Life’s a Beach: Why Our Local Beaches Are Named the Way They Are

Photography by Doug Young

While the South Fork is no doubt a storied region, well-known and adored for its immense natural beauty, it’s fitting that our local beaches hold captivating stories of their own. Here we examine the origins for the names of some of our most beloved beaches, which are both rich in history and, ultimately, serve as a physical reminder of why we’re all here in the first place.

Of the hundred or so miles of Long Island’s southern coastline, it’s the beaches scattered across the Hamptons that consistently rank among the best in the world — edging out not only some of the most popular coastlines of Hawaii, California and Florida but tiny pockets of sandy sanctuary found in Europe, Asia and both Central and South America as well. South Fork beaches provide East Enders with breathtaking views and endless nautical entertainment. While many of these sandy strips, pockets of water and vast ocean vistas have remained untouched for generations they remain a high priority, prized and protected by locals and visitors alike. 

The names associated with these beaches are both intentional and distinct, containing rich historical references akin to people (both Native and settlers), places and practices from well before the East End was first colonized nearly four centuries ago—as well as individuals who have helped preserve them in more recent years. We have them both to thank for it.

Sandy Settlers 

Consistently ranking as one of the most highly lauded beaches in the nation, Cooper’s Beach on Meadow Lane in Southampton Village was originally named for the adjacent Cooper’s Neck Lane, which was christened as such thanks to John Cooper, born in 1594. 

Cooper hailed from Buckinghamshire, England, and traveled to North America in 1635 with his wife and four children, eventually landing at Lynn, Mass., where he accumulated 200 acres of land as one of the first European settlers in the Southampton colony. By signing the Indian Deed in 1640, Cooper, along with about a dozen other men, became one of the original founders of Southampton Town. The Indian Deed, according to the transcription from the Southampton town clerk’s historic division, outlined “the native inhabitants [at that time consisting mostly of members of the Shinnecock and  Montaukett nations] and true owners of the eastern part of the Long Island granting a large parcel of land to the ‘English’ in consideration of 16 coats (already received) and three score bushels of corn,” in exchange for protection from the new settlers. 

Just east of Sagg Main Beach, about a quarter-mile off the main drag, down a narrow lane and ending at a tight, unassuming parking area, is Gibson Beach, or “Left Sagg” for native East Enders over 50. Operating as a one-way-in, one-way-out situation, Gibson and it’s tiny access road are both named for attorney Hanson Cox Gibson, an early Sagaponack summer resident and a Civil War veteran. 

“Gibson purchased the Sagaponack land from the Bridgehampton-born husband and wife Josiah and Elizabeth Rogers in 1883,” says Julie Greene, Southampton town historian. “His house (which was later demolished) stood on the east side of Old Beach Road, later renamed Gibson Lane.” 

An interesting side note from Greene: In 1889, Gibson acquired approximately 44 additional acres from Sidney and Helen Topping and began the Sagaponack Realty Co., dividing lots for sale by 1900. His real estate partner was Frederick Seward; their wives were sisters. Seward was the son of William Seward, Abraham Lincoln’s secretary of state, and held federal cabinet positions himself. 

Additionally, Gibson and Seward owned the late-19th century beach cabanas and pavilion that are now the location of Sagg Main Beach.

Just east of Gibson is Peter’s Pond, aka “Left Left Sagg.” Set at the end of a rugged dirt road south of Daniels Lane in Sagaponack — adjacent to Ira Rennert’s compound Fair Field (one of the largest homes in the nation) — the beach took its name from the nearby pond on the west side of the road which today is practically a marsh. Originally called Little Pond, it was later named for Peter Hildreth, born in 1715, according to Greene. Hildreth owned 20 acres around the pond in the mid-18th century and sold the property to David Topping in 1748. Members of the Topping family still live nearby today.

Natural and Native

Tucked back on the waterfront in Lily Pond Lane’s estate section is East Hampton Village’s westernmost beach, Georgica Beach. Located just east of Georgica Pond — a 290-acre coastal lagoon set between the village and Wainscott — and just south of the infamous Grey Gardens estate, the beach was “named after the Indian ‘Jeorgkee,’ who lived there and was employed by one Jacob Schellinger and partners to ‘go to sea and kill whales,’ ” according to a 1923 article in the East Hampton Star. The meaning of Jeorgkee wasn’t totally understood, according to “Indian Place Names in East Hampton Town,” a book by historian, photographer and Algonquist William Wallace Tooker. Other spellings included Gorgika, Jorgke and Georgikey, hence the spelling we see today.

Amagansett’s Indian Wells Beach was named for the trio of actual, physical wells in the ground, first mentioned in the town records in 1652 and described by Tooker as “a depression in the ground running for some distance north and south through the village …” In 1948, a marker was placed west of the actual Indian Wells location with text  that read: “Near this spot, at the Well Springs of Amagansett, the Indians used to pause to slake their thirst, when going on or coming off Montauk.”

