Shelter Island History & The Dickerson Family
Shelter Island’s history stretches back to its first European settlement in 1651 at Sylvester Manor. No family shaped the island’s modern story more than the Dickersons.
Captain Nathan Peter Dickerson (1830–1894)
Captain Dickerson served as First Mate aboard the legendary clipper ship Flying Cloud in 1851, setting an unbroken New York-to-San Francisco record of 89 days and 8 hours around Cape Horn — a record that still stands in the age of sail.
The Dickerson Legacy
The Dickerson family farmed the Menantic peninsula for generations, helped establish the Montclair Colony in 1922 and the Farmers’ Cooperative in 1950. William “Bill” Dickerson (b. 1923) fought at Normandy and the Battle of the Bulge, earning the Purple Heart, then took over Dickerson Electric in 1965 — founded by his father in 1930 and still serving the island today.
Streets, Dickerson Creek, Dickerson Creek Overlook Preserve, and Dickerson Park are all named in honor of this remarkable island family.
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