Federal Street was renamed Rutland Road in 1926 by the Village of Freeport Board of Trustees.
Source:
Village of Freeport Board Minutes, December 12, 1924.
Researched by Regina G. Feeney, July 19, 2017.
Anna Feile (1907-1998) was the owner of Atlantic Nursery and Garden Shop. Born near Stuttgart, Germany, she came to the United States in 1929. That same year, her brother Karl, who had come to America two years prior, started a gardening maintenance business called Atlantic Avenue Nursery. Feile joined this business in 1940. In 1953, her brother Paul developed the landscaping side of the business. When Karl died suddenly of a heart attack in 1957, Feile took over the nursery. In the 1960s, the business changed its name to Atlantic Nursery and Garden Shop. The landscape construction division separated from the retail side of the nursery to become Atlantic Landscape Design Associates, Inc.
In 1968, Feile became the first woman to be voted Nurseryman of the Year by the Long Island Nurserymen Association. She became head of the association in 1977. Four years later, she was inducted into the New York State Nursery and Landscape Association Hall of Fame. An endowment was established in her name with New York State Nurserymen’s Foundation in 1988. On her 90th birthday, SUNY Farmingdale presented her with its Ram's Horn Award.
Feile is featured in the book Gardening on Long Island With Irene Virage.
She is buried in Holy Rood Cemetery, Westbury, NY.
Sources:
Peter Cantanno (email, June 5, 2018).
Schofer, Laura. "Freeport's Grand Dame, Anna Feile Dies at 90." The Leader. May 28, 1998, 1. Accessed June 5, 2018. http://nyshistoricnewspapers.org/lccn/sn95071065/1998-05-28/ed-1/seq-1/.
Researched by Regina G. Feeney, June 5, 2018.
D'Brickashaw Ferguson, retired professional football player and Freeport High School graduate. During his freshman year, Ferguson almost quit football, but his coach and his family talked him out of it. He later won the Martone Award for best lineman and received the Thorpe Award for being the best player on Long Island. Ferguson was the first lineman to win the Thorpe Award in 25 years. In addition to his football abilities, Ferguson was an honor roll student and became a member of the the National Honor Society his junior year; he also played the saxophone and earned a black belt in karate.
After graduating from Freeport High School in 2002, Ferguson played football at the University of Virginia where he started in 49 games; a record for an offensive lineman. His 14 starts during his freshman year set a University of Virginia record. He earned All-American and All-ACC first team honors. Fergurson graduated the University of Virginia with a B.A. in Religious Studies. In 2006, he was selected 4th overall by the NY Jets. He was the highest-ever selected draft pick from the University of Virginia. In his first year with the team, he earned All-NFL rookie honors.
In 2007, Ferguson established the D'Brickashaw Ferguson Foundation which has distributed thousands of dollars in scholarships for deserving Freeport High School students. Ferguson also donated a new football field to Freeport High School.
On September 29, 2009, the Village of Freeport honorarily named South Ocean Avenue, "D'Brickashaw Ferguson Way."
Ferguson, a three-time pro bowler, retired from the Jets in 2016. During his ten year career, he never missed a play because of injury. On October 30, 2022, Ferguson was inducted into the Jets Ring of Honor.
Ferguson's first name was derived from the Father Ralph De Bricassart character in the novel The Thorn Birds. While playing for the NY Jets, Ferguson was known as the "Pain Train."
Ferguson almost never got a chance to play football. At the age of nine, his doctor discovered that blood vessels in his heart were not properly connected. Ferguson underwent open-heart surgery to correct the problem. For a long time, he was not permitted to participate in contact sports until years later when he was cleared to play by a cardiologist.
Sources:
Glauber, Bob. "How Jets' D'Brickashaw Ferguson Overcame Open-heart Surgery to Reach NFL Stardom." Newsday. April 15, 2016, (n.p.).
Goldsmith, Samuel. "Jets Tackle Honored." Daily News. September 30, 2009, 25. Accessed February 4, 2023. Newspapers.com.
Iannazzone, Al. "Ring of Honor." Newsday. September 25, 2022, A67. Accessed February 4, 2023. Newspapers.com.
"It's Now D'Brickashaw Ferguson Way!" The Leader. October 8, 2009, 1. Accessed February 1, 2023. http://nyshistoricnewspapers.org/lccn/sn95071065/2009-10-08/ed-1/seq-1/.
Martin, Kimberly A. "D'Brickashaw Ferguson: Pride of Freeport." Newsday. January 24, 2010, A12.
Researched by Regina G. Feeney, February 10, 2023.
See:
Fine Fare supermarket opened in 1994 in the former Key Food location on West Merrick Road and Guy Lombardo Avenue. Rodolfo Fuertes of Roslyn, the owner of Fine Fare supermarkets, bought the former Key Food building for $2,000,000. In 1998, Fine Fare became Compare Foods.
See Also:
Sources:
"Fine Fare." The Leader. October 27, 1994, 1. Accessed March 30, 2018. http://nyshistoricnewspapers.org/lccn/sn95071065/1994-10-27/ed-1/seq-1/.
"Grand Opening for Fine Fare In Freeport." The Leader. March 16, 1995, 20. Accessed March 30, 2018. http://nyshistoricnewspapers.org/lccn/sn95071065/1995-03-16/ed-1/seq-20/.
Jenny Jorge (email, March 29, 2018).
Researched by Regina G. Feeney, April 15, 2018.
Fire Council of the Freeport Fire Department was organized in 1896. In 1928, Chief William F. Dunker served as its president.
Source:
The Long Island Almanac and Year Book, 1928. New York: The Brooklyn Daily Eagle, 1928.
Researched by Regina G. Feeney, September 6, 2017.
The First National Bank (commonly referred to as the Meadow Brook Bank) originally opened in 1911. Despite its name, it was the second bank in Freeport, formed after the Freeport Bank in 1892.
The original First National Bank building was a two-story building made of Indiana limestone designed in the Romanesque style that included Ionic Columbian pilasters. It was located on the triangle shaped property on Sunrise Highway near South Grove Street (now Guy Lombardo Avenue).
In 1929, the current six-story building was constructed as Art Deco in a style evocative of the Flatiron Building in Manhattan. The bank featured six stories with a two-story base. The base is of granite and topped by two stories of limestone and brick, with limestone trim above. Mayan reliefs are on the façade of the building. The lobby was finished in Caen marble and bronze, replete with an electric elevator, cigar stand, mail chute, and staircase. The building was approximately 17,277 square feet including a basement. Upon its completion, the First National Bank was the tallest building east of Jamaica, Queens. That same year, the First National Bank became the First National Bank and Trust Company.
The building was designed and built by noted architects, the Hoggson Brothers. Several of their bank buildings are on the National Register of Historic Places, including the Federal Home Loan Bank Building, Washington, DC; Citizen’s Trust Company (aka Sycamore Building), Sycamore, IL; and the Mercantile Building, Jonesboro, AR
During World War II, an observation tower was constructed on the roof of the building for enemy plane spotting. The bank was also authorized to receive and honor all ration checks. For decades this bank served as a depository for Village municipal funds.
The Chamber of Commerce, using specifications set by the War Department, painted “Freeport” on the roof of the building with an arrow pointing to the general direction of the flying fields of Mineola. In the early 1930s, the First National Bank gave the triangular point of land in front of the building, formed by the intersection of Sunrise Highway and Freeport Plaza West, to the Incorporated Village of Freeport. In late 1940, the Federal Communication Commission authorized the Doctors Telephone Answering Exchange to create a radiophone system in Freeport. This system allowed doctors, lawyers, taxi companies and other businesses to install a two-way radio system in cars for the purpose of emergency communication. The antennas for this system were placed on the roof of the bank building. The height of the building allowed the radiophone system to have a radius of 10 miles. According to one source, this was the first radiophone system in the United States.
In the 1940s, the First National Bank and Trust Company began to merge with other Long Island financial institutions. After merging with the First National Bank of Merrick in 1949, the bank became known as the Meadow Brook National Bank. In 1950, it became the second largest bank on Long Island after a merger with the West Hempstead National Bank. Mergers continued into the late 1960s. Between 1949 and 1968, it merged with 19 other banks. Between 1951 and 1961, its deposits and total assets increased 14 fold.
Meadow Brook National Bank sponsored local little league teams and amateur photography contests. In the 1950s, the bank provided free income tax assistance.
The bank became the National Bank of North America in 1968. In 1979, it was acquired by National Westminster Bank USA. The building has been empty since the early 1980s.
In the 1991, the freestanding four sided clock that is located near the bank’s entrance was locally landmarked and restored. In 1994, local veteran groups proposed designating the bank’s front tower as a MIA/POW memorial. That same year, the Freeport Landmarks Preservation Commission tried to get the Village to designate the building as a landmark. The Village Board refused to vote on landmark status.
In 2004, the Village partnered with Time Equities Inc. (TEI) to create a new “streetscape” for Sunrise Highway, incorporating the bank building. Plaza West, as it was called, was to include 235 one- and two-bedroom, market-rate housing units, some of them duplexes that the architects said will have views of the Atlantic Ocean and Manhattan; a glass-enclosed, rooftop pool and health club; 23,000 square feet of retail space; underground parking; and a refurbished six-story, former Meadowbrook Bank building providing new offices. The cast-stone and stucco covered complex was to include a new station plaza that is designed to provide a pedestrian focus for the project and surrounding area. Unfortunately, the plan failed, which led to legal action. The case with TEI was eventually settled in 2013.
The building was demolished in 2019 under the Mayor Robert T. Kennedy administration.
Click here for images related to the First National Bank.
Sources:
"Freeport Spotters Receive Wings Wednesday Night." Newsday. October 9, 1944, 8.
"Make Bank A Landmark." The Leader. June 2, 1994, 9. Accessed March 21, 2017. http://nyshistoricnewspapers.org/lccn/sn95071065/1994-06-02/ed-1/seq-9/.
"Meadow Brook Bank Building." The Leader. June 13, 2013, 1. Accessed March 21, 2017. http://nyshistoricnewspapers.org/lccn/sn95071065/2013-06-13/ed-1/seq-3/.
"Plaza West Development Moving Forward." The Leader. February 6, 2014, 1. Accessed March 21, 2017. http://nyshistoricnewspapers.org/lccn/sn95071065/2014-02-06/ed-1/seq-1/.
"Radio to Relay Phone Calls to Fpt. Autos." Newsday. September 20, 1947, 9.
"Village Purchases Landmark." VIllage News. February, 1991, 3. Accessed November 16, 2017. http://cdm16694.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/singleitem/collection/p15281coll12/id/17170/rec/8.
Researched by Regina G. Feeney, March 17, 2017.
Updated by Regina G. Feeney, November, 16, 2017.
Updated by Regina G. Feeney, December 3, 2019.
First Place, between Sunrise Highway and Lexington Avenue, was renamed McKinley Place in 1930.
See Also:
Freeport, 1914, (Northwest Section)
Source:
Village of Freeport Board Minutes, 1930.
Researched by Regina G. Feeney, June 21, 2018.
See:
Myrtis M. Fish (1867-1928) lived with her sister, Dr. Mary Fleckles, at 28 East Seaman Avenue around 1915. Fish, an attorney, was the first woman to be admitted in the Second Judicial District, which included Brooklyn. She served as a probation officer for 22 years in the Magistrates' Courts. Fish and Fleckles founded Welcome Home for Girls, a safe place for women and girls who needed shelter and help. She was also a director of the organization.
