Sag Harbor, New York
Encyclopedia
Sag Harbor is an incorporated village in Suffolk County
, New York
, United States
, with parts in both the Towns of East Hampton
and Southampton
. The population was 2,313 at the 2000 census.
The entire business district of the whaling port and writer's colony is listed as Sag Harbor Village District
on the National Register of Historic Places
.
Sag Harbor is about three fifths in Southampton and two fifths in East Hampton. The dividing line is Division Street which becomes Town Line Road just south of the village. Most of the defining landmarks of the village — including its Main Street, the Whalers Church, Jermain Library, Whaling Museum, the Old Burying Ground, Oakland Cemetery, Mashashimuet Park, and Otter Pond are all in Southampton. However, almost all the Bay Street marina complex, including Sag Harbor Yacht Club and Breakwater Yacht Club, are at the foot of Main Street is in East Hampton as are the village's high school, the Sag Harbor State Golf Course
, and the freed slave community of Eastville.
Sag Harbor was settled sometime between 1707 and 1730 (the first bill of lading
using the name Sag Harbor was recorded in 1730). While some accounts say it was named for neighboring Sagaponack, New York
which at the time was called "Sagg", Sagaponack and Sag Harbor both got their name from a tuber the Metoac
Algonquins raised. One of the first crops that was sent back to England, the tuber-producing vine is now called the Apios americana
. The Metoac called it sagabon. That is how the harbor and neighboring town got its name. Such namings were not unusual. Tuckahoe, New York, not far from Sag Harbor, got its name from the aboriginal term for the Peltandra virginica
, the Arrow Arum.
The port supplanted the East Hampton community of Northwest
which is about five miles east of Sag Harbor. International ships and the whaling industry had started in Northwest but its port was too shallow. The most valuable whale product was whale oil
which was used in lamps; thus it could be said that Sag Harbor was a major oil port.
By 1789 Sag Harbor had "had more tons of square-rigged vessels engaged in commerce than even New York City
." It had become an international port.
During the American Revolutionary War
, American raiders under Return Jonathan Meigs
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
.
During the War of 1812
, the British attacked the town on July 11, 1813 but were driven back.
The whaling industry in Sag Harbor peaked in the 1840s. Sag Harbor is mentioned in Chapters 12, 13, 57 and 83 of
Moby-Dick
including this passage:
Among the sea captains who died whaling from Sag Harbor was Charles Watson Payne, the great-great-great grandfather of Howard Dean
.
Relics of this period include the Old Whaler's Church
which is a Presbyterian Church that sported a 168-foot high steeple
which was claimed to be the tallest structure on Long Island
when it opened in 1843. The steeple collapsed during the Great Hurricane of 1938 The Masonic Lodge (Wamponamon 437) occupies the handsome, 1840 Greek Revival building designed by Minard Lafever
. The Masonic Lodge celebrated its 150th anniversary in 2008. The building is now open to the public as the Sag Harbor Whaling Museum
, and the staircase alone is worth a visit. The Architecture
of both the Whaler's Church and the Masonic Temple are attributed to prominent 19th century American architect Minard LaFever
. The broken mast monument in Oakland Cemetery is the most visible of several memorials to those who died at sea.
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 based in Sag Harbor were sailed to San Francisco, California
where they were simply abandoned during the California Gold Rush
. The last whaleship — the Myra — sailed from Sag Harbor in 1871.
One 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 former slave who was the first black man the Japan
ese had seen.
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
the E.W. Bliss Company tested torpedoes in the harbor a half mile north of Sag Harbor. As part of the process, Long Wharf in Sag Harbor was reinforced with concrete
and rail spurs built along the wharf as the torpedoes were loaded onto ships for testing. The torpedoes were shipped via the Long Island Rail Road
along the Sag Harbor to the wharf
which was owned by the railroad at the time. Among those observing the tests was Thomas Alva Edison. Most of the today's buildings on the wharf including the Bay Street Theatre were built during this time. The torpedoes which did not have live warheads are occasionally found by divers on the bay floor.
Various industries have operated in town, the last of which was the Bulova
Watchcase Factory, which closed in 1981.
Sag Harbor was also author John Steinbeck
's residence from 1955 until his death in 1968.
The Sag Harbor-North Haven
Bridge, renamed The LCpl Jordan Haerter Veterans' Memorial Bridge in November 2008, 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.
Sag Harbor is also the birthplace of the noted American poet
George Sterling
.
