SAG HARBOR

resort village, Suffolk county, southeastern New York, U.S. It is situated in Southampton and East Hampton towns (townships), at the east end of Long Island on Gardiners Bay. Located on the site of a Montauk Indian village (Wegwagonock), it was first mentioned in 1707. In the 19th century it was an important whaling port until the 1830s, rivaling Salem and New Bedford, Massachusetts. The Old Whalers' Church (Presbyterian) dates from 1844, and the Sag Harbor Whaling and Historical Museum contains relics of that industry. Sag Harbor was New York's first port of entry (1789), and its Custom House also served as Long Island's first post office (c. 1791). Long Island's first newspaper, the Herald (1791), was published in Sag Harbor. Inc. 1846. Pop. (1990) 2,134; (1998 est.) 2,155.