Fish was a member of the Women's Lawyers' Association and the Throop Avenue Presbyterian Church. Born in Phoenix, NY, Fish lived in Brooklyn for 55 years. She died at the age of 60 and is buried in the Phoenix Rural Cemetery in Oswego County, NY. At the time of her death, Fish lived with her sister at 254 Macon Street, Brooklyn, NY.
See Also:
Sources:
Ancestry.com.
"Services To-night for Miss M. M. Fish," The Standard Union. June 24, 1928, 3. Accessed March 3, 2023. Newspapers.com.
Researched by Regina G. Feeney, March 3, 2023.
Irving Flaumenbaum (1909-1980) was president of the Nassau County Civil Service Employees Association (CSEA) for 22 years. Born in Brooklyn, Flaumenbaum graduated from Columbia University with a degree in pharmacology. He had a drug store in Malverne where he employed Francis Purcell, a future Nassau County Executive, as a delivery boy. In 1950, Flaumenbaum suffered two broken legs in a fatal Long Island Rail Road accident while commuting to his drug store in Queens. After he recovered, his wife, Ruth, convinced him to take a job with the Nassau County Welfare department (later the Nassau County Social Service Department). He soon began soliciting membership in the newly formed State Civil Service Employees Association. Flaumenbaum became president of the Nassau chapter of the CSEA in 1955 and held the position until 1977.
Flaumenbaum died a heart attack while speaking at a union meeting at the Salisbury Club Restaurant in Eisenhower Park in 1980. He and his wife lived at 25 Buchanan Street in the Meister Beach section of Freeport. They had three children: David, Donald, and Dennis. Dennis worked as a senior building inspector for the Village of Freeport until his death at the age of 37 from leukemia. Father and son are buried in Greenfield Cemetery, Uniondale, NY.
Sources:
Ancestry.com.
"Freeport Worker D. Flaumenbaum." Newsday. April 27, 1989, 27.
"Flaumenbaum, of CSEA, Dead at 70." Newsday. August 28, 1980, 6.
Silver, Roy R. "How Nassau Empoyees Got Organized." The New York Times. May 5, 1977, 407.
Researched by Regina G. Feeney, July 26, 2021.
Dr. Mary Fleckles (nee Fish) (1864-1935) lived with her sister, Myrtis Fish, at 28 East Seaman Avenue around 1915.
Fleckles was born in Phoenix, NY and came to Brooklyn at the age of seven. She was a graduate of New York Medical College and Hospital for Women. Between 1915 and 1916, Fleckles and her sister helped found the Welcome Home for Girls, a safe place for women and girls who needed shelter and help. Though she was an advocate for women, Fleckles maintained some contrary opinions towards youth. She favored large families saying 'if our young people continue at this present rate, each home will contain one lap dog and no children." She also very critical of how the young people of her day spent their time, saying, "dim lights, petting parties and automobile riding, are all wrong,"
At the age of 33, Fleckles married French born Victor Leopold Wilhelm von Fleckles (1861-1920). Her husband was an attorney with the firm Elliott, Jones, and Fenning. The couple had twin sons, Robert Schlebel and Elliot Victor, and a daughter named Helen Elizabeth.
Fleckles was a member of the visiting staff of the Methodist Home for the Aged, the consulting staff of the Cumberland Hospital, and the staff of the Prospect Heights Hospital.
Mary and her husband are buried at Evergreens Cemetery, Brooklyn, NY
See Also:
Sources:
"Active President," The Brooklyn Daily Eagle. March 20, 1932, 26. Accessed March 3, 2023. Newspapers.com.
Ancestry.com.
"Dr. M. E. Fleckles Doing Her Bit for Young Girls," The Chat. January 9, 1926, 5. Accessed March 3, 2023. Newspapers.com.
"L.V. Fleckles, Lawyer Dies," Brooklyn Times Union. November 17, 1920, 11. Accessed March 3, 2023. Newspapers.com.
"A Wedding Reception." Brooklyn Times Union. May 31, 1897, 10. Accessed March 3, 2023. Newspapers.com.
"Women Physicians Meet," The Brooklyn Daily Eagle. May 15, 1898, 9. Accessed March 3, 2023. http://nyshistoricnewspapers.org/lccn/sn83031151/1898-05-15/ed-1/seq-9/.
Researched by Regina G. Feeney, March 3, 2023.
Louis F. Fleming (1872-1954) was a newspaper and magazine artist. Born in Philadelphia, PA, Fleming began his career as a newspaper artist in 1947 in Atlanta, GA. After to moving New York, Fleming became the editor of Conde Nast Press. He held this position until he retired in 1947.
In 1928, Fleming created the official village seal for Freeport.
Forbes, with his wife, Florence (circa 1881-1970), and their three children (Paul, Dorothy, Constance) lived at 6 Forbes Place.
See Also:
Sources:
Florence L. Fleming [obituary]. The Leader. February 12, 1970, 6. Accessed February 3, 2018. http://nyshistoricnewspapers.org/lccn/sn95071064/1970-02-12/ed-1/seq-6/.
"Louis Fleming, Retired Art Editor, Dies." Newsday. March 1, 1954, 76.
Metz, Clinton E. Freeport As It Was. Freeport, NY, 1976.
Researched by Regina G. Feeney, February 3, 2018.
See:
Clinton M. Flint was the twenty-first and twenty-fifth mayor of Freeport (1927 to 1931 and 1943 to 1945). During his first term, he was the first to use the title of mayor. Previous mayors were called presidents.
Flint lived at 258 S. Ocean Avenue and had offices at 4 Brooklyn Avenue and 39 Railroad Avenue. He was an attorney, real estate developer, and treasurer of The South Side Messenger, a Freeport newspaper. He was police justice from 1913 to 1919, and a judge in 1922.
Flint received the deed to Randall Park on September 17, 1927, from the estate of John J. Randall. On July 14, 1928, he laid the cornerstone for Village Hall. As mayor, he initiated the installation of the sewer system despite a number of objections from the New York City water supply administrators. They were concerned about the type of pipe to be used on Sunrise Highway because of the location of the pipes for the City water supply. He was a candidate for the Anti-Repeal Party (Prohibition) in 1933.
Flint, during his first term, was preceded by John Cruickshank and succeeded by Russell S. Randall. During his second term, Flint was preceded by Worden E. Winne and succeeded by Cyril C. Ryan.
Click here for images related to Clinton M. Flint.
See Also:
Source:
Hazelton, Henry Isham. The Boroughs of Brooklyn and Queens Counties of Nassau and Suffolk Long Island, New York 1609-1924 (Volume 5). New York: Lewis Historical Publishing Company, Inc., 1925.
Researched by Cynthia J. Krieg, May 29, 2016.
Florence Avenue was named for Florence Meister. Her father was Albert Meister, the developer of Meister Beach.
See Also:
Researched by Cynthia J. Krieg, May 23, 2016.
Florence Canal is a waterway located in the Meister Beach residential development in Freeport, west of West End Avenue and north of Florence Avenue. In 1930, it was given to the Village of Freeport by Nation Wide Home Builders.
In 1966, a proposed five acre waterfront park on land adjacent to Florence Canal was dropped by the Village board in favor of rezoning the area for garden apartments.
See Also:
Sources:
"Board Drops Plans for Park." The Leader. October 13, 1966, 1. Accessed October 10, 2018. http://nyshistoricnewspapers.org/lccn/sn95071064/1966-10-13/ed-1/seq-1/.
Village of Freeport Board Minutes, 1930.
Researched by Regina G. Feeney, October 10, 2018.
Florence Place was the name given to Lena Avenue west of North Long Beach Avenue. The western part of this street was split into two roads, South Lena Avenue and North Lena Avenue. To avoid confusion, South Lena Avenue was renamed Florence Place and North Lena Avenue was renamed Lena Avenue. In 1915, neighbors who were unhappy with the change petitioned the village board to have Florence Place changed to Lena Avenue and North Lena Avenue changed to Wilson Street.
Source:
"Lena Avenue Properly Designated." Nassau County Review. November 19, 1915, 1. Accessed August 5, 2023. http://nyshistoricnewspapers.org/lccn/sn95071433/1915-11-19/ed-1/seq-1/.
Researched by Regina G. Feeney, August 5, 2023.
Flower beds, referred as "parks," were constructed down the center of some streets west of South Bayview Avenue. These flower beds existed on Locust Avenue between Archer Street and Rose Street; Archer Street between South Bayview Avenue and Elliott Place; and Whaley Street between South Bayview Avenue and Locust Avenue.
In 1922, some of the property owners along these streets petitioned the Village of Freeport to remove the "parks" from the center of their streets.
Click here to see an image of these flower beds.
See Also:
Sources:
Village of Freeport Board Minutes, April 14 and 28, 1922.
Researched by Regina G. Feeney, April 1, 2022.
Food Fair was a supermarket located on the corner of West Merrick Road and South Grove Street (now Guy Lombardo Avenue). It opened in 1949 on the site formerly occupied by Russo's Restaurant. Food Fair was owned by Food Fair Stores, Inc., of Philadelphia; at the time, it was the third largest food chain in the United States. The Freeport store was said to be the first Food Fair store in Nassau County. The store was built by the Staples Construction Company of Manhattan. The original design called for buff colored brick with black brick trim and a frontage of 120 feet on South Grove Street (now Guy Lombardo Avenue) and 130 feet on West Merrick Road. Parking included space for 50 to 60 cars. The building was constructed to be one story high with a mezzanine floor for offices. A 60 foot tower that was four by 14 1/2 feet wide was constructed for the Food Fair sign. The estimated cost of the building was $110,000.
In 1950, it was reported that out of the 100 Food Fair stores on the east coast, Freeport's location was in the top six in point of sales. Heated zoning board meetings occurred in 1955, when the store requested permission to expand its parking lot on along South Ocean Avenue, increasing their total number of spots to 260.
Sometime between the 1960s and early 1970s, Food Fair changed its name to Pantry Pride. In 1978, Pantry Pride closed. Key Food took over this location in 1979. Rodolfo Fuertes of Roslyn, the owner of Fine Fare supermarkets, bought the building for $2,000,000 in 1994. Francisco Jorge and his partner, Jose Gutierrez, opened Compare Foods on this site on December 8, 1998. In 2018, Compare Foods began rebranding as Gala Foods.
Click here for images related to Food Fair.
See Also:
Sources:
"Editor's Notebook." The Leader. May 11, 1950, 2. Accessed March 28, 2018. http://nyshistoricnewspapers.org/lccn/sn95071064/1950-05-11/ed-1/seq-2/.
"Fine Fare." The Leader. October 27, 1994, 1. Accessed March 30, 2018. http://nyshistoricnewspapers.org/lccn/sn95071065/1994-10-27/ed-1/seq-1/.
"Food Fair Store Being Erected at Grove St., and Merrick Rd." The Leader. May 12, 1949, 1. Accessed March 28, 2018. http://nyshistoricnewspapers.org/lccn/sn95071064/1949-05-12/ed-1/seq-1/.
"Grand Opening for Fine Fare In Freeport." The Leader. March 16, 1995, 20. Accessed March 30, 2018. http://nyshistoricnewspapers.org/lccn/sn95071065/1995-03-16/ed-1/seq-20/.