According to the United States Census Bureau
, the village has a total area of 2.5 square miles (6.5 km²), of which, 1.7 square miles (4.4 km²) of it is land and 0.8 square miles (2.1 km²) of it (30.36%) is water.
was 1,345.1 people per square mile (519.2/km²). There were 1,942 housing units at an average density of 1,129.4 per square mile (435.9/km²). The racial makeup of the village was 85.78% White, 7.44% African American, 0.52% Native American, 0.95% Asian, 2.72% from other races
, and 2.59% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 7.31% of the population. As of the most recent Census in 2010 there are now 2,423 village residents.
There were 1,120 households out of which 18.8% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 39.6% were married couples
living together, 9.4% had a female householder with no husband present, and 47.9% were non-families. 40.7% of all households were made up of individuals and 18.4% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.06 and the average family size was 2.81.
In the village the population was spread out with 16.5% under the age of 18, 5.4% from 18 to 24, 25.4% from 25 to 44, 28.6% from 45 to 64, and 24.2% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 46 years. For every 100 females there were 91.6 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 89.8 males.
The median income for a household in the village was $52,275, and the median income for a family was $70,536. Males had a median income of $41,181 versus $34,750 for females. The per capita income
for the village was $40,566. About 1.8% of families and 4.2% of the population were below the poverty line, including 1.9% of those under age 18 and 3.8% of those age 65 or over.
It wasn’t until The Corrector was first published in 1822 that Sag Harbor had a well-established community paper. According to Zaykowski, Henry Wentworth Hunt arrived to the village from Boston with his three sons, two of whom went on to helm Sag Harbor papers. The Corrector was published on a weekly basis until 1837, when it became a semi-weekly until Hunt passed away in 1859. After Hunt’s death, his son Alexander and Brinley Sleight took over, publishing the newspaper daily, though this business model proved unsuccessful and the paper reverted back to a weekly publication. The Corrector went on to become the Sag Harbor Corrector.
The Sag Harbor Corrector was eventually purchased by Burton Corwin, owner of the Sag Harbor News, in 1919 and became the Sag Harbor News and Corrector. This amalgamated newspaper was subsequently purchased by the Gardner family, owners of the The Sag Harbor Express, in the late 1920s to become the only Sag Harbor newspaper.
.
Stella Maris Regional School is also located in Sag Harbor.
for its region. Many endangered species
call Sag Harbor home such as the eastern tiger salamander
which inhabits wetlands surrounding the village. The "Long Pond Greenbelt", which straddles Sag Harbor's southern boundary, is a well known chain of ponds formed by a retreating glacier
. Other Natural sites around the village include "Barcelona Neck Preserve", "Millers Ground Preserve", "Sag Harbor Woods Preserve" and the recently acquired "Cilli Farm" which lies in the center of the village. Mammal
s which call these places home include the red fox
, long-tailed weasel
, mink
, muskrat
, woodchuck, several bat
species, bottlenose dolphin
s, harbour porpoise
s and possibly river otters which are close to local extinction in Long Island
with only an estimated 8 individuals thought to have recently migrated from Connecticut
. A large array of amphibian
and reptilian
species also live in the area, the marbled salamander
, tiger salamander
, spotted salamander
, box turtle
, spotted turtle
, grey tree frog
, eastern newt
, black racer snake, hognose snake and rough green snake, to name a few.
giving large animals like white-tailed deer
a home base. Although protected, dumping
and littering are major threats to this invaluable preserve. Various habitats, including marshes, grasslands, birch
forests, cedar groves, sand flats, and coastal watershed
s provide key habitat for wildlife and support great botanic diversity
.
Suffolk County, New York
Suffolk County is a county located in the U.S. state of New York on the eastern portion of Long Island. As of the 2010 census, the population was 1,493,350. It was named for the county of Suffolk in England, from which its earliest settlers came...
, New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, with parts in both the Towns of East Hampton
East Hampton (town), New York
The Town of East Hampton is located in southeastern Suffolk County, New York, at the eastern end of the South Shore of Long Island. It is the easternmost town in the state of New York...
and Southampton
Southampton (town), New York
The 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...
. The population was 2,313 at the 2000 census.
The entire business district of the whaling port and writer's colony is listed as Sag Harbor Village District
Sag Harbor Village District
Sag Harbor Village District is a national historic district in Sag Harbor, Suffolk County, New York. It comprises the entire business district of the village. It includes 870 contributing buildings, seven contributing sites, two contributing structures, and three contributing objects...
on the National Register of Historic Places
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
.
