The Southampton History Museum is a registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit educational organization chartered by the New York State Board of Regents and incorporated under the New York State Education Department.
Our mission is preservation and education: We preserve and educate about local history and culture through our unique historic sites, archives, collections, and engaging public programs.
With Love
From the SHM
Before the age of smartphones and social media, postcards were the original way to share our stories—each offering a unique glimpse into the past through striking images and brief, personal messages.
Join us every Thursday as we highlight different cards from the museum’s extensive permanent collection. From the iconic Shinnecock Lighthouse to the bustling streets of Main Street, these postcards capture the charm and spirit of Southampton over the years.
We invite you to be part of the fun and help bring Southampton’s history to life, one postcard at a time by sharing your own vintage Southampton postcards and recollections in the comments on our Facebook and Instagram pages.
The Shinnecock Lighthouse
Happy New Year from all of us at the museum! 


What better way to start off 2026 than with the story about a lighthouse first lit on this very day, 168 years ago.


Did you know that on January 1st, 1858, one of the tallest lighthouses on the East Coast was first lit in the Town of Southampton?
The Shinnecock Lighthouse, built on the shores of Shinnecock Bay in Hampton Bays, was first lit on January 1, 1858, exactly 168 years ago today.
Rising 168 feet, it guided mariners for more than 70 years before being decommissioned and eventually taken down in 1948.
Built to fill the dangerous 67-mile dark void between Fire Island and Montauk Point, its 12-foot first-order Fresnel lens could be seen 18 miles at sea.
According to some historical reports, lighthouse keepers and their families lived in two dwellings that flanked the tower, tending gardens and keeping livestock on the pastoral 10-acre grounds. Life here was far from the isolation that defined most lighthouse stations.
In 1931, the lighthouse was decommissioned, and a new skeleton tower with an electric light was constructed. The brick tower remained empty for seventeen years. When the Great Hurricane of 1938 hit, it stood firm.
The lighthouse no longer exists. But its scale, purpose, and long presence in the landscape still shape how the community remembers itself.
Next week, we'll close this year-long journey with one final reflection on what we learned and why stories like these matter.
The Christmas Mystery
Did you know that some of the most popular Christmas postcards of the early 20th century weren't photographs of places at all, but carefully staged scenes like this one?
Between 1907 and 1910, America was gripped by what journalists called "postcarditis" - a nationwide craze for sending and collecting postcards.
Nearly a billion postcards were mailed each year in the United States alone.
Postcard albums sat in parlors across the country.Clubs formed to facilitate exchanges. Swapping parties became the social rage.
Christmas postcards were among the most popular, carrying visions of an idealized season - Santa, sleighs, reindeer draped in garland.They offered an image of the season as people wanted it to be—abundant, magical, slightly unreal—sent through the mail to stand in for presence.
This particular card in our permanent collection doesn't identify a sender or recipient. It has no message on the back, no postmark, no name. We don't know if it ever left Southampton, or if it arrived here from somewhere else.
Yet, it belonged to someone in our community.
And now, it is ours.
Do you have similar Christmas postcards? We'd love to hear about them.🌸
Merry Christmas from all of us at Southampton History Museum

The Rogers Mansion
Did you know the Rogers Mansion once sat directly on Main Street before being set back from the road in the 1920s?
The Greek Revival house was built in 1843 for Captain Albert Rogers, a successful whaling captain and 6th-generation descendant of Southampton's early English settlers.
Designed to reflect his prosperity and status, it stood as one of Main Street's most prominent residences during Southampton's whaling era.
From 1889 to 1899, it was home to Dr. John Nugent and his family. During that decade, it functioned not only as a residence but as a place of healing, with Dr. Nugent treating patients from his home office. He also expanded the house and built the Nugent Carriage House (restored in 2019).
In 1899, Samuel L. Parrish (founder of the Parrish Art Museum) purchased the house, ushering in a transformative new chapter. He hired renowned architect Grosvenor Atterbury to redesign the property, and in 1926 moved the house back from Main Street to where it stands today. Under Parrish's ownership, the Rogers Mansion became a center of Southampton's social, cultural, and civic life.
After Parrish’s death in 1932, the building was briefly used by the Red Cross and YMCA. In 1943, the property was acquired by Southampton Village.
That same year, the Southampton History Museum partnered with the Village to preserve and steward the site as a space for learning about local history.
More than 80 years later, our public-private partnership remains strong, with new restoration work and other updates underway in 2025 thanks to funding from the Village, New York State, Suffolk County, and contributions from our community members.
The Rogers Mansion remains central to the museum's mission of preserving and educating about local history.
The Sayre Barn
Did you know that the museum's own Sayre Barn was once known as the Billboard Barn?
Built around 1825 by whaling Captain Isaac Sayre on land he purchased from the Huntting family, the barn stood at the busy intersection of Main Street and Hampton Road, two ancient trade routes. Here, wheat was threshed on the center plank floor, hay filled the mows, and cattle and horses occupied the side bays.
Built using innovative square-rule timber framing with oak posts and hand-riven Atlantic White Cedar shingles, it represents cutting-edge early 19th-century construction.
But after Sayre's family left the area in the 1870s, the barn stood largely empty.In the 1880s, traveling circuses began using the barn's walls as a billboard for their spectacular shows. The Frank A. Robbins Circus, Gentry Brothers, and Christy Brothers plastered its walls with vibrant lithographed posters of wild animals and death-defying acrobats. The barn became so synonymous with these vibrant advertisements that everyone simply called it the Billboard Barn, a name that stuck for the next 70 years.
Around 1931, the Dimon family, who then owned the barn, opened an antiques shop. Bob Keene's bookstore also operated from the barn during this period. In the early 1950s, the Dimon family donated the barn to the museum, and it was moved to our Meeting House Lane campus.
By 2008, the barn had deteriorated badly and was closed to the public. In 2010, a community capital campaign followed, drawing support from residents, businesses, and foundations, including the Preservation League of New York State, NYSCA, and The Robert David Lion Gardiner Foundation.
In 2013-2014, Strada Design Build, a firm specializing in historic restoration, deconstructed the building down to its skeleton and rebuilt it using original woodwork wherever possible. Today, the Sayre barn stands as one of Southampton's last surviving English barns.
In 2024, it hosted Shinnecock Nation member James "Keith" Phillips and volunteers began building "The Nowedonah," a St. Ayles rowing skiff, honoring the region's whaling heritage.
Winter on Main Street
Last week's post about John Duck's brought back so many fun memories, including snow sledding on their glorious front hill. 


While thinking about those snow-day traditions, we pulled out a few postcards from our collection, images of Main Street buried deep in winter. The first is dated February 5, 1920. Yet, we only have a few!


Southampton has faced its share of remarkable storms: the Great Blizzard of 1888, which buried much of the Northeast under towering drifts; the snowstorm of 1947, dropping more than two feet on parts of Long Island in a single day; the February 1969 blizzard, which shut down eastern Long Island for nearly a week; the 2005 blizzard that dropped over a foot of snow and created near-whiteout conditions across the region.
We have the postcards. 

We have the dates. 

What we don't have are the stories.
This week, we want to hear yours. 