"Heated Hearing Held On Plan to Re-Zone Ocean Avenue Tract." The Leader. April 14, 1955, 1. Accessed March 28, 2018. http://nyshistoricnewspapers.org/lccn/sn95071064/1955-04-14/ed-1/seq-1/.
Jenny Jorge (email, March 29, 2018).
"Pantry Pride, Hill's Stores Close on LI." Newsday. October 31, 1978, 1.
"Round-About With Rhoda." The Leader. February 22, 1979, 4. Accessed March 28, 2018. http://nyshistoricnewspapers.org/lccn/sn95071064/1979-02-22/ed-1/seq-4/.
Researched by Regina G. Feeney, March 29, 2018.
Foodtown supermarket was located in the Meadowbrook Commons shopping center located on East Sunrise Highway, adjacent to the Meadowbrook Parkway. It was later replaced by a Stop & Shop supermarket.
See Also:
Stop & Shop
Sources:
"Meadowbrook Commons Update." The Leader. June 7, 1990, 12. Accessed November 10, 2017, 12. http://nyshistoricnewspapers.org/lccn/sn95071065/1990-06-07/ed-1/seq-12/.
"Roundabout Freeport." The Leader. July 26, 1990, 6. Accessed November 10, 2017, 6. http://nyshistoricnewspapers.org/lccn/sn95071065/1990-07-26/ed-1/seq-6/.
Researched by Regina G. Feeney, April 15, 2018.
Forbes Place was named for Thomas Forbes, who was involved in trolley transportation and real estate.
Researched by Cynthia J. Krieg, May 24, 2016.
Charles Milton Foreman (1875-1955) was the owner of Foreman's Lumber. Born to William and Jennie Hewlett Foreman, Foreman attended Brooklyn Polytechnic Institute. At the age of 21, Forman took over the family lumber business after the death of his father in 1896. Originally located located at South Main Street and Atlantic Avenue, Foreman moved the business to Commercial Street. His hardware store, Foreman's Hardware, was located on the northwest corner of Brooklyn Avenue and North Main Street.
Forman was a philanthropist, former school board member, a volunteer fireman with Excelsior Hook and Ladder Company, No. 1. and a former vice-president of Freeport's First National Bank.
Foreman lived at 20 South Ocean Avenue, the property was bounded by South Ocean Avenue, West Sunrise Highway, and South Bergen Place. It had frontage of approximately 330 feet on West Sunrise Highway with a depth of about 240 feet. The property included large gardens and tall hedges. Soon after his death, Julius M. Gerzof purchased the house and property from the Foreman estate for $200,000. The house was torn down and a shopping center was built on the site.
Sources:
"C. Milton Foreman, 79, Prominent Resident, Dies in Freeport Home." The Leader. May 19, 1955, 1. Accessed April 13, 2018. http://nyshistoricnewspapers.org/lccn/sn95071064/1955-05-19/ed-1/seq-1/.
"Gerzof Buys Old Foreman Homestead." Leader. November 10, 1955, 1. Accessed April 16, 2018. http://nyshistoricnewspapers.org/lccn/sn95071064/1955-11-10/ed-1/seq-1/.
Metz, Clinton. "It Happened Years Ago. The Leader. September 5, 1985, 15. Accessed April 13, 2018. http://nyshistoricnewspapers.org/lccn/sn95071064/1985-09-05/ed-1/seq-15/.
Researched by Regina G. Feeney, April 19, 2018.
Jennie Hewlett Foreman (1849-1919) was the wife of William Foreman, who owned the William Foreman Lumber Yard. She was the daughter of George Hewlett and was descended from one of the oldest families on Long Island. For over two centuries, the Hewlett family lived on Long Island. She married William in 1873. Their three children were Charles Milton, Nellie, and Stella.
She is buried in Greenfield Cemetery, Uniondale, NY.
See Also:
Researched by Cynthia J. Krieg, June 24, 2016.
William Foreman (1847-1896) was the owner of the William Foreman Lumber Yard in Freeport. Foreman was born in England and emigrated to Canada with his parents. He came to the United States in 1871 and taught school in Merrick, Freeport, and Hempstead. Foreman entered the firm of Carman & Raynor, which sold lumber, around 1875). He was a member of the Presbyterian Church where he served as a trustee, elder, and superintendent of the Sunday school.
Foreman was a member of the Excelsior Hook and Ladder Company, the Union League, Hempstead Bay Yacht Club, the Freeport Bicycle Club, vice-president of the Freeport Bank, director of the Freeport Land Company, and president of the board of education.
Foreman married Jennie Hewlett in 1873. They are both buried in Greenfield Cemetery, Uniondale, NY.
Click here for images related to William Foreman.
See Also:
Source:
Golder, William E. "Lumber Yard Leading Freeport Business In Years Immediately Following Civil War." Nassau Daily Review-Star. June 30, 1941, 9. Accessed July 1, 2021. http://nyshistoricnewspapers.org/lccn/sn83031113/1941-06-30/ed-1/seq-9/.
"William Foreman Buried." The Brooklyn Daily Eagle. September 29, 1896, 5. Accessed June 24, 2016. http://nyshistoricnewspapers.org/lccn/sn83031151/1896-09-29/ed-1/seq-5/.
Researched by Cynthia J. Krieg, June 24, 2016.
Updated by Regina G. Feeney, July 1, 2021.
Forest Avenue, located in Stearns Park, was renamed as Putnam Avenue.
Source:
Zimmerman, Charles. "Strolling the Archives." The Northwester [newsletter of the Northwest Civic Association]. January 1991.
Researched by Regina G. Feeney, May 28, 2016.
Frank Daniels was a bicycle and motorcycle shop which was originally located at 50 South Main Street. It opened around 1917; around 1921 it was relocated to 15 West Merrick Road. In 1926, Daniels was renamed Harry's Bicycle Shop and was owned by Harry Engelsher. In addition to bicycles, Harry's sold scooters, velocipedes, baby carriages, and "children's vehicles."
Click here for images related to Frank Daniels.
Sources:
Frank Daniels [advertisement]. Nassau County Review. April 27, 1917, 5. Accessed August 16, 2021. http://nyshistoricnewspapers.org/lccn/sn95071433/1917-04-27/ed-1/seq-5/.
Frank Daniels [advertisement]. Freeport News. March 4, 1921, 7. Accessed August 16, 2021. http://nyshistoricnewspapers.org/lccn/sn95071012/1921-03-04/ed-1/seq-7/.
Harry's Bicycle Shop [advertisement]. The Nassau Daily Review. December 16, 1926, 8. Accessed August 16, 2021. http://nyshistoricnewspapers.org/lccn/sn95071428/1926-12-16/ed-1/seq-8/.
Researched by Regina G. Feeney. August 16. 2021.
Irving B. Franklin (1912-1967) served as the principal of John W. Dodd Junior High School from 1962 to 1967.
Franklin was born in Freeport to Hyman (1883-1927) and Leona Franklin. His parents owned Franklin's Fine Furniture, which was located at 11-13 West Merrick Road. Franklin attended Freeport High School and graduated in 1929. He attended Westminster College in Pennsylvania. Franklin began his teaching career in Freeport in 1939. He taught English and also coached basketball and football at Freeport High School. In 1958, Franklin was named assistant principal of the high school and, upon the death of J. Wesley Southard in 1962, he was appointed principal of the junior high school.
Franklin died at the age of 55 of a heart attack while attending an educational conference in New Falls, NY. He was survived by his wife Geraldine, ten children, and two grandchildren. At the time of his death, Franklin and his family lived at 278 South Long Beach Avenue. He is buried in Greenfield Cemetery, Uniondale, NY.
See Also:
Sources:
"Geraldine Lee Franklin and Andrew Bronin Named Community Ambassadors." The Leader. April 23, 1964, 7. Accessed October 27, 2017. http://nyshistoricnewspapers.org/lccn/sn95071064/1964-04-23/ed-1/seq-7/.
"Irving 'Lou' Franklin Named Principal of Dr. Dodd Junior High." The Leader. March 22, 1962, 2. Accessed November 15, 2017. http://nyshistoricnewspapers.org/lccn/sn95071064/1962-03-22/ed-1/seq-2/.
"Irving B. Franklin, Freeport Educator." Newsday June 10, 1967, 35.
Researched by Regina G. Feeney, November 15, 2017.
See:
Franklyn Square (often mistakenly spelled Franklin Square), known as Uncle Wash's Lane until after 1900, is the narrow one-block road between South Main Street and Bedell Street. On a 1915 Freeport tax map, the street is called Washington Raynors Lane.
Uncle Wash's Lane was named for Washington Raynor (1827-1892), a farmer and oyster planter, who owned land south of Raynor Street and west of South Main Street.
In 1911, a homeowner in the area, Coles Abrams, asked the board to widen and improve the street's surface.
In 1964, Franklyn Square was made a one-way street for safer driving to and from the new parking field at the nearby senior citizen housing.
See Also:
Sources:
"Here 'n' There." Village News. January, 1964, 3.
Metz, Clinton E. "Yesteryear." The Leader. October 09, 1969, 3. Accessed May 15, 2019. http://nyshistoricnewspapers.org/lccn/sn95071064/1969-10-09/ed-1/seq-3/.
"Sigmond Objects to More Lights in Freeport." Brooklyn Times Union. December 2, 1911, 8. Accessed May 22, 2019. www.newspapers.com
Researched by Regina G. Feeney, May 15, 2019.
Frank's & Gus' Grocery and Delicatessen was located at 327 South Grove Street (now Guy Lombardo Avenue) at the corner of Atlantic Avenue. This store sold groceries, fruits, vegetables, candy, ice cream, and tobacco.
Source:
Voyageur, 1928 (Freeport High School Yearbook).
Researched by Regina G. Feeney, December 23, 2016.
Fraternity Hall was the name of a building located at 33 and 35 Railroad Avenue in the early 1900s. The building included lodge rooms where many local organizations held meetings. Some of the organizations that met in Fraternity Hall included: Alpha Council, No. 66, Daughters of America; Freeport Board of Trade; Progressive Council, No. 66, Daughters of Liberty; Allied Boards of Trade and Civic Clubs of the Town of Hempstead; and the Suffrage Party.
In 1906, Police Captain John Dunbar investigated the Fraternity Hall as a suspected "poolroom." Dunbar found a room full of local betters and a ticker "clicking [off] the results of races on remote tracks." No arrests were made but Dunbar seized the betting paraphernalia.
It was reported that Fraternity Hall was owned by Captain James Hanse. In 1918, Hanse, along with Charles E. Raynor, ran the Freeport and Storage Warehouse Company, Inc. from this site.
See Also:
Sources:
"Board of Trade. Nassau County Review. December 14, 1906, 1. Accessed August 31, 2017. http://nyshistoricnewspapers.org/lccn/sn95071433/1906-12-14/ed-1/seq-1/.
"Freeport News." Nassau Country Review. June 28, 1907, 1. Accessed August 31, 2017. http://nyshistoricnewspapers.org/lccn/sn95071433/1907-06-28/ed-1/seq-1/.
"Freeport News." Nassau Country Review. December 21, 1906, 1. Accessed September 1, 2017. http://nyshistoricnewspapers.org/lccn/sn95071433/1906-12-21/ed-1/seq-1/.
