Brandon Tartikoff (1949-1997) was a successful television producer. Born in Freeport in 1949, Tartikoff helped create some of the most-watched shows of the 1980s including: Cheers, The Cosby Show, Miami Vice, St. Elsewhere, Hill Street Blues, L.A. Law, Golden Girls, and Family Ties. In 1978, at the age of 31, Tartikoff became the youngest executive in television history when NBC made him president of programming. At NBC, he was responsible for signing a relatively unknown comedian named Jerry Seinfeld. In 1991, he became head of Paramount Studios, where his biggest success came with the 1991 film Wayne’s World, based on a Saturday Night Live skit. After being injured in a car accident in late 1992, Tartikoff left Paramount to become an independent producer. His production company, H. Beale was eventually sold to New World Cinema and Tartikoff was made an executive with the company.
The Tattler was a weekly newspaper founded in 1908 by Freeport High School student James E. Stiles. Stiles served as the newspaper's publisher and editor. The Tattler was six inches by nine inches in size and was four pages long. Subscriptions cost ten cents for the school year. The newspaper focused on school news and events, but was not an official publication of Freeport High School. The Student, was published by the school, and Stiles served as its advertising manager.
The Tattler ran from November 30, 1908 to May 18, 1909, the year Stiles graduated from high school.
Stiles would later found Nassau County's first daily newspaper, The Nassau Post.
See Also:
Sources:
"School Notes." Nassau County Review. December 11, 1908, 1. Accessed July 26, 2018. http://nyshistoricnewspapers.org/lccn/sn95071433/1908-12-11/ed-1/seq-1/.
Uhlan,Edward. Dynamo Jim Stiles: Pioneer of Progress. New York: Exposition Press, 1959.
Researched by Regina G. Feeney, July 30, 2018.
Teal Canal is the waterway located south of East Bedell Street and north of East 1st Street.
Source:
Map of Nassau County Barrier Islands, 2014. Accessed October 27, 2020. https://www.nassaucountyny.gov/DocumentCenter/View/25617/2019-helicopter-larviciding-Map?bidId=
Researched by Regina G. Feeney. October 27, 2020.
Telephone service on Long Island began when the Glen Cove Central exchange opened in 1884. Service to Hempstead began in the early 1890s. Telephone companies had to apply to the Nassau County Board of Supervisors for permission to erect poles and string wires. Permission was granted to the South Shore Telephone Company in October of 1899. The company had agreed to maintain a telephone in the county court that could be used without expense by county officials for county business. South Shore Telephone Company was soon challenged by the arrival of the New York and New Jersey Telephone Company. In 1902, interest in the South Shore Telephone Company was purchased by capitalists from Brooklyn and New York. The South Shore Telephone Company would merge with the New York and New Jersey Telephone Company in 1906.
In 1900, there were nine telephone exchanges: Glen Cove, Hempstead, Port Washington, Great Neck, Oyster Bay, Rockville Centre, Roslyn, Freeport, and East Rockaway. These exchanges served 446 subscribers. Most telephones were installed in commercial businesses such as drugstores.
The New York Telephone Company was established in 1909 and provided service in Garden City, Long Beach, and Oyster Bay. Around 1914, the telephone company operated an exchange and branch office in Freeport. The Freeport exchange was located on Merrick Road near Church Street and employed 11 operators. The Wantagh exchange was a branch for Freeport and it employed three operators. Together, upwards of 60,000 calls were handled daily on more than 1,000 lines and 1,800 stations. It was reported that more people in Freeport were served by the telephone company than any other place on Long Island outside New York City. The commercial office for the telephone company was located at 26 South Grove Street (now Guy Lombardo Avenue).
In 1930, the New York Telephone Company constructed a ten story building in the Village of Hempstead; it was the tallest building constructed in the village. Its Freeport's office was located on the west side of South Grove Street (now Guy Lombardo Avenue).
See Also:
Sources:
"End of a 'Phone Company." The Brooklyn Daily Eagle. March 19, 1908, 18. Accessed April 20, 2017. https://bklyn.newspapers.com/image/53875475/?terms=%22south%2Bshore%2Btelephone%2Bcompany%22.
"Improving Their Plant." The Brooklyn Daily Eagle. December 31, 1902, 8. Accessed April 20, 2017. https://bklyn.newspapers.com/image/50397121/?terms=%22south%2Bshore%2Btelephone%2Bcompany%22.
