Editing Sag Harbor, New York (section)

==History==
[[File:Umbrella-house.jpg|thumb|left|Umbrella House is the oldest surviving house in Sag Harbor. It housed British troops during the [[American Revolution]]. It was hit by cannon fire during the [[War of 1812]]. The light colored bricks, in the lower left corner, were believed to be the patch from the hole left by the cannon fire. But in fact, but those bricks were used to patch a hole left by an SUV in recent years. The original cannon hole was patched long ago, and is not readily identifiable.]]
[[File:FirstPresbyterianChurch SagHarbor HABS cropped.jpg|200px|left|thumb|Old Whaler's Church with the 185-foot [[Egyptian revival]] steeple intact. The steeple was destroyed in a 1938 hurricane and has yet to be restored.]]
[[File:Sag-whalers.jpg|thumb|left|[[Old Whaler's Church (Sag Harbor)|Old Whaler's Church]] and Old Burial Ground. The burial ground is the former site of a British fort that was attacked by Patriots in [[Meigs Raid]] during the [[American Revolutionary War|Revolutionary War]].]]
[[File:Sag-broken.jpg|thumb|left|The Broken Mast Monument commemorates all the whalers who were lost at sea]]
[[File:Watchcase Factory in Sag Harbor, NY.jpg|thumb|left|Watchcase Factory]]
[[File:Whalers museum 20180915 075506.jpg|thumb|right|Whalers museum]]
[[File:Sag-arthur.jpg|thumb|right|Summer home of [[President of the United States|President]] [[Chester A. Arthur]], late 19th century]]
[[File:Sag harbor NY foto by andy hemmer cincinnati.jpg|thumb|Windmill near the downtown district in Sag Harbor, NY.]]
Sag Harbor was settled by English colonists sometime between 1707 and 1730. Many probably migrated from New England by water, as did other settlers on eastern Long Island. The first [[bill of lading]] to use the name "Sag Harbor" was recorded in 1730.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.cornerbarsagharbor.com/History.htm |title=History of Sag Harbor |access-date=July 4, 2008 |last=Keene |first=Robert |date=February 7, 2008 |publisher=Corner Bar 1 Main Street Sag Harbor New York 11963 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080511205036/http://www.cornerbarsagharbor.com/History.htm |archive-date=May 11, 2008 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

While some accounts say the village was named for the neighboring settlement of [[Sagaponack, New York|Sagaponack]], which at the time was called Sagg, historians say Sagaponack and Sag Harbor both were named after a [[tuber]] cultivated by the local [[Pequot people]] and used as a staple crop. In their Algonquian language,<!-- Metoac is a historically inaccurate term; Pequot people were in eastern LI --> they called the vegetable ''sagabon''. It was one of the first crops colonists sent to England. The tuber-producing vine is now known as the ''[[Apios americana]]''.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://sagharbor.suffolk.lib.ny.us/localhistoryroom.htm |title=Long Island History Room |access-date=July 4, 2008 |date=March 27, 2007 |publisher=John Jermain Memorial Library, Sag Harbor, NY |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071111074437/http://sagharbor.suffolk.lib.ny.us/localhistoryroom.htm |archive-date=November 11, 2007 |quote=Please see image labeled Sagg Harbor 1840. |url-status=dead }}
</ref>

During the [[American Revolutionary War]], New York Patriots fled from the advancing British and Loyalist forces and departed from Sag Harbor by boat and ship for Connecticut. In 1777 American raiders under [[Return J. Meigs Sr.|Return Jonathan Meigs]] attacked a British garrison at a fort on a hill in Sag Harbor, killing six and capturing 90 British soldiers in what was called [[Meigs Raid]]. The fort was dismantled after the war. The site has become known as the [[Old Burying Ground (Sag Harbor, New York)|Old Burying Ground]] and is associated with the [[Old Whaler's Church (Sag Harbor)|Old Whaler's Church]].