"Storage Warehouse for Freeport." Nassau County Review. August 30, 1918, 8. Accessed August 31, 2017. http://nyshistoricnewspapers.org/lccn/sn95071433/1918-08-30/ed-1/seq-8/.
"Suffrage Column." Nassau County Review. September 17, 1915, 1. Accessed September 1, 2017. http://nyshistoricnewspapers.org/lccn/sn95071433/1915-09-17/ed-1/seq-1/.
Researched by Regina G. Feeney, September 1, 2017.
Fred Beers, Inc. was a New York City dairy that maintained a plant in Freeport. Originally located at 174 North Main Street in 1930, they later moved to 25 Bennington Avenue near Columbus Avenue. During the 1953 milk strike, Mayor Glacken planned to seize over 20,000 quarts from the Fred Beers plant and make this milk available to Freeport residents at local firehouses and the municipal building. The strike ended before Glacken's plan was enacted.
Around 1956, the Freeport plant became Dairylea.
Sources:
"Glacken Planned to Get Milk for Freeport During Strike." The Leader. November 5, 1953, 1. Accessed June 9, 2017. http://nyshistoricnewspapers.org/lccn/sn95071064/1953-11-05/ed-1/seq-1/.
1930-1931 Freeport Phone Book.
1939-1940 Freeport Phone Book.
Researched by Regina G. Feeney, June 9, 2017.
Fred Pitterman's Meat Market was located at 74 South Main Street, and had the telephone number 652. The store sold meats, vegetables, and fruits. In a 1916 advertisement, the proprietor claimed to have 14 years experience in Freeport.
Source:
"Fred Pitterman." The Nassau Post. June 23, 1916, 4. Accessed May 21, 2018. http://nyshistoricnewspapers.org/lccn/sn95071434/1916-06-23/ed-1/seq-4/.
Researched by Regina G. Feeney, May 21, 2018.
Frederick Avenue was named for Cadman H. Frederick, who was associated with the Long Island Realty Company. He built hundreds of homes in northeast Freeport.
See Also:
Researched by Cynthia J. Krieg, May 24, 2016.
Cadman Henry Frederick (1880-1961) was a leading real estate developer and banker who is said to accumulated his first million dollars by the time he was 21 years old. Born on the island of St. Vincent, British West Indies, Frederick came to the United States around the age of 14; he became a naturalized American citizen at 22.
In 1915, The Brooklyn Daily Eagle reported that the Long Island Realty Company, with which Frederick was associated, was the largest real estate developer on Long Island. In addition to Freeport, he developed property in Jamaica, Valley Stream, Rockville Centre, Merrick, Bellmore, Wantagh, Massapequa, Babylon, and West Islip. In 1955, Frederick developed a 2,000-acre subdivision in Florida.
Between 1920 and 1930, Frederick moved to Suffolk County. He served as mayor of Babylon from 1937 to 1941 and was president of the Suffolk County Federal Savings & Loan Association from 1933 to 1956. During the 1950s, Frederick was the subject of a New York State land-grab probe that led to his resignation from the loan association. Frederick was never prosecuted for any wrongdoing.
While in Freeport, Frederick was active in Our Holy Redeemer Roman Catholic Church. It was reported that he donated the main altar, Italian marble railing, and $4,000 pipe organ to the church. In 1915, Frederick was the grand marshal of Catholic rally and parade that was held in Freeport, which attracted 22,000 Catholics. He also donated land for the construction of a firehouse to the Merrick Hook and Ladder Company No. 2. Later in life, Frederick helped establish the fund drive for Good Samaritan Hospital.
Frederick and his wife, Henrietta (nee Barr), once lived at 56 Archer Street (now 108 Bedell Street). They had three children: Carmencita Henrietta, Cadman H., Jr., and Patricia Marie. Frederick died in Sayville at the age of 81.
See Also:
Sources:
"Bishop to Dedicate New Freeport Church." The Brooklyn Daily Eagle. June 10, 1911, 6. https://bklyn.newspapers.com/image/53895258/?terms=%22Bishop%2Bto%2BDedicate%22.
"Cadman Frederick Dies; Was Banker, Developer." Newsday. April 19, 1961, 39C.
Cadman H. Frederick (obituary). The Suffolk County News. April 20, 1961, 6. Accessed June 30, 2017. http://nyshistoricnewspapers.org/lccn/sn84031477/1961-04-20/ed-1/seq-6/.
Long Island: A History of Two Great Counties, Nassau and Suffolk. Lewis Historical Publishing Co., 1949.
National Archives and Records Administration; Washington, DC; ARC Title: Index to Petitions for Naturalizations Filed in Federal, State, and Local Courts in New York City, 1792-1906; NAI Number: 5700802; Record Group Title: Records of District Courts of the United States, 1685-2009; Record Group Number: RG [Ancestry.com].
"20,000 Catholics Rally at Freeport." The Brooklyn Daily Eagle. July 12, 1915, 8. Accessed June 30, 2017. https://bklyn.newspapers.com/image/54448909/?terms=%2220%2C000%2Bcatholics%22.
Researched by Regina G. Feeney, June 30, 2017.
FReeport 8 (also known as FR 8 and 378) was a Freeport telephone exchange that was issued by the New York Telephone Company in 1946. FReeport 9 was added the following year when a need for more phone numbers developed in the village.
In 1947, 200 telephone operators, under the supervision of Katherine Savage, provided service for the BA 3 (223) and FR 8 (378) exchanges.
On February 12, 1950, at 3 a.m., direct dial service began for the FR 8 (378), FR 9 (379), and BA 3 (223) exchanges.
Sources:
"Dial-Type Phone Number for So. Shore." Newsday. March 26, 1946, 16.
New York Telephone Company [advertisement]. The Leader. February 9, 1950, 6. Accessed December 4, 2020. http://nyshistoricnewspapers.org/lccn/sn95071064/1950-02-09/ed-1/seq-6/.
Researched By Regina G. Feeney, December 3, 2020.
FReeport 9 (also known as FR 9 and 379) was a Freeport telephone exchange that was issued by the New York Telephone Company in 1947. This was the first exchange in Nassau County to use the community's name more than once as an exchange name once the 2-5 (two letters and five numbers) format was adopted to standardize phone numbers. FR 8 (378) had been created the previous year.
Dorothy Spohr supervised 13 operators who were assigned to assist customers using the Freeport 9 exchange. Originally, this exchange was principally used for business lines and for four-party residential service.
On February 12, 1950 at 3 a.m. direct dial service began for the FR 8 (378), FR 9 (379), and BA 3 (223) exchanges.
Sources:
"Freeport, Merrick Next on Dial Schedule." Newsday, April 14, 1949, 25.
New York Telephone Company [advertisement]. The Leader. February 9, 1950, 6. Accessed December 4, 2020. http://nyshistoricnewspapers.org/lccn/sn95071064/1950-02-09/ed-1/seq-6/.
"Phone Service Provided 1,500 New Subscribers." The Leader. March 27, 1947, 1. Accessed December 4, 2020. http://nyshistoricnewspapers.org/lccn/sn95071064/1947-03-27/ed-1/seq-1/.
Researched by Regina G. Feeney, December 4, 2020.
Freemont Gift Shop was located at 24 West Merrick Road in 1928. Robert L. Van Alstyne was the proprietor.
Source:
Voyageur, 1928 (Freeport High School Yearbook).
Researched by Regina G. Feeney, December 27, 2016.
Freeport Airport was a 70-acre flying field located at the end of South Grove Street (now Guy Lombardo Avenue). The airport was dedicated on September 30, 1928. Freeporters Daniel DaSilva and Frank Willetts backed the airport project. Aviator and actor Tom Smith served as the airport's manager and was the first pilot to land his plane at the airport, a week before the dedication. Smith's daughter, Elinor, was the first to land a plane here on the day of the dedication.
It was reported that thousands attended the Sunday dedication. Assistant Secretary of Commerce William P. McCracken and Lieutenant Colonel H. C. Pratt, who served as commandant of Mitchel Field. were in attendance. Also in attendance were Archer B. Wallace, Mayor Clinton M. Flint and Village Trustee John F. DeLorme.
The airport was described as having two runways that were between 1,500 and 2,500 feet in length and a barn-like hanger. Mr. Rene Canalizo, of Southside Auto Corporation of Freeport, was the first person to purchase a passenger ticket at the Freeport Airport.
Souvenir envelopes containing the name of the airport and bordered in red, white, and blue were distributed to the well-wishers at the dedication.
Though the airport was seen as a good business investment, the Great Depression led to its closure. The land was later sold for housing development.
Sources:
"Aviator-Actor and Daughter Favor Airport." Nassau Daily Review. June 6, 1928, 5. Accessed May 18, 2017. http://fultonhistory.com.
"Freeport's Airport is Dedicated; Thousands Visit Field on Sabbath." Nassau Daily Review, 13. Accessed May 18, 2017. http://fultonhistory.com.
"Freeport's New Airport Given Initial Tests." Nassau Daily Review. September 24, 1928, 2. Accessed May 18, 2017. http://fultonhistory.com.
Stoff, Joshua. Long Island Airports. Charleston, SC: Arcadia Publishing, 2004.
Research by Regina G. Feeney, May 18, 2017.
Freeport Artificial Stone Company was located on Long Beach Avenue (now North Long Beach Avenue), adjacent to the railroad tracks. In 1907, a new cement mixer that was invented by company foreman, Clarence M. Van Riper, was installed.
Sources:
Aero view of Freeport, Long Island, N.Y. 1909. New York: Hughes & Bailey, 1909. Accessed August 10, 2016. https://www.loc.gov/resource/g3804f.pm005650/.
The Cement Era. January 1910. 8, no. 1. Accessed August 10, 2016.
"Freeport News." Nassau County Review. February 08, 1907, 1. Accessed August 10, 2016.http://nyshistoricnewspapers.org/lccn/sn95071433/1907-02-08/ed-1/seq-1/.
Researched by Regina G. Feeney, August 30, 20
Freeport Association was a non-political "super civic" organization organized in November 1973 with the goal of promoting and improving the image of the Village of Freeport. The organization held its first open meeting on January 28, 1974 at Freeport High School. Ellen Extract served as the organization's first president and Sara Holly was its vice president. Membership cost $2 for seniors, $10 for an individual, $15 for a family, $25 for retail, and $50 for corporations. The Freeport Association proposed the Village's first homefinders service.
By May of 1974, the Freeport Association developed several promotional campaigns, including: "You Don't Just Buy a House, You Buy a Town;" We Grow Better Kids;" "Freeport, Long Island, By the Sea;" and "Take a Vacation for the Rest of Your Life." These campaigns cost between $25,000 and $30,000 with funding coming from local businesses and association members.
See:
Blockbusting, Efforts to Combat
Sources:
Cryer, Dan. "Freeport Tries a Sell for Its Shore." Newsday. May 30, 1974, 6.
Freeport Association [advertisement]. The Leader. January 24, 1974, 5. Accessed November 26, 2019. http://nyshistoricnewspapers.org/lccn/sn95071064/1974-01-24/ed-1/seq-5/.
"Non-Political Association to Meet." The Leader. January 24, 1974, 1. Accessed November 27, 2019. http://nyshistoricnewspapers.org/lccn/sn95071064/1974-01-24/ed-1/seq-1/.