Sag Harbor is about three fifths in Southampton and two fifths in East Hampton. The dividing line is Division Street which becomes Town Line Road just south of the village. Most of the defining landmarks of the village — including its Main Street, the Whalers Church, Jermain Library, Whaling Museum, the Old Burying Ground, Oakland Cemetery, Mashashimuet Park, and Otter Pond are all in Southampton. However, almost all the Bay Street marina complex, including Sag Harbor Yacht Club and Breakwater Yacht Club, are at the foot of Main Street is in East Hampton as are the village's high school, the Sag Harbor State Golf Course
Sag Harbor State Golf Course
The Sag Habor State Golf Course is , 9-hole golf facility is located in the middle of a parcel known as the Barcelona Neck Natural Resources Management Area. The golf course is entirely located in the town of East Hampton in Suffolk County, New York....
, and the freed slave community of Eastville.
History
Bill of lading
A bill of lading is a document issued by a carrier to a shipper, acknowledging that specified goods have been received on board as cargo for conveyance to a named place for delivery to the consignee who is usually identified...
using the name Sag Harbor was recorded in 1730). While some accounts say it was named for neighboring Sagaponack, New York
Sagaponack, New York
Sagaponack is a village in the town of Southampton in Suffolk County, New York, United States. The village incorporated on September 2, 2005, in the wake of the failed attempt by Dunehampton, New York to incorporate. Dunehampton's incorporation would have blocked Sagaponack from Atlantic Ocean...
which at the time was called "Sagg", Sagaponack and Sag Harbor both got their name from a tuber the Metoac
Metoac
Metoac is the collective name for the group of culturally and linguistically related Native American settlements roughly east of what is now the Nassau County line on, Long Island in New York at the time of European contact in the 17th century. Metoac does not specifically refer to political,...
Algonquins raised. One of the first crops that was sent back to England, the tuber-producing vine is now called the Apios americana
Apios americana
Apios americana, sometimes called the potato bean, hopniss, Indian potato or groundnut is a perennial vine native to eastern North America, and bears edible beans and large edible tubers. It grows to 3–4 m long, with pinnate leaves 8–15 cm long with 5–7 leaflets...
. The Metoac called it sagabon. That is how the harbor and neighboring town got its name. Such namings were not unusual. Tuckahoe, New York, not far from Sag Harbor, got its name from the aboriginal term for the Peltandra virginica
Peltandra virginica
Peltandra virginica is a plant of the Araceae family known by the common names green arrow arum and tuckahoe. It is native to parts of eastern North America, where it is common in wet areas...
, the Arrow Arum.
The port supplanted the East Hampton community of Northwest
Northwest Harbor, New York
Northwest Harbor is a census-designated place named for the bay on the South Fork of Long Island connecting Sag Harbor, Shelter Island and East Hampton town to Gardiners Bay and the open waters of the Atlantic Ocean. The bay derives its name from being northwest of East Hampton village...
which is about five miles east of Sag Harbor. International ships and the whaling industry had started in Northwest but its port was too shallow. The most valuable whale product was whale oil
Whale oil
Whale oil is the oil obtained from the blubber of various species of whales, particularly the three species of right whale and the bowhead whale prior to the modern era, as well as several other species of baleen whale...
which was used in lamps; thus it could be said that Sag Harbor was a major oil port.
By 1789 Sag Harbor had "had more tons of square-rigged vessels engaged in commerce than even New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
." It had become an international port.
During the American Revolutionary War
American Revolutionary War
The American Revolutionary War , the American War of Independence, or simply the Revolutionary War, began as a war between the Kingdom of Great Britain and thirteen British colonies in North America, and ended in a global war between several European great powers.The war was the result of the...
, American raiders under Return Jonathan Meigs
Return J. Meigs, Sr.
Return Jonathan Meigs [born December 17 or December 28 , 1740; died January 28, 1823] was a colonel who served in the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War, was one of the founding settlers of the Northwest Territory in what is now the state of Ohio, and later served as a federal...
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 Raid
The Meigs Raid was a military raid by American Continental Army forces, under the command of Connecticut Colonel Return Jonathan Meigs, on a British Loyalist foraging party at Sag Harbor, New York on May 24, 1777 during the American Revolutionary War. Six Loyalists were killed and 90 captured...
.
During the War of 1812
War of 1812
The War of 1812 was a military conflict fought between the forces of the United States of America and those of the British Empire. The Americans declared war in 1812 for several reasons, including trade restrictions because of Britain's ongoing war with France, impressment of American merchant...
, the British attacked the town on July 11, 1813 but were driven back.
