Southampton, New York
Town
Town of Southampton
Flag Seal
Location in Suffolk County
Show Southampton Show New York Show the United States
Coordinates: 40°53′7″N 72°23′43″W / 40.88528°N 72.39528°W / 40.88528; -72.39528
Country	United States
State	New York
County	Suffolk
Government
• Type	Civil township
• Supervisor	Jay Schneiderman (D)
Area [1]
• Total	293.46 sq mi (760.06 km2)
• Land	139.13 sq mi (360.35 km2)
• Water	154.33 sq mi (399.71 km2)
Elevation	26 ft (8 m)
Population  (2020)[2]
• Total	69,036
• Density	496.19/sq mi (191.58/km2)
Time zone	UTC−5 (Eastern (EST))
• Summer (DST)	UTC−4 (EDT)
ZIP Codes	11968-11969
Area code	631
FIPS code	36-103-68473
GNIS feature ID	0965893
Website	www.southamptontownny.gov

Southampton, officially the Town of Southampton, is a town in southeastern Suffolk County, New York, partly on the South Fork of Long Island. As of the 2020 U.S. census, the town had a population of 69,036.^[2] Southampton is included in the stretch of shoreline prominently known as the Hamptons.

Stony Brook University has a campus in Southampton.

History

The town was founded in 1640,^[3] when settlers from Lynn, Massachusetts, established residence on lands obtained from local Shinnecock Indian Nation.^[4] The first settlers included eight men, one woman, and a boy who came ashore at Conscience Point. These men were Thomas Halsey, Edward Howell, Edmond Farrington, Allen Bread, Edmund Needham, Abraham Pierson the Elder, Thomas Sayre, Josiah Stanborough, George Welbe, Henry Walton and Job Sayre.^[4] By July 7, 1640, they had determined the town boundaries. During the next few years (1640–43), Southampton gained another 43 families; there are now thousands of people in Southampton.

From 1644, the colonists established an organised whale fishery, significant in the history of whaling as the first in New England. They chased pilot whales ("blackfish") onto the shelving beaches for slaughter, a sort of dolphin drive hunting. They also processed drift whales they found on shore. They observed the Native Americans' hunting techniques, improved on their weapons and boats, and then went out to ocean hunting.^[5]

The first meeting house was on a hill that is the site of the current Southampton Hospital. The town's oldest existent house is the Halsey House at 249 Main Street, which was built by Thomas Halsey, one of the first Englishmen to trade with the Shinnecocks.^[6]

Southampton has 47 public and private cemeteries,^[7] not including Shinnecock Hills Golf Club, which is claimed as an Indian burial ground that is no longer in active use.^[8] Southampton is named after the port city of Southampton in Hampshire, England.

Southampton operates an official historical web site.^[9] The site shows the locations of over 100 points of interest, historic markers, and historic districts as well as over 1500 photos.

Native American land claim

In 2005, the Shinnecock Indian Nation filed a lawsuit against the state seeking the return of 3,500 acres (14 km²) in Southampton near the tribe's reservation, and billions of dollars in reparations for damages suffered by colonial land grabs. The disputed property includes the Shinnecock Hills Golf Club, which Shinnecock say is the location of tribe burial grounds. The tribe challenged the state legislatures' approval of an 1859 sale of the 3,500 acres of tribal land. The tribe alleged this broke the terms of a 1,000-year-lease signed by Southampton colonial officials and the tribe in 1703. The suit charged that in 1859, a group of powerful New York investors conspired to break the lease by sending the state Legislature a fraudulent petition from a number of Shinnecock tribal members. Although other tribal members immediately protested that the petition was a forgery, the legislature approved the sale of 3,500 acres (14 km²) of tribal land.^[10] In 2006, the court ruled against the tribe finding the lawsuit was barred by laches.^[11]

Geography

Southampton is bounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the south, the Peconic Bay to the north, East Hampton to the east, and Brookhaven to the west. It also shares a small border with Riverhead to the northwest.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has an area of 293.5 square miles (760 km²), of which 139.1 square miles (360 km²) is land and 154.3 square miles (400 km²) (52.59%) is water.^[1]

Southampton contains seven incorporated villages and 16 unincorporated areas, which are called hamlets in New York state.^[12]

Villages (incorporated)

Source:^[13]

• North Haven
• Quogue
• Sag Harbor – east of Division Street is in the Town of East Hampton
• Sagaponack
• Southampton (village)
• Westhampton Beach
• West Hampton Dunes

Hamlets (unincorporated)

Source:^{[citation needed]}

Climate

The Town of Southampton has a hot-summer humid continental climate (Dfa) bordering a humid subtropical climate (Cfa). It has one to two months averaging below freezing, six months above 50 °F (10 °C), and one to two months above 22 °C (72 °F).