Researched by Regina G. Feeney, November 27, 2019.
Freeport Athletic Association (also known as the Freeport Athletic Club) was originally founded in the 1880s. An 1890 article from The Sun reported that the association held its third annual games in Freeport.
In 1900, the association leased four acres of land on the east side of North Main Street just south of Seaman Avenue. This land was part of the estate of the late William R. Smith and was leased to the association by Smith's heirs. The field was enclosed by a seven-foot-high fence that covered about 11,000 square feet of space. Its grandstand sat 200 people and had a dressing room for players underneath. The field also provided free bicycle racks and a safe place to tie horses that was out of the way of foul balls. Admission was 15 cents for adults and 10 cents for children under twelve years of age.
The Freeport Athletic Association was a member of the Long Island South Side Baseball League.
On July 1, 1921, the Freeport Athletic Association was re-established with headquarters, known as the Sport Lovers' Nook, at the foot of South Main Street. The association was unanimously elected to the Metropolitan Association of the Amateur Athletic Union of the United States on August 10, 1921.
In December 1921, it was reported that the Long Island Homing Pigeon Association was planning to make the facilities of the Freeport Athletic Association its headquarters. There is no evidence that this plan ever came to fruition.
A 30-piece Freeport Athletic Association band was advertised as providing special concerts during the season.
See Also:
Sources:
"Homing Pigeon Headquarters to be Opened in Freeport." The Daily Review. December 29, 1921, 2. Accessed March 21, 2019. fultonhistory.com.
"The Freeport A.C. Games." The Sun. July 5, 1890, 3. Accessed March 20, 2019. http://nyshistoricnewspapers.org/lccn/sn83030272/1890-07-05/ed-1/seq-3/.
"Freeport's New Athletic Park." Nassau County Review. April 27, 1900, 3. Accessed January 12, 2022. http://nyshistoricnewspapers.org/lccn/sn95071433/1900-04-27/ed-1/seq-3/.
Sport Lovers' Nook [advertisement]. Newspaper unknown. N.D. Accessed March 20, 2019. fultonhistory.com.
Researched by Regina G. Feeney, April 2, 2019.
Updated by Regina G. Feeney, January 12, 2022
Freeport Auditorium was located on the northwest corner of Main Street and Smith Street. Its grand opening ball occurred on Saturday, September 25, 1920, and featured a performance by Honey Potter's Band.
The Freeport Auditorium featured boxing, vaudeville, summer stock, dances, fundraisers and other events. In 1922, the Freeport Auditorium hosted the convention of the New York Firemen's Association; reportedly, 2,000 volunteer firemen from around the state attended this convention.
Click here for an image of the Freeport Auditorium.
See Also:
Potter, Irving Standard "Honey"
Long Island
Sources:
Freeport Auditorium [advertisement]. Nassau County Review. September 24, 1920, 4. Accessed March 19, 2018. http://nyshistoricnewspapers.org/lccn/sn95071433/1920-09-24/ed-1/seq-4/.
"Freeport Gives Warm Welcome to Firemen of the State. The Evening World. August 15, 1922, 4. Accessed March 19, 2018. http://nyshistoricnewspapers.org/lccn/sn83030193/1922-08-15/ed-1/seq-4/.
Metz, Clinton E. "It Happened in 1921." The Leader, June 1, 1978. Accessed March 19, 2018. http://nyshistoricnewspapers.org/lccn/sn95071064/1978-06-01/ed-1/seq-5/.
Researched by John Zaluski, March 19, 2018.
Freeport Bank was established as the village's first bank in 1892. John J. Randall was president and William S. Hall served as cashier. Officers included Smith Cox, William G. Miller, and William Golder. The original bank building was located on South Main Street, just south of the railroad tracks. In 1905, when the bank outgrew these quarters, a new bank building was constructed at 23-25 South Main Street, opposite its original location. This building was designed by Walter I. Halliday of Jamaica and it cost about $30,000 to construct.
In 1925, the bank moved to even larger quarters on the corner of Olive Boulevard (now Sunrise Highway) and South Main Street, a few doors south of the first bank building. The second bank building was designed by Purdy and Davis, and the builder was Rufus Brown Co. D. Wesley Pine served as president. The Freeport Bank celebrated its Golden Anniversary in 1942.
In 1957, the Freeport Bank merged with the Long Island Trust Company. In 1967, the Long Island Trust Company opened its Banking Center at 12 Henry Street. This center, located behind the bank building, included three drive-up windows for motorists and three walk-up windows for use by pedestrians and commuters.
In 2015, the Freeport Landmarks Preservation Commission placed a roadside marker in front of the second location of the Freeport Bank, through the Pomeroy Foundation.
Click here for information related to the Freeport Bank.
See Also:
Sources:
Krieg, Cynthia J. and Regina G. Feeney. Freeport. Charleston, SC: Arcadia Publishing, 2012.
"The Long Island Trust Company in Freeport: The First Freeport Bank." The Leader. September 7, 1967, 4. Accessed March 19, 2018. http://nyshistoricnewspapers.org/lccn/sn95071064/1967-09-07/ed-1/seq-4/.
"New Bank Building for Freeport." The Brooklyn Daily Eagle. September 1, 1905, 20, Accessed March 27, 2018. https://bklyn.newspapers.com/image/53793253/?terms=%22Freeport%2Bbank%22.
"Seven Roadside Markers to be Installed in Freeport." The Leader. October 29, 2015, 5. Accessed March 19, 2018. http://nyshistoricnewspapers.org/lccn/sn95071065/2015-10-29/ed-1/seq-5/.
Researched by Regina G. Feeney, March 27, 2018.
Freeport Bathing Beach (also known as Gere's Bathing Pavilion, Woodcleft Beach, Woodcleft Channel Bathing Pavillion, and Kegel's Beach) was located on Front Street between Woodcleft Avenue and South Grove Street (now Guy Lombardo Avenue). Originally it was part of the Woodcleft Inn complex. Later, it was called Gere's Bathing Pavilion, named for its owner C. F. Gere.
The pavilion was in operation as far back as 1894 and included a merry-go-round, a striking machine, weighing machine, and a hoop-la game. In 1912, Gere renovated the building using a stucco finish. Gere also operated Gere's Bowling Alleys at 36-38 North Main Street. Several tons of sand were added to this beach in 1912. The following year, Gere added a large dancing platform to his pavilion. Gere sold the business to Jacob Kegel (1862-1917) in 1914 and Kegel advertised the establishment as the Woodcleft Channel Bathing Pavilion. Kegel expanded the pavilion to accommodate 300 patrons, hired two matrons, lifeguards and swimming instructors, and added electric lights for night time swimming. He also sponsored a tub and canoe race. After Jacob Kegel's death in 1917, operation of the pavilion (as well as his tailor shop on Railroad Avenue) were taken over by his five sons including Edward B. Kegel of 30 South Grove Street (now Guy Lombardo Avenue).
Leo Carrillo, a member of Freeport's actors' colony, taught swimming lessons and held water contests at this location.
In the 1930s the Freeport Bathing Beach was operated by Ernest Petretti. In 1931, it was reported that the beach had a qualified lifeguard on staff.
Click here for images of the Freeport Bathing Beach.
Sources:
"Freeport." Nassau County Review." May 22, 1914, 1. Accessed November 9, 2018. http://nyshistoricnewspapers.org/lccn/sn95071433/1914-05-22/ed-1/seq-1/.
Jacob Kegel [obituary]. Nassau County Review. September 14, 1917, 1. Accessed November 9, 2018. http://nyshistoricnewspapers.org/lccn/sn95071433/1917-09-14/ed-1/seq-1/.
Krieg, Cynthia J. and Regina G. Feeney. Freeport. Charleston, SC: Arcadia Publishing, 2012.
Metz, Clinton. "It Happened... Years Ago." The Leader. December 17, 1981, 6. Accessed November 9, 2018. http://nyshistoricnewspapers.org/lccn/sn95071064/1981-12-17/ed-1/seq-6/.
"Night Bathing Freeport Innovation." The Nassau Post. July 08, 1914, 3. Accessed November 9, 2018. http://nyshistoricnewspapers.org/lccn/sn95071434/1914-07-08/ed-1/seq-3/.
"To Hold Tub an [sic] Canoe Race." The Nassau Post. July 29, 1914, 2. Accessed November 9, 2018. http://nyshistoricnewspapers.org/lccn/sn95071434/1914-07-29/ed-1/seq-2/.
Village of Freeport Board Minutes, 1931.
Woodcleft Channel Bathing Pavilion [advertisement]. The Nassau Post. July 18, 1914, 5. Accessed November 9, 2018. http://nyshistoricnewspapers.org/lccn/sn95071434/1914-07-18/ed-1/seq-5/.
Researched by Regina G. Feeney, November 14, 2018.
Freeport Bay Estates was d​eveloped around 1926. Originally, this section included 40 homes on plots which measured 60 x 100 feet. This section includes East First, West First, Second and Third Streets and Bedell Street.
Click here for images related to Freeport Bay Estates.
Researched by Cynthia J. Krieg and Regina G. Feeney, May 31, 2016.
Freeport Beach was a residential area of the Village, developed by John J. Randall in 1924. This section includes Miller and Nassau Avenues.
Researched by Cynthia J. Krieg and Regina G. Feeney, May 31, 2016.
Freeport Bicycle Club was a popular athletic organization in the late 1890s. The club was formed at the home of Charles L. Wallace on Fulton Street (now Merrick Road). At that time, the Freeport Bicycle Club had about 60 members. William Foreman was a charter member. Other members included Platt Conklin, Charles W. Bedell, J. Huyler Ellison, James B. Raynor and George Bennett Smith. Cyclists, at the time, were referred to as "wheelmen."
In 1896, the club organized an "illuminated bicycle parade" in Freeport. The parade included 1,500 cyclists and was viewed by a crowd of 3,000. The route was illuminated by Chinese lanterns and fireworks. Participants comprised bicycle clubs from around Long Island, including Queens, Hempstead, Garden City, Milburn (Baldwin), Rockville Centre, Lynbrook, and Roslyn. A tandem bicycle, ridden by two members of the Hempstead Wheelman, was decorated as a full-rigged sloop yacht with 30 lanterns in its rigging.
The initiation fee was $1 with monthly dues of 25 cents.
See Also:
Sources:
"Freeport Bicycle Club." Brooklyn Daily Eagle. June 9, 1896, 5. Accessed August 1, 2016. http://bklyn.newspapers.com/image/50433092/?terms=%22freeport%2Bbicycle%2Bclub%22.
South Shore Observer. October 9, 1896, 3. Accessed August 1, 2016. http://www.fultonhistory.com.
Researched by Regina G. Feeney, August 1, 2016.
Updated by Regina G. Feeney, April 16, 2019.
Freeport Board of Trade was established around 1903 for the purpose of furthering the interests and welfare of Freeport. The meetings were held at Fraternity Hall on Railroad Avenue. References to this organization in local newspapers stop in the early 1920s.
Organizers included Alonzo Foster and William P. Jones.
Sources:
"L.I.R.R. Owes 'Bill" Jones 5,500 Rides From Freeport to Brooklyn for Unused Trips Left on Tickets Save 26 Years." The Brooklyn Daily Eagle. May 17, 1925. Accessed August 8, 2016. http://bklyn.newspapers.com/image/59899844/?terms=%22Freeport%2Bboard%2Bof%2Btrade%22%2Bboard%2Btrade.
