There are few things more iconic about the East End than the dramatic, windswept dunes that form part of our beach landscapes. Many of these dunes have been eroded by the sea or lost to development, but many others still stand.
Dunes are formed when strong winds blow the dry sand at the base of the beach into a barrier of some sort, usually formed by beachgrass or other vegetation, thus trapping the sand and forming a mound that will go on to become a dune. Sand dunes are an important part of our landscape, providing protection from high waves and coastal flooding.
Oceanfront estates are especially vulnerable — the former estate of Carolyn Tyson (1905-1996), for one. For many years Carolyn inhabited a large compound off Further Lane in East Hampton (on a street now known as Tyson Lane). She was active in the community as an artist, proponent of historical preservation, conservationist, and all-around patron of the arts.
As part of these efforts, she willed eight acres of her waterfront property to the Nature Conservancy. The tract was part of an area known as the Double Dunes, a stretch of land bounded by the Maidstone Club on one end and Beach Hampton in Amagansett on the other. This donation helped put a majority of the Double Dunes area into the hands of the Nature Conservancy, helping to preserve the landscape for coming generations.
A study of the Tyson Dunes, as they came to be known, revealed that they were higher than other dunes in the vicinity, and were backed by a sea-cut bluff, a sort of overhanging cliff formed by wave erosion. While the dunes have been damaged by storms and the like in the intervening years, they are still visible from the beach between the Maidstone Club and Amagansett.
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Julia Tyson is a librarian and archivist in the East Hampton Library’s Long Island Collection.
