Sunday, August 14, 2022
Subscribe to Guide
No Result
View All Result
Hamptons.com
  • Live Cameras
    • All Live Cameras
    • Live! Weather Cams
    • 39A Corner
    • Main Beach
    • South Ferry
    • Coopers Beach
    • Southampton Village (South)
    • Southampton Village (North)
    • Southampton Village (Hildreths)
    • Downtown Circle Montauk
    • Long Island Aquarium | Shark Tank
    • Long Island Aquarium | Coral Reef
    • Tiana Beach
    • Ponquogue Beach
    • Ponquogue Bridge
    • Shinnecock Fishing Dock
    • Village Main Street
    • Downtown Sag Harbor
    • Windmill Beach Sag Harbor
    • Foster Memorial Beach
    • Conscience Point Marina
  • Public WiFi
  • Happening
    • Arts
    • Community
    • Dining
    • Entertainment
    • Kids
    • Recreation
    • Real Estate
    • Events Calendar
    • Post an Event
    • Gallery
    • Spotlight
  • Real Estate
    • Open Houses
    • Search Sales
    • Search Rentals
    • Recorded Sales
    • Title Insurance
  • Live Cameras
    • All Live Cameras
    • Live! Weather Cams
    • 39A Corner
    • Main Beach
    • South Ferry
    • Coopers Beach
    • Southampton Village (South)
    • Southampton Village (North)
    • Southampton Village (Hildreths)
    • Downtown Circle Montauk
    • Long Island Aquarium | Shark Tank
    • Long Island Aquarium | Coral Reef
    • Tiana Beach
    • Ponquogue Beach
    • Ponquogue Bridge
    • Shinnecock Fishing Dock
    • Village Main Street
    • Downtown Sag Harbor
    • Windmill Beach Sag Harbor
    • Foster Memorial Beach
    • Conscience Point Marina
  • Public WiFi
  • Happening
    • Arts
    • Community
    • Dining
    • Entertainment
    • Kids
    • Recreation
    • Real Estate
    • Events Calendar
    • Post an Event
    • Gallery
    • Spotlight
  • Real Estate
    • Open Houses
    • Search Sales
    • Search Rentals
    • Recorded Sales
    • Title Insurance
No Result
View All Result
Hamptons.com

Sixty-Something: Gardiner’s Island – The Mysterious Private Island Of East Hampton

T.J. Clemente by T.J. Clemente
September 14, 2020
in Community
Home Community

I have spent the last 17 years infatuated with all things Gardiner’s Island. I see it every time I sail in Gardiner’s Bay, which is quite often. It is the most unknown part of East Hampton Town. There are lores, mysteries and history all about the island that is 6 miles long, 3 miles wide that has 27 miles of coastline and is owned by one person, Alexandra Creel Goelet. She was awarded sole ownership after the death of Robert David Lion Gardiner.

When I sail close to its shores, I conjure up all sorts of thoughts. Having covered many things Hamptons for the last 17 years – for both printed papers and websites, I have written about this island perhaps 100 times. I believe my first assignment about Gardiner’s Island was back in 2004, when I wrote a very boring article about Ms. Goelet’s offer to place a conservation easement on the island in exchange for a promise from the Town of East Hampton not to rezone the land, change its assessment or attempt to acquire it by condemnation; and how then Ms. Goelet and East Hampton Town agreed upon the easement through 2025. Back then, 2025 seemed a million years away, but that agreement is coming up for renegotiation and now the island is reportedly worth well over $100,000,000.

When I sail along the northwest part of Gardiner’s Island, either towards Montauk, the Gull Island Lighthouse or the Block Island Sound, like everyone else I stare at the landmark now called the ruins, the ruins of Fort Tyler! There is debate whether the Fort, built in 1904, was named for Daniel Tyler or President John Tyler. Army documents state $500,000 was appropriated at the start of the Spanish-American War to secure “East Coast” defenses by building a fort there. Over time, the shifting sands of the point it’s located on caused problems for the fort and it was abandoned in the late 1920s. Then, in 1938, the island (the fort is an island at high tide) was declared a National Bird Refuge by President Franklin D. Roosevelt and transferred to the Agriculture Department. However, during World War II, Fort Tyler was used for target practice and was reduced to its present state where it is popularly called “The Ruins.” I have taken hundreds of photos because I just can’t help but look at it over and over again – as I make sure I sail by as close as is safe, because they say there are very dangerous unspent live munitions left over around it. Fascinating to know between 1854 and 1894 there was a Gardiner’s Island Lighthouse there!