Share your memories of winter in Southampton—the storms you remember, the hills you sledded, the ways snow transformed village life.
John Ducks Jr
Did you know that the beloved Southampton restaurant known as John Duck Jr. began more than a century ago, around 1900, when restaurateur John Westerhoff first made a name for himself serving Long Island duck dinners at the Eastport Inn?
The restaurant’s unusual name came from a family nickname that emerged when customers struggled to pronounce “Westerhoff,” and the nickname “the duck hunter” took hold becoming inseparable from the restaurant itself.
After a fire in its original location, the family carried both the name and their tradition east, opening John Duck Jr. in Southampton in 1936.
At first, the restaurant operated on Jobs Lane in the former Park Hotel. A decade later, in 1946, owner Ben Westerhoff (John’s son) chose to relocate to a former residence at 15 Prospect Street, which became the restaurant’s home for more than seventy years.
For decades, it was a fixture of village life. Patrons were greeted at the property’s entrance by concrete statues of a dog and a fox, created by sculptor and potter Theophilus Brouwer.Locals remember the wood-paneled, nautical dining room, the unhurried rhythm of Sunday dinners, and the restaurant’s signature duckling with Bing cherries. Some recall dinners that stretched into the evening, with family-style touches like the bowls of coleslaw and red cabbage set out on the table.
For almost 110 years, the restaurant remained a Westerhoff family enterprise. Founded by John Westerhoff and carried forward by his son Ben, it was later run by John B. Westerhoff Sr. and his sons John Jr. and Mark.
John Duck Jr. closed in 2008, but its place in Southampton’s history endures. The building later housed Seasons of Southampton and, more recently, Main Prospect, which has since closed.
On this day of Thanksgiving, we extend warm wishes to everyone in our community, near and far.
Southampton Town Hall
Did you know that when Southampton’s new Town Hall opened in 1925, it was celebrated as a symbol of progress?
On June 12 of that year — the town’s 285th anniversary — nearly a thousand people filled the intersection of Main Street and Hampton Road to dedicate a building that marked Southampton’s step into the modern age. Traffic stopped, chairs were set in the road, the Sag Harbor Band played, and dozens of schoolchildren sang patriotic songs led by Miss Ruth Jennings of Southampton High School.
Supervisor Benjamin G. Halsey accepted the keys “on behalf of the people of Southampton,” while architect William A. LaFon and builders Duryea & Baird were praised for completing the project within budget. Constructed entirely of brick and marble — “without a stick of timber” — it was declared thoroughly fireproof and recognized as the most modern municipal building of its time in Suffolk County.
Inside were the offices of the Supervisor, Town Clerk, and Town Board, with a spacious courtroom and vault upstairs. Every element was designed and built by local artisans, a point of pride repeated throughout the ceremony. The total cost, including fixtures, was about $67,500.
For decades, the corner of Main and Hampton served as the heart of town government until operations moved to 116 Hampton Road in the 1970s. The building at 1 Hampton Road later became Saks Fifth Avenue, Pottery Barn, and now Collette’s.
Nearly a century later, its curved brick façade still anchors that corner—a reminder of the day Southampton turned out to celebrate what progress looked like in 1925.
Veterans Memorial Hall
Did you know when Veterans Memorial Hall was built? Neither do we—well sorta!
In honor of Veterans Day, we're featuring this beloved building, yet there's a bit of a mystery here.A recent visit to the Village Building Division, with help from our hamlet's awesome Planning Director Alex Wallach, revealed that a building permit was pulled in 1911 for the structure and yet the building cannot be found on any map until the 1930s.
So we headed over to Veterans Hall itself for a closer look. There, hiding in plain sight, was our first treasure: a cornerstone reading 1929!
Inside, we discovered photographs of what appears to be an American Legion dedication ceremony attended by an unknown, one-armed French general. A quick search revealed this mystery guest is likely General Henri Gouraud, the legendary French WWI commander who lost his right arm at Gallipoli in 1915. After the war, he became an honorary member of the American Legion and attended Legion events celebrating Franco-American wartime bonds.
And so, the building got its start as American Legion Post 433, named in honor of Private Malcolm Ross White, a Southampton resident whose name is on the WWI Memorial in nearby Agawam Park—a poignant reminder that the hall and memorial stand together as testament to our community's dedication to those who served.In 1985, the building was formally dedicated as Veterans Memorial Hall with a Vietnam Memorial added later that same year, expanding its mission to honor all Southampton veterans.
When the building had fallen into private hands, the community rallied together to purchase it back and keep it in village hands. A plaque near the entrance commemorates those "Doughboys" donors who made the purchase possible.
For generations, this hall has been a gathering place for Southampton's veterans. Today it houses military artifacts, photographs, and the stories of local service members from WWI to the present, and serves as home to the Village Commission on Veterans Patriotic Events.
The hall is also currently hosting the museum's exhibition Homefront to Battlefront: Southampton During WWII until December 5th, when it moves next door to the Southampton Cultural Center.
St. Andrew’s Dune Church

Did you know that one of Southampton’s most beloved landmarks began life not as a church at all—but as a U.S. Life-Saving Service station built by the federal government in 1851?
What’s now the nave once held a surfboat launched into rough seas to rescue shipwrecked sailors along our coast.In 1879, the former station was converted into a summer chapel by architect Robert H. Robertson, whose other Southampton works include the Rogers Memorial Library.
First called St. Andrew’s-by-the-Sea and later renamed St. Andrew’s Dune Church in 1884, it is now listed as a contributing landmark within the Southampton Village Historic District.
The church became a centerpiece of Southampton’s Gilded Age resort era, when cultural and religious institutions rose alongside the dunes to serve the growing summer colony. Inside its cedar walls glows a remarkable collection of stained glass—more than forty memorial windows, including important works by Tiffany Studios.
Some were damaged or lost in the 1939 hurricane, but many survive and were lovingly restored, casting that unmistakable opalescent light across the pews.
Together, they trace the story of Southampton’s Gilded Age families—their ties to art, faith, and the coastal landscape that shaped their lives.
The Post House
Did you know that Southampton's Post House has welcomed guests for nearly 200 years—and that some of them haven’t left?
Guests and staff have long reported strange occurrences. One caretaker once heard what sounded like a lively party downstairs after midnight. Another witness described shadows of what looked like dozens of people walking and talking.
Most striking of all were two figures seen dancing through the dining room windows.Yet we don’t know who, or what haunts these halls, because we know surprisingly little about the building’s earliest history.
What we do know is that the building was originally built as a farmhouse around 1684, next door to the Hunttings on North Main Street, the Post House stands among the oldest structures in Southampton Village. The property was granted to Robert Woolley in 1657, and then Dr. Silas Halsey in 1772, a Revolutionary War patriot.
After the war, Halsey sold it to Major Zebulon Jessup in 1794. Thirty years later, in 1824, Captain George Post, a pioneer whaling captain and son-in-law of Major Jessup, purchased the property and transformed the old farmhouse into a boarding house and restaurant.
Albert J. Post, who owned the establishment by the late 19th century, became the first mayor of Southampton Village following its official incorporation in 1894. His sister, Sarah Elizabeth Post White, managed the day-to-day operations. When she married Captain Hubert White, the property passed to the White family, though the Post House name remained.
The building’s connection to food and hospitality continued through the decades. By the 1960s and 1970s,
it was known as The Old Post House and was owned and operated by Ronald Kane, who continued its reputation as one of Southampton’s best-known and most beloved gathering places.
During that time, author Peter Benchley described it in Holiday Magazine as “the meeting place of the Hamptons.”
Today, it is home to the Harpoon House, a boutique hotel that continues the tradition of hospitality begun nearly two centuries ago.
Southampton Fire Department
Did you know that Main Street is both exactly the same as it has always been and yet is completely different at the same time?
We're back at Main Street this week with more postcards spanning decades—some showing horse-drawn buggies on unpaved roads, others capturing early motorcars that changed everything about how the village moved and sounded.
But these images reveal something deeper than a shift in transportation: they show us a street that has been absorbing change for centuries while never changing its essential form.
Main Street wasn't designed by a single planner—it evolved organically on the unceded ancestral lands of the Shinnecock Nation, whose history here spans thousands of years.
By the 1640s, Southampton's earliest settlers were using this route, and it has continued to evolve ever since: elm trees and sidewalks in the 1880s, pavement and motorcars by the early 1900s.
Through it all, the structure of the street itself has never changed, even as everything on it did.
Main Street is both artifact and archive—proof that a place can stay itself while becoming something new.
Southampton Fire Department
Last night, firefighters and police once again faced danger head-on, saving lives and property in an intense blaze in Shinnecock Hills.
But did you know that for nearly two centuries, Southampton’s all-volunteer firefighters have answered that same call — neighbors helping neighbors in times of danger and need?
And that Southampton’s first firehouse, built by the Agawam Engine Company and the Hook & Ladder Company, stood on Jobs Lane, where Happy Feet stands today?
Long before sirens or pagers, the first settlers in 1640 relied on bucket brigades, with alarms raised by the blacksmith striking a hammer on his anvil.
By 1881, a group of local residents formally organized Southampton’s first volunteer fire department, renting land beside the South End School for their small wooden firehouse. When flames broke out, the bell atop the Presbyterian Church rang across the village, calling men from shops and fields to help.Over the next decades, the department evolved — from hand-drawn pumpers to motorized engines.
In 1928, the museum’s own Samuel Parrish, founder of the Parrish Art Museum and original owner of the Rogers Mansion (now home to the Southampton History Museum), donated a new Packard fire truck, helping modernize the all-volunteer corps.
By 1923, the department had moved into its Windmill Lane headquarters, still in use today, and later added stations on Hampton Road and St. Andrews Road. Radios replaced bells, pagers replaced sirens, but the commitment of Southampton’s volunteer firefighters never wavered.
In 2003, the Southampton Fire District was formed to extend protection to Water Mill, Tuckahoe, and Shinnecock Hills.The men and women of the Southampton Fire Department, and the officers who stand beside them, remain at the heart of this community.
Tonight, and every night, we thank them for their service.
The Art Village
Did you know that tucked at the far end of Hill Street lies one of Southampton's most quietly extraordinary places?
We know, we've visited this story before. But just this week, we uncovered a new set of postcards from a different part of our collection, and a few cards are too beautiful, too historically relevant, and too meaningful not to share. Sometimes the past reveals itself in layers, and the Art Village is one of those stories that deepens every time we look.
Once alive with artists, the Art Village became home in 1891 to the Shinnecock Hills Summer School of Art, America's first en plein air painting school, founded by William Merritt Chase and a group of visionary Southampton women who dreamed of bringing European-style outdoor painting to the United States.
Each summer, 100 to 150 students lived in about twenty small shingled cottages and set up their easels along sandy lanes, learning to paint directly from nature.
Many of the Art Village cottages, designed by the students themselves, including future architects Grosvenor Atterbury and Katharine Budd, were built in various rustic styles, Colonial Revival and Arts and Crafts, and had playful names: Laffalot, Half-Acre, Stepping Stones, The Pillbox, Villa Artistica.
Students organized concerts, dances, elaborate costume balls, passionate debates about art, and mysterious "witch parties." Rumors of scandalous gatherings only added to its mystique.
Between 1891 and 1902, roughly 1,000 students studied here, including future luminaries Joseph Stella and Rockwell Kent. Many carried Chase's teachings across the country, helping to establish new art colonies from California to Cape Cod.When the school closed in 1902, the cottages became private homes, yet the village's character remained remarkably intact.
In 2012, Southampton formally recognized the Art Village as a Hamlet Heritage Resource Area, honoring it as one of the community's most distinctive cultural landmarks.
Keene's Book Shop
Did you know that Robert Keene—Southampton's Town Historian and longtime president of the SHM board—once ran a bookstore out of one of the oldest buildings in Southampton?
From around 1950 to 1955, Keene's Book Shop operated inside the historic Pelletreau Silver Shop, built in 1686.Bob, who specialized in rare books, lived in the back of the building—the same space where patriot silversmith Elias Pelletreau crafted silver tankards and flatware before fleeing to Connecticut during the Revolutionary War.
As his collection grew and he began to sell fine art, Bob relocated to the Sayre Barn—then on Hampton Road, and now part of the Rogers Mansion Museum Complex.
For 30 years, his bookstore and gallery became one of the first places to showcase works by Truman Capote, Larry Rivers, and Willem de Kooning, connecting Southampton's literary and art worlds.
But Bob's love for Southampton went far beyond his shop. He helped reopen the Parrish Art Museum after it closed in the 1950s, helped to revive and guide the Southampton History Museum, established the Southampton Chamber of Commerce, and wrote a beloved weekly column called "Observations" for the Southampton Press throughout the 1970s.
The town once proclaimed: “Robert Keene will be remembered as a one-of-a-kind character, who will be treasured.”
It all began at the Pelletreau Shop—where today, artist-in-residence Alyssa Saccente keeps the silversmithing tradition alive by giving tours and teaching silver jewelry-making workshops.


