Welcome to Shelter Island ...

Shelter Island is located in Suffolk County<1>.

The location of Shelter Island has been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (ie- the GNIS).<2>

While we don't have a date for the founding of Shelter Island, you might consider that their post office opened  in 1851.

A typical abbreviation for Shelter Island: Shelter Is. (in Canada, 'Isld.' is the more common abbreviation.)

Shelter Island is 50 feet [15 m] above sea level.<3>.

Time Zone: Shelter Island lies in the Eastern Time Zone (EST/EDT) and observes daylight saving time

Communities near Shelter Island ...

We have created a list of 10 communities that are near Shelter Island.

• Clinton
  (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Clinton have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clinton
  • Clinton is located in Middlesex County (CT)
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 12,881 people
• Old Saybrook
  (15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Old Saybrook have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Old Saybrook
  • Old Saybrook is located in Middlesex County (CT)
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 10,028 people
• Old Lyme
  (17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Old Lyme have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Old Lyme
  • Old Lyme is located in New London County (CT)
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 7,280 people
• Westbrook
  (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Westbrook have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Westbrook
  • Westbrook is located in Middlesex County (CT)
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 6,842 people
• Essex
  (19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Essex have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Essex
  • Essex is located in Middlesex County (CT)
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 6,634 people
• Southampton
  (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Southampton
  • Southampton is located in Suffolk County
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 3,313 people
  • Southampton has also been known as:
  • Southampton village
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Southampton <4>
• Sag Harbor
  (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sag Harbor
  • Sag Harbor is located in Suffolk County
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,292 people
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Sag Harbor <4>
• East Hampton
  (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Hampton
  • East Hampton is located in Suffolk County
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,138 people
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for East Hampton <4>
• North Haven
  (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Haven
  • North Haven is located in Suffolk County
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 894 people
• Sagaponack
  (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sagaponack
  • Sagaponack is located in Suffolk County
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 323 people
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Sagaponack <4>

To Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

We have a couple of sections for those tracing their genealogy.

We created a list of cemeteries that are in the area around Shelter Island. Our list includes the location of those cemeteries and we provide an overhead view. See our Cemetery List for Shelter Island.

Using the information from an 1895 Atlas, we've created a list of communities that were in the area of Shelter Island. Our list includes information such as whether the 1895 community had a post office or railroad service. See our List of 1890's Communities around Shelter Island.

We also have a detailed list of newspapers that have been published in the area around Shelter Island. See our Newspapers Page for Shelter Island.

TripAdvisor Tourism Pages for Shelter Island ...

Looking for more information about Shelter Island? A wonderful source is the TripAdvisor website. We always start with the TripAdvisor Tourism page, where you can read an overview with links that will help you find lodging, restaurants and attractions.

In addition to the Tourism page for Shelter Island, there are neighboring communities that also have Tourism pages. More information about those communities can be found on our TripAdvisor Page for Shelter Island.

Adding Shelter Island to Our Gazetteer ...

We originally found mention of Shelter Island in both the FIPS-55 and the GNIS. For more information, see the FIPS and GNIS Codes sections on our Miscellaneous Page.

From our notes, the earliest published mention we've found for Shelter Island was in the book titled Table of U.S. Post Offices in the United States (Jan. 1851).

We also found Shelter Island in the book titled Business Atlas and Shippers' Guide (1895).

For more details, see References and Mentions for Shelter Island.

Off-the-Road Links ...

Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Shelter Island. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.

The official website for Suffolk County: www.co.suffolk.ny.us/

The official website for State of New York: https://www.ny.gov/