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Fishers Island is a small island, approximately 9 mi (14 km) long and 1 mi (1.6 km) wide, in Suffolk County in the U.S. state of New York. It is located at the eastern end of Long Island Sound, 5 mi (8 km) off the southeastern coast of Connecticut across Fisher Island Sound . It is approximately 11 mi (18 km) from the tip of Long Island and approximately 7 mi (12 km) southeast of New London, Connecticut, from which it is accessible by ferry.The island is noted as a private playground for old money residents of the island's exclusive estates. It has a year-round population of between 200 and 300 people, most of whom reside in the hamlet of Fishers Island on the western end of the island. The eastern two-thirds of the island is scattered with large summer estates accessible by a single private road. The population of the island rises to over 2000 during the peak summer weekends. The island has one oyster farm, two golf courses, two gas stations, a small air strip, several public beaches, and one restaurant, The Pequot.
The island was called "Munnawtawkit" by the Pequots. In 1614 it was discovered by Adriaen Block, who named it Vissher's Island. In 1640Events December 1 Portugal regains its independence from Spain and John IV of Portugal becomes king. Spain does not recognize the indepedence before 1668 Charles I summons and rapidly dismisses the Short Parliament in an attempt to fund the second of the, the General Court of the Massachusetts Bay ColonyThe Massachusetts Bay Colony (sometimes called by the name Massachusetts Bay Company for the institution that founded it) was the direct predecessor of the Province of Massachusetts Bay and then the state of Massachusetts. The colony was established under granted the island to John Winthrop, Jr. , who lived only one winter on the island. After being named governor of the Connecticut ColonyThe Connecticut Colony was an English colony that became the U. state of Connecticut. Originally known as the River Colony the colony was established in the 1630s as a haven for Puritan noblemen. After early struggles with the Dutch, the English gained co, Winthrop used the island to raise horses and goats. The island remained a property of the Winthrop family for 218 years until it was sold to Rober R. Fox in 1863Events January-March January 1 Abraham Lincoln delivers the Emancipation Proclamation during the second year of the American Civil War. January 1 The first claim under the Homestead Act is made for a farm in Nebraska January 8 Ground is broken in Sacramen. In 1889Events January-April January 8 Herman Hollerith receives a patent for his electric tabulating machine January 22 Columbia Phonograph is formed in Washington, DC. February 11 Meiji Constitution of Japan adopted; 1st Diet convenes in 1890 January 30 ? Crown it was sold to Edmund and Walton Ferguson. It was the subject of a border dispute between New York and Connecticut until 1879Events January January 11 Anglo-Zulu War begins January 22 Zulu troops massacre British troops at the Battle of Isandlwana. At Rorke's Drift, outnumbered British soldiers drive the attackers away after hours of fighting. February February 12 At New York C when a joint commission decided that the island was part of New York. Despite this decision, in many ways the island remains psychographically tied more to Connecticut than to New York even today: Its zip code, for example, is 06390 (Connecticut zip codes begin with "0" while all other places in New York State besides Fishers Island have zip codes starting with "1") and the island is the only point in Suffolk County to which telephoneThe telephone or phone is a telecommunications device that transmits speech by means of electric signals. Generally attributed to the inventor Alexander Graham Bell, the first was built in Boston, Massachusetts, in 1876. However, an Italian inventor Anton calls placed from the greater New York City area are classified as long distance and not "regional," even though the island's area code is the same as that of eastern Long Island (631).