Quite possibly the most popular place for surfing on the South Fork is Ditch Plains Beach, on the far southeastern end of the island, about two miles east of downtown Montauk. Originally called ‘Choppauhshapaugausuck,’ Ditch Plains was on the east side of the “north neck” and was one of the boundaries mentioned in the deed of 1670. The original name, according to Tooker, means “a place separated where the outlet of a pond or some small stream widens or opens out,” with the ditch being the outlet of Great Pond (aka Lake Montauk) on the south.

Occupying seven acres, with 1,000 feet of waterfront on Great Peconic Bay, is Meschutt Beach. This county park is a stillwater bathing beach on the east side of the Shinnecock Canal and was named for the Meschutt family, named specifically for former town supervisor Stephen Meschutt, who prompted the importance of the town’s parks and recreation department, according to Greene.

With its entrance at Westhampton Beach, Cupsogue Beach is part of a nearly 300-acre county park on Dune Road in between the western end of Westhampton Island and the eastern end of Fire Island. One of Long Island’s easternmost barrier beaches, origins for meaning of Cupsogue date back to around 1690, with the Native American word meaning “a closed inlet.” All of Cupsogue’s parkland was originally part of Fire Island, according to Scott Mandia’s article “The Great Hurricane of 1938: Geographical Impact,” until 1931, when a Nor’easter created the Moriches Inlet, which enlarged between 1933 and 1938. 

Island Strong

On the northern side of Shelter Island is Crescent Beach, aptly named for its crescent shape. It is nicknamed Louie’s Beach after German-born world traveler Alois John Behringer who, according to the Shelter Island Historical Society, became “Louis” while living in France. In 1906, he married Anna Veit, stepdaughter of the owner of a Shelter Island hotel that  Behringer ended up buying that same year. He was a frequent visitor to Crescent Beach, as the house the couple lived in was on nearby Stearns Point Road, so his name became synonymous with the sandy stretch of land.

Nowadays, Crescent or Louie’s Beach is popular due to its close proximity to the trendy Sunset Beach Hotel and Restaurant, but if you make the mistake of calling it “Sunset Beach” your cover as a non-local will be blown immediately.

On the southern side of Shelter Island, at South Midway Road junction, is Wades Beach. This shallow swimming area was originally part of the 1,000 acres George Havens bought from Nathaniel Sylvester back in 1700 and, according to an article by Julie Lane of the Shelter Island Reporter, was acquired by James D. Tuthill in the mid-1800s, who by 1915 had left the beach to his nephew, J. Wickham Tuthill.

“The upland, east of the beach and straddling South Midway Road, was inherited by his grandnephew, Wickham Courtland Wade,” writes Lane. In 1955, the easterly beach area passed to John and Alfred W. Tuthill and Nathan P. Dickerson, while the westerly beach area, came under the ownership of Alfred W. Tuthill.

The Wades name stuck, however. According to records from the SIHS, “Wade was accepted because the Wades had owned the farm at 19 South Country Road nearby.”

The Sportsman and the Farmer

As more expansive development has loomed in more recent decades here on the East End, the stories behind the names of the following two Southampton Town beaches are, truly, a breath of fresh air. Rather than slap on a 3,000 square-foot McMansion for continued private use, both Scott Cameron and Foster Memorial Beach were dedicated and preserved by the local people, for the local people.

In Bridgehampton, on a thin strip of land on Dune Road between Mecox Bay and the Atlantic is W. Scott Cameron Beach, or Scott Cameron for short.

The late Rhoda Cameron Wichfield, a Manhattan resident who had summered in Southampton, Water Mill and Bridgehampton since childhood, donated the tract of beach in the late 1960s to Southampton Town. It was named for her father, W. Scott Cameron, who died in 1932 and was an early summer resident and sportsman of Southampton Village.

“This beach was dedicated for the recreational use of the residents in March 1968,” says Greene, noting it has 300 feet of ocean frontage and featured an 1,800-square-foot pavilion, originally built in 1971, “which burned to the ground (mysteriously) in October 1996.”

Located northwest of Sag Harbor Village, Foster Memorial Beach, known colloquially as Long Beach, stretches just over one mile along Noyac Bay and is a popular swimming spot for those who may not be in the mood to brave fickle ocean waters. The ample yet self-contained, easy-to-access parking lot also lends itself well to walking, running and biking. It’s also a great vantage point for catching killer sunsets year-round.

According to Greene, this beaut of a bathing beach was gifted to the Town of Southampton by Charles H. and Everett C. Foster as a public park in December 1949. It was dedicated to and named for their father, prominent Sagaponack resident and farmer Clifford J. Foster. His ancestors have lived in Sagaponack since the 1600s and the Fosters remain among the oldest families still farming on the East End.