Villages

On March 13, 1851, Henry Thomas Dering wrote from Connecticut to his older sister, Frances Mary Dering, in Sag Harbor, inquiring about someone named Hagar. But who was Hagar?

The East Hampton Town Trustees and Suffolk County have advised the public that a bloom of toxic cyanobacteria, or blue-green algae, has been detected in Georgica Pond, posing a threat to public health.

To book a beach table this Saturday, during Labor Day weekend, groups must spend a minimum of $5,000. A table on the deck this weekend costs a minimum of $10,000. Along with good music, a great view, and a beautiful crowd, that might be part of the appeal.

Two lifeguards, “Dr.” Sam John and Wilmot Baker, notched their 18th save at the Maidstone bathing beach a hundred years ago. Plus much more for you news junkies and history buffs.

“You hear them before you see them,” Nick Lombardo, a fifth-year lifeguard at Indian Wells Beach in Amagansett, said. A thundering rumble, a vibration in the chest; when the Air National Guard 106th Rescue Wing's military aircraft fly by “the whole beach looks up.” But what are these immense machines, and what are they doing?

Amistad Week, commemorating the slave ship that was seized off Montauk in 1839 and featuring a series of events in the hamlet dedicated to history, art, and community, begins next week.

Did you know East Hampton once hosted the Hampton Classic Horse Show? This Dan Rattiner map shows the layout at Dune Alpin Farm in 1979.

A new book — “Memories of Gosman’s Dock, by the Help” — is a love letter to the local institution Gosman’s used to be, before it changed ownership last fall.

The day Stephen Talkhouse, the man, landed at the East Hampton Library — his portrait by Charles Day Hunt, anyway. And more coverage from our deep and storied past.

At the Montauk Lighthouse, a national historic landmark, the Third New York Regiment will show off their Revolutionary War uniforms and accouterments, and the Kings of the Coast Pirates will perform. Downtown, the Montauk Artists Association is holding its second art show and sale of the summer.

A senior scientist spots only 20 humpback whales this season here, down from 121 at this point in 2024. But we were spoiled: Last year was an aberration.

At the Clamshell Foundation’s annual Sandcastle Contest at Atlantic Avenue Beach in Amagansett on Saturday, there were surprisingly few castles. Instead, builders of all ages worked together to create all sorts of other unique designs. 

Service was paused at Gosman’s Topside, Inlet Cafe, and Clam Bar restaurants on Friday afternoon so the blessing of good health for Kate Hobbes could be celebrated by the tight-knit staff.

This East Hampton Star archive snapshot of Frederica Gallatin (1913-2003) on the beach at the Maidstone Club depicts what a beach day in the 1930s would look like for young women in the summer colony.

Robert Hefner and Kay Spear Gibson had been searching for some time for a suitable tribute to honor Isabel (Min) Spear Hefner, his wife and her sister, who died in 2023 of breast cancer. When they found an auction listing for a painting by Mary Nimmo Moran they “instantly knew” it would be the perfect way to memorialize Min’s “beauty, her incredible bravery.”

Best in show at the Consolidated Hamptons Dog Show of 1925 at the Meadow Club in Southampton? A Sealyham terrier. And much more from our past pages.

The John Jermain Memorial Library in Sag Harbor has put out a call for candidates to run for its board in the Sept. 25 election and budget vote.

Nellie Lawrence Tiffany (1883-1966) read this essay at her East Hampton High graduation. It attests to her scholastic efforts and some concerns that echo those of students today.

A few hundred lucky subscribers to SiriusXM satellite radio will be treated to a concert by Metallica, one of the biggest bands in the world, when the broadcaster holds its annual concert at the Stephen Talkhouse in Amagansett on Aug. 28.

The long-awaited ribbon-cutting ceremony for the Montauk Playhouse aquatic and cultural centers is planned for Friday, Aug. 15, at 2 p.m.

The Y.M.C.A. East Hampton RECenter has announced a fund-raising campaign with a goal of $15,000 to build a new playground on its property in the village.

“No horses allowed to stand here, per order Gen. Youngs.” Such was Montauk in the year 1900. Plus much more ripped from our storied pages.

It’s property tax time in East Hampton Village, which is again offering three ways for residents to submit payments.

The New York State Broadcasters Association has announced its 2025 Hall of Fame inductees, with its president, David Donovan, praising the class as setting the “gold standard” for New York broadcasting. Among the six honorees are Sag Harbor’s own radio legends Bill Evans and Gary Sapiane, both of WLNG 92.1 FM.

The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation issued an air quality health advisory on July 26 because of particulate matter, descending on the East End from wildfires that are again raging in Canada. If the East End were a city, it would have been ranked seventh worst in the world, between Doha, Qatar, and Lahore, Pakistan, according to iqair.com.

The Amagansett Village Improvement Society will tip its collective hat to Joan Tulp on Saturday. “I don’t think I’ve met anyone more committed to their hometown than Joan,” said Victor Gelb, who serves as co-president of the group with her.

In a surprise announcement on Monday, LTV, which operates East Hampton Town’s public access channel, announced that Michael Clark, its executive director since October 2019, has resigned. Jonathan Olken, chairman of LTV’s board of directors, has also resigned, and Ellen Watson, LTV’s longtime operations manager, is soon to retire.

Dennis and Barbara D’Andrea have been active as preservationists and community advocates for as long as the collective institutional memory of Wainscott serves.

This photograph from the C. Frank Dayton Photo Collection at the East Hampton Library shows the A.O. Jones Hardware Store at 51 Newtown Lane. Owned by Asa O. Jones (1857-1953), it later became East End Hardware and today is A.L.C., a clothing store.

Through a window in the second-floor den of a house on Cranberry Hole Road, the undeveloped dunescape of Napeague State Parks comes into view. The house — on the market with Sotheby’s at $3.8 million — was sited deliberately to take in as much of the landscape as possible.