"Mrs. Smith Was Obdurate." The Brooklyn Daily Eagle. March 20, 1903, 1. Accessed April 20, 2017. https://bklyn.newspapers.com/image/53406223/?terms=%22south%2Bshore%2Btelephone%2Bcompany%22
Smits, Edward J. Nassau Suburbia, U.S.A: The First Seventy-five Years of Nassau County, New York, 1899 to 1974. Doubleday & Company, Inc. 1974.
Researched by Regina G. Feeney, April 20, 2017.
Updated by Regina G. Feeney, July 18, 2018.
Temperance Fountain was placed at the northeast corner of Fulton Street (now Merrick Road) and South Main Street circa 1900. The bronzed iron fountain was five feet four inches high and 22 inches in diameter. It included a self closing faucet that regulated the flow of water. The Freeport chapter of the Women's Christian Temperance Union raised approximately $150 for the purchase and installation of the fountain. The purpose of the fountain was to keep thirsty men, including the many bicyclists who came through Freeport, from seeking refreshments in the local taverns and inns. The fountain also provided water for horses.
Between 1903 and 1906, this fountain was shut down in an effort to stop the spread of glanders, an infection caught by horses.
Sources:
"For a Drinking Fountain." The Brooklyn Daily Eagle. March 8, 1900, 7. Accessed October 3, 2018. https://bklyn.newspapers.com/image/50384818/?terms=freeport%2Bfountain.
"Freeport Fountain." The Brooklyn Daily Eagle. May 26, 1900, 17. Accessed October 3, 2018. https://bklyn.newspapers.com/image/50390660/?terms=freeport%2Bfountain.
"Freeport's New Fountain." The Brooklyn Daily Eagle. April 1, 1900, 7. Accessed October 3, 2018. https://bklyn.newspapers.com/image/50386355/?terms=freeport%2Bfountain.
Researched by Regina G. Feeney, October 3, 2018.
Templeton Street was named for Faye Templeton, who was an actress with the Weber and Fields Theatre. Templeton Street no longer exists; it now is the eastern part of Parsons Avenue.
Researched by Cynthia J. Krieg, May 28, 2016.
Texas Ranger was a restaurant on South Main Street; it was owned by the Pappas family. The restaurant had two signature menu items: chili and the Ranger burger which was topped with shredded cabbage and special sauce.
The patriarch of the family, John Pappas, originally began the business in New Orleans. He later moved to Long Island with his seven sons and five daughters. The sons were said to have worked the business in around-the-clock schedules. Later, the children split the business into partnerships in different locations including Island Park. Sons Angelo and John ran the Freeport location.
On November 26, 1967, Angelo Pappas was murdered in his Roosevelt home. His wife, Sheila, and niece Mary Ann Freed were tried for the crime but were ultimately acquitted.
The Texas Ranger eventually moved to Woodcleft Avenue. The restaurant closed sometime in the 1990s. In 2014, a new Texas Ranger opened under new management at 365 Atlantic Avenue.
Click here for material related to the Texas Ranger.
Sources:
Altshul, Jack. Kind of a Routine Trial Until..." Newsday. January 22, 1969, 3B.
"Feed Me: Hot Posts From Our Daily Blog." Newsday. October 23, 2014, B12.
Vasil, Eddie. "News & Views." Leader. December 7, 1967, 1. Accessed July 18, 2018. http://nyshistoricnewspapers.org/lccn/sn95071064/1967-12-07/ed-1/seq-1/.
Researched by Regina G. Feeney, July 25, 2018.
Thomas Pharmacy was located at 451 North Main Street in the 1950s. John Marchisotto was the pharmacist.
Click here for images related to Thomas Pharmacy.
Source:
Souvenir Journal, The Spring Dance Sponsored by A & B Youth Group of the Utopia Community Center Inc. of Roosevelt, L .I., N. Y. Monday, April 7th, 1958.
Researched by Regina G. Feeney, December 28, 2016.
Art Thompson was the thirty-second mayor of Freeport. (1993 to 1995). Thompson died while in office in July 1995.
Thompson was preceded by Dorothy Storm and succeeded by Richard Wissler.
Click here for a Focus on Freeport episode hosted by Mayor Thompson.
Researched by Cynthia J. Krieg, May 29, 2016.
Updated by Regina G. Feeney, August 11, 2023.
Flora May Thornton (nee Stevenson) (1912 -1999) was born in Freeport to Augustus and Mary Stevenson on October 19, 1912. The 1915 NY State Census lists the family as living on Helen Avenue in the Bennington Park section of Freeport. In 1931, Thornton was one of the few African American students in the Freeport High School graduating class. Upon graduation, she attended Howard University.
