History

Located on the south shore of eastern Long Island, the Quantuck Beach Club opened officially on September 21, 1927. But its history began over 50 years earlier, at Mary Foster’s Homestead Inn, just across Quantuck Bay at the foot of Foster Lane in Quiogue, NY.

In 1874, Mary Foster decided to take summer guests into her family’s 100-year-old boarding house. It quickly became a popular summer destination for prominent Presbyterian ministers and schoolteachers, most of whom were from Brooklyn. In time, many of these families built their own cottages near the Foster Homestead Inn.

Sailing to the ocean beach was an adventure for the Foster Homestead’s summer guests and new Quiogue homeowners. As early as the 1880s, people gathered at the end of Foster Lane to be ferried across Quantuck Bay in large sailboats, which provided a breezier and faster trip to the beach than by overland horse-drawn buggy.

In 1927, the Roaring Twenties and the opening of a new nearby beach club (the West Bay Bathing Corporation) proved too much for the quiet Quiogue contingent. “The ‘West Bay’ [was] much too modern for some of the more staid and dignified folk of the time,” recounts Beatrice Rogers in her Historical Sketch of the Incorporated Village of Westhampton Beach, “...especially when it was discovered that women frequently bathed there without stockings.”

As a result, families who had enjoyed summers at Quantuck Beach decided to form an incorporated private club. The original clubhouse was a basic construction, consisting of an open-sided pavilion overlooking the ocean, with separate bathhouses behind for men and women. There was no gift shop, no tearoom, not even hot water – the new club members were intent on safeguarding their simple summer life at the beach. And so, Quantuck Beach Club was born.

Almost 100 years later, Quantuck Beach Club maintains an understated community feel. Brimming with members of all ages, our club’s focus remains on our beautiful ocean beach and Quantuck Bay. During season, our beach is open with lifeguards on duty. And, although most members drive or bike to our club nowadays, our dock is open to all members who wish to access our club by power boat, sailboat, kayak or paddleboard. We also now provide delicious casual meals and ice cream, ocean awareness instruction, special events and hot showers for our members in our wonderful open air changing rooms.

Finally, while it has never been scientifically proven, Quantuck Beach Club proudly produces some of the best ocean swimmers on the East End of Long Island!

For a detailed history of Quantuck Beach Club, please read our Charter Member Meredith Murray’s book, Steamed Crabs and Cranberries, The Story of Quantuck Beach.