The Kismet Historical Society celebrates fated founding of this area on Fire Island

Kismet is a fortuitous name for a location since it means fate or destiny, and Kismet, Fire Island, originated around 1925, when the Weiss family purchased a tract of land running from the bay to the ocean. They then put in Oak and Pine Walk and dug out the marina and named the whole area Kismet Park. Many who have enjoyed this idyllic portion of Fire Island may wonder where it got its evocative name.

“I figured I would start this historical society in 2018. Fire Island has a history that goes way back into the 1800s, but our little community of Kismet, the first time a shovel went in the ground to build the community was March 1925, so I said, we’re going to start our organization looking at all the history going back to March 1925,” said Sam Wood, president of the Kismet Historical Society.

The original Kismet Inn was located where the existing Kismet Market still stands; however, it was destroyed by the Hurricane of 1938. The present location of the inn was originally a general store and workshop. The Weiss family used it to service their modest ferry, which was destined to be called Kismet.

Wood shared some of the little-known story surrounding the origin of this iconic Islip vacation destination.

“Kismet is on Fire Island. It’s the farthest community closest to the lighthouse. There was a family from Brooklyn, Fred K. Weiss, and so he had a huge commercial business. There was the Fred K. Weiss Crystal Steam Laundry, and I only found information about it recently, less than two years ago, and I found the building it was in, and it has a huge limestone on it, and it still has his name on it. It’s like a historic apartment building now, and it’s in Bed-Stuy, Brooklyn, and that’s the guy who started our community,” informed Wood, who now lives in Kismet all year round.

“He [Weiss] came out to Bay Shore and then he sold his business in Brooklyn. He must have had a bunch of money, and then he went over to Fire Island harbor to look at some land, and he kind of stumbled across Kismet. In Kismet, there was absolutely nothing. There wasn’t a building, there wasn’t a hotel. There were no streets. There was no ferry service, and he came here with his sons, and he looked around and the property was for sale, and he was like, I’m going to build a community here,” said Wood.

Kismet has continued to expand and by 1955, Lighthouse Shores, on the west side, and Seabay Beach, on the east side, were established. Throughout the years, they have coalesced into the community known as Kismet today.

“I have founded a historical society made up of members of the community, young and old. I believe our society is the newest one in Suffolk County, and we have focused on the history of Kismet,” said Wood. The fledgling historical society’s motto is, “Not just finding history, making it.”

Wood explained the origin of the serendipitous name. “Weiss came from a Shriner’s group in Brooklyn. It was called the Kismet Shriners, but then he saw a ferry for sale from West Island, which is between Fire Island and Bay Shore, and he bought that ferry, and so that’s how this place became Kismet,” he said.

Some things are simply meant to be.

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