In 1943, she married career Army officer and Hampton Institute professor, Osceola T. Thornton (1912-1982). The couple resided in Virginia area and had three children: Migonette, Steven, and Brian. Thornton would later work as an examiner for the US Bureau of Engraving. Both Osceola and Flora are buried in Arlington National Cemetery.
See Also:
Sources:
Ancestry.com.
"Captain and Bride Visit," Nassau Daily Review-Star. February 17, 1943, 5. Accessed November 25, 2022. http://nyshistoricnewspapers.org/lccn/sn83031113/1943-02-17/ed-1/seq-5/.
"Freeport, L.I." The New York Amsterdam News. June 29, 1931, A16. Accessed November 25, 2022. ProQuest Historical African American Newspapers.
"Lt. Col. O.T. Thornton," Daily Press. May 13, 1982, 58. Accessed March 13, 2023. Newspapers.com.
Researched by Regina G. Feeney, March 15, 2023.
Three Gables Hotel was located at Fulton Street (now Merrick Road) and Henry Street. It was renamed the Colonial Hotel and later, the Monte Carlo Inn.
The hotel dated back to about 1895 and was managed by Alexander Rhodes. This establishment was very popular with the members of bicycle clubs, who often stopped to dine at the hotel. In 1900, a delegation of Rough Riders from Bellmore met at the hotel to participate in a Freeport parade. In 1902, the proprietor of the Three Gables was John Feller, Jr. Developers Leo Fishel and James Hanse purchased the hotel in 1911 and began a renovation project. B. D. Homan was the architect and builder in charge of the work. Philip J. Fisher and John P. Donohue purchased the hotel in 1915 with the intention of adding a 50 x 75 foot dance hall. The hotel's motto was "Where the better people will go."
The hotel was sold around 1917 to Jack Madine and re-named the Monte Carlo Inn. In 1917, newly introduced liquor regulations in the Town of Hempstead threatened the hotel's liquor license.
See Also:
Sources:
Alexander Rhodes Obituary. Nassau County Review. January 14, 1916, 1. Accessed October 8, 2016. http://nyshistoricnewspapers.org/lccn/sn95071433/1916-01-14/ed-1/seq-1/.
"Bellmore." Nassau County Review. November 2, 1900, 3. Accessed October 8, 2016. http://nyshistoricnewspapers.org/lccn/sn95071433/1900-11-02/ed-1/seq-3/.
Colonial Hotel (advertisement). The Nassau Post. November 19, 1915, 3. Accessed October 8, 2016. http://nyshistoricnewspapers.org/lccn/sn95071434/1915-11-19/ed-1/seq-3/.
"Freeport." South Side Messenger. May 19, 1911, 8. Accessed October 8, 2016. http://nyshistoricnewspapers.org/lccn/sn96083504/1911-05-19/ed-1/seq-8/.
"Seventy-Seven Saloons to Close." Nassau County Review. August 21, 1917, 4. Accessed October 8, 2016. http://nyshistoricnewspapers.org/lccn/sn95071434/1917-11-02/ed-1/seq-1/,
Researched by Regina G. Feeney, October 8, 2016.
Tilo Roofing Company, Inc. was located at 101 East Merrick Road in 1927. The following year, the address was 198 North Main Street. Their motto was "Estimates Cheerfully Given."
Source:
Voyageur, 1927 (Freeport High School Yearbook).
Voyageur, 1928 (Freeport High School Yearbook).
Researched by Regina G. Feeney, December 23, 2016.
Henry Washington Toomer (1895-1961) was a long time resident of Bennington Park. Toomer was born in Charleston, SC. Around 1914, Toomer and his father worked for Lewis H. Ross. He enlisted in 15th NY Infantry National Guard for service along the Mexican border but he was soon mustered into active service with the 369th U.S. Army Infantry at the outbreak of World War I. While serving in France as a corporal, it was reported that Toomer had been gassed. He returned home in 1919.
Toomer worked for the postal service in New York City. He was a member of the Henry Morrison-DeLoney Post, American Legion, the Sunset Lodge of Elks, and the Southeast Civic Association. At the time of his death in 1961, Toomer was one of two remaining veterans of the original 369th Regiment from Freeport (George Anderson was the other).
