Fire Island National Seashore

In the mid-17th century, Fire Island was used as a base for whaling. Whalers would watch for spouting whales from towers, then launch their boats after them. The island also has a bit of pirate history as pirates were known to build fires on the island to attract passing boats on which to prey. The Fire Island Lighthouse was first built in 1826 at a height of 74 ft (23 m) due to the large number of shipwrecks. In 1868, a new lighthouse was built to a height of 168 feet, 100 feet from the old. The foundation of the original lighthouse can still be seen today. For many immigrants the lighthouse was their first sight of land when arriving to America. In less than a century four miles of sand accumulated between the lighthouse and the western tip of the island. The island still grows at its western end and is constantly reshaped. The state set aside part of Fire Island as a state park in 1908, making it the first state park on Long Island. In the 1920s Fire Island began its life as a Bohemian beach community. By the 1950s real estate was booming as the island became a fashionable retreat from the city. In 1964 the rest of the lands were designated the Fire Island National Seashore. In 1980 Congress set aside 1,400 acres (570 hectares) as the Otis Pike Wilderness area. All barrier islands are shaped to some degree by the ocean, and that certainly applies to Fire Island....