Sag Harbor supplanted [[Northwest Harbor, New York|Northwest]], another port about {{convert|5|mi|0}} east of the village in the Town of East Hampton. International ships and the [[whaling]] industry had started in Northwest, but its port was too shallow for the developing traffic. The most valuable whale product was [[whale oil]], which was used widely in lamps.

Sag Harbor became a major port for the whaling industry, and the processing and sale of this oil. By 1789 Sag Harbor had "had more tons of square-rigged vessels engaged in commerce than even [[New York City]]."<ref>{{cite news|first=Steve |last=Wick |title=Sag Harbor's Heyday -- Newsday.com |url=http://www.newsday.com/community/guide/lihistory/ny-hs502a,0,6172143.story?coll=ny-lihistory-navigation |work=[[Newsday]] |date=February 23, 2008 |access-date=July 4, 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071001003551/http://www.newsday.com/community/guide/lihistory/ny-hs502a,0,6172143.story?coll=ny-lihistory-navigation |archive-date=October 1, 2007 }}
</ref> It had become an international port.

After the Second Session of Congress on July 31, 1789, Sag Harbor was declared as the first official port of entry to the United States. Its streets were filled with sailors, artisans, merchants, representatives of the many different cultures working in shipping and whaling. As the first stop for ships entering United States territory, Sag Harbor received ships bound for New York City. The United States government placed a customs house in the town, the first on Long Island, to collect duties and other fees.<ref>{{cite web|last=Flotteron|first=Nicole|title=A Trip Down Memory Lane In Sag Harbor|url=http://www.hamptons.com/Lifestyle/East-End-Heirlooms/13061/A-Trip-Down-Memory-Lane-In-Sag-Harbor.html#.Uw1ekXlH2lI|publisher=Hamptons.com|access-date=February 23, 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://johnjermain.org/historyroom.html|title=The Sag Harbor History Room|publisher=John Jermain Memorial Library|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130924204708/http://johnjermain.org/historyroom.html|archive-date=September 24, 2013|access-date=February 23, 2014}}</ref>

During the [[War of 1812]], a British squadron dominated and controlled most of Long Island Sound. Several open British boats entered the harbor at night, without any advance planning; the young commanding midshipman, C. Claxton R.N., was curious about the village. He later wrote about his youthful misadventures years when serving as editor of ''The Naval Monitor.'' They landed at the wharf, but an alarm gun was fired before they could set fire to the coasting vessel docked there and they quickly retreated. Claxton and his men made it safely back to [[HMS Ramillies (1785)|HMS ''Ramillies'']], anchored off [[Gardiners Island]].<ref>''The Naval Monitor: containing many useful hints for both the public and private conduct of the young gentlemen in, or entering, the profession, in all its branches; in the course of which, and under the remarks on gunnery, are some observations on the naval actions with America: also, a plan for improving the naval system, as far as it regards the most useful set of petty officers, the midshipmen,'' C. Claxton, G.B. Whittaker; Simpkin and Marshall, 1828</ref>

The village of Sag Harbor is in the Towns of both Southampton and East Hampton. The dividing line is Division Street,{{citation needed|date=June 2019}} known as Town Line Road just south of the village. Most of the defining 19th-century landmarks of the village&nbsp;— including its Main Street, [[Old Whaler's Church (Sag Harbor)|Old Whaler's Church]], [[John Jermain Memorial Library]], [[Sag Harbor Whaling Museum|Whaling Museum]], [[Custom House (Sag Harbor, New York)|Custom House]], the Old Burying Ground, [[Oakland Cemetery (Sag Harbor, New York)|Oakland Cemetery]], [[Mashashimuet Park]], and Otter Pond are in Southampton. However, almost all of the Bay Street marina complex, including Sag Harbor Yacht Club and Breakwater Yacht Club, at the foot of Main Street, is in East Hampton. Also there are the village's high school, the [[Sag Harbor State Golf Course]], and the historic [[freedmen]]'s community of Eastville, first developed in the early 1800s.<ref>[https://www.eastvillehistorical.org/ Eastville Historical Society].</ref>