See Also:
Sources:
Ancestry.com
"Community Loses a Great Citizen: Henry W. Toomer." The Leader. March 9, 1961, 4. Accessed August 31, 2018. http://nyshistoricnewspapers.org/lccn/sn95071064/1961-03-09/ed-1/seq-4/.
"Our Boys Coming Back." Nassau County Review. March 7, 2018, 7. September 8, 2018. http://nyshistoricnewspapers.org/lccn/sn95071433/1919-03-07/ed-1/seq-7/.
Researched by Regina G. Feeney, September 11, 2018.
The Town Cleaners & Dyers was located at 28 South Grove Street (now Guy Lombardo Avenue).
Source:
The Town Cleaners & Dyers (advertisement). Freeporter: Official Publication of the Freeport Chamber of Commerce. 1, no. 11, April 1951, 13.
Researched by Regina G. Feeney, May 4, 2017.
William "Wally" Travis (1904-1940) was a Freeport boat captain and marine radio pioneer. Born in Brooklyn, Travis lived in Baldwin and Freeport for 22 years. He was the pilot of the charter boat Shanghai Express. Along with his business partner, Raymond "Ray" Jefferson, a radio inventor, they outfitted the Shanghai Express with the first marine radio telephone around 1935. Their invention allowed for both ship to ship and ship to shore communications. Together they formed the Jefferson-Travis Radio Manufacturing Company. In 1937, they produced 12 radios. The company vastly expanded during World War II. Ray Jefferson sold the company in 1970.
Travis was a charter member of the Freeport Tuna Club. He was also a member of the Freeport Boatmen's Association, Jones Beach Surf Fishing Club, and was an ensign in the United States Power Squadron. He married Helena DeLorme in 1925. The couple had one son, Wallace Lee.
Travis died after a month long illness at the age of 36.
Sources:
Ancestry.com.
"Freeport Boatmen in Florida Talk Via Air to Friends Here." Brooklyn Daily Eagle. December 28, 1937, 2. Accessed June 7, 2021. https://bklyn.newspapers.com/image/686190858/?terms=shanghai%20express&match=1.
Karas, Nick. "For Mr. and Mrs. Angler and All the Ships at Sea." Newsday. May 28, 1986, 120.
"Ship-to-Shore Phone Awaits Busy Anglers." Brooklyn Daily Eagle. June 9, 1936, 8. Accessed June 7, 2021. https://bklyn.newspapers.com/image/686062391/?terms=wally%20travis&match=1.
"2 Ships Ignored Signals Summer Says After Rescue." Brooklyn Times Union. October 13, 1936, 16. Accessed June 7, 2021. Newspapers.com
"William W. Travis, Fishing Pilot, Dies." Nassau Daily Review-Star." December 4, 1940, 21. Accessed June 7, 2021. http://nyshistoricnewspapers.org/lccn/sn83031113/1940-12-04/ed-1/seq-21/.
"William W. Travis, Inventor's Partner." Brooklyn Daily Eagle. December 4, 1940, 15. Accessed June 7, 2021. https://bklyn.newspapers.com/image/52772118/?terms=william%20travis&match=1.
Researched by Regina G. Feeney, June 7, 2021.
Daniel Melancthon Tredwell (1826-1921) was a lawyer, businessman, local historian, antiquarian, amateur anthropologist, and bibliophile who was born on a farm located on a section of the Freeport-Baldwin border sometimes referred to as Milburn. Tredwell was an early chronicler of Freeport and Long Island history. Tredwell was the oldest of the six children born to Daniel Tredwell and Susanna Ellsworth Tredwell. His ancestors were originally from Oxfordshire, England. After emigrating to Ipswich, MA, his family settled in South Hempstead, Long Island in the mid seventeenth-century. Tredwell described his family as being loyalists during the Revolutionary War.
He attended school locally and borrowed books from the Raynortown Library. This library was most likely housed in Freeport's one-room school house. In 1845, he graduated from the Hempstead Academy. He later married his wife Sarah. He worked a reporter for the Brooklyn Daily Freeman, a newspaper edited by Walt Whitman. He graduated King's College (now Columbia University) with a law degree and eventually became the Chief Clerk of the Supreme Court of Brooklyn. He held that position for forty-five years. He was a life member of the Long Island Historical Society (now the Brooklyn Historical Society), where some of his papers are currently archived. Additional material concerning Tredwell is located at the New York Public Library.
