Cherry Grove

Cherry Grove, the most famous LGBTQ+ community in the U.S., is thought to be the oldest inhabited resort area on Fire Island. Since the 1940s, the Grove has attracted people in theater and the arts and become a popular resort for LGBTQ+ summer vacationers. The community has about 250 homes and boasts a vibrant commercial district of stores, hotels, restaurants, bars, a volunteer fire department, and an emergency medical service and health clinic. Its Community House and Theater received historic designations from the state and federal registries as the “oldest gay theater” in the U.S. The annual July Fourth ferry trek of drag queens from the Grove to the Fire Island Pines, called the Invasion, commemorates the 1976 refusal of a Pines bar to serve a customer in drag.