"Trade Board Dying; Freeport is Sorry." The Brooklyn Daily Eagle. October 10, 1912, 4. Accessed August 8, 2016. http://bklyn.newspapers.com/image/54475773/?terms=%22Freeport%2Bboard%2Bof%2Btrade%22%2Bboard%2Btrade
Researched by Regina G. Feeney, August 9, 2016.
Freeport Boatmen's Association (FBA) was founded in 1935 as an organization consisting of independently owned charter boats. It is the largest charter boat fleet in the New York Area. Originally, the Freeport Boatmen's Association was located on the westside of Woodcleft Canal. Within a year of its founding, it acquired property on the east of the canal for its 24-boat fleet.
In a time before wireless communication, Freeport Boatmen's Association vessels used carrier pigeons to send messages ashore. In 1935, Captain John Grogan of the ship Warwick suggested the idea of having carrier pigeons aboard party boats. A year later, 47 pigeons were housed in a loft of Freeport Boatmen's Association property. Two Belgian-bred, long-distance pigeons, accompanied each voyage and were often the sole means of communications between a boat and the shore. On April 20, 1936, 16 fishermen were rescued 10 miles off shore when the boat, Dawn, experienced engine trouble. A message carried by the pigeon alerted the FBA of the situation. Not all communication was serious in nature. Pigeons sometimes carried the payment for a bill, informed other FBA captains where fishing was good, or a boat was on its way to port. In other cases, they alerted the crew stateside that a boat ran out of cigarettes. Staff at the Freeport Boatmen's Association were alerted to the return of a pigeon by the bird pushing open the loft door, which caused a bell to ring.
Click here for images related to the Freeport Boatmen's Association.
Sources:
"Carrier Pigeon Gets Aid For 4 Adrift in a Boat." The New York Times. July 5, 1937, 3.
"Pigeons Brings Aid to Disable Boat." The New York Times. April 22, 1936, 25.
"Pigeons Ready tor for Busy Season." Newsday. March 11, 1941. 11.
Researched by Regina G. Feeney, June 7, 2021.
Freeport High School Fathers' and Boosters' Club (also known as Freeport Boosters) was established in 1946 as the Fathers' Club. The following year, the name was changed to the Freeport High School Fathers' and Boosters' Club, which allowed it to be opened for membership by non-fathers. In 1948, it expanded its award recognition to include pre-high school athletes.
"E. White and Golden Get Sportsmanship Awards." The Leader. December 19, 1946, 1. Accessed May 9, 2019. http://nyshistoricnewspapers.org/lccn/sn95071064/1946-12-19/ed-1/seq-1/.
"Fathers and Boosters Club Seeks New Members." The Leader. September 3, 1981, 11. Accessed May 9, 2019. http://nyshistoricnewspapers.org/lccn/sn95071064/1981-09-03/ed-1/seq-11/.
"Fathers and Boosters of Schools Organize." The Leader. February 27, 1947, 6. Accessed May 9, 2019. http://nyshistoricnewspapers.org/lccn/sn95071064/1947-02-27/ed-1/seq-4/.
Freeport Bottling Works operated in Freeport between 1900 and 1915. Owned by James Quirk, the exact location of the building occupied by the company is unknown.
Source:
Fisher, George William and Donald H. Weinhardt. A Historical Guide to Long Island Soda, Beer & Mineral Water Bottles & Bottling Companies 1840-1970. Bayport, NY: Long Island Antique Bottle Association, 1999.
Researched by Regina G. Feeney, April 16, 2019.
Freeport Bowl (also known as Freeport-Bowl-O-Mat) was a bowling alley located at 30 Commercial Avenue (near Henry Street). The cornerstone was laid on March 28. Opened on August 5, 1959, the 48-lane bowling alley cost nearly one million dollars to construct. It was advertised as having free instructions, free parking, and a nursery that included a "separate supervised playroom." Owned by Harvard Business School graduate, Richard "Dick" Davis, the bowling alley also included a restaurant called Hickory Dick's and a cocktail lounge.
Later, Davis opened 48-lane bowling alley in Astoria, Queens and 52-lane and 42-lane establishments in Massachusetts. In 1963, Davis was chosen to head the Nassau Bowling Proprietors Association.
In 1966, Davis presented a trophy to George Tufarella for bowling a 299 game. At the this time, this was the highest score bowled at the Freeport Bowl.
Davis was elected President of the Freeport Chamber of Commerce in 1969.
In 1981, the Freeport Bowl was closed after it failed to pay it $3,000 electric bill. At the time, the bowling alley was under the ownership of Treadway Companies, Inc.
Click here for images related to Freeport Bowl.
See Also:
Sources:
"Bowlers Can Get Property ." Newsday. March 13, 1981, 30.
Freeport Bowl [advertisement]. The Leader. August 6, 1959, 8. May 1, 2019. http://nyshistoricnewspapers.org/lccn/sn95071064/1959-08-06/ed-1/seq-8/.
"Freeport Bowl's Dick Davis Heads N.B.P.A." The Leader. May 16, 1963, 1. Accessed May 1, 2019. http://nyshistoricnewspapers.org/lccn/sn95071064/1963-05-16/ed-1/seq-1/.
"George Tufarella Hits 299 at Freeport Bowl." The Leader. March 3, 1966, 16. Accessed May 2, 2019. http://nyshistoricnewspapers.org/lccn/sn95071064/1966-03-03/ed-1/seq-16/.
"$1,000,000 Freeport Bowl Swings in Full Speed." The Leader. March 26, 1959, 1. Accessed May 1, 2019. http://nyshistoricnewspapers.org/lccn/sn95071064/1959-03-26/ed-1/seq-1/.
"Triple Handshake Launches $1,000,000 Freeport Bowl." The Leader. April 2, 1959, 9. http://nyshistoricnewspapers.org/lccn/sn95071064/1959-04-02/ed-1/seq-9/.
Vasil, Eddie. "News & Views." The Leader. April 24, 1969, 2. Accessed May 1, 2019. http://nyshistoricnewspapers.org/lccn/sn95071064/1969-04-24/ed-1/seq-2/.
Researched by Regina G. Feeney, May 1, 2019.
Freeport Bowling Alley was located at "Van Riper's Block" (on South Main Street, probably near Pine Street). It was in operation between 1896 and 1897 and was owned by George Bennett Smith.
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Sources:
Freeport Bowling Alley [advertisement]. Queens County Review. December 4, 1896, 2. Accessed April 17, 2019. http://nyshistoricnewspapers.org/lccn/sn95071432/1896-12-04/ed-1/seq-2/.
Freeport Bowling Alley [advertisement]. Queens County Review. February 12, 1897, 2. Accessed April 17, 2019. http://nyshistoricnewspapers.org/lccn/sn95071432/1897-02-12/ed-1/seq-2/.
Researched by Regina G. Feeney, April 17, 2019.
Freeport Bowling Alleys was owned by Louis Friedmann in March 1897. The following month, F. Jay Bedell was said to have leased the establishment. Its exact location and/or relationship to the Freeport Bowling Alley is unknown.
In 1915, Freeport Bowling Alleys was advertised as being located at 36-38 North Main Street; at that time, it was owned by Elmer F. Kelly.
See Also:
Freeport Bowling Alley
Sources:
Freeport Bowling Alleys [advertisement]. The Nassau Post. September 3, 1915, 3. Accessed April 17, 2019. http://nyshistoricnewspapers.org/lccn/sn95071434/1915-09-03/ed-1/seq-3/.
Freeport Bowling Alley [advertisement]. Queens County Review. February 12, 1897, 2. Accessed April 17, 2019. http://nyshistoricnewspapers.org/lccn/sn95071432/1897-02-12/ed-1/seq-2/.
Researched by Regina G. Feeney, April 17, 2019.
Freeport Brook was a fresh water stream that flowed from East Seaman Avenue south to the Freeport River. It was one of two feeder streams that fed into the Freeport River; the other stream was the East Meadow Brook. This book began to dry up in the late 1890s when the Brooklyn Water Works began pumping fresh water from local ponds and streams to Brooklyn. However, this waterway appears on maps as late as 1914.
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Source:
"Personal." Nassau County Review. August 11, 1899, 3. Accessed June 19, 2020. http://nyshistoricnewspapers.org/lccn/sn95071433/1899-08-11/ed-1/seq-3/.
Researched by Regina G. Feeney, June 19, 2020.
Freeport Business Men's Association was incorporated in 1912. Early officers included: Robert P. Welden, James F Campion, Edwin H. Van Riper, Albin N. Johnson, J. D. Kiefer, Wallace R. Post, John J. Dolan, Fred L. J. Lee and Charles N. Conklin.
Source:
Freeport Business Men's Association [Advertisement]. Brooklyn Daily Eagle. January 19, 1913, 39. Accessed August 13, 2016. http://bklyn.newspapers.com/image/54380793/?terms=%22freeport%2Bbusiness%2Bmen's%2Bassociation%22
Researched by Regina G. Feeney, August 13, 2016.
Freeport Business Women (also known as Freeport Business Women's Club, The Business Women of Freeport, and Freeport Business Women's Association) was established in 1937, though the idea of forming a business and professional women's group began in 1936. The goal of the organization was to bring active business women together for the purpose of furthering acquaintances and contacts and to assist in local civic affairs.
Alice Fraser served as the organization's first chairperson. Louise Braithwaite, the proprietor a local stationary store, was a charter member and early president of the group. Christine Edwards, who was engaged in welfare work, was also a charter member. Isabelle Tree was also an early member. In the 1950s, members included Mildred L. Thompson (real estate), Dr. Edith Mogdtader (private medical practice), Beatrice Hyman (household supply store), and Anna Fritz (plumbing supplies). Librarians Elizabeth Kelly and Lena Ruppert also served as presidents of the club.
Monthly meetings usually included a guest speaker. Dues covered the organizational expenses and supported local charities. In addition to these activities, a scholarship was given annually to a deserving female high school student who had chosen to pursue business education.
Due to shrinking membership, the Freeport Business Women disbanded in 2017.
Click here for images related to the Freeport Business Women.
Sources:
"Business Women Sponsor 25th Anniversary Dinner." The Leader. March 29, 1962, 12. Accessed July 11, 2017. http://nyshistoricnewspapers.org/lccn/sn95071064/1962-03-29/ed-1/seq-12/.
"Freeport Business Women's Groups Lists Members With Varied Interests." Newsday. August 22, 1951, 50.
"Mrs. Ruppert Seated by Business Women." The Leader. February 18, 1943, 3. Accessed July 11, 2017. http://nyshistoricnewspapers.org/lccn/sn95071064/1943-02-18/ed-1/seq-3/.
"News of Women's Clubs." The Brooklyn Daily Eagle. December 20, 1936 28. Accessed July 11, 2017. https://bklyn.newspapers.com/image/52707561/?terms=freeport%2Bbusiness%2Band%2Bprofessional%2Bwomen's.
Researched by by Regina G. Feeney, July 31, 2017.
