Next up for the hamptons threads is the historic whaling town of Sag harbor (pop 2k).

 

named after the sagaponack indians, it was settled by the euros in 1707.  interesting history -- via wiki & others:

 

By 1789 Sag Harbor had "had more tons of square-rigged vessels engaged in commerce than even New York City."

During the American Revolutionary War, American raiders under Return Jonathan Meigs (great name!) attacked a British garrison on May 23, 1777, on a hill at what today is the Old Burying Ground next to the Whaler's Church, killing six and capturing 90 British soldiers in what was called Meigs Raid. Meigs later founded marietta, ohio and his son was an ohio governor.

 

During the War of 1812, the British attacked the town on July 11, 1813 but were driven back.

 

umbrella house bombed by the brits, you can see the light brick repair in the lower corner

 

The whaling industry in Sag Harbor peaked in the 1840s. a remark from moby dick:

 

“Arrived at last in old Sag Harbor; and seeing what the sailors did there; and then going on to Nantucket, and seeing how they spent their wages in that place also, poor Queequeg gave it up for lost. Thought he, it's a wicked world in all meridians; I'll die a pagan.”

 

The whaling business collapsed after 1847 initially with the discovery of other methods to create kerosene with the first being coal oil. The discovery of petroleum in Titusville, Pennsylvania in 1859 sealed the end. Many of the ships that were based in Sag Harbor were sailed to San Francisco, California where they were simply abandoned during the California Gold Rush with last whaler -- the Myra -- sailing in Sag Harbor in 1871.

 

One famous sailor who continued on other endeavors was Mercator Cooper who sailed out of Sag Harbor on November 9, 1843 on the Manhattan (1843) on a voyage that would make him the first American to visit Tokyo Bay. Aboard the ship was Pyrrhus Concer (a from the armistad) who was the first black man the Japanese had seen, as well as a Shinnecock Native American named Eleazar. Cooper's adventures were to continue on another voyage out of Sag Harbor when on January 26, 1853, sailing the Levant became the first person to set foot on East Antarctica.

 

During World War I torpedoes were tested in the harbor a half mile north of Sag Harbor. Among those observing the tests was Thomas Alva Edison. The torpedoes which did not have live warheads are occasionally found by divers on the bay floor.

 

 

 

 

when my spouse saw these shoppes she went berzerk, they are seen in home decorating magazines  :roll:

http://www.rubybeets.com/

 

this was from the early 1800’s

 

so is this hardware shop next door

 

 

the main street

 

 

the american hotel (1846)

http://www.theamericanhotel.com/hotel%20home.htm

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

at the harbor ----the mill (1760, replica 1966)

 

john steinbeck lived in town 1955 until his death in 1968.

 

old harbor lobster shack

 

 

bay street theater

http://www.baystreet.org/0704/index_fl.asp

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

some housing

 

 

 

 

hunt house

 

 

 

 

 

the 1st us custom house (1790)

 

 

 

 

 

back to front -- the Benjamin Huntting mansion (1845), became the masonic hall in 1920,

now it is a whaling museum

http://www.sagharborwhalingmuseum.org/history.shtml

 

 

 

 

historic churches

 

 

the old whaler’s church (1844)

http://www.sagharboronline.com/community/whalers.htm

 

^ the pastor saw me taking pics & I got invited in for a personal tour  :clap:

 

 

 

steeple and remnants

 

^ my guide said the steeple was by far the tallest point on long island (165 ft). It had leaned over and was propped back up,  but not bolted down correctly, so it blew over in a 1938 hurricane. Also, he said it had heavy brass clocks that had been previously removed, which they say might have saved it.

 

Good for a harborside quaff of grog  :drunk:

 

and finally…

 

 

^ The Sag Harbor-North Haven Bridge is notable as the site of Pop artist Ray Johnson's presumed suicide in 1995 as well as two abortive suicide attempts by monologist Spalding Gray, in September 2002 and October 2003 (who later finally succeeded by jumping off the staten island ferry).

 

 

 

*** so that’s historic sag harbor -- some more hamptons towns to come eventually ***

 

Quite a visual, historic delight.

Cute little town.