The whaling industry in Sag Harbor peaked in the 1840s. Sag Harbor is mentioned in Chapters 12, 13, 57 and 83 of
Moby-Dick
Moby-Dick
Moby-Dick; or, The Whale, was written by American author Herman Melville and first published in 1851. It is considered by some to be a Great American Novel and a treasure of world literature. The story tells the adventures of wandering sailor Ishmael, and his voyage on the whaleship Pequod,...
including this passage:
- 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.
Among the sea captains who died whaling from Sag Harbor was Charles Watson Payne, the great-great-great grandfather of Howard Dean
Howard Dean
Howard Brush Dean III is an American politician and physician from Vermont. He served six terms as the 79th Governor of Vermont and ran unsuccessfully for the 2004 Democratic presidential nomination. He was chairman of the Democratic National Committee from 2005 to 2009. Although his U.S...
.
Relics of this period include the Old Whaler's Church
First Presbyterian Church (Sag Harbor)
First Presbyterian Church in Sag Harbor, New York, also known as Old Whaler's Church, is a historic and architecturally notable Presbyterian church built in 1844 in the Egyptian Revival style...
which is a Presbyterian Church that sported a 168-foot high steeple
Steeple (architecture)
A steeple, in architecture, is a tall tower on a building, often topped by a spire. Steeples are very common on Christian churches and cathedrals and the use of the term generally connotes a religious structure...
which was claimed to be the tallest structure on Long Island
Long Island
Long Island is an island located in the southeast part of the U.S. state of New York, just east of Manhattan. Stretching northeast into the Atlantic Ocean, Long Island contains four counties, two of which are boroughs of New York City , and two of which are mainly suburban...
when it opened in 1843. The steeple collapsed during the Great Hurricane of 1938 The Masonic Lodge (Wamponamon 437) occupies the handsome, 1840 Greek Revival building designed by Minard Lafever
Minard Lafever
Minard Lafever was an influential American architect of churches and houses in the United States in the early nineteenth century.-Life and career:...
. The Masonic Lodge celebrated its 150th anniversary in 2008. The building is now open to the public as the Sag Harbor Whaling Museum
Sag Harbor Whaling Museum
Sag Harbor Whaling Museum is a museum in Sag Harbor, New York, dedicated to the town's past as a prosperous whaling port. It houses the largest collection of whaling equipment in the state of New York.-Building:...
, and the staircase alone is worth a visit. The Architecture
Architecture
Architecture is both the process and product of planning, designing and construction. Architectural works, in the material form of buildings, are often perceived as cultural and political symbols and as works of art...
of both the Whaler's Church and the Masonic Temple are attributed to prominent 19th century American architect Minard LaFever
Minard Lafever
Minard Lafever was an influential American architect of churches and houses in the United States in the early nineteenth century.-Life and career:...
. The broken mast monument in Oakland Cemetery is the most visible of several memorials to those who died at sea.
The whaling business collapsed after 1847 initially with the discovery of other methods to create kerosene
Kerosene
Kerosene, sometimes spelled kerosine in scientific and industrial usage, also known as paraffin or paraffin oil in the United Kingdom, Hong Kong, Ireland and South Africa, is a combustible hydrocarbon liquid. The name is derived from Greek keros...
with the first being coal oil
Coal oil
Coal oil is a term once used for a specific shale oil used for illuminating purposes. Coal oil is obtained from the destructive distillation of cannel coal, mineral wax, and bituminous shale, while kerosene is obtained by the distillation of petroleum...
. The discovery of petroleum
Petroleum
Petroleum or crude oil is a naturally occurring, flammable liquid consisting of a complex mixture of hydrocarbons of various molecular weights and other liquid organic compounds, that are found in geologic formations beneath the Earth's surface. Petroleum is recovered mostly through oil drilling...
in Titusville, Pennsylvania
Titusville, Pennsylvania
Titusville is a city in Crawford County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 6,146 at the 2000 census. In 1859, oil was successfully drilled in Titusville, resulting in the birth of the modern oil industry.-History:...
in 1859 sealed the end. Many of the ships based in Sag Harbor were sailed to San Francisco, California
San Francisco, California
San Francisco , officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the financial, cultural, and transportation center of the San Francisco Bay Area, a region of 7.15 million people which includes San Jose and Oakland...
where they were simply abandoned during the California Gold Rush
California Gold Rush
The California Gold Rush began on January 24, 1848, when gold was found by James W. Marshall at Sutter's Mill in Coloma, California. The first to hear confirmed information of the gold rush were the people in Oregon, the Sandwich Islands , and Latin America, who were the first to start flocking to...
. The last whaleship — the Myra — sailed from Sag Harbor in 1871.
