Reporter’s Notebook: Fishers Island, Southold’s most remote hamlet

Despite being a born and raised Long Islander, I only became aware of Fishers Island’s existence this year.

When I started reporting with The Suffolk Times nearly a year ago, I learned about the island’s status as a hamlet of Southold Town — and I was intrigued to say the least.

How could an island that you have to travel through another state to get to belong to New York? What is the community there like? How does it factor into the work of the town and the state?

The answers, I discovered, are rooted in centuries-old politics. Its unusual jurisdiction dates back to the Duke of York’s 1664 land patent, which eclipsed Connecticut’s own 1662 charter claims to the 2,688-acre island. Its definitive New York status wasn’t settled until 1879.

I finally had the opportunity to visit recently, and let me tell you — it’s a journey.

My roundtrip journey took nearly nine hours of travel by car and two separate ferries — the Cross Sound Ferry from Orient to New London, Conn., where I then caught the Fishers Island Ferry — for roughly two hours spent on the island.

The midday ferries I boarded were light on riders, with about a dozen people topside to and from the island. Travelers sat on cushioned benches with wooden backs.

The trip is a hike, one that I commend Fishers residents for making to Long Island when they must — be it for DMV appointments or doctor’s visits.

I definitely stuck out like a sore thumb once I disembarked in the community of 250 “year rounders.” In the summer, that population swells to between 2,000 and 3,000 residents.

Fishers Island is a serene world unto itself, with picturesque homes and greenery greeting you as you step off the ferry. A closer look at the island’s western locales revealed a mix of paved, gravel and “paper” roads — those you won’t find on a map but are traversed by neighbors in the area.

Throughout the island there’s a mix of houses you’d see on your block and others to ogle during a late-night Zillow deep dive. There’s no mail truck, so residents head down to the post office to catch up with neighbors and grab their mail.

You won’t find classic commercial stores like Walmart or Target, so locals shop the island’s sole grocery store, Village Market, for daily essentials or to grab a sandwich.

Beyond the grocery store, the island has one bar — the Pequot Inn — an American Legion post, a school with an average graduating class size of six students, a doctor’s house in lieu of a hospital, the Henry L. Ferguson Museum, a community garden, a community center, a library and a theater. 

The community is a microcosm of Southold life, with generational residents and those who moved to the area for the peace and quiet alike. Land preservation and housing are paramount issues.

Many residents wear several hats, helping out neighbors, getting involved in community matters, volunteering with the fire department and more.

All of that to say, Fishers fascinates me to no end — even if it takes nine hours and two ferries to get there.