Montauk Point State Park

Montauk Point State Park
Sunrise over the Montauk Point Light in December 2005.
Location of Montauk Point State Park within New York State
Type	State park
Location	2000 Montauk Highway Montauk, New York
Nearest city	Montauk, New York
Coordinates	41°04′12″N 71°51′18″W / 41.07°N 71.855°W / 41.07; -71.855Coordinates: 41°04′12″N 71°51′18″W / 41.07°N 71.855°W / 41.07; -71.855
Area	862 acres (3.49 km2)
Operated by	New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation
Visitors	816,970 (in 2014)
Open	All year
Website	Montauk Point State Park

Montauk Point State Park is a 862-acre (3.49 km²) state park located in the hamlet of Montauk, at the eastern tip of Long Island in the Town of East Hampton, Suffolk County, New York. Montauk Point is the easternmost extremity of the South Fork of Long Island, and thus also of New York State.

The park contains the Montauk Point Light, which was authorized by the Second Congress, under President George Washington in 1792. Construction began on June 7, 1796 and was completed on November 5, 1796. The lighthouse and adjacent Camp Hero were heavily fortified with huge guns during World War I and World War II. Those gun emplacements and concrete observation bunkers (which are also at nearby Shadmoor State Park and Camp Hero State Park) are still visible.

The Amistad, a Spanish ship taken over by slaves in 1839, was captured by the USS Washington near Montauk Point. The slaves were allowed to briefly disembark here before being re-imprisoned and taken to New London, Connecticut for trial. The Amistad case was heard before the Supreme Court of the United States, where John Quincy Adams successfully argued that the slaves had been kidnapped. Following the trial, the slaves were permitted to return to Africa. The case fanned the debate over the abolition of slavery.