As early as 1712, meadows in
Speonk were leased to cattle-owners from Southampton. Most of the early settlers of Speonk came west from Southampton and
Bridgehampton in the 1740s to clear the forests and build farms. During the 1880s, duck farms thrived in Speonk and neighboring Eastport, but few survived into the 20th Century, and none remain today. The name Speonk was inspired by a Native American word meaning
high place. An 1897
Long Island Rail Road catalog listed Speonk, noting that that name "certainly sounds like the call of a frog." Some residents pressed to change the name to
Remsenburg, to honor a prominent resident,
Charles Remsen, who had donated a new
Presbyterian Church. Today, both names remain in use, each covering different areas of the community. The area close to the bay is called Remsenburg, and the more bucolic inland area is still called Speonk. During the twentieth century, its most famous resident was the English writer
P.G. Wodehouse. He wrote many of the escapades of
Bertie Wooster and his manservant,
Jeeves, from a home on Basket Neck Lane in Remsenburg. Other residents of note include the songwriter
Frank Loesser, who wrote for
Broadway shows including
Guys and Dolls; the playwright
Guy Bolton, who collaborated with Wodehouse on
Anything Goes; Marvel Comics editor
Stan Lee;
Sandy Becker, a
New York children's
television host,
Dave Garroway, the original host of
NBC's
Today Show when it first aired in January 1952, and
Leo-Arthur Kelmenson, advertising executive known for his association with
Lee Iacocca and his advertising campaign for
Chrysler. Remsenburg is an exclusive area, and many well known actress/actors/playwrights/directors live in this hamlet of Southampton. ==Geography==