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Introduction SpendingTime in the Hamptons Going West on Long Island remains in a way a trip forward in time. The line between rural-resort and outer suburbia is as clear as the line of smog visible on a sunny day somewhere up toward Patchogue . . . which is about where the small temples of that late twentieth century chimera of the tax-conscious outer-suburban, light industry, first appeared . Farther west, in Nassau County, the clock reverses itself, and one is traveling backward toward the brick warehouses and tall chimneys of the late nineteenth century until, through the Industrial Revolution stench of the rendering plants in Long Island City, one sights the two towers of Babel and the declining years of the Twentieth Century, the World Trade Center, looming over lower Manhattan. . . . Digging for the Center’s foundations, workmen found timbers of a ship buried deep in the muck of what was once the east bank of the Hudson. Some think they were part of Adrien Block’s Tyger, burned there before he explored Long Island Sound to Block Island in 1614. —Everett T. Rattray, The South Fork While the September 11 terrorism attack on New York City has spurred new worries about the state of the economy andAmericans’ sense of security , many real estate agents on the East End suggest that the horrific eventmightactuallyturnoutgoodforbusinessasmorefamilies,seeking refuge, move here permanently . . . “for the answer, look to the schools,” said Diane Saatchi of Dayton Halstead Real Estate in East Hampton. “Schoolenrollmenthasskyrocketedaroundhere.Thesearepeoplewho came out here and never went back and aren’t planning to.” . . . Cook Pony Farm has seen an “influx, for the first time ever, of people wanting to rent a house immediately or buy a house that they can move into tomorrow ....Lastweek,wehadourfirstWorldTradeCentersurvivor.” —Steven Kotz, Southampton Press (October 4, 2001) So we beat on, boats against the center, borne back ceaselessly into the past. —F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby 1 The post-9/11 flood of migrants from New York City to the Hamptons may have made local news, but it certainly was not the first time that signs of urban danger or decay inspired metropolitans to seek the more peaceful, bucolic landscapes of Long Island’s East End.1 The earliest wave of aristocratic “summer people” arrived in search of unspoiled beaches and a calming environment. Urban life’s growing chaos and the spreading fears of disease from an increasingly “dirty and smelly” city (especially during the summer months) motivated more and more rich city folks to establish summer colonies in the late nineteenth Century . Over the next one hundred years, various populations came to the Hamptons, some for work and some for play. But all were driven by the attractions of an “anti-urban” landscape that promised a living and a lifestyle markedly different from those of New York City. And, in each case, these social and economic migrations created a struggle between the new and the more traditional populations in the area, ultimately producing a history of conquest and resistance in the Hamptons. This is the story of how history and geography impact the lives of people and places, shaping their experiences and their identities. But this is also a story about the politics of time and space. While science teaches us that continuous motion is a natural law, human history has demonstrated that most earthly forces and conditions are physically controlled and negotiated by individual and collective action. Thus, people manipulate the actual shape and course of constant change. The history of the Hamptons is a story about the power it takes to shape changes in, and over, time and space. Those who control the lion’s share of power take the lead in inscribing the physical and cultural landscape with their own imprimaturs . But those with limited resources also struggle to survive economically and to establish a sense of social identity and political autonomy . Sometimes the weak succumb, but never easily, simply, or forever. More often, they negotiate the policies and practices of the rich and powerful with their own cultural expressions, social practices, and political protests. The history of the Hamptons reflects these dynamics. It is one of conquests, but it is also one of resistance. Such opposing forces have resulted in a tradition of sometimes subtle dialogue, sometimes volatile conflict, but always a rich variety of mediations and negotiations , adaptations and impositions. In essence, it is a history of struggle. 2 INTRODUCTION [3.140.188.16] Project MUSE...

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