HomeMy WebLinkAboutFishers Island Becomes Part of Suffolk County
]Iii
,...
A DAILY FEATURE PRDDUCED BY THE NEWSDAY MARKETING DEPARTMENT
. -,-~------ ------- -- -- -
A30
.--------------------"-- -----------.- ---------------
___ ______u____ ,_____' ','-, , .' < ' "
IT HAPPENED:b ' ON LONG ISLAND i
.. _ __ _ _ _ _ __ _ _~ r .." ,. ._..___.__.__________________________________ _ .'
PHOTO: COLLECTION JOEL STREICH
1879: Fishers Island Becomes
Part of Suffolk County
In 1614, Dutch explorer Adrian Block discovered an
island in the Long Island Sound, two miles off
Connecticut's shore. Block is believed to have named
the island after a navigator on his ship called Vischers.
Around 1640, John Winthrop, Jr" bought Fishers Island
from the Indians. After becoming Connecticut's gover-
nor in 1657, he included the 4.1-square-mile island in his
state's royal charter. But in 1664, another charter award-
ed it to the Duke of York, along with Long Island. For the
next two centuries, New York and Connecticut disputed
ownership. In 1879, a committee of officials from both
states awarded Fishers Island to New York, making it
part of Southold Town. Because of the island's location,
however, its approximately 289 year-round residents
identify more strongly with Connecticut. Today, Fishers
Island is known as an exclusive summer vacation spot.
A map of Fishers Island is shown here. -Cynthia Blair
TOMORROW: 3.450·POUND GREAT WHITE 5HARK CAU""T /'IN , ,