Dan Rattiner, Hamptons Historian: Five Local History Stories from 2017

If there’s one thing Dan Rattiner knows, it’s the Hamptons. And not only its current iteration as a playground for the multiple-home owning Manhattan elite; he is a encyclopedia of who and what was during a time many of us can’t even fathom, let alone remember. One never knows when a weekly edit meeting will turn into a history lesson. Here we’ve picked five of our favorite historical sketches Dan put together during 2017.

There was the time when Carl Darenberg almost lost the Napeague Coast Guard Station to the sea.

https://danspapers.wpengine.com/2017/05/the-long-tow-when-the-napeague-coast-guard-station-headed-out-to-sea/

Another time, Dan tried to start Dan TV, but Cablevision wasn’t having it, which is also the reason he uses DirecTV to this day.

https://danspapers.wpengine.com/2017/12/dan-tv-net-neutrality-east-end/

Did you know two first ladies of the United States have deep Hamptons roots?

https://danspapers.wpengine.com/2017/09/most-beautiful-first-ladies-born-hamptons/

Possibly Dan’s favorite topic is the 1942 Nazi U Boat landing in Amagansett. He’s even written a book about it…coming soon.

https://danspapers.wpengine.com/2017/07/nazis-tombstone-amagansett-hamptons-wwii/

In case you want to know how the Hamptons became the Hamptons—or at least the people who helped define this place—Dan has a story for that too.

https://danspapers.wpengine.com/2017/07/founders-these-individuals-altered-the-course-of-history-in-the-hamptons/