Around Westhampton

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. A land of breathtakingly beautiful beaches and bays situated on the south shore of Long Island, just 65 miles east of New York City, Westhampton has evolved from an agricultural and fishing village to a summer vacation resort to a year-round oceanfront community. 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.