The whaling industry in Sag Harbor peaked in the 1840s, but its importance had been widely recognized. Writer [[Herman Melville]] mentioned Sag Harbor in his novel ''[[Moby Dick]]''.<ref>
{{cite web
 |url=http://etcweb.princeton.edu/cgi-bin/aglimpse.batke/14?query=Harbor&errors=0&maxfiles=100&maxlines=30
 |title=Result for query "Harbor"
 |access-date=July 4, 2008
 |work=The Princeton Text Archive
 |publisher=The Educational Technologies Center, [[Princeton University]]
}}
</ref> 
<blockquote>Arrived at last in old Sag Harbor; and seeing what the sailors did there; and then going on to [[Nantucket]], and seeing how they spent their wages in that place also, poor [[Queequeg]] gave it up for lost. Thought he, it's a wicked world in all meridians; I'll die a pagan.<ref>
{{cite book
 |last=Melville
 |first=Herman
 |author-link=Herman Melville
 |title=Moby Dick
 |year=1851
 |access-date=July 4, 2008
 |chapter=Chapter xii&nbsp;— BIOGRAPHICAL
 |chapter-url=http://etcweb.princeton.edu/cgi-bin/mfs.batke/14/moby_012.html?64#mfs
 }}</ref></blockquote>

Historic buildings from this period include the [[Old Whaler's Church (Sag Harbor)|Old Whaler's Church]], a [[Presbyterian]] church that sported a {{convert|185|ft|m|adj=mid|-high}} [[steeple (architecture)|steeple]]. When the church opened in 1843, the steeple made it the tallest structure on [[Long Island]].<ref>Oliver Peterson, "Push is on to rebuild church steeple", ''East Hampton Press'', June 13, 2007</ref> The steeple collapsed during the [[Great Hurricane of 1938]]. While the church has received major restoration, the steeple has not been rebuilt.

Whaling merchant Benjamin Huntting II commissioned a grand, 1845 [[Greek Revival]] home designed by American architect [[Minard Lafever]]. It is now owned and used by The Sag Harbor Whaling & Historical Museum, which is open to the public. The Masonic Lodge (Wamponamon 437), which occupies the second floor, celebrated its 150th anniversary in 2008.

Lafever is also credited with designing the Old Whaler's Church and the Masonic Temple. The broken mast monument in Oakland Cemetery is the most visible of several memorials to men who died at sea.

The whaling business collapsed after 1847, as other methods were discovered to create [[kerosene]] and other fuels; the first was [[coal oil]]. The discovery of [[petroleum]] in [[Titusville, Pennsylvania]], in 1859 sealed the end.

Many of the ships based in Sag Harbor carried erstwhile miners around South America to [[San Francisco]] during the [[California Gold Rush]], where the vessels were abandoned. The last whaling ship&nbsp;— the ''Myra'', captained by Henry W. Babcock&nbsp;— sailed from Sag Harbor in 1871.<ref>{{cite news|first=Bill |last=Bleyer |title=Sag Harbor&nbsp;— A Port Bigger Than New York |url=http://www.newsday.com/community/guide/lihistory/ny-historytown-hist006c,0,6589760.story |date=February 23, 2008 |access-date=July 4, 2008 |quote=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. |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080511160510/http://www.newsday.com/community/guide/lihistory/ny-historytown-hist006c,0,6589760.story |archive-date=May 11, 2008 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|title=Guide to Sag Harbor Landmarks, Homes & History|last1=Weisburg|first1=Henry|last2=Donneson|first2=Lisa|last3=McKusick|first3=Diana|publisher=The John Street Press in association with the Sag Harbor Historical Society|year=1975|location=Sag Harbor, New York|pages=39}}</ref>

[[Mercator Cooper]] sailed as crew out of Sag Harbor on November 9, 1843, on the [[Manhattan (1843 ship)|''Manhattan'']]. He was on a voyage to Japan, and became one of the first Americans to visit [[Tokyo Bay]]. [[Pyrrhus Concer]], an African-American sailor, also served on the ship; he was the first African-American man known to be seen by the [[Japan]]ese. Cooper continued with major sailing expeditions. On January 26, 1853, he left Sag Harbor on the [[Levant (ship)|''Levant'']], bound to the South Pole. He was the first person to set foot on [[East Antarctica]].