Tredwell's childhood on the south shore of Long Island is documented in his book, Personal Reminiscences of Men and Things on Long Island. Published in 1912, much of this book is based on his journal writings that he began in 1838. He recalled interesting details about Long Island including the numerous wampum sites located near his house, how he collected bird specimens for noted ornithologist J.P. Giraud who did research in Raynortown, and the reaction of Long Islanders when the slave ship, the Amistad, ran aground near Montauk in 1839.
Tredwell died in Brooklyn at the age of 95. He is buried in Greenfield Cemetery, Uniondale, NY.
Click here for material related to Daniel M. Tredwell.
Sources:
Daniel M. Tredwell obituary. The New York Times. November 12, 1921, 13.
Rushmore, Robert P. "A Sketch of the Life and Works of Daniel M. Tredwell." The Journal of Long Island History. 12, No. 1, (1975): 5-22.
Researched by Regina G. Feeney, December 17, 2016
Triangle Grocery and Delicatessen (also known as Triangle Grocery and Deli) was located at 100 Broadway at the corner of Mount Avenue. In the 1980s, it was owned by Lena and Frank Ragusa. A 1958 advertisement which appeared in The Leader gave the address of the store as 180 Broadway.
Sources:
Round-about with Rhoda. The Leader. May 23, 1985, 6. Accessed October 1, 2018. http://nyshistoricnewspapers.org/lccn/sn95071064/1985-05-23/ed-1/seq-6/.
Triangle Grocery and Delicatessen [advertisement]. The Leader. November 13, 1958, 9. Accessed October 1, 2018. http://nyshistoricnewspapers.org/lccn/sn95071064/1958-11-13/ed-1/seq-9/.
Researched by Regina G. Feeney, October 1, 2018.
Wilbur Tredwell was the Village of Freeport Justice from 1896 to 1898. Tredwell was the son of Daniel M. Tredwell, who was a lawyer in Brooklyn and wrote on a variety of subjects including Indians of Long Island, the history of Freeport, and A Personal Reminiscences of Men and Things on Long Island.
Wilbur was a graduate of New York University Law School. In August 1896, he was nominated to be Freeport police justice and was described as a “lawyer of no mean ability and can be relied upon to dole out justice impartially and with sound judgment.” As justice, he came out against football after watching a game where there were a number of injuries. He stopped the game and told the players they would be arrested if they continued to play.
He was an attorney with offices at 186 Remsen Street, Brooklyn, with evening and Saturday office hours at Van Riper’s Hall in Freeport. As a member of Transfiguration Episcopal Church, he donated the altar in memory of his brother.
Researched by Cynthia J. Krieg, June 16, 2016.
Treadwell's Lane was an original name for Brookside Avenue.
Source:
Historic Freeport: 70th Anniversary Issue. [1962].
Researched by Regina G. Feeney, May 28, 2016.
Triangle Place was originally called Riverside Drive.
Source:
Zimmerman, Charles J. "What Ever Happened To Randolph, Claude and Jerome?" The Leader. October 15, 1992, 24.
Researched by Regina G. Feeney, May 29, 2016.
Trojan Civic League (sometimes referred to as the Trojan League) was an association of men and women who supported the moral, civic, and political advancement of the African American community. Formed around 1921, Bennington Park residents Alonzo W. Myers and John E. Robinson served, respectively, as president and secretary of the league.
See Also:
Source:
Robinson, John E. "Colored Citizens Say Public Market Is Very Beneficial." The Daily Review. August 5, 1921, 1. http://nyshistoricnewspapers.org/lccn/sn95071431/1921-08-05/ed-1/seq-1/.
Researched by Regina G. Feeney, August 27, 2018.
Trubia, a Spanish trophy gun (commonly referred to today as a cannon), was made in Spain at the Trubia Arms Factory in 1874. The gun was captured by the United States Navy at Murro Castle, Santiago de Cuba during the Spanish-American War in 1898.
Trubia is an eight-inch muzzle loading Spanish rifle bearing the number 378, and weighs about 12,040 pounds. In the summer of 1901, Freeport's citizens’ committee on trophy guns, with the assistance of Congressman Storm, secured the trophy for the Village of Freeport from the Navy Department in Washington, DC. Trubia was unveiled by the Grand Army of the Republic on July 4, 1902.
Both Trubia and the Parrot rifle were secured by the Village of Freeport at the same time. The village had to raise around $175 to defray the cost of transporting and mounting these trophies. The Parrot rifle was placed on the grounds of the original Freeport High School. It was later moved to a small triangle of land located at the intersection of West Sunrise Highway and Centre Street.
