Saltaire is an ideal Fire Island community for those seeking a little R&R. The village is full of recreation, with acclaimed youth programs, sports fields, basketball courts, tennis courts, and a Yacht Club. Saltaire’s boardwalk promenade of town features a library, post office, food market, and town hall.
Don’t let the sound of Saltaire’s name fool you. While phonetically sounding like “salt air,” Saltaire is named after a village located in West Yorkshire England, which is named after “Sir Titus Salt” and sits upon the River Aire. “Saltaire a Children’s Paradise: The Last Word in Summer Bungalow Development” was the motto of the Fire Island Beach Development Company who started offering lots for public sale in 1911. By 1917 Saltaire became the first incorporated village on Fire Island. This gave Saltaire the autonomy to elect their own mayor, raise municipal taxes, and have their own zoning and planning boards thus giving them direct control over their future destiny. Ocean Beach would follow suit four years late. To date, they are the only incorporated villages on Fire Island. All the other Fire Island enclaves are communities organized by private associations and must look directly to the Towns of Islip and Brookhaven for municipal governance.
Saltaire’s amenities are minimal: A single but well-stocked general store, a volunteer library in the lobby of Village Hall, and restaurant services within the yacht club—but this is for members and their guests only. In this way, Saltaire cherishes its privacy much like the community of Point O’ Woods, for Saltaire’s services are geared primarily for residents as opposed to tourists or transients. However, nestled between the communities of Kismet to the west and Fair Harbor to the east, Saltairians can enjoy the best of both worlds—enjoying their solitude on one hand, and on the other hand—having the option of the finest dining, dancing, and shopping the western end of Fire Island has to offer, and it’s only a few blocks away.
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