Succeeding cultures of indigenous peoples had lived in the area for thousands of years. At the time of European contact, the
Lenape (Delaware) nation inhabited western Long Island. By 1600 the band inhabiting the local area was called the
Matinecock after their location, but they were Lenape people. Following European colonization, the area became part of the colony of
New Netherland. In 1639, the
Dutch West India Company made its first purchase of land on Long Island from the local Native Americans. The English also had colonies on Long Island at this time. The Dutch did not dispute English claims to what is now Suffolk County, but when settlers from
New England arrived in (present-day) Oyster Bay in 1640, they were soon arrested as part of a boundary dispute. In 1643, Englishmen purchased land in the present-day town of
Hempstead from the Indians that included land purchased by the Dutch in 1639. Nevertheless, in 1644, the Dutch director granted a patent for Hempstead to the English. The Dutch also granted other English settlements in
Flushing,
Newtown, and
Jamaica. In 1650, the
Treaty of Hartford established a boundary between Dutch and English claims at "Oysterbay", by which the Dutch meant present-day
Cold Spring Harbor (to the east) and the English meant all of the water connected to present-day Oyster Bay Harbor. Meanwhile, the government of England came under the control of
Oliver Cromwell as a republic, and
smugglers took advantage of the unresolved border dispute. In 1653, English settlers made their first purchase of land in Oyster Bay from the local
Matinecock tribe, though there were already some rogue English settlements there. For this purchase, the English settlers paid to the Native American Moheness (aka Assiapum), "six kettles, six fathoms of wampum, six hoes, six hatchets, three pairs of stockings, thirty awl-blades or muxes, twenty knives, three shirts and as much Peague as will amount to four pounds sterling." The monarchy was restored in England in 1660, and in 1664 King Charles gave Long Island (and much else) to his brother James, leading to the Dutch relinquishing control of all of New Amsterdam. In 1667 the settlement at Oyster Bay received its charter from the new English colony of
New York, becoming the Township of Oyster Bay. By 1687, the last piece of land was sold by the Indians, and few remained by 1709. (Free individuals were not supposed to be reported for the Census; a local militia captain supplied it on his own initiative, with the expectation "that ye Other Captains in Oysterbay will acquaint Your Honour [governor of New York] of those Resideing in ye Other parts of ye Township.") Oyster Bay is home to the
Seawanhaka Corinthian Yacht Club, one of the oldest yacht clubs in the Western Hemisphere, which opened in 1871. There are 40 buildings and sites presently named
Town of Oyster Bay Landmarks. ==Geography==