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Home » Towns » Suffolk County » Shelter Island Township
Shelter Island is the name of both a town in Suffolk County and a small 27 square mile island off the eastern tip of Long Island nestled between the North and South Forks. The Shelter Island Sound surrounds three sides of the island, the fourth is open to the waters of Gardiners Bay. There is one village on Shelter Island, Dering Harbor, and five hamlets.
The earliest European settler, a sugar cane planter from Barbados, came to Shelter Island in 1610, but the island was not officially settled until 1652. Its current population just exceeds 2,000 inhabitants, and half the island is owned by The Nature Conservancy and, unlike the rest of Long Island, will remain forever wild. The Shelter Island Ferry allows commuters to travel back and forth from the mainland throughout the day.
Villages on Shelter Island
Hamlets on Shelter Island
Other Shelter Island Resources: