While it can sometimes be tricky to unravel the anthropological and linguistic origins behind how places get their names, the source of Bridgehampton is pretty straightforward. It’s a place in the Hamptons where, one time, they built a bridge. After people began to move east through the town of Southampton, Bridgehampton’s bridge — the Sagg Bridge — was built in 1686 over Sagg Pond, linking Bridgehampton to Sagaponack. Though that bridge was undoubtedly welcome in its time, it was the arrival of the Long Island Rail Road in 1870 that really connected Bridgehampton to the rest of civilization. Today, Bridgehampton undeniably captures the essence of the East End. Along lovingly landscaped lanes and roads, traditional shingle-style homes rest at the top of cobblestone driveways. Meanwhile, life down by the water reveals the sorts of ostentatious modern estates that help make the Hamptons “the Hamptons.”