One sailor
Sailor
A sailor, mariner, or seaman is a person who navigates water-borne vessels or assists in their operation, maintenance, or service. The term can apply to professional mariners, military personnel, and recreational sailors as well as a plethora of other uses...
who continued on other endeavors was Mercator Cooper
Mercator Cooper
Mercator Cooper was a ship's captain who is credited with the first formal American visit to Tokyo, Japan and the first formal landing on the mainland East Antarctica....
who sailed out of Sag Harbor on November 9, 1843 on the Manhattan (1843)
Manhattan (1843)
The Manhattan was a United States whaling ship under Captain Mercator Cooper that made the first authorized visit of an American ship to Tokyo Bay, in 1845.-Events in Japan:The Manhattan left the whaling port Sag Harbor, New York on November 9, 1843....
on a voyage that would make him the first American to visit Tokyo Bay
Tokyo Bay
is a bay in the southern Kantō region of Japan. Its old name was .-Geography:Tokyo Bay is surrounded by the Bōsō Peninsula to the east and the Miura Peninsula to the west. In a narrow sense, Tokyo Bay is the area north of the straight line formed by the on the Miura Peninsula on one end and on...
. Aboard the ship was Pyrrhus Concer
Pyrrhus Concer
Pyrrhus Concer was a former slave from Southampton, New York who was aboard the ship the Manhattan that was the first American ship to visit Tokyo in 1845....
a former slave who was the first black man the Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
ese had seen.
Cooper's adventures were to continue on another voyage out of Sag Harbor when on January 26, 1853, sailing the Levant
Levant
The Levant or ) is the geographic region and culture zone of the "eastern Mediterranean littoral between Anatolia and Egypt" . The Levant includes most of modern Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Israel, the Palestinian territories, and sometimes parts of Turkey and Iraq, and corresponds roughly to the...
became the first person to set foot on East Antarctica
East Antarctica
East Antarctica, also called Greater Antarctica, constitutes the majority of the Antarctic continent, lying on the Indian Ocean side of the Transantarctic Mountains...
.
During World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
the E.W. Bliss Company tested torpedoes in the harbor a half mile north of Sag Harbor. As part of the process, Long Wharf in Sag Harbor was reinforced with concrete
Concrete
Concrete is a composite construction material, composed of cement and other cementitious materials such as fly ash and slag cement, aggregate , water and chemical admixtures.The word concrete comes from the Latin word...
and rail spurs built along the wharf as the torpedoes were loaded onto ships for testing. The torpedoes were shipped via the Long Island Rail Road
Long Island Rail Road
The Long Island Rail Road or LIRR is a commuter rail system serving the length of Long Island, New York. It is the busiest commuter railroad in North America, serving about 81.5 million passengers each year. Established in 1834 and having operated continuously since then, it is the oldest US...
along the Sag Harbor to the wharf
Wharf
A wharf or quay is a structure on the shore of a harbor where ships may dock to load and unload cargo or passengers.Such a structure includes one or more berths , and may also include piers, warehouses, or other facilities necessary for handling the ships.A wharf commonly comprises a fixed...
which was owned by the railroad at the time. Among those observing the tests was Thomas Alva Edison. Most of the today's buildings on the wharf including the Bay Street Theatre were built during this time. The torpedoes which did not have live warheads are occasionally found by divers on the bay floor.
Various industries have operated in town, the last of which was the Bulova
Bulova
Bulova is a corporation making luxury watches and clocks. It has its headquarters in Woodside, Queens, New York City.Bulova was founded and incorporated as the J. Bulova Company in 1875 by Joseph Bulova , an immigrant from Bohemia...
Watchcase Factory, which closed in 1981.
Sag Harbor was also author John Steinbeck
John Steinbeck
John Ernst Steinbeck, Jr. was an American writer. He is widely known for the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel The Grapes of Wrath and East of Eden and the novella Of Mice and Men...
's residence from 1955 until his death in 1968.
The Sag Harbor-North Haven
North Haven, New York
North Haven is a village in Suffolk County, New York, United States. The population was 743 at the 2000 census.The Village of North Haven is in the Town of Southampton.-Geography:North Haven is located at ....
Bridge, renamed The LCpl Jordan Haerter Veterans' Memorial Bridge in November 2008, is notable as the site of Pop
Pop art
Pop art is an art movement that emerged in the mid 1950s in Britain and in the late 1950s in the United States. Pop art challenged tradition by asserting that an artist's use of the mass-produced visual commodities of popular culture is contiguous with the perspective of fine art...
artist Ray Johnson
Ray Johnson
Raymond Edward Johnson , known primarily as a collagist and correspondence artist, was a seminal figure in the history of Neo-Dada and early Pop art...