The Freeport Landmarks Preservation Committee honored Trubia with a roadside marker that was erected in 2015.
Click here for images related to Trubia.
Sources:
"Dedication." South Side Observer. July 11, 1902, 3. Accessed August 12, 2020. http://nyshistoricnewspapers.org/lccn/sn84031784/1902-07-11/ed-1/seq-3/.
"Trophy Guns." South Side Observer. June 13, 1902, 3. Accessed August 12, 2020. http://nyshistoricnewspapers.org/lccn/sn84031784/1902-06-13/ed-1/seq-3/.
“Freeport’s War Trophies.” Brooklyn Daily Eagle. March 24 1902, 7. Accessed August 12, 2020. https://bklyn.newspapers.com/image/50417676/?terms=war%2Btrophies%2Bfreeport.
Schofer, Laura. "Roadside Markers Commemorate Freeport's History." The Leader. November 12, 2015, 1. Accessed August 12, 2020. http://nyshistoricnewspapers.org/lccn/sn95071065/2015-11-12/ed-1/seq-1/.
“Trophies.” Nassau County Review. January 17, 1902, 3. Accessed August 12, 2020. http://nyshistoricnewspapers.org/lccn/sn95071433/1902-01-17/ed-1/seq-3/.
Researched by Regina G. Feeney, August 12, 2020.
See:
Two Guys was a discount department store located between East Merrick Road and East Sunrise Highway, west of Liberty Avenue, in the early 1980s. It was located on a site that was once part of the Bennington Park section of Freeport.
The Village approved the development of Two Guys in April, 1979. Many South Main Street merchants opposed the stores development because they feared it would have a negative impact on small local businesses. The store was constructed on 13.2 acres of what was referred to as "urban renewal land." The approximately 110,000 square foot store opened in April 1980. The original proposal called for the addition of a supermarket the following year. Two Guys employed approximately 200 to 250 people.
In 1981, Vornado Inc., the parent company of Two Guys, announced that it would be closing all three of its Long Island locations as part of a retrenchment program. Vornado Inc. retained ownership of the facility which became known as the Sunrise Business Campus. It leased 60,000 square feet of the building to the Bulova Watch Company in 1982. Cablevision leased 55,000 square feet of the remaining space in 1984. Bulova moved from Freeport to Lancaster, PA in 1989.
A Staples store was constructed on the property in the early 1990s. Home Depot opened its store in the former Two Guys' location in 1991.
See Also:
Sources:
"Bulova To Lay Off 300 on LI." Newsday. November 2, 1989, 51.
"Freeport Development Agreement Is Reached." Newsday. September 9, 1982, 45.
"Land Deal Okd in Freeport." Newsday. April 24, 1979, 28.
"Message From the Mayor." Village News. February 1991, 1. Accessed November 16, 2017. http://cdm16694.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/singleitem/collection/p15281coll12/id/17170/rec/8.
"Two Guys Say They Won't Quit." Newsday. April 28, 1980, 31.
Two Guys to Close 3 Stores." Newsday. November 18, 1981, 35.
Village News. February 1980, 1. Accessed November 16, 2017. http://cdm16694.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/singleitem/collection/p15281coll12/id/17278/rec/5.
Researched by Regina G. Feeney, November 16, 2017.
Tudor Grill was a restaurant that was located in Freeport Hall, an apartment building located at 200 West Merrick Road. The restaurant opened in 1928 and was managed by Kathleen French Crips. Sunday dinners cost $1.50.
Sources:
Tudor Grill [advertisement]. The Nassau Daily Review. July 14, 1928, 4. Accessed December 26, 2019. http://nyshistoricnewspapers.org/lccn/sn95071428/1928-07-14/ed-1/seq-4/.
"Tudor Grill at Freeport Enjoying Exceptional Season. The Nassau Daily Review. July 14, 1928, 12. Accessed December 26, 2019. http://nyshistoricnewspapers.org/lccn/sn95071428/1928-07-14/ed-1/seq-12/.
Researched by Regina G. Feeney, December 26, 2019.
Tudor Laundry & Dry Cleaning Co. was located at 200 East Merrick Road. In 1950, the business was owned by John McGiff.
Sources:
Tudor Laundry & Dry Cleaning Co. [advertisement]. The Leader. November 8, 1956, 22. Accessed August 22, 2019. http://nyshistoricnewspapers.org/lccn/sn95071064/1956-11-08/ed-1/seq-22/.
"Wrong Box Makes Burglary a Washout." Newsday. October 25, 1950, 94.