Thanks to a grant from the Preservation League of NYS, the museum creating a historic structure report to guide restoration of this 338-year-old treasure.
From Pelletreau's silver to Bob's stories and back to silver again—this little shop has witnessed centuries of people who loved Southampton and worked to preserve its spirit.
Village Hall
Did you know that Southampton's Village Hall at 23 Main Street once housed the post office, telephone company, courtroom, public hall, and village offices—all under one roof?

By 1910, the Village had outgrown its makeshift municipal building and held a design competition to create something new. 


Eight architects submitted plans, but the winner was the youngest of them all, 28-year-old F. Burrall Hoffman, Jr. 


Already a nationally known architect who summered in Southampton, Hoffman had recently graduated with honors from the prestigious École des Beaux-Arts in Paris and had trained with the renowned New York firm Carrère & Hastings, famous for designing the New York Public Library and other major Beaux-Arts buildings.
This Southampton commission would prove to be an early career triumph for the young architect, who would later design Miami’s Villa Vizcaya, now a National Historic Landmark and museum.
Hoffman's winning design was both practical and grand: one building where residents could mail a letter, place a telephone call, attend a court hearing, and participate in village meetings, all beneath a sweeping two-story portico that announced Southampton's civic expansion.
The local firm Donnelly & Corrigan brought it to life in less than a year with a budget of $25,000. The same construction team would later build the WW I Memorial in Agawam Park.
For decades, Village Hall lived up to its name as the heart of village life.
Over time, the post office found a new home, the manual telephone exchange closed, and the police department moved to modern quarters.
Yet , Village Hall endures, its classical columns standing sentinel on Main Street as part of the Southampton Village Historic District.
Hurricane In The Hamptons, 1938
Did you know that on September 21, 1938, the most devastating storm in Hamptons history struck with such force that it rewrote the map of Long Island.
The Hurricane of 1938, called by some, the "Long Island Express," raced toward shore at nearly 50 mph and made landfall as a Category 3 hurricane with winds over 115 mph.
With no warning technology in place, Long Island residents had no time to prepare or evacuate.
In just two hours beginning at 4 p.m., nature unleashed a force that forever transformed our coastline.A 15-foot storm surge swept across the barrier beaches.
In Westhampton Beach, 153 of 179 homes were destroyed, and 29 lives were lost as buildings were torn from their foundations and carried across the bay.
In Sag Harbor, the steeple of the Old Whaler's Church, the tallest building in town, was toppled and never rebuilt.
In Montauk, fishermen faced the harshest toll: more than 80 boats destroyed, 150 men left homeless, and families torn apart as some were lost at sea and never found.
By the time the winds calmed, 682 people had died across the region, and damage in the Hamptons alone reached $6.2 million, which translates to roughly $138 million today.
Yet from devastation came transformation. The storm carved a new inlet that permanently linked Shinnecock Bay to the Atlantic, creating a gateway that has served boaters and fishermen for nearly 90 years.
Farming
Babinski Farm, Mecox 1992
Did you know that September has always been one of the busiest months for farmers on the East End of Long Island?
Long before photographs or postcards, the Shinnecock and Montaukett people grew corn, beans, and squash, following seasonal rhythms that sustained their communities for generations.
When English settlers arrived in 1640, they introduced wheat, oats, and rye, along with livestock grazing. By the 19th century, potatoes had become the region’s signature crop thanks in large part to Bridgehampton Loam, a sandy yet fertile soil unique to this area. Its remarkable drainage and nutrient balance made it ideal not only for potatoes but also for cabbages, apples, and, later, the vineyards that thrive on the East End today.
Suffolk County would eventually be known as the potato capital of the United States, but these hardy vegetables and grains were just as essential, filling root cellars and market wagons alike. September was the height of the harvest season. Families, neighbors, hired farmhands, and migrant workers toiled from sunrise to sunset, pulling crops from the earth, storing what could last the winter, and preparing shipments bound for New York City markets by wagon and sloop.
Even schoolchildren often pitched in, as “potato harvest vacations” gave time off from classes to help in the fields.
A century ago, there were more than 2,200 farms across Suffolk County. By the mid-20th century, farmland stretched over 120,000 acres, but development steadily reduced those numbers. Today, fewer than 600 farms remain — yet remarkably, Suffolk is one of the few counties in New York where the number of farms has grown slightly in recent years.
Postcards of local farms, like the one featured here, remind us how deeply the land has shaped community life on the East End. And today, September still carries that spirit of abundance. The crops may look differen,t but the rhythm of the land remains the same.
Main Street
Everyone knows that September is Southampton’s best-kept secret. But did you know that Main Street has been captured in postcards for more than a century?
Southampton's streets weren’t drawn up by a single engineer. They grew organically on the unceded ancestral lands of the Shinnecock Nation, whose history stretches back thousands of years.
What became Main Street was shaped first by Southampton’s earliest settlers in the 1640s, and later by the Village Improvement Association, which planted rows of elm trees and encouraged sidewalks in the 1880s. By the turn of the century, the postcard became the perfect way to share that graceful, tree-lined image with the wider world.
Together, these postcards form an archive of Main Street’s changing identity, capturing how the village has balanced history, beauty, and reinvention over time.
Labor Day - The End of The Summer Season
Did you know that by Labor Day, Southampton Village will have welcomed more than three times our year-round population?
During the summer season, our (somewhat) quiet community of just over 4,600 residents swells well past 12,000, turning one of Long Island’s smallest villages into one of its busiest destinations.
Though the Village of Southampton covers just 6.5 square miles of land, its southern edge holds seven miles of oceanfront and eleven beaches. It is a sweep of sand far larger than the village itself.
Zooming out, the Town of Southampton (the largest of Suffolk County’s East End towns) covers 140 square miles and is home to nearly 55,000 year-round residents.
In summer, that number easily doubles to more than 110,000.From the bays to the barrier beach island to the Atlantic itself, this place has always been defined by its shoreline.
And beyond the ocean, life is just as full. The Shinnecock Bay, part of the unceded ancestral territory of the Shinnecock Nation, supports more than 40 species of fish and nearly 40 species of birds. It is a reminder that these shores have always been home to people and to wildlife, long before summer visitors arrived.
A View From Above
Did you know that long before drones, artists and photographers were giving people a bird’s-eye view of Southampton?
In our collection are painted and photographed images that capture the village from above, some imagined, some recorded, all offering a fresh way of seeing our community.
​
Together, these images remind us that the impulse to look down from above has always been with us, whether sketched by artists who imagined the view or captured later by cameras on planes.
Today, drones make it easy to hover over Main Street, sweep across the shore, or circle Lake Agawam. Yet the wonder of seeing the familiar in an entirely new way remains.
Bird’s-Eye View of Southampton Village (1907, painted) Looking west from Jobs Lane over the original locations
of the Rogers Memorial Library and the Parrish Art Museum - now The Peter Marino Art Foundation and the Southampton Arts Center.
Lake Agawam (early 20th c., hand-painted)
Main Street Looking NNW (early 20th c., painted)
Hampton Bays Cottages (c. 1912, photograph)
– Taken from the lighthouse looking east, this early aerial photograph captures the shoreline as it once was, in real time.
Southampton Hospital (early 1930s, hand-painted)
Shinnecock Canal (hand-painted, c. 1950s–60s)
Shinnecock Canal (photograph, 1950s–70s)
Southampton Hospital (1971, hand-painted)
Happy Birthday Parrish Art Museum!
Did you know the Parrish Art Museum began its story right here in Southampton 128 years ago?

