A detail view from an 1873 map shows the steamboat line from Babylon to the Surf hotel. Two other hotels are indicated near present-day Saltaire, while the railroad extension to the Babylon dock was never built. Surf hotel guests could also arrive at the hotel by twice-daily steamships direct from Manhattan or by private yacht.

Fire Island history through a small collection of images

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JJJ > This is a detail from an engraving of the Surf Hotel, probably from around 1880. It shows the main three-story building, outlying guest cottages, central piazza, ferry dock and covered walks to the ocean and bay.

The hotel opened in June 1856 close to present-day Kismet and was originally intended as a sportsmen's retreat. It rapidly became popular as a family destination and after numerous extensions could receive well over 500 guests. It was not the first hotel on the island, but was clearly the most ambitious with resort facilities including a ballroom, bar, restaurant, billiards, bowling, hundreds of acres of land (including all of what is now Robert Moses State park), wooden bath houses on the beach, etc.

NY state acquired the hotel and land in 1892 for use as a cholera quarantine station, but later leased the property to private operators for continued use as a resort. The hotel was demolished following the collapse of its roof in 1908.

JJJ > A detail view from an 1873 map shows the steamboat line from Babylon to the Surf hotel. Two other hotels are indicated near present-day Saltaire, while the railroad extension to the Babylon dock was never built.

Surf hotel guests could also arrive at the hotel by twice-daily steamships direct from Manhattan or by private yacht.

JJJ > 1873 satirical engraving of a Fire Island outing ("Sea-side Sketches - A Chowder Party at Fire Island", Harper's Weekly, 23 August 1873).
Full-size image available here.

JJJ > Unidentified "surfman", Fire Island Lifesaving Station, ca. 1880

A detail view from an 1873 map shows the steamboat line from Babylon to the Surf hotel. Two other hotels are indicated near present-day Saltaire, while the railroad extension to the Babylon dock was never built.

Surf hotel guests could also arrive at the hotel by twice-daily steamships direct from Manhattan or by private yacht.