Hither Hills State Park in Montauk features sandy beaches, hiking trails, and unique walking dunes. It also offers unmatched camping on the beach. Camping at Hither Hills is a summer tradition that has been enjoyed for generations.
In 1892, construction of a new road off the side of Hither Woods gave people quicker access to Montauk Point. The new road ran along the ocean for a scenic view and cut off about a mile of the journey to Montauk Point. Hither Hills, however, didn’t open as a state park until 1924, after Robert Moses (1888-1981), the chairman of the Long Island State Park Commission, acquired the land for public use.
After the park opened, lifeguards were added for ocean swimming in 1928 and the campground opened in 1929. Further development of the park and motorways allowed for more visitors, and the campground allowed visitors to spend more time there. In the 1930s, the State Highway Department began paving the stretch of highway from Hither Hills State Park to the Montauk Lighthouse, connecting the two.
As soon as the campground opened, camping on the beach became popular, as is shown in this postcard, which illustrates that popularity through rows of tents and the number of early automobiles. While this postcard is undated, the appearance of the tents, vehicles, and dirt roads suggest it is probably from between 1929 and 1936, when paved roads were starting to be added to recreational areas of state parks.
Today, camping might look a little different, as some might opt for mobile R.V. campers in place of the types of tents seen in this postcard, but campers continue to make memories at Hither Hills year after year.
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Kristen Ahearn is a librarian and archivist in the Long Island Collection.
