The “Sag” in Sag Harbor By Robert Keene The first name used for what is now Sag Harbor was Wigwagonock, meaning in Algonquin language the land or place as the end of the hill. Most records indicate that Sag Harbor was settled in 1730, comparatively late for communities on eastern Long Island. The reason for its late settlement was most likely due to the marshy land on which Sag Harbor is build. This was especially true where the present day Main Street is located. The communities around, in the direction of Bridge Hampton, Sagaponack, and Noyack were settled earlier. North Haven preceded it as a community, as did East Hampton and North Sea. The first Long Warf was build just east of the site of the North Haven Bridge. That bridge had been built in 1833, replacing a ferry service. The great Southampton historian, William S. Pelletreau claimed that the name “Sag Harbor” was first used in 1707. The first bill of landing, sometimes called the Manifest, on record for the port of Sag Harbor was for the sloop Portland Adventure, owned by Francis Pelletreau, the father of the famous colonial silversmith of Southampton, Elias Pelletreau. Dated November 26, 1731, it is believed to be the oldest document relating to Sag Harbor as a port. This bill of landing states, in part, “Shipped by the Grace of God, in good order and well conditioned by Francis Pelletreau, upon the good sloop Portland Adventure, where of is master under God for the present voyage, Richard Hartshorne, and now riding at anchor in the harbor of Sagg, and by God’s grace bound for New York: 5 barrels of beef and 9 barrels of pork, 2 furkins of butter, two, ditto, cranberries, and one, ditto, of eggs, for the proper account of Francis Pelletreau, and goes consigned to himself…and so God send the good sloop to her desired Port of Safety, Amen”. The following are some of the materials of the port of Sag Harbor in the early year of the 19th century: beef and pork, butter and hides, staves and casks, shows and boots, cattle and horses, wood and hay, corn, rye, oats, whales oil, and whale bones. A particularly brisk trade was done with the island of the West Indies, with ships bringing back fruits, sugar, rum, and exotic lumber such as mahogany and cypress.

The Long Island Herald was issued in Sag Harbor by David Frothingham on May 10, 1790 as the first newspaper ever printed on the Island. The census of 1810 showed 80 dwellings in Sag Harbor. November 14, 1845, 57 stores, shops, and warehouses, stables and barns were destroyed in a huge fire. Sag Harbor had been subjected to many disastrous fires. Had it not been for its many brick buildings the whole town would have burned to the ground more than once. Merchants Path was not named because the merchants of the area used it but because it was build by a Sag Harbor man named Merchant Howell. The street runs from Poxabogue in Bridge Hampton to Northwest woods in East Hampton. The Hotels of Sag Harbor were famous. Old Long Island Inns had created a reputation for marvelous comforts, delightful dinners, and rare good cheer. Peletiah Fordham commonly called “Duke” Fordham once entertained James Fennimore Cooper at his fine hotel. Cooper was famous for his Leather stocking tales. He owned shares in the Whaling Ship Union and in his novel “Sea Lions” he immortalizes the name of Ebenzer Sage, physician and philosopher of Sag Harbor and a descendant of one of the oldest families of the community. According to legend and most historians Sag Harbor gets its name from Sagaponack. For many years that hamlet just east of Bridge Hampton was called Sagg. Sag Harbor later became the Harbor of Sagg, hence Sagg Harbor. The fact that Sagg did give its name to a harbor may well be true, but there are a couple of other possibilities that if nothing else are interesting. There is an old 14th century use of the word “sag” that could have given the harbor its name. Sag was a name used for a sort of reed or flag that grows in abundance near the water of eastern Long Island. At one time the word “sag” referred to the waters edge, which was said to sag or lean leeward and was rather commonly used in the 15th century particularly near the shore.