Researched by Regina G. Feeney, September 16, 2019.
Turks Island was an area of Freeport located in the southeast section of the village. Today, this area is known as the Industrial Park. The origin of the name of this section is a mystery, especially since this land is not an island. One theory is that the name was derived from Zopher Smith’s turkey farm that was located here. The first newspaper account that refers to this area as Turks Island appeared in 1908. This section had a reputation as being a tough neighborhood. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, “Turk” was once used to describe someone that was considered a “barbarian or savage” or “a bad-tempered or unmanageable man.” It was also once used to describe an “Irish immigrant in the U.S.”
In the early 1900s, the Freeport Methodist Church established the Shell Island Mission on St. Mary's Place on Turks Island. The Methodist Church stopped supporting this mission in 1915.
In 1916, the section becomes “Shell Island” and former mayor James Hanse begins redevelopment of this area. In 1926, this area is referred to as “Ormond Park.” After 1964, the section is re-named Industrial Park.
Click here for images related to Turks Island / Industrial Park.
See Also:
Sources:
Citizens Make War on Village Dumps." The Brooklyn Daily Eagle. August 14, 1926, 3. Accessed May 25, 2017. https://bklyn.newspapers.com/image/59891851/?terms=Citizens%2Bmake%2Bwar%2Bon%2Bdumps.
"Freeport Officer May Be Gang's Victim." The Brooklyn Daily Eagle. October 5, 1908, 8. Accessed May 25, 2017. https://bklyn.newspapers.com/search/#query=%22turks+island%22+freeport.
"Freeport Ruling Makes Sidewalks Compulsory Now." The Brooklyn Daily Eagle. October 30, 1927, 114. Accessed May 25, 2017. https://bklyn.newspapers.com/image/57395716/?terms=%22Ormond%2BPark%22%2Bfreeport.
"Ormond Park Residents Holding Party Saturday." The Leader. February 23, 1956, 2. http://nyshistoricnewspapers.org/lccn/sn95071064/1956-02-23/ed-1/seq-2/.
"Remember Turks Island." The Freeport Leader. November 28, 1991, 3. Accessed May 25, 2017. http://nyshistoricnewspapers.org/lccn/sn95071065/1991-11-28/ed-1/seq-3/.
"Turks Island Goes; Shell Island Now." The Brooklyn Daily Eagle. October 18, 1916, 8. Accessed May 25, 2017. https://bklyn.newspapers.com/image/60020327/?terms=%22Shell%2Bisland%22%2BFreeport.
Researched by Regina G. Feeney, May 25, 2017.
Dr. David Anthony Tutrone (1910-1996) was a local medical doctor who lived at 64 Harding Place. Born in Brooklyn, Tutrone's family eventually moved to Freeport. While a student at Freeport High School, he was the art editor of the high school magazine, The Student, captain of the golf team, a member of the orchestra, and president of the art club. After graduating in 1930, he attended Ohio State University. Tutrone received his medical degree from Creighton University in Omaha, NE. He interned at Meadowbrook Hospital (now Nassau University Medical Center). Tutrone was a 1st lieutenant in the Army Reserves since 1938 and was drafted in 1943. He served for seven months in the Arctic region during World War II and was the battalion surgeon with the 4th Amphibian Brigade. In 1945, he held the position of assistant chief of the department of orthopedic surgery at Fort Devens, MA and was promoted to the rank of Major. After spending 43 months in military service, he returned to private practice in 1946.
Around 1955, Tutrone moved to a house he had built in Massapequa, but maintained an office in Freeport. He married his wife, Lois, in 1974 and the couple had two children. After his death, his wife donated a history of Freeport written by Tutrone around 1938.
Sources:
"Again in Practice." Newsday. August 8, 1946, 46.
"Freeport Doctor Given Major's Rank." Newsday. July 11, 1945, 22.
"Student Staff Prepares 25th Anniversary Number. The Nassau Daily Review. February 4, 1930, 8. Accessed March 2, 2020. http://nyshistoricnewspapers.org/lccn/sn95071428/1930-02-04/ed-1/seq-8/.
Tutrone, Lois. [correspondence with Freeport Historical Society, 2002].
Voyageur, 1930 (Freeport High School Yearbook).
Researched by Regina G. Feeney, March 25, 2020.
Toyland Parade was a holiday season parade inspired by the Macy's parade in New York City. It also served as the official beginning of holiday shopping in Freeport.
