Remembering Who 'Discovered' Montauk

Montauk -- many people have claimed to be "discovering" its charms, especially publicists gushing over its casual chic. But the virtues of Montauk -- not to mention its prospective visitors -- have always been touted in some of the most intemperate terms.

In fact, Montauk was discovered long ago: not only by Native Americans who hunted and fished there, and by colonial settlers who grazed their livestock there, but also by the early tycoons who intended to mold Montauk according to their own designs.

Arthur Benson bought Montauk in 1879 with the stated intent of using it for hunting and fishing, although historians report this with a whiff of  suspicion. At his summer "cottage" out east, where the Stanford-White houses still stand, Benson entertained Austin Corbin Jr., a railroad magnate who set his sights on developing the wild peninsula into an international seaport connecting Europe -- by way the Atlantic, Fort Pond Bay, and the yet to be extended Long Island Railroad -- to New York City.         

Corbin bought land from Benson for a railroad terminal, and while Corbin lobbied for backers and a rail link, Benson set about removing the remaining Montaukett Indians from Montauk. Benson died in 1890, but Corbin bought more land to advance his plan for a steamship terminal. By 1895. the railroad had been extended to Montauk, but Corbin was killed the next year when he was thrown from a horse-drawn carriage.

Development marched on, as it tends to do, and in 1926 Carl Fisher bought most of Montauk from Benson's heirs. Fisher had already built Miami Beach; his next project was to be Montauk Beach, to which the well-heeled would decamp in the warmer months for yachting,  horseback riding, and the like.

So he built the grand , along with the Montauk Playhouse for tennis, the Montauk Yacht Club, for which he made Lake Montauk into a saltwater harbor, the Surf Club, complete with an oceanfront boardwalk, and a polo field and bridle paths. A six-story building in downtown Montauk -- known today as the Tower -- served as Fisher's headquarters.

Here's a description from a promotional brochure put out by the Montauk Beach Development Corporation, of which Fisher was chairman, in 1932:

         Now Montauk Beach, through the vision and resources of a group of distinguished builders, is being transformed into America's finest out-of-door center, where the real aristocrats of modern America may find new health, new relaxation, new ways to play amid luxurious surroundings.

The year it was published, Fisher's development company went into receivership. A 1926 hurricane in Florida had taken out a large portion of Miami Beach; that, coupled with the crash of 1929, pretty much sent him from riches to rags. Tudor-style buildings -- from the Manor to the Montauk School to many of the retail stores downtown -- still dot the landscape, the legacy of Fisher, his grand plans, and what today we would say was his "workforce." And Montauk's resort owners continue to tip their hats to the refined taste of moneyed visitors:

         Montauk is known amongst the select and discerning mavens as the perfect getaway for its spectacular scenery, sandy dune beaches, laid back vibes, world-class fishing, surfing, biking, golf, and sailing. And now Montauk has a hotel & resort worthy of its fabulous visitors -- Sole East website

The "hip" new resort is in one of Fisher's old buildings. "Just a short ways away" is a Fisher-designed Tudor cottage that curbedhamptons.com advises readers to launch their "Montauk portfolio" with. That building, too, undoubtedly once housed some of Fisher's workers.

A fedora blew like tumbleweed across Napeague as the season wrapped up, and most ot Montauk's slick new establishments have been shuttered for months now. Present-day aristocrats and promoters have turned their attention to warmer climates like, well, Miami Beach.

By November, year-rounders were once again enjoying their now-forgotten hometown. Whether they were visiting the gym or the senior center at the old Montauk Playhouse, or stopping at a faux-Tudor shop for a bottle of wine or a bag of fried chicken, Carl Fisher was probably the last thing on their minds.