Welcome to the Town of Southampton Historic Resources Site
The Town of Southampton, New York State’s first English colony, traces its history to 1640, when a small group of settlers from Lynn, Massachusetts, set out to form their own settlement. Eastern Long Island was then inhabited by Native Americans; on its westerly end where the settlers first landed, it was claimed by the Dutch.
Finding a spot to stake out their claim to “eight miles square of land” was therefore far from easy, but after exploring the southern coastline of Long Island Sound, the settlers discovered a secluded harbor now known as North Sea Harbor. It is there that the Lynn colonists finally made landfall at a place later called Conscience Point, and founded a settlement they named Southampton.
First English Colony
The Town of Southampton is proud to be New York State’s first English colony. The town’s records extend back to the founding of the settlement in 1640, and include agreements and land exchanges, inventories and vital records, and numerous documents that portray the expansion and evolution of the early colony. Please enjoy the pages that follow and if you have any questions, feel free to contact the town historian.