Islip Hamlet

America's Cup Sailors Trained on the Bay

Beginnings: On March 26, 1692, Andrew Gibb, a friend and business partner of William Nicoll, Islip Town's founder, received a royal patent that made him owner of what was to become the pivotal community in Islip Town - the hamlet of Islip. The land Gibb obtained came to only about 3,500 acres but was the center of town commerce and social life in early times and has long been the seat of town government.

The Revolution: The Gibb tract, still intact, was owned by Capt. Benijah Strong, captain of the Islip Militia Company and a volunteer in Maj. Benjamin Tallmadge's daring 1780 raid on Fort St. George in Mastic.

Turning Points: By 1808, there was only one store and no houses on the south side of South Country Road (later Montauk Highway). That all changed after the railroad arrived in the late 1860s. The hamlet soon became the town's largest community and the seat of government. By 1900, it had 1,727 residents, a school, four churches, boatyards and the Doxsee clam canning factory that shipped worldwide. But two major fires hurt the prosperity. The worst, in February, 1905, destroyed 17 businesses and five apartment houses on the north side of Main Street. After the fires, most commercial growth gravitated to Bay Shore and Patchogue.

Claims to Fame: Around 1900, Islip hamlet was noted for its sailors, trained on the bay, who defended the nation in America's Cup competitions. Most notable was Capt. Hank Haff, who in 1895 skippered the 123-foot Defender to victory over England, using an all-American crew for the first time.

Legend Has It: That when Schuyler Livingston Parsons built a sumptuous estate in Islip around 1900, he had to settle for his second choice of name. Both he and William K. Vanderbilt reportedly wanted to call their estates Idle Hour and agreed to decide the matter with a flip of a coin. Parsons lost and chose the name Whileaway.

Where to Find More: ``A Brief History of Islip Hamlet,'' by Carl A. Starace, and ``Origins of the Gibb Patent: The Story Behind Islip's Founding,'' by Robert H.D. Finnegan, 1994, both via The Historical Society of Islip Hamlet.