Sag Harbor's whaling history
From the Harbor of Sagg to New York's first port of entry, one of the great whaling ports of the world — and what you can still see today.
From whaleboats to sunset sails
Before the yachts, Sag Harbor was one of the great whaling ports of the world. From about 1760 to 1850 its ships sailed for whale oil that lit lamps across America and Europe, and the village grew rich, cosmopolitan and crowded with sailors from everywhere — Native American, African-American, Azorean, Pacific Islander and Yankee crews among them.
By 1789 Sag Harbor had more tonnage of square-rigged ships in foreign commerce than New York City itself, which is why the First Congress made it New York's first official port of entry: anyone shipping goods into Long Island had to declare them here.
Whaling in Sag Harbor peaked in the 1840s and faded fast after the 1849 Gold Rush pulled crews west, petroleum replaced whale oil, and fires gutted the waterfront. What survived — the captains' houses, the Custom House, the Old Whalers' Church — is why the village looks the way it does today.
"Sagg Harbor" first appears in Southampton town records; English settlement takes hold around 1730.
The harbor becomes a coastal trading port, shipping farm goods to the West Indies — and the whaling era begins.
In the Revolution, Col. Return Jonathan Meigs crosses the Sound in whaleboats, raids British-held Sag Harbor and burns 12 vessels.
On July 31 Congress names Sag Harbor New York's first port of entry; Washington appoints Henry Packer Dering collector of customs.
Long Island's first newspaper is printed here; the Custom House doubles as Long Island's first post office.
The yard on Bay Street that is now Sag Harbor Yacht Yard opens to build and outfit whaling ships.
Peak whaling years. The Old Whalers' Church (1844) and the Huntting mansion (1845) go up on whale-oil money.
Sag Harbor incorporates as a village.
Gold Rush, petroleum and the great fires — including the devastating blaze of 1877 — close the whaling chapter.
Sag Harbor Yacht Club is founded; the harbor turns toward pleasure boating.
The Huntting mansion becomes the Whaling Museum.
The Sag Harbor Village District joins the National Register of Historic Places.
See the whaling port from the water
Narrated harbor cruises cover the old waterfront and Long Wharf.
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