In 1870 the [[Long Island Rail Road]] built a [[Sag Harbor Branch]] to the village. It began to carry visitors and summer residents attracted to the harbor and the light of eastern Long Island. Given changes in passenger traffic and railroad operations, the [[Sag Harbor (LIRR station)|former station]] is now operated as a gardening store.

New residents continued to settle in the village. In 1896, the oldest [[synagogue]] on Long Island, [[Temple Adas Israel (Sag Harbor)|Temple Adas Israel]], was founded in Sag Harbor.

During [[World War I]], the [[E. W. Bliss Company]] tested [[torpedo]]es in the harbor a half mile north of the village. (They did not have live warheads.) As part of the process, Long Wharf in Sag Harbor was reinforced with [[concrete]]. Rail spurs were built along the wharf to carry torpedoes to be loaded onto ships for testing. At the time, the wharf was owned by the Long Island Rail Road, which handled the transport of torpedoes to Sag Harbor. Among those observing the tests was [[Thomas Alva Edison]]. Divers occasionally still find torpedoes from this era on the bay floor. Most of the wharf's buildings, including one now operated as the Bay Street Theatre, were built during this period.

Sag Harbor was the residence of writer [[John Steinbeck]] from 1955 until his death in 1968. Steinbeck did some of his writings in a little house on the edge of his property,<ref>{{cite web|last=Horst|first=Frenz|title=John Steinbeck - Biographical|url=https://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/literature/laureates/1962/steinbeck-bio.html|publisher=NobelPrize.org|access-date=February 26, 2014}}</ref> including ''[[The Winter of Our Discontent]]'', which was set in a fictionalized version of Sag Harbor and whose main character works at a grocery store modelled after Schiavoni's.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Shillinglaw |first1=Susan |title=Introduction to The Winter of Our Discontent |date=2008 |publisher=Penguin Books |isbn=9780143039488}}</ref> His view from the writing house overlooked the Upper Sag Harbor Cove. As recounted in his memoir, ''[[Travels with Charley]]'', Steinbeck started an 11-week trip with his dog, Charley, from Sag Harbor across the United States.<ref>{{cite news|last=Kilgannon|first=Corey|title=At Steinbeck's Getaway As Heirs' Feud Revives|url=http://connection.ebscohost.com/c/articles/53868382|access-date=February 26, 2014|newspaper=New York Times|date=September 24, 2010}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=McGrath|first=Charles|title=A Reality Check for Steinbeck and Charley|newspaper=The New York Times|date=April 3, 2011 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/04/books/steinbecks-travels-with-charley-gets-a-fact-checking.html}}</ref>

Steinbeck Writers' Retreat is a writer's residency program at John Steinbeck's home in Sag Harbor. It is run by the [[Michener Center for Writers]] at the University of Texas in Austin. Every fellow and writer-in-residence interacts with the community during their time at the residency, through readings from novels, film screenings and discussions, or read-throughs of plays.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Vecsey |first=Taylor K. |date=March 31, 2023 |title=History Written: John Steinbeck's Sag Harbor Home Preserved |url=https://behindthehedges.com/john-steinbeck-sag-harbor-home-preserved/ |access-date=February 14, 2024 |website=behindthehedges.com |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Steinbeck Writers' Retreat – Michener Center for Writers |url=https://michener.utexas.edu/steinbeck-writers-retreat/ |access-date=February 14, 2024 |language=en-US}}</ref>

