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Sag Harbor

A Port Bigger Than New York

By Bill Bleyer | Staff Writer

In the 1830s and 1840s, Sag Harbor was a cosmopolitan boomtown. The boom was the result of a single industry: whaling.

Sag Harbor was Long Island's whaling capital, with more than 60 whaleships and more than 800 men working on them or in related industries. The first whaleships sailed from the harbor in 1760 on short cruises along the coast, but it wasn't until 1817 that local whaleships embarked on extended cruises.

The industry's best year was 1847, when 32 ships returned with more than 67,000 barrels of whale oil. The business then declined rapidly as ships and crews were lured by the 1849 California gold rush and oil was discovered in Pennsylvania. The last Sag Harbor whaler was the Myra, which sailed in 1871 and wrecked three years later.

Before the whalers or any other whites, Algonquian Indians lived in the area they called Weg-wag-onuch, meaning ``the land or place at the end of the hill.'' White settlers arrived in the late 1600s and called the area Great Meadows because much of it was tidal marsh. Residents of Sagaponack used the harbor, which became known as Sagaponack Harbor or the Harbor of Sagg. It was shortened to Sag Harbor by 1707, the first time the name is found in Southampton town records. After the marshy land was filled in, about 1730, the first small dwellings were erected by fishermen. Mills were erected and a wharf was constructed in 1761. It was extended twice by 1821 to a length of 1,000 feet. The first bridge to North Haven was built in 1799 by James Mitchell so he could construct a mill there.

During the Revolutionary War, there were 32 homes; 14 Patriot families fled to avoid plunder by the Redcoats based in a fort on Meeting House Hill. Meanwhile, the Royal Navy blockaded the port. The biggest excitement during the war came on May 23, 1777, when American Lt. Col. Return Jonathan Meigs and 130 men rowed from Connecticut in whaleboats and raided the village, killing six British soldiers and capturing 53 others. They also set fire to 12 British vessels and captured 90 enemy sailors. Capt. David Hand became a local hero for having been captured and escaping five times during the war.

Almost from the time the village was settled, ships carried passengers and freight to and from New York, Connecticut and other destinations. In 1772, a stage wagon began running between Sag Harbor and Brooklyn. After the war - when Sag Harbor was the home of more oceangoing vessels than New York City - Congress declared the village a ``port of entry'' and set up a customs house. Sag Harbor was also home to Long Island's first newspaper, Frothingham's Long Island Herald, founded in 1791 and published for seven years.

During the War of 1812, a fort with more than 3,000 soldiers was established on Turkey Hill, overlooking the harbor. The British attacked on July 11, 1813; the Americans returned fire and the British retreated, leaving behind many weapons. But the war devastated the village's commercial fleet. Of the more than 20 coastal trading vessels, only three or four remained useful by 1814. After hostilities ended, it took two years for the harbor to return to its prewar level of activity.

While Sag Harbor tried to recover from the war, a fire - the first of four devastating blazes to hit the village - broke out in 1817, destroying 20 houses and stores. In response, the village in 1819 formed the Otter Hose Co., the state's first volunteer fire company.

Revival proceeded slowly, but in 1827 there was another milestone: Nathan Tinker offered the first milk delivery on Long Island. Whaling was not the only industry in Sag Harbor. There were foundries and factories making oilcloth, cigars, brooms, clocks, stockings, flour and other products. A steam cotton mill built in 1850 took up an entire block and employed 175 operators, making it the village's largest employer. By 1880 the cotton mill had failed and Joseph Fahys was persuaded to relocate his watchcase factory from New Jersey. Production began in 1882 with a work force of 350. In 1891 the E.W. Bliss Co. began to conduct experiments with naval torpedoes in Noyack Bay. The company received a $2 million order from the government during World War I and tested and manufactured torpedoes for another 30 years.

One of Sag Harbor's most famous buildings, the First Presbyterian, or Old Whaler's, Church was erected in 1843-1844. The steeple was destroyed by the hurricane of 1938; the church is now trying to replace it.

Sag Harbor's biggest benefactor was Margaret Sage. In the 19th Century she purchased and restored the Benjamin Huntting Estate as her summer cottage; it is now the Sag Harbor Whaling Museum. She also financed construction of Pierson High School, John Jermain Memorial Library and Mashashimuet Park.

In the 1870s, steamboats began docking in the village, helping to turn the East End into a resort. (A Long Island Rail Road spur was extended to the village in 1870, though it was abandoned in 1939.) The village also has a history of attracting writers. James Fenimore Cooper spent more than three years in Sag Harbor as part owner of the whaleship Union before publishing his first successful novel, ``The Spy,'' in 1821. John Steinbeck left from the village for his ``Travels With Charley,'' and more recently Lanford Wilson and E.L. Doctorow have been residents.

Where to Find More: ``Sag Harbor - An American Beauty,'' by Dorothy Ingersoll Zaykowski, at the Jermain Library.