Around Westhampton

A land of breathtaking beaches and bays situated on the south shore of Long Island, Westhampton has evolved from an agricultural and fishing village to summer resort to a year-round oceanfront community.
Just 65 miles east of New York City, the area renowned as part of the Hamptons-- the area known today as Westhampton, Westhampton Beach, Quiogue, and West Hampton Dunes-- was named Catchaponack by the Algonquin tribes who lived in the area when the English sheepherders arrived in the 1660s. Fortune 500 chief executive officers and celebrities, such as Cary Grant, Charles Addams, and Marvin Hamlisch, have lived quietly amid locals. Together they have survived hurricanes, outlasted raucous night clubs, rebuilt eroded dunes, and fought off real estate developers. Around Westhampton depicts how an area blessed with uncommon physical beauty has managed to remain unspoiled in the face of natural disasters and international fame.

Meredith Murray is a Westhampton resident whose family first came to the area in the 1890s. A longtime researcher and writer of local history, she has written two previous books about Westhampton. The images contained in Around Westhampton come from the Westhampton Beach Historical Society's extensive archives and personal collections.