The Church is a nonprofit arts center in Sag Harbor was founded by artists [[Eric Fischl]] and [[April Gornik]]. It opened April 15, 2021, and has an exhibition space and artists residency program.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Libbey |first=Peter |date=April 9, 2021 |title=The Church, an Arts Center in Sag Harbor, Is Opening |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2021/04/08/arts/design/the-church-sag-harbor.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230422180202/https://www.nytimes.com/2021/04/08/arts/design/the-church-sag-harbor.html |archive-date=April 22, 2023 |access-date=February 15, 2024 |work=[[The New York Times]] |pages=C7}}</ref>[[File:John Steinbeck writing house.JPG|thumb|Photo of John Steinbeck's writing house.]]The Sag Harbor-[[North Haven, New York|North Haven]] Bridge was renamed in November 2008 as The LCpl Jordan Haerter Veterans' Memorial Bridge. It is believed to be the site of the 1995 suicide of [[Ray Johnson]], a [[pop art|Pop]] artist. [[Spalding Gray]], a writer and performer, attempted suicide at the bridge in September 2002 and October 2003.

===African-American history===
The [[United States Coast and Geodetic Survey|United States Coast Survey]] map from the mid-1830s shows the square symbols for houses in the Eastville area.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Long Island maps and their makers: five centuries of cartographic history.|last=Allen|first=David Yehling|publisher=Amereon House|year=1997|isbn=9780848818043}}</ref> By 1840, the [[St David African Methodist Episcopal Zion Cemetery|St. David A.M.E. Zion]] congregation built a church on Eastville Avenue.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Sag Harbor: the Story of an American Beauty.|last=Zaykowski|first=Dorothy|publisher=Sag Harbor Historical Society|year=1991|isbn=978-0848808990|location=Sag Harbor, NY|pages=182–183}}</ref>

Poet and educator [[Olivia Ward Bush-Banks]] (1869–1944) was born in Sag Harbour on February 27, 1869, to parents of African and Montauk descent. Noted Author [[Colson Whitehead]] wrote the book ''[[Sag Harbor (novel)|Sag Harbor]]'' about his childhood in the area.

After the Second World War, African Americans started to settle in what became the neighborhoods of Sag Harbor Hills, Ninevah, [[Amaza Lee Meredith|Azurest]], Eastville and Chatfield's Hill. Mrs. Hunter J. Terry (1887 - 1968) had been a regular summer visitor here, at a coastal woodland acreage she called Azurest. She urged the owners, the Gales of Huntington, L.I., to develop the land as a peaceful resort for African Americans.<ref>{{Cite news|title=Mrs. Hunter J.Terry Obituary|date=November 21, 1968|work=Sag Harbor Express}}</ref> Lots were cheap at the time, although loans were not available. Thus lots and houses are small. The streets Terry Drive, Richards Drive, and Meredith Avenue were named for members of her family. The roads Walker and Milton were named for African-American whalers. Cuffee Drive was named for [[Paul Cuffee]], a prominent African-American whaler. The first homeowners and two more generations had lived here near the beach by the time Mrs. Terry died in the late 1960s.[https://www.eastvillehistorical.org/] Later a few African-American celebrities and prominent New York businessmen made their summer homes there.

As of the 2010s, there is pressure from investors who, consolidating lots and planning to build larger houses than is customary, pose a threat to the character of the neighborhoods.<ref name="NYT82516">{{cite news|author1=John Leland|title=Investors Move Next Door, Unsettling a Black Beachside Enclave|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/08/26/nyregion/new-neighbors-unsettle-black-enclave-sag-harbor-hills.html|access-date=August 26, 2016|work=The New York Times|date=August 25, 2016|quote=As house prices in the Hamptons soar, Sag Harbor Hills and its neighbors are now luring investors looking for bargains.|author1-link=John Leland (journalist)}}</ref> In 2016, a collective group was formed to study these impacts on the Sag Harbor Hills, Azurest, and Ninevah Subdivisions, known by the acronym SANS. They have begun a survey of the historic resources of this area, believing they may gain listing as a historic district on the State and [[National Register of Historic Places]], through which they could establish protection for the district. On July 10, 2019
(NP ref#100004217) was listed as the [[Sag Harbor Hills, Azurest, and Ninevah Beach Subdivisions Historic District]].