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History · Hampton Bays

Hampton Bays dates to 1740, and 2 of its places are on the National Register

Most of Hampton Bays was built recently: 6% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1977. Below: 6 old photos and papers from 1873 on.

1740founded
2on the National Register
6%homes built before 1940
6old photos & papers
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Hampton Bays’ archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Hampton Bays began

When was Hampton Bays founded?

1740

Hampton Bays dates its founding to 1740 (Wikipedia’s history). Its post office opened in 1829.

2020 census: 15,228286 years
Founding year: Wikipedia. First post office: 1829.The full story ↓

What stands out about Hampton Bays’ past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

Older than the countryEstablished in 1740, 36 years before the Declaration of Independence.
★ What stands out · Timeline

Hampton Bays, 1740 to 1915

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 18th century
  2. 1740
    FoundingHampton Bays is established
  3. 19th century
  4. 1873In the archiveSouthampton
  5. 20th century
  6. 1902In the archiveSuffolk County, V. 1, Double Page Plate No. 22 (Map bounded by Part of Good Ground and Ca…
  7. 1915In the archivePart of Good Ground and Canoe Place; Eastport Speonk and Part of Remsenburg
The story

How Hampton Bays came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Hampton Bays.

Read it all →

The hamlet was settled in 1740 as "Good Ground", which became the main hamlet of eleven in the immediate area. The area where Main Street, also known as Montauk Highway, is located today, was the approximate area of the original hamlet.

There were ten other hamlets in the area. They were called Canoe Place, East Tiana, Newtown, Ponquogue, Rampasture, Red Creek, Squiretown, Southport, Springville, and West Tiana. Most of these hamlets were settled by one or two families and had their own school house. Many of the names from the former hamlets are still featured as local street names today.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

By decade

Hampton Bays, decade by decade

3 decades in the archive, from the 1870s to the 1910s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1870s–1910s6 items
Southampton1873SouthamptonMapSuffolk County, V. 1, Double Page Plate No. 22 (Map bounded by Part of Good Ground and Canoeplace, East Quogue, Quiogue)1902Suffolk County, V. 1, Double Page Plate No. 22 (Map b…MapSuffolk County, V. 1, Double Page Plate No. 5 (Map bounded by Town of Riverhead, Great Peconic Bay, Atlantic Ocean, Mor…1902Suffolk County, V. 1, Double Page Plate No. 5 (Map bo…MapPart of Good Ground and Canoe Place; Eastport Speonk and Part of Remsenburg1915Part of Good Ground and Canoe Place; Eastport Speonk …Part of Town of Southampton1915Part of Town of SouthamptonPart of Town of Southampton1915Part of Town of Southampton
1920s–1990snothing yet
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Add from your album
Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

Part of Good Ground and Canoe Place; Eastport Speonk and Part of Remsenburg
Retake this viewPart of Good Ground and Canoe Place; Eastport Speonk and Part of Remsenburg, 1915

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Hampton Bays’ page.

Retake this view · +15
On the National Register

2 historic places in Hampton Bays

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

places listed
2
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
2
each building in a district counts

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

Help out

Finish Hampton Bays’s story

Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
2 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewPart of Good Ground and Canoe Place; Ea…: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

Flanders3 historic placesnot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townShinnecock Hills1 historic placenot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townEast QuogueIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townTuckahoe1 historic placenot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Hampton Bays’ history

What year was Hampton Bays founded?

In 1740, according to Wikipedia’s history of the town. Hampton Bays’ post office opened in 1829.

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
Start a conversation
Sources

Where this page comes from

Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021). How TownRatings grades history →

From Wikimedia Commons (6) and Wikipedia. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.