See:
Freeport Cemetery (sometime referred to as the Presbyterian Cemetery) was established by Willet Smith, one of the largest landowners in Freeport. Smith reserved a portions of his property for a cemetery. Some of the earliest plots were sold to John Golden. Though some sources say this cemetery was established between 1850 and 1856, there were a number of burials that that pre-date this time. By 1859, the Freeport Cemetery was managed as an association of plot owners. When Smith died in 1869, his wife Phebe got control of some of the cemetery land. She sold plots to Sylvanus Mott. Smith left the majority of the cemetery land to his son George W. In 1871, Smith gave his share of land to Cecelia Holloway. In 1886, Holloway sold some of this land to Ann Golden who built a house a business offices on the property. Around 1891 Holloway allows Pine Street and Grove to built on cemetery land. S. Foster Sprague sues Ann Golden in 1891 in an effort to prevent further construction on cemetery land. Boundaries were finally established by the court. Justice Cullen prohibited construction on cemetery property; however, he allowed building on the western section of the cemetery since it was deemed poorly adapted for burial use.
After the village incorporated in 1892, local politicians became interested in the cemetery's appearance. In August 1904, the Village Board formed a committee to ascertain the names of plot owners. A month later, the Board requested that plot owners appoint a committee to make improvements to the cemetery. By 1908, all interments in Freeport were required to use a metallic coffin or vault. The fence around the cemetery was moved back 50 feet, and trees and undergrowth were removed in 1911.
By the second decade of the twentieth century, burials slowed to about one per year. In 1918, vandals pushed over one hundred tombstones. The last recorded burial at the Freeport Cemetery occurred in June 1920 (Alonzo Raynor). In February 1921, Legislature Assemblyman McWhinney introduced a bill that gave the Freeport School District permission to purchase the Freeport Cemetery. The cost included exhumation; re-interment; cost of new plots; mapping and recording the locations of the new graves; removal of tombstones/monuments/markers; and their erection at the new graves.
In June, 1922. 944 bodies were disinterred from the Freeport Cemetery. 856 bodies were reinterred in "district plots" within Greenfield Cemetery. 88 bodies were reinterred in private plots at Greenfield Cemetery and in the Rockville Cemetery.
Two homes and a fire house were also removed from the property to make room for a new Freeport High School building.
See Also:
Sources:
"Freeport Votes for New $600,000 School." Brooklyn Daily Eagle. May 3, 1922, 5. Accessed August 1, 2016. https://bklyn.newspapers.com/image/56914419/?terms=%22freeport%2Bcemetery%22.
"Speed Up Plans for Freeport $600,000 School." The Daily Review. June 60, 1922, 1. Accessed August 1, 2016. http://www.fultonhistory.com.
"Workmen Find Bones." The Brooklyn Daily Eagle. July 9, 1931, 12. Accessed January 22, 2018. https://bklyn.newspapers.com/image/57562138/?terms=%22workmen%2Bfind%22%2Bfreeport.
Researched by Regina G. Feeney, May 17, 2016.
Updated by Regina G. Feeney, January 22, 2018.
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Freeport Chamber of Commerce, as an organization, was first suggested in a letter to the editor in the local newspaper in 1914; it would take seven years before it was created. The Freeport Chamber of Commerce was established on Wednesday, May 18, 1921 during a meeting held at the Wide Awake Engine Company No. 1 headquarters located on Church Street. During this meeting, election of officers took place. Stephen P. Pettit was elected president, Kenneth Kelly as secretary, and Adolph Levy as treasurer. It was reported that the purpose of the chamber was to "enhance the civic, industrial and social welfare of the village, and to attract to the village new capital industries and desirable residents." Membership fees were originally $25.
Click here for images related to the Freeport Chamber of Commerce.
See Also:
Freeport Merchants Association
Sources:
"Business Men Organize in Freeport." The Daily Review. May 19, 1921, 1. Accessed October 17, 2017. http://
"Freeport Launches Commerce Chamber." The Brooklyn Daily Eagle. May 19, 1921, 5. Accessed October 12, 2017. https://bklyn.
"Urges Civic Corporation." Nassau County Review. December 11, 1914, 1. Accessed October 17, 2017. http://
Researched by Regina G. Feeney, December 23, 2017.
Freeport Civic Opera Association was organized in 1926. In 1928, it had 400 members and Franklin G. Hill was its president.
Source:
The Long Island Almanac and Year Book, 1928. New York: The Brooklyn Daily Eagle, 1928.
Researched by Regina G. Feeney, September 1, 2017.
Freeport Cold Storage Company (also known as Freeport Cold Storage Dock) was located at 301 Woodcleft Avenue. Ted Lang and his brother-in-law, Bill Kieb, purchased the property in 1939 and established Freeport Cold Storage. It sold fuel, bait, ice, and provided for the packing and shipping of fish. Previously, Kieb sold fuel from a 60-foot barge moored near Remsen's bay house. Ed Richartz, who took over the business around 1948, and William C. Mitchell (circa 1928-2008) owned the business for 21 years. Freeport Cold Storage went out of business in the 1980s.
Click here for images of Freeport Cold Storage.
Sources:
Beitterick, Ed. "'Fin 'N Rod.'" The Leader. May 20, 1948, 4. Accessed May 7, 2019. http://nyshistoricnewspapers.org/lccn/sn95071064/1948-05-20/ed-1/seq-4/.
"Expecting a Boom." Newsday. June 15, 1951, 3.
Freeport Cold Storage [advertisement]. The Leader. November 6, 1947, 8. Accessed May 7, 2019. http://nyshistoricnewspapers.org/lccn/sn95071064/1947-11-06/ed-1/seq-8/.
Scopinich, Fred Jr. "Memories of Freeport's Waterfront." The Leader. September 6, 2007, 15. Accessed May 7, 2019. http://nyshistoricnewspapers.org/lccn/sn95071065/2007-09-06/ed-1/seq-15/.
William C. Mitchell obituary. Newsday. January 5, 2008, A21.
Researched by Regina G. Feeney, May 8, 2019.
Freeport Community Concert Association was formed in 1948 at a meeting held at the Freeport Methodist Church. The mission of this organization was to bring "world-class artists (orchestral, classical, jazz, chamber music, vocalists, dance, etc.) at affordable prices to our greater Long Island area subscribers and single-ticket audience members." Performances were to take place in the Freeport High School auditorium.
The first officers included: J. Maynard Wettlaufer, director; Robert T. Tavis, Jr., vice president; Mrs. William J. Martin, general chairman and second vice president; Mrs. Milton R. Hubsch, executive secretary; Mrs. Harold E. Pearson, headquarters secretary; Mr. Martin, treasurer; Mrs. Ralph L. Marshall, corresponding secretary; Miss Helen E. Ross, dinner chairman; Mrs. William J. Mermann, concert chairman; Mrs Arnold H. Perlstein, publicity chairman; assisted by Mrs. Clement Winter. Dues were $5 a year, plus $1 amusement taxes, with $2.50 plus 50 cents for children.
In 1959, controversy occurred when dancer Paul Draper was announced as a performer. Draper, who at the time was accused of being a communist, withdrew his commitment to appear after the American Legion and 25 citizens sent letters to the Freeport School Board. The Concert Association attacked the Legion in Newsday, calling them "self-appointed censors."
Sources:
"Group, to Sponsor 3 Concerts by Professional Artist, Formed." The Leader. November 11, 1948, 1. Accessed March 20, 2018. http://nyshistoricnewspapers.org/lccn/sn95071064/1948-11-11/ed-1/seq-1/
"Legion Hit in Draper Case." Newsday. May 22, 1959, 7.
Researched by Regina G. Feeney, March 20, 2018.
Freeport Community Hospital was a 100-bed hospital planned for Freeport but it never came to fruition. Developer, Jacob Post suggested the hospital be built on Babylon Turnpike. Hugo Stearns offered land in Stearns Park but a hospital committee was unable to get a clear title for this site. A large tract of land for the hospital was bought in 1928 from Anthony D. Mariano by Uhe and Isidore Meyer. The site was located on Pleasant and Ellison Avenues in Roosevelt, close to the Freeport border.
The idea of establishing a Freeport hospital began to take shape in 1927, when the Village Board passed a resolution endorsing an organized appeal for the establishment of a local hospital and aggressive fundraising took place. A year later, fundraising stalled and the project ceased.
See Also:
Sources:
"Hospital Plan For Freeport Strikes Snag." Brooklyn Standard Union. November 9, 1928, 5. Accessed June 14, 2016. http://fultonhistory.com/Fulton.html.
"Jacob Post Offers Site for Freeport Hospital." The East Hampton Star. December 3, 1926. Accessed June 14, 2016. http://nyshistoricnewspapers.org/lccn/sn83030960/1926-12-03/ed-1/seq-2/.
"South Nassau Hospital Would Get Little Help from $200,000 Pledged for Freeport Institution." Nassau Daily Review. March 29, 1934, 1. https://nyshistoricnewspapers.org/lccn/sn95071428/1934-03-29/ed-1/seq-1/.
Researched by Regina G. Feeney, June 14, 2016.
The Freeport Club was a men’s organization formed in January 1900. The club was closely associated with bowling and bowling tournaments. Its first officers were: William G. Miller, president; James Dean, vice president; J. Huyler Ellison, secretary; C.P. Heyward, treasurer; E. F. Cook and Platt Conklin, directors for one year; John K. Eldridge and Frank E. Pitcher, directors for two years; and John Holloway and Lewis H. Ross, directors for three years. Annual dues were approximately $12 with a $1 initiation fee. The club was founded with 63 members. In April 1900, the initiation fee was reduced to $5 and the minimum age requirement was dropped from 21 to 18.
On January 17, 1900, the House Committee of the Freeport Club agreed to lease a house owned by George Wallace on South Main Street near Pine Street to use as a temporary clubhouse. Opposite the clubhouse was the club's leased bowling alley. The clubhouse was formally opened on Lincoln's Birthday. It included a billiard and pool room and reception rooms.
In 1903, a clubhouse was built on South Grove Street (now Guy Lombardo Avenue) just south of Sunrise Highway. The building featured bowling alleys in the basement. Though the club prohibited the sale and consumption of alcohol on the premises, in 1911 some members hoped to change the rules. Of the 140 votes cast, 78 voted in favor of alcohol and 52 were against - 87 votes were need to amend the club's bylaws. George Wallace, one of the club organizers, said the club “had been started as a temperance club and he saw no reason for changing.” Some of those who voted in favor of alcohol included: R. A. M. Hobbs, James Hanse, Leo Fishel, and Henry L. Maxson. Those against included: George Wallace, O. J. Temple, H. L. Crandell, and Samuel R. Smith.
Tragedy struck on June 22, 1906, when Henry Starr, the deputy county clerk of Nassau County, died of a heart attack while at the Freeport Club. He was 51 years old.
Membership began to wane around 1915 due in part to the formation of more prominent clubs and the development of theaters and other local attractions. In 1921, members voted 64 to 23 to sell the clubhouse to the Spartan Lodge, F. & A. M., No. 956 for $30,000.
Click here for images related to the Freeport Club.
See Also:
Sources:
"Bowling a Favorite Sport at Freeport." The Brooklyn Daily Eagle. March 7, 1903, 20. Accessed January 29, 2019. https://www.newspapers.com/image/53405904/?terms=%22freeport%2Bclub%22.