's presumed suicide in 1995 as well as two abortive suicide attempts by monologist
Monologist
-Monologist:A monologist is a solo artist who recites or gives dramatic readings from a monologue, soliloquy, poetry or work of literature for the entertainment of an audience...
Spalding Gray
Spalding Gray
Spalding Rockwell Gray was an American actor, playwright, screenwriter, performance artist and monologuist...
, in September 2002 and October 2003.
Sag Harbor is also the birthplace of the noted American poet
Poet
A poet is a person who writes poetry. A poet's work can be literal, meaning that his work is derived from a specific event, or metaphorical, meaning that his work can take on many meanings and forms. Poets have existed since antiquity, in nearly all languages, and have produced works that vary...
George Sterling
George Sterling
George Sterling was an American poet based in California who, during his time, was celebrated in Northern California as one of the greatest American poets, although he never gained much fame in the rest of the United States.-Biography:Sterling was born in Sag Harbor, Long Island, New York, the...
.
Geography
Sag Harbor is located at 40°59′48"N 72°17′32"W (40.996603, -72.292190).According to the United States Census Bureau
United States Census Bureau
The United States Census Bureau is the government agency that is responsible for the United States Census. It also gathers other national demographic and economic data...
, the village has a total area of 2.5 square miles (6.5 km²), of which, 1.7 square miles (4.4 km²) of it is land and 0.8 square miles (2.1 km²) of it (30.36%) is water.
Demographics
As of the census of 2010, there were 2,313 people, 1,120 households, and 583 families residing in the village. The population densityPopulation density
Population density is a measurement of population per unit area or unit volume. It is frequently applied to living organisms, and particularly to humans...
was 1,345.1 people per square mile (519.2/km²). There were 1,942 housing units at an average density of 1,129.4 per square mile (435.9/km²). The racial makeup of the village was 85.78% White, 7.44% African American, 0.52% Native American, 0.95% Asian, 2.72% from other races
Race (United States Census)
Race and ethnicity in the United States Census, as defined by the Federal Office of Management and Budget and the United States Census Bureau, are self-identification data items in which residents choose the race or races with which they most closely identify, and indicate whether or not they are...
, and 2.59% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 7.31% of the population. As of the most recent Census in 2010 there are now 2,423 village residents.
There were 1,120 households out of which 18.8% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 39.6% were married couples
Marriage
Marriage is a social union or legal contract between people that creates kinship. It is an institution in which interpersonal relationships, usually intimate and sexual, are acknowledged in a variety of ways, depending on the culture or subculture in which it is found...
living together, 9.4% had a female householder with no husband present, and 47.9% were non-families. 40.7% of all households were made up of individuals and 18.4% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.06 and the average family size was 2.81.
In the village the population was spread out with 16.5% under the age of 18, 5.4% from 18 to 24, 25.4% from 25 to 44, 28.6% from 45 to 64, and 24.2% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 46 years. For every 100 females there were 91.6 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 89.8 males.
The median income for a household in the village was $52,275, and the median income for a family was $70,536. Males had a median income of $41,181 versus $34,750 for females. The per capita income
Per capita income
Per capita income or income per person is a measure of mean income within an economic aggregate, such as a country or city. It is calculated by taking a measure of all sources of income in the aggregate and dividing it by the total population...
for the village was $40,566. About 1.8% of families and 4.2% of the population were below the poverty line, including 1.9% of those under age 18 and 3.8% of those age 65 or over.
Newspapers
“Sag Harbor’s earliest newspapers published little in the way of local news. Concentrating instead on a story, sermon, and both national and international events. It is likely that folks learned all the local gossip and goings on at the general store barber shop, or on the street corner,” wrote noted local historian Dorothy Zaykowski, in her book “Sag Harbor – The Story of an American Beauty.”It wasn’t until The Corrector was first published in 1822 that Sag Harbor had a well-established community paper. According to Zaykowski, Henry Wentworth Hunt arrived to the village from Boston with his three sons, two of whom went on to helm Sag Harbor papers. The Corrector was published on a weekly basis until 1837, when it became a semi-weekly until Hunt passed away in 1859. After Hunt’s death, his son Alexander and Brinley Sleight took over, publishing the newspaper daily, though this business model proved unsuccessful and the paper reverted back to a weekly publication. The Corrector went on to become the Sag Harbor Corrector.
The Sag Harbor Corrector was eventually purchased by Burton Corwin, owner of the Sag Harbor News, in 1919 and became the Sag Harbor News and Corrector. This amalgamated newspaper was subsequently purchased by the Gardner family, owners of the The Sag Harbor Express, in the late 1920s to become the only Sag Harbor newspaper.
