooster is a recurring fictional character in the Jeeves novels of British author P. G. Wodehouse. A British gentleman, member of the "idle rich" and the Drones Club, he appears alongside his gentleman's personal gentleman, Jeeves, whose genius manages to extricate...
and his manservant,
JeevesReginald Jeeves is a fictional character in the short stories and novels of P. G. Wodehouse, being the "gentleman's personal gentleman" of Bertie Wooster . Created in 1915 and named in the title of most of his stories since 1916 and most of his books from 1919 to 1974, Jeeves is Wodehouse's most...
, from a home on Basket Neck Lane in Remsenburg. Other residents of note include: songwriter
Frank LoesserFrank Henry Loesser was an American songwriter who wrote the scores to the Broadway hits Guys And Dolls and How To Succeed In Business Without Really Trying, among others. He won separate Tony Awards for the music and lyrics in both shows, as well as sharing the Pulitzer Prize for Drama for the...
, who wrote for Broadway shows including
Guys and DollsGuys and Dolls is a musical, with the music and lyrics written by Frank Loesser and book by Jo Swerling and Abe Burrows, based on "The Idyll of Miss Sarah Brown" and "Blood Pressure", two short stories by Damon Runyon. It also borrows characters and plot elements from other Runyon stories, most...
; the playwright,
Guy BoltonGuy Reginald Bolton was a British-American playwright and writer of musical comedies.Born Guy Reginald Bolton to American parents in Broxbourne, Hertfordshire, England, Bolton studied architecture before beginning his writing career in 1914 with the play The Rule of Three...
, who collaborated with Wodehouse on
Anything GoesAnything Goes is a musical with music and lyrics by Cole Porter. The book was a collaborative effort by Guy Bolton and P.G. Wodehouse, revised by Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse. The story concerns madcap antics aboard an ocean liner bound from New York to London. Billy Crocker is a stowaway in...
; and
Dave GarrowayDavid Cunningham Garroway was the founding host of NBC's Today from 1952 to 1961. His easygoing, relaxed, and relaxing style belied a battle with depression that may have contributed to the end of his days as a leading television personality—and, eventually, his life.- Early life :Born in...
, the original host of
NBCThe National Broadcasting Company is an American television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices in Burbank,California...
's
Today Show when it first aired in January, 1952.
Geography
Remsenburg is located at geographic coordinates 40° 48' 28" North, 72° 42' 32" West (40.807709, -72.708923).
External links