In 1896, during a trip to Italy, Samuel Longstreth Parrish—a successful lawyer and part-time Southampton resident who lived in what is now The Rogers Mansion, home to the Southampton History Museum—decided to build a museum for his growing collection of Italian Renaissance art and classical reproductions.

He purchased a small parcel next to the Rogers Memorial Library on Jobs Lane and commissioned fellow Southampton resident Grosvenor Atterbury to design the building.
The wooden structure was completed in summer 1897 and welcomed its first visitors in August 1898 as The Art Museum at Southampton. The original hall featured a striking glass ceiling that flooded the space with natural light. Initially, the museum displayed Parrish's diverse collection of panel paintings, plaster casts, portraits and, photographs, much of it high-quality reproductions, along with marble busts of Roman Caesars placed outdoors, inspired by the Louvre's Hall of Augustus.

The museum expanded over the decades with additions in 1902, 1905, and a final wing in 1914 that shifted the main entrance from Main Street to Jobs Lane.
Renowned landscape architect Warren H. Manning designed an arboretum for the surrounding grounds.Though privately owned, the museum was dedicated to public enjoyment and proved an instant success.
In 1914 alone, it welcomed 6,000 visitors—remarkable considering it operated only four months yearly!

The institution evolved through name changes: The Art Museum at Southampton (1898-1937), The Parrish Memorial Art Museum (1937-1954), and finally The Parrish Art Museum (1954-present). Under Rebecca Bolling Littlejohn's 1950s leadership, focus shifted to American artists who lived and worked on the East End.

