Southampton (town), New York in the context of "Shinnecock Inlet"

Shinnecock Inlet is the easternmost of five major inlets connecting bays to the Atlantic Ocean through the narrow 100-mile-long (160 km) Outer Barrier that stretches from New York City to Southampton, New York on the south shore of Long Island. It splits Westhampton Island from the peninsula extending from Southampton Village. The inlet was formed by the 1938 New England hurricane, which killed several people when it permanently broke through the island in Hampton Bays, New York. The name comes from the Shinnecock Indian Nation.

Maintenance of the inlet has been controversial. It saves boaters in the Hamptons several miles in access to the Atlantic Ocean. The inlet is almost directly lined up with the Shinnecock Canal between Shinnecock Bay and the Peconic Bay, which allows a shortcut to the ocean for boaters on the North Fork of Long Island.

The Shinnecock Indian Nation is a federally recognized tribe of historically Algonquian-speaking Native Americans based at the eastern end of Long Island, New York. This tribe is headquartered in Suffolk County, on the southeastern shore. Since the mid-19th century, the tribe's landbase is the Shinnecock Reservation within the geographic boundaries of the Town of Southampton. Their name roughly translates into English as "people of the stony shore".

The Hamptons, part of the East End of Long Island, consist of the towns of Southampton and East Hampton, which together compose the South Fork of Long Island, in Suffolk County, New York. The Hamptons are a popular seaside resort and one of the historical summer colonies of the northeastern United States.

The Montauk Branch of the Long Island Rail Road, the Montauk Highway, and private bus services connect the Hamptons to the rest of Long Island and to New York City, while ferries provide connections to Shelter Island, New York and Connecticut.