Fire Island, NY

Fire Island is Suffolk County’s long, narrow barrier island off Long Island’s south shore. The eastern stretch was known as Great South Beach until about 1920, while the island’s later story took shape around small summer communities, the Fire Island Light, and the beach itself. In the 1960s, residents and conservationists pushed back against a proposed highway, helping lead to Fire Island National Seashore in 1964. Cherry Grove and the Pines also made Fire Island an important place in LGBTQ+ history. Fire Island is a strip of sand with a lighthouse, a park, and a history that refused to be paved over.