In 2012, the museum moved to its stunning Herzog & de Meuron-designed home in Water Mill, but the story began right here in Southampton—with one collector's vision and belief in art's power to enrich community.
William Merritt Chase: The Shinnecock Hills Summer School of Art
The caption on the back of the postcard reads:Roland, Robert, Alice Dieudonnee, Helen, and Mary Content Chase in the back of the Chase house, Shinnecock Hills, c. 1909. The William Merritt Chase Archives, The Parrish Art Museum, Southampton, New York, Gift of Mrs. A Byrd McDowell. C1992 The William Merritt Chase Archives, The Parrish Art Museum.
Did you know America's first Plein Air painting school opened right here in Southampton in 1891?
Mrs. William Hoyt dreamed of bringing European-style outdoor painting instruction to America.
She approached William Merritt Chase, renowned as one of America's most sophisticated painters and teachers.
Backed by Mrs. Henry Kirke Porter and Samuel Longstreth Parrish (the same Parrish who would found his art museum seven years later), the Shinnecock Hills Summer School of Art was born.
Chase was provided with a house and studio about three miles from the school, designed by his friend Stanford White, where he spent time with his large family and created his own artwork when not teaching.
The school was an instant sensation. Each summer, 100 to 150 students from across the country flocked to the "Art Village"—a charming collection of rustic cottages where they lived, worked, and socialized.
Chase taught two days a week, leading outdoor painting demonstrations and critiques, while students spent the rest of their time working independently with their easels set up in the rolling Shinnecock landscape.
From 1891 to 1902, about 1,000 students studied at Shinnecock, including future luminaries like Joseph Stella, Howard Chandler Christy, and Rockwell Kent.
The school was a vibrant cultural community, with students organizing plays, dances, concerts, and Chase's famous "tableaux vivants," where models posed as living recreations of famous paintings.
Though it closed in 1902, the school's impact was profound—inspiring plein air schools nationwide.
The Art Village still stands today, a testament to this groundbreaking experiment in arts education.
This is just the beginning of Southampton's artistic story! Next week, discover how one of the school's financial backers, Samuel Longstreth Parrish, went on to create something that would preserve this creative legacy for generations.
The Dog Days of Summer
And now, a summer break.
A trip to the beach.
Just like those before us did hundreds of years ago.
The stretch of Southampton’s ocean and bay shoreline—more than seven miles of pristine sand, shifting dunes, and coastal wildlife—has offered relief from the heat for generations.
The phrase “dog days of summer” dates back to the ancient Greeks and Romans, who associated the hottest part of the season with the rising of Sirius, the Dog Star. They believed it brought on a kind of cosmic heat wave: a season of fever, stillness, and magic. We agree!
The current temperature of the Atlantic Ocean in our area is approximately 68°F to 74°F. The bays are a bit warmer.
Yet in 1900, it was likely colder—and no one wore board shorts or bikinis.
Wool and layered cotton swimwear, covering all but elbows and ankles, was the norm.
Swimmers often held on to a surf rope running perpendicular to the shore—a common safety measure on U.S. beaches in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, before standardized lifeguarding existed.
It’s striking how alike beach loungers are, no matter their historical era.
Two postcards—one of the ocean, one of the bay, more than 50 years apart—show the same striped umbrellas tilting toward the same sun.
Among the dunes and grasses, dozens of native species still thrive—from birds and frogs to butterflies, crabs, and turtles.
Some beach names reflect more recent residents:
Cooper’s, for a 17th‑century settler.
Cryder, for a Gilded Age family with a summer estate and society‑page presence.
Yet long before either name appeared on a sign or map, this shoreline was—and remains — part of the unceded ancestral territory of the Shinnecock Nation.
So wherever you are:
Pause.
Take a breath.
Find an umbrella. Watch the birds. Feel the dune grass.
Remember that we are all connected by our shared history.
Happy Birthday USPS!
Did you know that before 1855, you had to pay to receive your mail?
Before stamps, letters often arrived postage due, with fees paid by the recipient. That changed with the introduction of official stamps in 1847, and by 1855, prepaid postage became mandatory — transforming the U.S. mail into a system that was more reliable and accessible.
This Saturday marks the 250th anniversary of the U.S. Postal Service — and we’re celebrating with a closer look at the humble stamp: that tiny square of paper that changed how we communicate.
To mark the occasion, we’re sharing a few miniature masterpieces from our postcard collection: a 2¢ George Washington, two 1¢ stamps featuring Benjamin Franklin and Washington and a vivid 4¢ Abraham Lincoln from the 1954 Liberty Series usually used for letters, and a striking 1¢ stamp from Cuba, a reminder that the language of postage has always transcended borders.
The 4¢ Lincoln stamp was officially issued for the first-class letter rate when it rose to 4¢ in 1958. Though not a postcard-rate stamp, examples like this appear on postcards when senders used what they had or simply preferred a more striking image.
And closer to home? Pictured here is “The New Post Office, Southampton, L.I.” — the proud red-brick building that once handled every letter, package, and penny postcard sent to and from this village. If it looks familiar, that’s because it now serves as Southampton Village Hall.
How were these stamps made?
Many early 20th-century U.S. stamps — including the ones you see here — were printed using engraved steel plates, a method known as intaglio printing. Artists would first hand-engrave the portrait (often based on paintings or sculptures), then transfer the design to steel printing plates.The raised lines of the engraving held thick ink, which was pressed onto moistened paper under high pressure, creating the rich textures and fine detail we associate with classic stamps. This is what gives them their almost sculptural, tactile look — especially visible in the lines of Lincoln’s beard or Franklin’s hair.Stamps were printed in sheets, perforated for separation, and often colored with specially formulated inks: violet for Lincoln, deep carmine for Washington, and emerald green for Franklin. Each color helped signal denomination at a glance.
How did stamps stick?
Early stamps were printed with a water-activated gum on the back — a glue that became sticky when moistened. That’s why older generations still remember licking stamps: it was the only way to get them to adhere. Self-adhesive stamps didn't appear in the U.S. until 1974 and weren’t common until the 1990s.
Were there rules about size?
Yes — by the late 19th century, both stamps and letters had to meet size and weight regulations. Stamps were typically small (under 1 inch square), and letters needed to be flexible, rectangular, and under a certain weight to qualify for standard postage rates. Oversized or unusually shaped items often required extra postage — a fact postcard senders sometimes learned the hard way.
U.S. Postcard Stamp Rates:
A Short History
(All rates are domestic, single-piece postcards)
1873 – 1¢
1952 – 2¢
1958 – 3¢
1971 – 6¢
1974 – 8¢
1975 – 7¢ (brief decrease)
1978 – 10¢
1981 – 12¢
1991 – 19¢
2001 – 20¢
2006 – 24¢
2014 – 34¢
2021 – 40¢
2023 – 51¢
2024 – 53¢ (Current Rate)
Black Point
Did you know that one of Southampton’s most magnificent Gilded Age mansions was once the summer home of the rebellious granddaughter of a Standard Oil titan — and that her family’s nearby hunting lodge, overlooking Scallop Pond, was nicknamed The Port of Missing Men?
Built in 1916 at the corner of Gin Lane and Old Town Road, Black Point was designed by celebrated New York architects Walker & Gillette and landscaped by the famed Olmsted Brothers. Commissioned by Col. Henry Huddleston Rogers Jr., son of oil magnate H.H. Rogers, the Mediterranean-style villa — with its Renaissance interiors and cruciform gardens — was a striking departure from the traditional shingle-style homes of the East End. It even had a hidden playhouse for his children.
One of those children was Millicent Rogers — a dazzling Jazz Age debutante whose life of illness, recovery, rebellion, and glittering society intrigue reads like a novel. Her headstrong spirit and a dramatic elopement with a penniless Austrian count made headlines. Over time, she would marry twice more, raise three sons, and cross paths with Clark Gable, Roald Dahl, and Schiaparelli, before forging a new life of artistic reinvention and Native American jewelry design in New Mexico.
Just up the road in North Sea, her father built a second retreat — a 2,000-acre estate, the largest private property on Long Island at the time. Designed by John Russell Pope, The Port of Missing Men was rumored to be wired to Wall Street so guests could hide from their wives and still trade stocks. Prohibition-era liquor drops and ghost sightings would only add to its legend.
Though Black Point was demolished in the 1930s, a postcard of its exterior survives in our collection — a quiet reminder of a once-lavish world, and the daughter who refused to be defined by it.
Want to know more about Millicent’s life? Read Mary Cummings’ beautifully researched blog post: “High Style in the Gilded Age: Millicent Rogers”
bit.ly/46hYYs9#WLSH
Mayfair
What do a Nobel Peace Prize winner, a future du Pont, and the architects of the New York Public Library have in common?
The legendary Gilded Age architectural firm Carrère & Hastings, of course!
Mayfair, seen here, was commissioned in the 1890s by Elihu Root, the distinguished lawyer and statesman who served as Secretary of War under Presidents McKinley and Roosevelt, then as Secretary of State.
In 1912, he received the Nobel Peace Prize, “for bringing about better understanding between the countries of North and South America and initiating important arbitration agreements between the United States and other countries.”
Before creating some of their most celebrated works such as the New York Public Library, the U.S. Senate Office Building, and the Pulitzer Fountain at Central Park, Carrère & Hastings were shaping their architectural vision right here in Southampton.
Mayfair reflects John Carrère and Thomas Hastings’ extensive Beaux-Arts training: wings placed at oblique angles, projecting porches, and intersecting rooflines punctuated by charming dormers.
Next door stood Ox Pasture, commissioned by Root's father-in-law, Samuel H. Wales, an early Southampton developer and also a client of Carrère & Hastings.
The house remained the Wales family’s retreat for generations. Ruth Wales, Samuel’s granddaughter, spent childhood summers there before marrying Henry Francis du Pont and becoming the lady of Chestertown House on Meadow Lane.
The Old Fort
The Old Fort
The Pelletreau Shop
As we approach July 4th and the 249th anniversary of American independence, we’re remembering one of the most dramatic—and least talked-about—chapters in Southampton’s history. It’s the story of how our quiet village was transformed into one of the most heavily fortified British military posts on Eastern Long Island.
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In 1776, after the Battle of Long Island. The British forces swept across the island, including Southampton. Yet, what started as a military occupation quickly became something else: under General Sir William Erskine, Southampton was turned into the British command center for the eastern region of Long Island.
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By the winter of 1778–79, Southampton wasn’t just occupied—it was under construction. Three major forts were built on the high ground along West Street (today’s White Street and Windmill Lane). These weren’t makeshift defenses. They were carefully engineered redoubts with deep earthworks, reinforced by masses of thorn hedge—cut and hauled by local residents under duress.
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Forts were going up. Troops were arriving in staggering numbers. And our village had become a frontline base of British power.
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In February 1779, the British had 700 troops stationed in Southampton. A month later, that number ballooned to 2,500. By the end of March—when General Clinton paid a visit—there were 4,000 soldiers.
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They included elite British units: the 17th Regiment of Dragoons (light cavalry), the British Legion, and British Grenadiers. To put that in perspective, Southampton had more soldiers than residents.
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Erskine made his headquarters in the Pelletreau house on Main Street—a house that no longer stands, but whose location is recorded on early maps. In a twist of history, this meant the British commander was working from a home belonging to the family of Southampton’s most well-known patriot, silversmith Elias Pelletreau.
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While British officers planned campaigns from one Pelletreau building, Elias was down the road in his silver shop—organizing the local militia. His shop still stands today and remains the oldest continuously operating trade shop in the Americas.
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That kind of courage—resisting from within an occupied village surrounded by thousands of enemy troops—is almost impossible to imagine.
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Southampton was now a full-scale military outpost. Some residents signed loyalty pledges to King George III, either out of genuine allegiance or sheer survival. Others stayed quiet or fled. And some—like the Pelletreaus—stood their ground.
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Military life dominated everything. Supplies ran low. A 1779 letter from General Clinton warned that troops were “in the greatest distress for the want of provisions and oats.” The lines between soldier and civilian, occupation and resistance, were constantly shifting.
What makes this story even more remarkable is that the fortifications survived into the 20th century. A 1918 photo by James Truslow Adams shows the ruins still standing northwest of the old Union School—near what’s now the Lola Prentice Dog Park.
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Deeds from the early 1900s describe “an old fort built during the Revolution.” Local historian Lizbeth Halsey White wrote in the Southampton Press that the ruins were cleared away only in the 1930s to make room for new roads and housing. In the 1970s, during the Bicentennial, Southampton raised funds and built a replica redoubt on the same hill. Though later removed, it stood as a powerful local tribute to our Revolutionary War past.
We often think of the Revolutionary War as something that happened far away—Valley Forge, Saratoga, Yorktown. But the war came here. Southampton was a battlefield of power, resistance, survival, and memory.
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It is a reminder that history is not just something in the past. It’s under our feet. It’s in the records, the artifacts, the postcards, and the people who kept the story alive.
Southampton High School:
Graduating Into History
Did you know that tomorrow's Southampton graduates will be walking into a story that spans 361 years—one of the longest traditions of uninterrupted education in the US?
As the Class of 2025 crosses the stage, they will join an unbroken chain of learning that began in 1664 with a humble 20x15-foot schoolhouse.
This week's postcards tell part of that remarkable journey. 


The 1908 card shows our earlier high school on Windmill Lane, complete with a tender handwritten message: "I'm glad to hear you both arrived home safe." 


