Bridgehampton (N.Y.)

Bridgehampton is a hamlet and census-designated place (CDP) on the South Fork of Suffolk County, New York, United States. As of the 2020 census, Bridgehampton had a population of 2,953. Bridgehampton is in the town of Southampton, on Long Island. Shortly after the founding of Southampton in 1640, settlers began to move east to the area known by the Shinnecock Indians as Sagaponack and Mecox. At the head of Sagg Pond, the settlers established a community called Bullhead, later renamed Bridgehampton—after the bridge built across the pond. Sagg Bridge was built in 1686 by Ezekiel Sandford. The bridge was the link between Mecox and Sagaponack and gave this locality its name of Bridgehampton. The notorious criminal and memoirist Stephen Burroughs lived there during the 18th century and helped found the town's first library in 1793; the volumes he purchased could be found in the Bridgehampton Public Library as late as 2002. Bridgehampton became the home of the horse show known as the Hampton Classic and a road racing course that figured prominently in American automobile racing. It was also home to the last full size Kmart store in the mainland United States, however, it closed on October 20, 2024.