Southampton Town Launches New Site Mapping Out Historic Tours

Southampton Town has made it a little bit easier to walk a mile in the shoes of the first European settlers.This summer, the historic division of the town clerk’s office launched a new website detailing 18 walking, biking and driving routes throughout the town, highlighting historic structures and places. The website historic.southamptontownny.gov/historictours was created as part of the 375th anniversary of the first English settlers arriving in Southampton.

Most of the tours are geared toward bicyclists and drivers, but tours focused on Sag Harbor, Southampton and Westhampton Beach villages offer walking opportunities.

“The historic division within my office has created this townwide comprehensive historic walking, biking and driving tour as a way to highlight the town’s historic landmarks and route them out in strategic routes within the hamlets and villages of Southampton Town,” Town Clerk Sundy Schermeyer explained last week.

The project was a cooperative effort among people in several departments, including Ms. Schermeyer, Town Historian Zach Studenroth and Ross Baldwin of the town’s GIS division. The website took approximately a year to create, Mr. Studenroth said, and it involved writing narratives for each of the town’s historic properties and working with each of the hamlets’ historical societies.

The plan, Ms. Schermeyer said, is to continue to use the website as a repository for all things historic in Southampton Town. Visitors to the website are asked to select which tour they want to participate in, then are guided to the start location and offered information about the historic site, including pictures and maps. From there, they are given directions to the next stop on the tour.

“When Sundy and I first discussed this a year ago, the objective wasn’t so much about attracting people to come to the Town of Southampton, but the idea of putting up information on our website so people who live here or regularly visit would be encouraged to investigate other places in the town,” Mr. Studenroth said. “This was meant to encourage residents to drive west or east. So it was really important to be very balanced in how this was created.”

There are 18 tours on the website, 14 of which are designed primarily for driving and biking. The site also includes cemetery tours, with links to another town site that details the town’s historic burying grounds. A limited-edition print handout of the tours will be made available through the town this fall.

“I really think it is spectacular,” Ms. Schermeyer said. “It really is a snapshot of what remains for us to enjoy today.”