Topography
The majority of Sag Harbor lies on a flat coastal plain which makes up much of Long Island and extends down to the coast. Small hills rise up from the shore at about 0.3 miles inland. Knolls and hills are dominated mostly by Red and Scarlet oak trees which are interspersed with pitch and white pines. On many of the protected bay shores, wetlands and dune ecosystems dominate the land.Schools
Sag Harbor Union Free School District includes both the Sag Harbor Elementary School and Pierson Middle-High SchoolPierson Middle-High School
Pierson Middle-High School is an American high school in Sag Harbor in Suffolk County, New York. It is the only secondary school in the Sag Harbor Union Free School District....
.
Stella Maris Regional School is also located in Sag Harbor.
Nature and Protected areas
Thanks to its surrounding nature preserves, Sag Harbor has a very rich faunaFauna
Fauna or faunæ is all of the animal life of any particular region or time. The corresponding term for plants is flora.Zoologists and paleontologists use fauna to refer to a typical collection of animals found in a specific time or place, e.g. the "Sonoran Desert fauna" or the "Burgess shale fauna"...
for its region. Many endangered species
Endangered species
An endangered species is a population of organisms which is at risk of becoming extinct because it is either few in numbers, or threatened by changing environmental or predation parameters...
call Sag Harbor home such as the eastern tiger salamander
Tiger Salamander
The Tiger Salamander is a species of Mole Salamander. The proper common name is the Eastern Tiger Salamander, to differentiate from other closely related species.-Description:...
which inhabits wetlands surrounding the village. The "Long Pond Greenbelt", which straddles Sag Harbor's southern boundary, is a well known chain of ponds formed by a retreating glacier
Glacier retreat
Glacier retreat or glacial retreat is discussed in several articles, depending on the time frame of interest, and whether the climatological process or individual glaciers are being considered. Articles on these topics include:...
. Other Natural sites around the village include "Barcelona Neck Preserve", "Millers Ground Preserve", "Sag Harbor Woods Preserve" and the recently acquired "Cilli Farm" which lies in the center of the village. Mammal
Mammal
Mammals are members of a class of air-breathing vertebrate animals characterised by the possession of endothermy, hair, three middle ear bones, and mammary glands functional in mothers with young...
s which call these places home include the red fox
Red Fox
The red fox is the largest of the true foxes, as well as being the most geographically spread member of the Carnivora, being distributed across the entire northern hemisphere from the Arctic Circle to North Africa, Central America, and the steppes of Asia...
, long-tailed weasel
Long-tailed Weasel
The long-tailed weasel , also known as the bridled weasel or big stoat is a species of mustelid distributed from southern Canada throughout all the United States and Mexico, southward through all of Central America and into northern South America.-Evolution:The long-tailed weasel is the product of...
, mink
Mink
There are two living species referred to as "mink": the European Mink and the American Mink. The extinct Sea Mink is related to the American Mink, but was much larger. All three species are dark-colored, semi-aquatic, carnivorous mammals of the family Mustelidae, which also includes the weasels and...
, muskrat
Muskrat
The muskrat , the only species in genus Ondatra, is a medium-sized semi-aquatic rodent native to North America, and introduced in parts of Europe, Asia, and South America. The muskrat is found in wetlands and is a very successful animal over a wide range of climates and habitats...
, woodchuck, several bat
Bat
Bats are mammals of the order Chiroptera "hand" and pteron "wing") whose forelimbs form webbed wings, making them the only mammals naturally capable of true and sustained flight. By contrast, other mammals said to fly, such as flying squirrels, gliding possums, and colugos, glide rather than fly,...
species, bottlenose dolphin
Bottlenose Dolphin
Bottlenose dolphins, the genus Tursiops, are the most common and well-known members of the family Delphinidae, the family of oceanic dolphins. Recent molecular studies show the genus contains two species, the common bottlenose dolphin and the Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphin , instead of one...
s, harbour porpoise
Harbour Porpoise
The harbour porpoise is one of six species of porpoise. It is one of the smallest marine mammals. As its name implies, it stays close to coastal areas or river estuaries, and as such, is the most familiar porpoise to whale watchers. This porpoise often ventures up rivers, and has been seen...
s and possibly river otters which are close to local extinction in Long Island
Long Island
Long Island is an island located in the southeast part of the U.S. state of New York, just east of Manhattan. Stretching northeast into the Atlantic Ocean, Long Island contains four counties, two of which are boroughs of New York City , and two of which are mainly suburban...
with only an estimated 8 individuals thought to have recently migrated from Connecticut
Connecticut
Connecticut is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, and the state of New York to the west and the south .Connecticut is named for the Connecticut River, the major U.S. river that approximately...