By 1912, as Southampton grew, 30 architects competed for the design of a grand new Georgian Revival high school on Hampton Road. William Lawrence Bottomley's winning vision cost $141,000 (a fortune then!) and created the stately building that educated generations until 1974. Today, it stands proudly as Southampton Town Hall, still serving our community.
But the real magic lives in the details our archives preserve: the determined faces of the 1906 football squad, the pioneering spirit of the 1909 girls' basketball team, the countless stories of young minds shaped within these walls.
From that first one-room schoolhouse in 1664 to today's modern campus on Narrow Lane, Southampton has never wavered in its belief that education builds the future.
Congratulations, Class of 2025!
The Halsey House
What do you do when your 1683 home no longer fits your architectural vision? If you're Captain Isaac Halsey in 1730, you literally rotate your entire house to face fashionable Main Street.
Captain Halsey kept only the original 18' x 18' timber frame, demolished everything else, and spun the whole structure from south-facing to east-facing. Then he rebuilt around it—architectural surgery that would make today's renovation shows look tame.
The result? Pure 18th-century luxury with serious design chops.
Hand-riven Atlantic White Cedar shingles—34 inches long and painted red—covered the exterior. Rare casement windows with 6" x 8" glass panes in wood muntins flooded the new parlor with light.
Exposed ceiling joists and corner posts created sophisticated interiors that announced: this family had arrived.
For architects and designers: the structural drawings reveal chamfered posts and hand-hewn joists working alongside later boxed-heart beams—three centuries of construction techniques in one house.
A heavily charred timber from what may have been the original house lost to fire was even recycled into the frame. When later additions were removed, original diamond-paned leaded windows from the 1680s were discovered, hidden for centuries.
By the Gilded Age, the house had become "The Hollyhocks," a guest house for publishing magnate Arthur Peabody's country estate.
Every renovation respected what came before while boldly pushing forward.
Conscience Point
Did you know Southampton's first English settlers landed at Conscience Point 385 years ago?!
In June 1640, a small group of English colonists landed at a quiet shoreline, home to the Shinnecock people for thousands of years.
This place, known today as Conscience Point, was named—so the story goes—after the words of an English woman who exclaimed "For Conscience sake! Dry land!" upon reaching the shore.
To stand at Conscience Point is to look out over the same waters those first settlers crossed. From here, we also look back, contemplating the gravity of this event for those who landed, those who met them, and the unimaginable changes that followed.
Conscience Point reminds us that history lives beyond archives—in the landscape, in memory, and in our commitment to telling the fullest story we can.
Southampton's past is one of courage and conflict, of community and consequence, and of the many voices that shape our world.
The Fresh Air Home
Founded in 1901 by a small group of visionary women who believed in the restorative power of sun and ocean air, the Fresh Air Home welcomed just ten children with physical disabilities that first summer.
Over the decades, it has become a sanctuary of belonging, possibility, and joy for thousands of children and young adults.
This vintage postcard shows the original home in Shinnecock Hills, where barrier-free summers unfolded against the backdrop of Long Island’s natural beauty.
What began as a modest idea blossomed into a year-round organization fostering independence and mentorship where the heart of their mission remains beautifully unchanged: creating a world where every child can explore their full potential.
The Irving Hotel
Originally a modest boarding house operated by Smith Phillips in the 1880s, the building stood beside a dusty wagon road. It changed hands when North Fork native Henry Terry, yearning for a more sociable life in town, swapped properties with Phillips. Henry expanded the inn, yet it was his son Irving who transformed it.
Now known as The Irving Hotel after Washington Irving, Terry began adding wing after wing to the original structure upon his father’s death in 1910. A gregarious and generous host, Irving became a fixture of Southampton society, elevating the hotel to one of the liveliest social centers in the Hamptons.
Among the guests were some of the most powerful families of the 20th century. Teddy Roosevelt (post-presidency), the Vanderbilts, Wanamakers, DuPonts, Fords, Kennedys, and Bouviers are all said to have appeared on the register. Many stayed for a week while their grand summer homes were being opened.
Despite its elite clientele, the hotel was known not for opulence but for its effortless charm. Rooms were simply furnished with iron beds, white bureaus, a wicker chair, an old rug, and a shared bathroom at the end of the hall. Guests were meant to feel as though they were "roughing it," which was part of the draw. In fact, one couldn’t always get a room—or even a reservation for dinner.
What's remarkable is that the hotel's century-old guest telegrams in our archives read exactly like today's text messages—filled with the same abbreviated, witty shorthand that proves some things never change. The need to stay connected is timeless, and the shorthand language of these vintage communications feels surprisingly familiar to anyone who's ever sent a quick text about dinner plans or room confirmations.
Irving was known for his community service during both World War I and World War II, when he would raise money through Liberty and War Bond drives and help organize local food relief efforts, including a community canning kitchen. During the 1938 hurricane, many residents took refuge inside the hotel, and Irving marked the event every year afterward with a commemorative "hurricane dinner party."
During the 1920s–40s, the Irving served as a seasonal base for some of America's most prominent families. It was a place where power, privilege, and relaxed informality shared the same parlor.
Yet time took its toll. The Depression, two world wars, and a shifting social scene led to the hotel's decline. By the 1950s, it had become known as home to the "Rocking Chair Set." After Irving's wife Mary died in 1970, the property was sold, briefly reopened as a cocktail lounge and discotheque, and closed for good after the 1971 season. It was demolished in 1974.
What’s remarkable is that the hotel's century-old guest telegrams in our archives read very much like today's text messages—filled with the same abbreviated, witty shorthand that proves some things never change. The need to stay connected is timeless, and the shorthand language of these vintage communications feels surprisingly familiar - proving that history is always alive in the present.
Memorial Day
Some memorials are made of marble. Others are made of memory. In Southampton, they often exist in both.
As Memorial Day approaches, we turn to the memorials that quietly tell stories of service and sacrifice among those from our village.
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At Agawam Park, the World War I Memorial stands for the 325 Southampton men and boys who served in the Great War. Designed by architect William Edgar Moran and dedicated on August 19, 1923, the Indiana limestone monument offers views of Lake Agawam through its open colonnade. Eagles and poppies mark the exterior panels, while gilded names line the interior walls. The memorial faces structural challenges today.
A restoration project is underway to return it to its original condition and ensure all who served are properly honored — including those whose service was not originally recognized.
The nearby Soldiers and Sailors Memorial honors those who served in the Civil War and earlier American wars.
Memorial Hall, Samuel Parrish's gift to the village, was built to honor local veterans. Once a place of reunion and civic gathering, its name itself serves as remembrance.
These places invite reflection — on war and more importantly on the lives lived around it.
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In honor of Memorial Day and the service of Southampton's own, we invite you to "Homefront to Battlefront," a new pop-up WWII exhibition opening this Saturday, May 24, at Veterans Hall (25 Pond Lane). Curated by Timothy Van Wickler and Stephen Gould, the exhibition features photographs, letters, and personal histories that highlight the individual stories behind the larger history.
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Opens Saturday, May 24 | 11 AM - 4 PM | And will continue to be open every Saturday through December.
Sailing Southampton:
From Local Waters to Open Sea
The world is watching Oliver Widger as he embarks on a captivating solo voyage from Oregon to Hawaii, having boldly left behind his corporate career and invested his life’s savings to heed the call of the open sea. His modern adventure reminds us of Southampton’s rich sailing heritage, embodying the same spirit that has defined our local nautical tradition since the late 19th century, when, as now, wind power and craftsmanship inspired sailors at every level
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The Shinnecock Yacht Club (est. 1887) organized the first formal racing in Shinnecock Bay, popularizing the Shinnecock Sloop class vessels designed by Benjamin Hallock in 1908.
A half-century later, in 1937, the Southampton Yacht Club formed with 44 adult and 33 junior members who contributed $30 annually toward their vision of a permanent clubhouse.
These color postcards offer rare glimpses of mid-century wooden, and older boats, still popular with many collectors and avid sailors today. Despite advances in construction, the essence of harnessing the wind remains remarkably unchanged.
Herb McCarthy's at Bowden Square
For half a century, Herb McCarthy's at Bowden Square was the gathering spot for Southampton's exclusive summer crowd.
From Memorial Day 1936 to 1986, locals and summer visitors came together for "hot music, cold drinks, and tons of action," as Louise Grunwald remembers.
It was the unofficial club of the weekend crowd, with its clatter and clink remembered as "magic" by interior designer Judy Hadlock.
The scene sparkled with distinguished guests, including royals such as the Duke and Duchess of Windsor, actors Ginger Rogers and Gary Cooper, and writer Irwin Shaw.
Inside, Florence Fabricant of The New York Times once noted that the well-done lamb with mint jelly "matched the blazers worn by the gents," and the Irish soda bread — though even longtime patrons admit, "It was never about the food."
At the center of it all stood Herb McCarthy, otherwise known as "the Man in the White Coat," presiding over Southampton's social scene.
By the mid-1980s, the glow had dimmed. The building changed hands and is now the Union Cafe.
Yet for many, the spirit of McCarthy's lives on in memories of the famous horseshoe bar packed three deep, when Southampton nights were marked by the distinctive glamour of a bygone era.
The Penny Candy Shop
For much of the mid-20th century, the little white building with the red door in Water Mill was known as the Penny Candy Shop — a treasured spot for children with pocket change and grown-ups who couldn’t resist a sweet treat.
It hardly needed its sign — everyone simply knew where it was.
Opened in September 1961 by June and Harvey Morris, the shop quickly became a beloved landmark. Inside, the counter was lined with licorice, jellybeans, candy buttons, Tootsie Rolls, Bazooka gum, Mary Janes, root beer barrels, licorice whips, and wax bottles from glass jars filled to the brim.
One didn’t just walk in and grab something — one took time, considered, and counted change before making a decision. And always, there was June: calm and kind, guiding choices with a soft voice and a bright smile. Parents and kids adored her.
At a time when Water Mill still moved at a slower pace, the Morrises’ little store was more than a place to buy candy; it became a community hub where neighbors and friends connected and shared information, found a babysitter, and bought tickets for the Southampton Hospital fundraiser.
The shop drew everyone in — from those who lived here year-round to summer visitors.
Occasionally there were celebrities — Howard Cosell, Gilda Radner, even First Lady Pat Nixon — yet it was the regulars she remembered. And they remembered her.
Though the shop closed in the 1990s, well before June’s passing in 2024, its spirit — and that of June and Harvey — lingers in the hearts of those who remember. Sticky fingers, paper bags, and the quiet joy of enjoying a small delight — memories that still bring delightful joy.
And in a lovely full circle, a postcard showing the once-red door and Santa in the window — sent years ago by June to Mary Cummings, the museum’s archivist and research manager — now lives in our permanent collection.
It’s a powerful reminder that the sweetest parts of history are often found in the smallest moments we share.
The Elms Trees of First Neck Lane
When settlers first arrived in Southampton in 1640, they encountered a landscape dramatically different from today's lush streetscapes. Historical records reveal that much of what would become the village center consisted of open plains, meadows, and sandy expanses—a treeless terrain shaped by coastal winds and native grasses. It's difficult to imagine now that Southampton once stood largely bare against the Atlantic sky.
The Dutch elm emerged as the quiet hero of Southampton's environmental transformation during the late 19th century. These magnificent trees became the cornerstone of a deliberate village-wide beautification effort that forever changed Southampton's character. Beginning in the 1880s, community leaders implemented a strategic tree-planting initiative throughout the village’s public spaces. The elm's appeal was multifaceted—its distinctive vase shape created natural archways over roadways, its rapid growth provided visible results within a generation, and its remarkable resilience to coastal conditions ensured long-term success.
First Neck Lane exemplifies this transformation. Once a simple sandy path, it evolved into a grand corridor framed by elms, earning its reputation as one of the most beautiful streets in Southampton.
But the beauty didn’t last unchallenged. The Dutch elms that redefined Southampton's landscape faced an existential threat in the 20th century. Dutch elm disease—a devastating fungal infection carried by bark beetles—arrived in North America in the 1930s as an accidental import. This microscopic invader attacked the trees’ vascular systems, cutting off their water supply and causing rapid decline.
By the 1960s, a particularly virulent strain had emerged, decimating elm populations throughout the Northeast. The very features that had made the elm such an elegant choice—long, continuous rows forming shaded canopies—now allowed the disease to spread with devastating efficiency. Streets that had once bloomed into leafy cathedrals were left bare and skeletal.
Southampton, like many communities, saw the gradual loss of many of its oldest and grandest specimens. Yet through vigilant monitoring, prompt removal of infected trees, and treatment of healthy ones, the village preserved more of its elm heritage than most. The surviving trees along our historic lanes are living testaments to natural resilience and human care.
As Southampton prepares for its Annual Arbor Day Gathering on April 25th, this vintage postcard captures a moment when First Neck Lane stood beneath a full canopy of Dutch elms—offering shade, symmetry, and quiet elegance. Though this great arching corridor has thinned over time, many of the original plantings remain.
Trees in Southampton
Easter Week
Did you know that Southampton is home to more than 11 churches, a Chabad, an Islamic Center, and a Unitarian Universalist Congregation?
We only have a handful of postcards highlighting a few of Southampton's beautiful churches and religious centers.
Among these architectural treasures that have served as spiritual homes, and community gathering spaces for generations, is a chapel adorned with Tiffany windows, as well as one of the oldest congregations in the country, dating back to the 1600s.
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​The First Presbyterian Church, organized in 1640, is recognized as the oldest Presbyterian congregation in the country. 