Gardiner’s Island. (Photo: TJ Clemente)


Then there is the pure history of the island. How the founder, in 1639, was awarded the island by the Native Americans after negotiating a peace between warring Native Americans. How the “British Crown” legitimized his ownership. Perhaps the most famous is of the pirate Captain Kidd and of him burying his treasure on the island in June 1699, having stopped there while sailing to Boston to answer to charges of illegal piracy against the crown.

When I sail to Louse Point, I always see the big white windmill, the farmhouse, and the main house, of course not the original historic home, that was lost in a fire. What I remember most when I look at the island is not theories of folks walking and driving trucks across a frozen Gardiner’s Bay from Springs Fireplace to the island, nor the fact that both Prince Phillip and Prince Charles paid a visit to tour the Bostwick’s Oak Forest on the island, then called the undisturbed oak forest in the world. What I remember is the very first year I owned a sailboat, back in 2003 on the Thursday before Labor Day, I tried to sail/motor around the whole island starting by going northwest. I thought I had done it successfully as I was all but through the Cartwright Island Shoals, until boom the boat was stuck and listing badly in less than a foot-deep of water. I was stranded there for eight hours and was rescued by not one, but two sea tow boats. I have never attempted that route ever since. I once swam to the shore on the beach of Bostwick Bay. I was 61-years-old, but felt like Tom Sawyer or Huck Finn for the only ten minutes I stood on Gardiner’s Island. Someday I am going to figure out how to get a tour.

Previous Post

North Fork TV Festival Teams Up With Long Island’s Founding Vineyard For Fifth Annual Festival

Next Post

INTERVIEW: Laura Luciano On Slow Food East End’s Upcoming Virtual Events Featuring Local Chefs, Farmers And Beverage Artisans

T.J. Clemente

T.J. Clemente

Next Post
INTERVIEW: Laura Luciano On Slow Food East End’s Upcoming Virtual Events Featuring Local Chefs, Farmers And Beverage Artisans

INTERVIEW: Laura Luciano On Slow Food East End's Upcoming Virtual Events Featuring Local Chefs, Farmers And Beverage Artisans

ADVERTISE

SEARCH ARTICLES

No Result
View All Result

Categories

  • Arts (2,182)
  • Community (1,937)
  • Dining (817)
  • Entertainment (986)
  • Featured (315)
  • Gallery (2,154)
  • Kids (52)
  • Real Estate (652)
  • Recreation (1,607)
  • Spotlight (38)
  • Premium Water Taxi Service Le Launch, Private Passage by Sea

Elevate your next dinner out with Le Launch, a private and luxurious water taxi service in Sag Harbor. Who needs the valet when you cruise up in style to your waterside restaurant? Skip the traffic and enjoy the serenity and scenery of the Hamptons via private water taxi. @lelaunchhamptons

Read the full article at Hamptons.com (Link in Bio) #watertaxi #hamptons #lelaunch
  • Figures Transformed, Three Generations of Artists at Southampton Arts Center

Southampton Arts Center presents, FIGURES TRANSFORMED, an exhibition of work focused on the representation of human form (i.e., figures). Featuring art from three artists across generations each of whose art incorporates the figure as central imagery. This thought-provoking exhibit is approachable for frequent gallery attendees and casual viewers alike—everybody has a body! @southamptonartscenter  @deborahbuck

Read the full article at Hamptons.com (Link in Bio) #southampton #southamptonartscenter #arts #figurestransformed #exhibition
  • Dom Pérignon Offers Three-Star Michelin Omakase Aboard Luxury Yacht in the Hamptons

This August, celebrate the last moments of summer with a one-of-a-kind gastronomic experience aboard a Dom Pérignon-branded yacht on the waters of Sag Harbor and Montauk.

