THE COTTAGES

Inscription

THE COTTAGES
WEST MEADOW BEACH SUMMER
COLONY, PRIVATE COTTAGES BUILT
HERE ON TOWN-OWNED LEASED LAND
STARTING IN 1905. ALL BUT FOUR
OF 93 COTTAGES RAZED IN 2005.
WILLIAM G. POMEROY FOUNDATION 2023

On West Meadow Beach, located on the Long Island Sound in the town of Brookhaven, NY, private summer cottages began to be built on town-owned leased land starting in 1905. By 1909, the town had laid out 49 leasable lots of land along the beach, in addition to a town park at the northern end of the peninsula. By 1923, there were 110 lots along West Meadow Beach, and in 1930, the summer colony included over 70 privately owned cottages that had been built on the town land.

The issue over whether the town should end the leases and remove the private cottages so the beach could be fully opened to the public was raised multiple times over the next few decades. Coming to a head in 1996, New York State passed a law for “the preservation, protection and management of the West Meadow Beach Park in the town of Brookhaven.” The law stated that “to preserve and protect the West Meadow Beach ecosystem and assure that the dedicated Brookhaven town park known as West Meadow Beach remain in perpetuity as a park available for use by the general public for educational, scientific, and passive recreational activities” the town was authorized to remove all privately owned cottages located on the town-owned land on or before January 15, 2005. The law also authorized the town to enter into agreements with the individual cottage owners, in which the cottage owner was required to pay the town annually for the use and occupancy of the cottage until October 2004, when each cottage owner was to hand over all cottage ownership rights to the town. The law allowed cottage owners to choose to move their cottage at their own cost prior to October 2004.

Despite some local efforts to save the cottages, all but four of 93 cottages were razed in 2005. As of 2023, the four cottages are all that remain of the former summer colony on West Meadow Beach, now the site of a public beach area, park, playground, and walking trail.