The first modern-era holiday shopping kick off event in Freeport occurred on November 29, 1940. Guy Lombardo, dressed as Santa Claus and accompanied by a Scottish bagpiper and the Freeport High School band, visited various local shops. Sponsored by the Freeport Chamber of Commerce, the event also collected food, clothes, medical supplies, and monetary donations for "Bundles for Britain," an American post WWII relief program for the people of Great Britain. Taxis and bus fares were reduced in an effort to draw shoppers to the village. David Green, the secretary of the Freeport Chamber of Commerce, was the master of ceremonies.
On December 7, 1949, Santa Claus arrived at the Freeport Municipal Stadium via helicopter. Freeport children were released from school early to witness Santa as he was paraded on a three mile route through Freeport that was led by the 70-piece Freeport High School band. This parade included floats that, according to local newspaper reports, were "similar to those seen in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade in Manhattan." This parade was sponsored by the Merchants Association of Freeport and may have been Freeport's first Christmas parade.
The first Toyland parade occurred on December 5, 1959. The three-hour parade featured 33 giant balloon floats up to 110 feet in length, as well as an all-star western pageant. The original parade route was as follows: west on Mill Road to South Main Street; north on South Main Street to Merrick Road; west on Merrick Road to South Grove Street; north on South Grove Street to Sunrise Highway; east on Sunrise Highway to South Main Street; south on South Main Street to Merrick Road; east on Merrick Road to Henry Street; north on Henry Street to Sunrise Highway; east on Sunrise Highway to Buffalo Avenue; and south on Buffalo Avenue to Firemen's Field.
The Toyland Parade ended sometime in the late 1970s.
In 2016, the Freeport Chamber of Commerce began sponsoring the Nautical Festival of Lights (also known as the Holiday Boat Parade) along Freeport's waterfront.
Sources:
"The Big Holiday Treat 'The Toyland Parade,'" The Leader. December 3, 1959, 1. Accessed July 19, 2019. http://nyshistoricnewspapers.org/lccn/sn95071064/1959-12-03/ed-1/seq-1/.
Cacciatore, Anna Jean. The Leader. December 8, 1994, 10. Accessed August 5, 2019. http://nyshistoricnewspapers.org/lccn/sn95071065/1994-12-08/ed-1/seq-10/.
"Children's Special Events." Newsday. November 22, 1975, 7A
"Freeport One Day Sale and Xmas Season Opening." Nassau Daily Review-Star. November 27, 1940, 10. Accessed December 14, 2020. http://nyshistoricnewspapers.org/lccn/sn83031113/1940-11-27/ed-1/seq-10/.
"Freeport's Toyland Parade." The Leader. December 8, 1994, 10. Accessed September 11, 2017. http://nyshistoricnewspapers.org/lccn/sn95071065/1994-12-08/ed-1/seq-10/.
"Nautical Mile of Lights." The Leader. November 16, 2006, 2. Accessed December 14, 2020. http://nyshistoricnewspapers.org/lccn/sn95071065/2006-11-16/ed-1/seq-2/.
"Santa Claus Lombardo." Brooklyn Daily Eagle. November 29, 1940, 26. Accessed December 14, 2020. https://bklyn.newspapers.com/image/686143182/?terms=santa%20claus%20lombardo&match=1.
"Santa Claus to Arrive in Freeport for the Holiday Parade." The Leader. November 16, 1978. 1. Accessed August 5, 2019. http://nyshistoricnewspapers.org/lccn/sn95071064/1978-11-16/ed-1/seq-1/.
"Santa's Here!" The Leader. December 3, 1959, 1. Accessed July 19, 2019. http://nyshistoricnewspapers.org/lccn/sn95071064/1959-12-03/ed-1/seq-1/.
"Santa, Gone Modern, Rides Helicopter to Freeport Parade." Brooklyn Daily Eagle. December 7, 1949, 10. Accessed December 14, 2020. https://bklyn.newspapers.com/image/686223445/?terms=santa%20helicopter%20parade%20freeport&match=1.
"Yes, Santa Claus, Reindeer, Bands, 33 Giant Balloon Floats, Surprises." The Leader. December 3, 1959, 1. Accessed July 19, 2019. http://nyshistoricnewspapers.org/lccn/sn95071064/1959-12-03/ed-1/seq-1/.
Researched by Regina G. Feeney, September 11, 2017.
Updated by Regina G. Feeney, August 6, 2019.
Updated by Regina G. Feeney, December 14, 2020.