For the first time ever, guests are invited to reserve private Dom Pérignon cruises on an 88’ San Lorenzo superyacht while enjoying a sushi omakase concepted by renowned 3-star Michelin chef Masa Takayama. His omakase experience has never been offered to book on a yacht… until now. Chef Masa crafted a unique menu designed to pair perfectly with recent Dom Pérignon vintages: Vintage 2012, Rosé 2008 and Vintage 2003 Plénitude 2. @domperignonofficial  @chefmasanyc

Read the full article at Hamptons.com (Link in Bio) #hamptons #DomPérignon #yacht #cruise #sushi #masatakayama
  • Join Arootah in the Hamptons! @arootahcoach @imentororg 

The Hamptons Summer Fête
Wednesday, Aug. 17 
from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. 

Save Your Spot 
Share a drink and hors d’oeuvres, enjoy live music, and bid on items. 

Join for their fundraiser event to support iMentor youth. 

RSVP in our LinkTree⬆️
#fundraiser #imentor #imentornyc #Hamptons #mentor
  • Broadway Out East Returns with the Biggest Stars Performing at Calissa

Broadway Out East returns this summer season at local hotspot Calissa. The Mediterranean hotspot located at 1020 Montauk Highway will host a series of performances by some of Broadway’s most talented stars including Andrew Barth Feldman, Teal Wicks, Kathryn Allison, and Brandon Victor Dixon. Broadway Out East is produced by Justin Smith, the Concertmaster of Dear Evan Hansen.  Performances at Calissa will take place each Thursday from August 11th, through August 25th. @calissahamptons

Read the full article at Hamptons.com (Link in Bio) #calissa #broadway #hamptons #summer #broadwayouteast
  • The 2022 Hampton Designer Showhouse Returns to the Hamptons this Summer

The highly acclaimed Hampton Designer Showhouse will return this Summer to Southampton, NY with a completed reimagined stately home presented by HC&G (Hamptons Cottages & Gardens). For the past 22 years, the Hampton Designer Showhouse has been the showcase for some of America’s premier design talent and has raised nearly $2M for Stony Brook Southampton Hospital since its inception. @hamptondesignershowhouse

Read the full article at Hamptons.com (Link in Bio) #hamptonsdesignershowhouse #designershowhouse #hamptons #hamptonsdesigns
Facebook Twitter Instagram Youtube
Hamptons.com

Saunders Broadcasting Corp.

Phone: 631-405-3902
Email: [email protected]
Facebook: Facebook.com/HamptonsOnline
Twitter: @Hamptons
Instagram: @HamptonsOnline

Contact Us

Happening in the Hamptons

  • Arts
  • Community
  • Dining
  • Entertainment
  • Featured
  • Gallery
  • Kids
  • Real Estate
  • Recreation
  • Spotlight

Subscribe

Get daily news updates to your inbox!

Subscribe to our mailing list to receives daily updates!

© 2021 Hamptons.com | All rights reserved
Saunders Broadcasting Corp.
Terms & Conditions | Privacy Policy | Contact Us

No Result
View All Result
  • Live Cameras
    • All Live Cameras
    • Live! Weather Cams
    • 39A Corner
    • Main Beach
    • South Ferry
    • Coopers Beach
    • Southampton Village (South)
    • Southampton Village (North)
    • Southampton Village (Hildreths)
    • Downtown Circle Montauk
    • Long Island Aquarium | Shark Tank
    • Long Island Aquarium | Coral Reef
    • Tiana Beach
    • Ponquogue Beach
    • Ponquogue Bridge
    • Shinnecock Fishing Dock
    • Village Main Street
    • Downtown Sag Harbor
    • Windmill Beach Sag Harbor
    • Foster Memorial Beach
    • Conscience Point Marina
  • Public WiFi
  • Happening
    • Arts
    • Community
    • Dining
    • Entertainment
    • Kids
    • Recreation
    • Real Estate
    • Events Calendar
    • Post an Event
    • Gallery
    • Spotlight
  • Real Estate
    • Open Houses
    • Search Sales
    • Search Rentals
    • Recorded Sales
    • Title Insurance

© 2021 Hamptons.com | All rights reserved
Saunders Broadcasting Corp.
Terms & Conditions | Privacy Policy | Contact Us