The Road to Flanders, c. 1910

by Wendy Polhemus-Annibell, Head Librarian

The Road to Flanders, c. 1910. (Image from the Postcard Collection of the Suffolk County Historical Society Library Archives.)

How and when Flanders acquired its present-day name remain a mystery, though it may be that the hamlet adopted the name based on its wetlands and other similarities with the Flanders region of present-day Belgium in Europe. The word “Flanders” is adopted from the Flemish “Vlaanderen,” which means “flooded land.”

It’s believed that Josiah Goodale was the earliest Englishman to permanently settle in the area that would become known as Flanders. Southampton Town records refer to his house at “Aukabog” as early as 1761, and other references indicate that his home was likely built prior to 1760. Josiah is credited with clearing much of the land in the hamlet area, and his descendants continue to reside there today. Another early inhabitant was James Fanning II, a Southold native and son of Captain James Fanning, who was a hero of the French Indian War and the first of the Fannings to settle on Long Island. The oldest known surviving house in the hamlet is that of James Benjamin. His homestead, built in circa 1782 and located on Flanders Road, is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

To read much more about the history of Flanders, see the Flanders Hamlet Heritage Area Report (2014).

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