Westhampton Beach — A 1928 Village, the Resolved 1938 Long Island Express, and a Real, Ongoing Erosion Fight
Westhampton Beach incorporated as a village in 1928, within the Town of Southampton on Long Island's South Shore -- a distinct incorporation date from every other Hamptons village this site has already covered, including Southampton Village's 1894 incorporation and Sagaponack's 2005 incorporation. This is not a smaller, cheaper knockoff of those places. It is a narrow barrier-beach village with its own defining disaster, the September 21, 1938 "Long Island Express" hurricane, which devastated the community, destroyed nearly all summer homes standing on the barrier beach at the time, and caused twenty-nine deaths -- a fully resolved historical event, not an ongoing one. What is ongoing is a real engineering story: chronic beach erosion that became a critical issue starting in the 1960s, a November 1992 nor'easter that destroyed more than eighty homes, and a mid-1990s project that physically relocated fifteen historic houses inland to save them from the eroding shoreline. This page treats that history as the actual substance of the market, not as a footnote.
A 1928 Village, a Resolved 1938 Disaster, and a Real Erosion Fight That Never Fully Stopped
Westhampton Beach is this batch's second market, priority 88, built immediately after Southampton / Bridgehampton / Sagaponack. It should not be read as a smaller or cheaper version of those places, or of Montauk, or of East Hampton and Amagansett. It has its own incorporation date, its own defining disaster, and its own ongoing engineering reality. The village incorporated in 1928, within the Town of Southampton, Suffolk County, on Long Island's South Shore -- a date that sits between Southampton Village's 1894 incorporation and Sagaponack's 2005 incorporation, and that belongs to no other market this site has built. This page does not reuse Montauk's lighthouse-and-Carl-Fisher material, East Hampton and Amagansett's 1648/1680-founding and Devon Colony material, or Southampton/Bridgehampton/Sagaponack's 1640-founding and three-governance material. It is built on Westhampton Beach's own documented history instead.
Today's village is small and narrow by design of its geography: a total area of 3.0 square miles, 2.9 of it land and 0.1 water, reflecting its position on a barrier beach along Long Island's South Shore. It is served by the Westhampton Beach Union Free School District and maintains its own police, ambulance, and fire departments rather than relying solely on county or town services. The Long Island Rail Road provides service via its Montauk Branch, and the village is reachable by Sunrise Highway (NY 27) and Montauk Highway (CR 80). At the 2020 census, the village's population was 2,150, up from 1,902 at the 2000 census. That 2000 census also recorded a median household income of $58,438 and a median family income of $74,412, with roughly 9% of the population living below the poverty line at that time -- figures that are decades old now and should be read as historical context, not current pricing.
The single event that defines Westhampton Beach more than any other is the hurricane of September 21, 1938 -- known regionally as the "Long Island Express." It devastated the community, destroyed nearly all of the summer homes standing on the barrier beach at the time, and caused twenty-nine deaths in Westhampton Beach specifically. That disaster is presented here as exactly what it is: a fully resolved historical event. The storm struck, the community absorbed a catastrophic loss of life and property, and it rebuilt in the decades that followed. It is not an ongoing dispute or an open question, and it is distinct from Hurricane Sandy in 2012, already covered on other markets this site has built -- this is this site's first coverage of the 1938 storm specifically.
What is genuinely ongoing in Westhampton Beach is a different, more recent engineering story: beach erosion. Erosion became a critical, chronic issue for the village beginning in the 1960s, decades after the 1938 hurricane had already reshaped the barrier beach. That chronic problem produced a second acute crisis in November 1992, when a nor'easter destroyed more than eighty homes and required renewed intervention from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The response that followed in the mid-1990s was unusual and specific: fifteen historic houses were physically relocated inland, moved away from the eroding shoreline to save the structures themselves. Hurricane Sandy in 2012 required additional restoration work along the shoreline as well, showing that this is a long-running engineering relationship between the village and its coastline rather than a single closed chapter.
Westhampton Beach's built history is also recognized formally in three separate listings on the National Register of Historic Places: the Crowther House, the Foster-Meeker House, and the U.S. Post Office. Those listings sit alongside the relocated historic houses as a reminder that this village has repeatedly chosen to preserve specific structures rather than let its barrier-beach geography simply take them.
No exact current (2026) median home price, property-tax rate, or flood-insurance premium specific to Westhampton Beach was confirmed in this research pass, and none is invented on this page -- nor is any specific dollar figure for the November 1992 nor'easter damage or the mid-1990s house-relocation project cost, and no specific current local businesses or Main Street retail listings are named here beyond what is documented above. Treat any cost content on this page as illustrative only, and confirm current figures directly with the Village of Westhampton Beach, the Town of Southampton, Suffolk County, the State of New York, FEMA, and a licensed local insurance agent before making a decision. This page is independent research, not legal, tax, insurance, or financial advice.
Independent research. No ads. No sponsored listings. Data sourced from documented Westhampton Beach Village records (its 1928 incorporation within the Town of Southampton, its own police/ambulance/fire departments, its Union Free School District, its Long Island Rail Road Montauk Branch service, its total area of 3.0 square miles, and 2020 and 2000 US Census Bureau population and demographic figures), documented historical accounts of the September 21, 1938 "Long Island Express" hurricane (its community-wide devastation, its destruction of nearly all barrier-beach summer homes, and its twenty-nine deaths in Westhampton Beach specifically), documented beach-erosion and preservation history (the chronic erosion crisis beginning in the 1960s, the November 1992 nor'easter that destroyed more than eighty homes and prompted renewed U.S. Army Corps of Engineers intervention, the mid-1990s relocation of fifteen historic houses inland, and Hurricane Sandy's 2012 shoreline restoration work), and the National Register of Historic Places listings for the Crowther House, the Foster-Meeker House, and the U.S. Post Office. Not stated as confirmed fact here: any current (2026) home price, property-tax rate, or flood-insurance premium specific to Westhampton Beach, any specific dollar figure for the November 1992 nor'easter damage or the mid-1990s house-relocation project cost, and no current local business or Main Street retail listings. The September 21, 1938 hurricane is presented as fully resolved historical fact, not an ongoing matter; the beach-erosion and shoreline-engineering history is presented as a genuinely ongoing reality extending through Hurricane Sandy in 2012. This page does not reuse Montauk's lighthouse, Carl Fisher, or Camp Hero material, East Hampton and Amagansett's 1648 and 1680 founding dates, Devon Colony material, or 1942 saboteur-landing material, or Southampton/Bridgehampton/Sagaponack's 1640 founding and three-governance material -- this is its own market with its own documented history. Costs, governance leadership, and population estimates shift; confirm current figures directly with the Village of Westhampton Beach, the Town of Southampton, Suffolk County, the State of New York, FEMA, and a licensed local insurance agent before making a purchase decision. Nothing on this page is legal, tax, insurance, or financial advice.