The Basilica of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary, with its white marble façade and twin spires, was completed in 1908 and elevated to basilica status by Pope Benedict XVI in 2011.
St. John’s Episcopal Church, founded in the 1700s, anchors the north end of South Main Street with its quiet beauty and colonial roots. And nestled among the dunes, the picturesque
The Southampton Methodist Episcopal Church, established in the late 18th century, was among the earliest houses of worship founded after the colonial era. Serving farmers, tradesmen, and whalers, it quickly became a hub for spiritual and civic life. The congregation eventually moved into its current location on Main Street, where it continues today as the Southampton United Methodist Church, honoring centuries of community and continuity.
​​The First Baptist Church of Southampton, Unity Baptist Church, and Southampton African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Zion Church have provided spiritual guidance, mutual aid, and civic leadership for over a century. These institutions remain vital pillars of cultural continuity and social justice in the village.
The Greek Orthodox Church of the Hamptons, officially known as the Church of the Dormition of the Virgin Mary, was established to serve the area’s growing Greek community and today welcomes parishioners with its iconic dome and deeply rooted traditions—offering Greek language, dance, and faith education alongside its liturgical life.
Also part of Southampton’s spiritual fabric is Our Lady of Poland Catholic Church, which has long served as a cultural and faith center for the area’s Polish-American population. With its origins in the early 20th century, this church reflects the waves of immigrant labor and community-building that shaped Southampton’s development through the decades.​
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Southampton is also home to Chabad of Southampton Jewish Center, which offers year-round services and Jewish educational programming. Located near the village center, it brings a vibrant dimension to Southampton’s multifaith landscape, particularly during holidays and summer months.
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The Islamic Center of the Hamptons, located in Water Mill, serves a diverse and growing Muslim community across the East End. While relatively new compared to some of the town’s older institutions, the Center's presence adds an important contemporary layer to Southampton’s evolving spiritual landscape, underscoring the town’s cultural richness and inclusion.
From modest chapels to Gothic Revival marvels, these institutions reflect the layers of spiritual, architectural, and cultural history that have shaped this town.
And while Easter Sunday brings many congregants together this week, all of these sites have long stood as quiet witnesses to the everyday lives and extraordinary legacies of those who’ve called Southampton home.​​​​​​​​​
The Scotch Mist Inn
This week's historic postcard highlights the once-glamorous Scotch Mist Inn that graced Shinnecock Hills with its distinctive thatched-style roof and commanding views of both bay and ocean.
On April 8, 1968—57 years ago this week—a spectacular blaze reduced this legendary landmark to rubble, bringing a fiery end to what had been the Hamptons' premier destination for high society throughout the 1950s and '60s.
This landmark stood on the ancestral lands of the Shinnecock Nation, which stewarded this territory for thousands of years before European settlement. 


Built in 1918 by Dr. Albert H. Ely, one of President Harding's physicians, this architectural marvel required European carpenters specifically imported to create its simulated thatch roof.


From 1954 into the '60s, the Inn reigned as the Hamptons' premier destination for high society before meeting a catastrophic end.
Exactly 57 years ago this week—on April 8, 1968—a spectacular blaze reduced the landmark to rubble
This devastating fire illuminates Southampton's rich emergency services history.
The Southampton Fire Department began in 1881 when volunteers responded to church bells using hand-drawn equipment. This was later complemented by the Southampton Village Fire Department with its three strategically located firehouses, and the North Sea Fire Department founded in 1934.
Emergency medical response developed separately, starting as a 1950s Veterans of Foreign Wars ambulance club before evolving into the Southampton Village Volunteer Ambulance and Southampton Volunteer Ambulance services, both providing advanced life support today. 