. A large array of amphibian
Amphibian
Amphibians , are a class of vertebrate animals including animals such as toads, frogs, caecilians, and salamanders. They are characterized as non-amniote ectothermic tetrapods...
and reptilian
Reptile
Reptiles are members of a class of air-breathing, ectothermic vertebrates which are characterized by laying shelled eggs , and having skin covered in scales and/or scutes. They are tetrapods, either having four limbs or being descended from four-limbed ancestors...
species also live in the area, the marbled salamander
Marbled Salamander
The Marbled Salamander is a species of mole salamander found in the eastern United States.- Description :The Marbled Salamander is a stocky, boldly banded salamander. The bands of females tend to be gray, while those of males are more white. Adults can grow to about 11 cm, , a bit small compared...
, tiger salamander
Tiger Salamander
The Tiger Salamander is a species of Mole Salamander. The proper common name is the Eastern Tiger Salamander, to differentiate from other closely related species.-Description:...
, spotted salamander
Spotted Salamander
The Spotted Salamander or Yellow-spotted Salamander is a mole salamander common in the eastern United States and Canada. The Spotted Salamander is the State amphibian of South Carolina. It has recently been found that its embryos have algae living inside them in a mutualistic...
, box turtle
Box turtle
The box turtle , or box tortoise is a genus of turtle native to North America . The 12 taxa which are distinguished in the genus are distributed over four species. It is largely characterized by having a domed shell, which is hinged at the bottom, allowing the animal to close its shell tightly to...
, spotted turtle
Spotted Turtle
The Spotted turtle , the only current species of Clemmys, is a small, semi-aquatic turtle that reaches a carapace length of upon adulthood. Their broad, smooth, low dark-colored upper shell, or carapace, ranges in its exact colour from black to a bluish black with a number of yellow tiny round spots...
, grey tree frog
Grey tree frog
The Gray Treefrog or Gray Tree Frog, is a species of small arboreal frog native to much of the eastern United States and southeastern Canada....
, eastern newt
Eastern Newt
The Eastern Newt or Red-spotted Newt is a common salamander of eastern North America. Eastern newts dwell in wet forests with small lakes or ponds. They can coexist in an aquatic environment with fish, however, their skin secretes a poisonous substance when the newt is threatened or injured...
, black racer snake, hognose snake and rough green snake, to name a few.
The Cilli Farm
Being the only natural area of considerable size within Sag Harbor's village boundaries, this preserve is a refuge for wildlife in the area. It serves as an ecological islandEcological island
An ecological island is not necessarily an island surrounded by water, but is an area of land, isolated by natural or artificial means from the surrounding land, where a natural micro-habitat exists amidst a larger differing ecosystem....
giving large animals like white-tailed deer
White-tailed Deer
The white-tailed deer , also known as the Virginia deer or simply as the whitetail, is a medium-sized deer native to the United States , Canada, Mexico, Central America, and South America as far south as Peru...
a home base. Although protected, dumping
Dumping
Dumping may refer to a subject......in computing:*Recording the contents of memory after application or operating system failure, or by operator request, in a core dump for use in subsequent problem analysis.*Recording a file or medium as a backup....
and littering are major threats to this invaluable preserve. Various habitats, including marshes, grasslands, birch
Birch
Birch is a tree or shrub of the genus Betula , in the family Betulaceae, closely related to the beech/oak family, Fagaceae. The Betula genus contains 30–60 known taxa...
forests, cedar groves, sand flats, and coastal watershed
Drainage basin
A drainage basin is an extent or an area of land where surface water from rain and melting snow or ice converges to a single point, usually the exit of the basin, where the waters join another waterbody, such as a river, lake, reservoir, estuary, wetland, sea, or ocean...
s provide key habitat for wildlife and support great botanic diversity
Biodiversity
Biodiversity is the degree of variation of life forms within a given ecosystem, biome, or an entire planet. Biodiversity is a measure of the health of ecosystems. Biodiversity is in part a function of climate. In terrestrial habitats, tropical regions are typically rich whereas polar regions...
.
External links
- Village of Sag Harbor — Website
- Suffolk Historic Newspapers — Online Archives, The Corrector (1822–1911) and The Sag Harbor Express (1885–1898)
- The Sag Harbor Express
- Pierson Centennial 1907-2007 / Sag Harbor Schools Alumni
- Stella Maris Regional School
- MySagHarbor.com