Together, these dedicated volunteer organizations form a comprehensive emergency response network, equipped with modern technology and specialized training that continue to protect our community just as their predecessors did when flames engulfed the historic Scotch Mist Inn over five decades ago.
Cedar Island Lighthouse
This week marks 186 years since the historic Cedar Island Lighthouse began guiding mariners safely into Sag Harbor in 1839.
Our museum collection features this rare night-time postcard showing the lighthouse beam cutting through darkness—once essential navigation for dozens of whaling ships and fishing vessels in Sag Harbor's bustling port.
Though built on Cedar Island, the lighthouse became mainland-connected after the devastating Hurricane of 1938 created a natural sandbar linking it to East Hampton.
The lighthouse served until 1934 before becoming part of Suffolk County's Cedar Point Park in 1967. Despite weathering vandalism and a significant 1974 fire, the original New England granite lighthouse structure still stands as one of Long Island's most significant maritime landmarks.
Preservation continues through the Long Island Chapter of the United States Lighthouse Society's "Relight the Lighthouse" campaign. Recent restoration milestones include rehabilitating the historic oil house and careful removal of the lantern room for specialized conservation—critical steps in preserving this irreplaceable piece of our local maritime heritage.
The Breakers
For centuries, the Atlantic Ocean has drawn people to the shores of Southampton with its immense power and beauty. This week's edition of With Love From the SHM celebrates the enduring relationship between our community and the sea.
These hand-colored postcards from 1906, 1907, and 1925 capture Southampton's coastline in all its wild beauty. The waves, frozen in time yet eternally in motion, reflect our ongoing captivation with the allure of the sea. These postcards not only documented Southampton's natural coastal beauty but also helped promote its newfound status as a seaside retreat for visitors from near and far.
The ocean, which has been stewarded by the people of the Shinnecock Nation for thousands of years before the arrival of settlers, has shaped Southampton's identity and economy from 19th-century whaling and coastal shipping to 20th-century fishing, surfing, and vacation culture. While our relationship with the sea continues to evolve, these waves have remained constant and unpredictable.
Today, the Surfrider Foundation's Eastern Long Island Chapter continues our community's commitment as stewards of the Atlantic. Their mission is "dedicated to the protection and enjoyment of the world's ocean, waves, and beaches, for all people, through a powerful activist network." For over 15 years, they have been advocates for public access and environmental preservation along our shoreline.
While our vintage postcards capture the timeless beauty of Southampton's waves, Surfrider, organizations like it, and the Shinnecock people remind us that our relationship with the sea requires not just appreciation, but continued mindful awareness as well.
The Port of Sag Harbor
March 26, 2025, marks the 179th anniversary of the Port of Sag Harbor's incorporation—a formal recognition of what was already a vital American maritime center.​
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Before Europeans arrived the Montaukett and Shinnecock stewarded these lands. They called this place Weg-wag-onuch, which was derived from the Algonquin phrase Weg-quae-and-auke, meaning "the land or place at the end of the hill." Their protection and preservation of this harbor and the surrounding areas spans thousands of years.
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First mentioned in town records in 1709, the area was settled by English colonists between 1707 and 1730, many arriving by water from New England. The first land subdivisions in 1738 and 1745 accelerated the village's growth.
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Sag Harbor's maritime importance was recognized in 1742 when Southampton appointed a committee to establish a wharf. The port's significance grew dramatically by the time President Washington approved its designation as a Port of Entry in 1789.
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During the Revolutionary War, the harbor's strategic value made it a target for British occupation. In 1776, its wharf became crowded with residents seeking passage to Connecticut to escape British forces.
In May of 1777, Connecticut-based Colonel Return Jonathan Meigs led a successful surprise attack against the British garrison. Known as the Meigs Raid or The Battle for Sag Harbor, this offensive resulted in the death of six Loyalists and the capture of 90 others, with no American casualties.
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From 1760 to 1850, Sag Harbor thrived as one of the premier whaling ports in America.
This maritime legacy continued even as whaling declined, with developments like the New York and Montauk Steamboat Company in 1875.
Today, the harbor continues its maritime tradition as the Sag Harbor Village Marina, serving as a bustling destination for recreational boating and local tourism, while preserving its historical significance in the region.
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The port's official incorporation in 1846 simply formalized what history had already demonstrated—Sag Harbor's enduring significance to American maritime heritage.
The Shinnecock Windmill
These historic postcards from our permanent collection reveal the many lives of the Shinnecock Windmill—a structure that has graced our landscape since the 18th century and has become one of Southampton's most beloved landmarks.
The windmill's journey began humbly in 1714 as a Dutch-style mill on Mill Hill at the intersection of Windmill Lane and Hill Street. Built for practical purposes, it ground grain for the growing community.
Finding the windmill neglected, Mrs. Janet Hoyt, patron of the Shinnecock Hills Summer School of Art, purchased and relocated it to a Shinnecock hills in 1890, where she meticulously restored it.
Six years later, New York textile merchant A.B. Claflin acquired the property and transformed the surrounding land into "Heathermere," a gilded-age summer retreat.
Mr. Claflin reimagined the windmill as a playhouse for his daughter Beatrice, which included new windows offering panoramic views of Shinnecock Bay.
By 1946, the property evolved into the Tucker Mill Inn Resort. The windmill itself became a unique guest apartment. In the summer of 1957, playwright Tennessee Williams rented the three-story mill where he wrote, "The Day on Which a Man Dies," a one-act play inspired by his friend Jackson Pollock. This creative connection led to the windmill’s designation as a National Literary Landmark in 2013.
March holds special significance in the Shinnecock Windmill's story as this month marks both the 1963 acquisition by Long Island University to create Southampton College and, by remarkable coincidence, Stony Brook University's integration of the campus into its educational system in March 2006. As March is also Women's History Month, we honor Mrs. Janet Hoyt, whose foresight in championing and preserving this structure has allowed it to endure through generations.
The Rogers Memorial Library:
Harriet Rogers' Enduring Legacy -
Women's History Month Spotlight
With Love From the SHM: Rogers Memorial LibraryThese handcolored and photo-postcards of the Rogers Memorial Library showcase Victorian Gothic splendor in its first home at the corner of Job's Lane and Main Street, where it stood as our village's dedicated center for books and learning—a lasting reminder of one woman's enduring gift to Southampton.
As we celebrate Women's History Month and the library's 133rd anniversary, we honor Harriet Jones Rogers, whose generous vision brought this landmark to life when she bequeathed $10,000 and a plot of land in 1892 to create Southampton's first dedicated library. When it opened in March 1896, the R.H. Robertson-designed building served both as a community resource and as a loving memorial to Harriet's mother, Clarissa.
The original library housed 20,000 volumes initially, including special collections like the 400 books donated by William Pelletreau. As readership flourished—reaching a hundred books borrowed daily by 1916—the library expanded with Grosvenor Atterbury's thoughtful addition in 1915.
After serving the community for over a century the library relocated to its current Coopers Farm Road location in 2000. Its purpose remains unchanged: to connect people with knowledge and with each other. What began as one woman's vision has evolved from a Victorian reading room to a modern community hub, with its commitment to fostering learning and gathering remaining steadfast through 133 years of Southampton's evolution.
Today, the original Victorian Gothic building that once housed the library has found new life as the home of the Peter Marino Art Foundation, continuing its role as a cultural landmark in Southampton.
Tracks Through Time:
154 Years of Southampton Railroad Station
These rare postcards of the Southampton Train Station capture its evolution through the decades - from the horse-drawn carriages of its earliest days through the dawn of the automobile era.
As we celebrate the station's 154th anniversary, we're reminded how this vital mode of transportation has connected our village to the wider world since its grand opening in February 1871. Though the original structure was rebuilt in 1902, its purpose remains unchanged: to connect people and their stories across time.
This station, which once saw soldiers departing for war, foreigners arriving with hope, and summer visitors seeking rest and relaxation, still serves as a magnet for travelers today.
And while the whistle of the approaching train—a sound that once marked time and embodied the rhythm of community life—no longer holds the same significance, the Southampton station has remained unchanged.
Stony Brook Southampton Hospital:
Celebrating 112 Years
These hand-painted postcards from the 1930s capture Southampton Hospital just after the completion of its east and west wings.
Though the building has transformed over the decades, the spirit of compassionate care and dedication to our community's health remains unchanged. What started in 1909 has grown into the vital healthcare center we know today.
As we celebrate the Hospital's 112th anniversary this February 22nd, we are reminded that Southampton's greatest strength has always been its community. From the local physicians who dreamed of better healthcare, to the neighbors who donated their time and resources to build our first hospital - community support has been at its foundation for over a century.
Want to learn more about this remarkable journey? Pick up One Hundred Years of Healing: Southampton Hospital 1909-2009, by our own Mary Cummings, the Museum's archivist and research center manager​
Greetings From
Southampton, Long Island, N.Y.
We are beginning 'With Love From the SHM' just in time for Valentine’s Day where Southampton's heart beats strongest – at the ocean's edge. These cards, like all the artifacts in the museum’s collection capture moments in time celebrating the rich, diverse character of our local history and community.
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On the back, two names tell part of the story:
Arthur W. Tunnell of Southampton – who donated this card to the museum, where it now resides as part of our permanent collection, and Pub. By A. Biren, 1252 Decatur Street, Brooklyn, N.Y. – likely the creator or distributor of the card.
The image appears to have been painted, possibly by an artist, before being reproduced on this card. We don't know the exact date it was created as there isn't a message or postmark.
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Postcards surged in popularity after the Private Mailing Card Act of 1898, which allowed private publishers to produce and send these cards at the same postal rate as government-issued postcards opening the door to what became known as the "Golden Age" for this type of communication. We can't wait to show you more from the museum's archive. ​​
What do you think? We'd love to hear from you! Be part of the fun and share your own postcards and favorite Southampton images with us using the hashtags #WithLoveFromtheSHM and #WLSHM.​