"Freeport Club." The Brooklyn Daily Eagle. April 10, 1900, 7. Accessed January 29, 2019. https://bklyn.newspapers.com/image/50386985/?terms=%22freeport%2Bclub%22.
"Freeport Club Members Vote to Sell Property for Masonic Temple." The Nassau Daily Review. December 3, 1921, 1. Accessed January 30, 2019. Fultonhistory.com
"Freeport Club's Opening." The Brooklyn Daily Eagle. February 9, 1900, 7. Accessed January 29, 2019. https://bklyn.newspapers.com/image/50383490/?terms=%22freeport%2Bclub%22.
"Freeport's New Club." The Brooklyn Daily Eagle. January 9, 1900, 7. Accessed January 28, 2019. https://bklyn.newspapers.com/image/50380898/?terms=%22freeport%2Bclub%22.
"Henry Starr Dies at Freeport Club." The New York Times. June 23, 1906, 7.
"Local." Nassau County Review. February 2, 1900. 3. Accessed January 29, 2019. http://nyshistoricnewspapers.org/lccn/sn95071433/1900-02-02/ed-1/seq-3/.
"Masons Offer to Buy Freeport Club for $30,000 Will Be Accepted." The Daily Review. November 23, 1921, 1. Accessed January 30, 2019. Fultonhistory.com.
Krieg, Cynthia J. and Regina G. Feeney. Freeport. Charleston, SC: Arcadia Publishing, 2012.
“No Liquor at Freeport Club,” Nassau County Review, November 24, 1911, 8. Accessed January 28, 2019.http://nyshistoricnewspapers.org/lccn/sn95071433/1911-11-24/ed-1/seq-8/
Researched by Regina G. Feeney, January 30, 2019.
Freeport Democratic Club was organized as a campaign club on August 29, 1900 for Democrats in the fourth and fifth election districts. A. J. Smart was president, Charles S. Powell was secretary, and Andrew Scott was treasurer. In 1923, the Freeport Democratic Club, Inc. was incorporated. In 1928, it had 500 members and Raymond E. Malone served as president.
Sources:
The Long Island Almanac and Year Book, 1928. New York: The Brooklyn Daily Eagle, 1928.
"Political Notes." The Brooklyn Daily Eagle. October 22, 1900, 7. Accessed September 13, 2017. https://bklyn.newspapers.com/image/50360950/?terms=%22freeport%2Bdemocratic%2Bclub%22%2Banniversary.
Researched by Regina G. Feeney, September 13, 2017.
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Freeport Exchange Club was founded around 1924. Early members included James S. Stiles, George Hoffman, Charles True, and William Kraft Jr. Chester A. Fulton was named temporary president. In 1925, the club received its charter. Charter members included David Levy and William Martin. Past presidents included: William J. Martin, William Kraft Jr., David Levy, Charles True, John Diemer, Jacob Kedenberg, Harry Mason, John N. Hartman Sr., and Martin Mansperger.
The first Exchange Club was founded in 1911 in Detroit. The Exchange Club's mission was to promote the exchange of ideas and its members were dedicated to community service. The club's motto is "unity for service."
Russell E. Hotaling, a Freeport club member, served as the New York State Exchange Club president for 20 years. He retired from this post in 1953.
In 1962, the Freeport Exchange Club donated framed reproductions of 28 historical documents important to the development of the United States to the Freeport Memorial Library. This compilation was known as the "Freedom Shrine." In 1964, the club donated a Freedom Shrine to the Village of Freeport for display in the Municipal Building. In 1990, a Freeport Shrine was donated to the Giblyn School in memory of the Martin Family.
The Freeport Exchange Club disbanded after 2007.
Click her for images related the to the Freeport Exchange Club.
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Sources:
"Exchange Club Marks 10th Year." The Brooklyn Daily Eagle. November 22, 1934, 9. Accessed July 26, 2018. https://bklyn.newspapers.com/image/59990808/?terms=%22liota%27s%2Beast%22.
"Exchange Club Observes 53rd." The Leader. April 2, 1964, 8. Accessed July 27, 2018. http://nyshistoricnewspapers.org/lccn/sn95071064/1964-04-02/ed-1/seq-8/.
"Exchange Club's Resolution Praises Hotaling and Brick." The Leader. November 5, 1953, 5. Accessed July 27, 2018. http://nyshistoricnewspapers.org/lccn/sn95071064/1953-11-05/ed-1/seq-5/.
"Freeport Exchange Club Donates Freedom Shrine." The Leader. November 1, 1962, 5. Accessed July 26, 2018. http://nyshistoricnewspapers.org/lccn/sn95071064/1962-11-01/ed-1/seq-5/.
"Freeport Exchange Club Observes 52nd Anniversary." The Leader. March 28, 1963, 9. Accessed July 26, 2018. http://nyshistoricnewspapers.org/lccn/sn95071064/1963-03-28/ed-1/seq-9/.
"Freeport Shrine Dedicated Exchange Club - Dr. Schloss." The Leader. Mary 7, 1964, 5. Accessed July 26, 2018. http://nyshistoricnewspapers.org/lccn/sn95071064/1964-05-07/ed-1/seq-5/.
"Let Freedom RIng." The Leader. July 26, 1990, 16. Accessed July 27, 2018. http://nyshistoricnewspapers.org/lccn/sn95071065/1990-07-26/ed-1/seq-16/.
"New Club Members." The Brooklyn Daily Eagle. November 20, 1924, 3. Accessed July 26, 2018. https://bklyn.newspapers.com/image/57557145/?terms=%22freeport%2Bexchange%2Bclub%22.
Researched by Regina G. Feeney, July 27, 2018.
Freeport Fire Department officially began in 1893; however, a local bucket brigade originated in 1874. In December 1874, the Excelsior Hook and Ladder Company No. 1 was formed. Other companies later followed: 1893 - Wide Awake Engine Company No. 1; 1894 - Ever Ready Hose Company No. 1; 1894 - Vigilant Hose Company No. 2; 1895 - Bayview Hose Company No. 3; 1911 - Patriot Hose Company No. 4; and 1911 - Russell Hose Company No. 2 (originally in Roosevelt this company was reorganized in 1923 and is now Hose Company No.5); 1959 - Emergency and Rescue Company No. 9.
Today, the Village of Freeport Volunteer Fire Department is the largest all-volunteer fire department in New York State.
See Also:
Source:
Bermudez, Miguel and Donald Giordano. An Illustrated History of the Freeport Fire Department, 1893-2008. Freeport, NY, Freeport Fire Department, 2008.
Researched by Regina G. Feeney, May 20, 2016.
Updated by Regina G. Feeney, April 26, 2022.
Freeport Food Center operated at 45 West Merrick Road. In 1947, Mid-Island Markets, Inc. of Farmingdale, owner of the Freeport Food Center, was granted permission to construct a new supermarket building at 73-75 West Merrick Road.
Sources:
"Food Center to Build On West Merrick Road." The Leader. January 16, 1947, 2. Accessed March 29, 2018. http://nyshistoricnewspapers.org/lccn/sn95071064/1947-01-16/ed-1/seq-2/.
Freeport Food Center [advertisement]. The Leader. July 30, 1942, 3. Accessed March 28, 2018. http://nyshistoricnewspapers.org/lccn/sn95071064/1942-07-30/ed-1/seq-3/.
Researched by Regina G. Feeney, March 29, 2018.
Freeport Gables was a residential development in the 1920s; it was located south of Front Street and east of South Grove Street (now Guy Lombardo Avenue).
Source:
"1929 Tax Map." Village of Freeport.
Researched by Regina G. Feeney, February 20, 2018.
Freeport Garage was located at 23 East Merrick Road in 1909. The proprietor of this garage was G. Bennett Smith.
Source:
Aero view of Freeport, Long Island, N.Y. 1909. New York: Hughes & Bailey, 1909. Accessed August 10, 2016. https://www.loc.gov/resource/g3804f.pm005650/.
Researched by Regina G. Feeney, August 30, 2016.
Freeport Garage and Supply Company was located at 18 Brooklyn Avenue. Joseph Hirsch was a manager. This garage was the exclusive Nassau County distributor for automobiles produced by the Moon Motor Company.
Source:
Freeport Garage and Supply Company [Advertisement]. The Nassau Post., March 31, 1916,5. Accessed August 13, 2016. http://nyshistoricnewspapers.org/lccn/sn95071434/1916-03-31/ed-1/seq-5/.
Researched by Regina G. Feeney, August 13, 2016.
Freeport Garden Club was most likely established in the 1920s and was in existence until the early 1990s. The Freeport chapter was a member of the Second District of the State Federation of Garden Clubs. Ethel Whitlock (often referred to as Mrs. Charles C. Whitlock) was the long serving president of the Freeport Garden Club.
During the Christmas season, the club collected wreaths to distribute at hospitals and decorated the Freeport train station.
During the 1940s, Freeport's Municipal Building was the venue where the Freeport Garden Club held its monthly flower show and meetings. In 1944, the club began hosting an annual flower show inside the Freeport Bank.
Sources:
"Freeport Hospital Decorates for Hospitals." The Leader. December 15, 1960, 12. Accessed December 4, 2017. http://nyshistoricnewspapers.org/lccn/sn95071064/1960-12-15/ed-1/seq-12/.
"Freeport Garden Club to Hold Annual Flower Show in Bank." The Brooklyn Daily Eagle. September 6, 1950, 12. Accessed December 4, 2017. https://bklyn.newspapers.com/image/53864396/?terms=%22freeport%2Bgarden%2Bclub%22%2Bwhitlock.
"Garden Club Show To Be Held Tonight." The Leader. August 8, 1946, 2. Accessed December 4, 2017. http://nyshistoricnewspapers.org/lccn/sn95071064/1946-08-08/ed-1/seq-2/.
Researched by Regina G. Feeney, December 10, 2017.
Freeport Gardens was a restaurant located at 76 South Main Street that specialized in American and Chinese cuisine. In the 1920s, Lee D. Soon was the proprietor.
Source:
Voyageur, 1927 (Freeport High School Yearbook).
Researched by Regina G. Feeney, December 23, 2016.
Freeport Gas Company was a short-lived gas franchise organized by Freeporters Samuel R. Smith, George P. Bergen, and John K. Eldridge. The franchise was represented by attorney Sidney H. Swezey. In February 1905, the Freeport Gas Company submitted an application to provide gas service within the Village of Freeport. After losing the contract, the Freeport Gas Company re-organized as the Seabound Gas Company. Ultimately, the South Shore Gas Company was awarded the Village contract.
In 1905, the Freeport Gas Company submitted an application to provide gas for Amityville. Amityville's village board rejected this proposal.
See Also:
Sources:
"Amityville." South Side Signal. May 6, 1905, 3. Accessed June 19, 2017. http://nyshistoricnewspapers.org/lccn/sn83031038/1905-05-06/ed-1/seq-3/.
"Freeport Has Gas Problem." The Brooklyn Daily Eagle. May 5, 2017. Accessed June 19, 2017. https://bklyn.newspapers.com/image/53935646/?terms=%22freeport%2Bgas%22.
"Want Franchise at Freeport." The Brooklyn Daily Eagle. April 10, 1905, 24. Accessed June 19, 2017. https://bklyn.newspapers.com/image/53857772/?terms=%22freeport%2Bgas%22.
Researched by Regina G. Feeney, June 19, 2017.
Freeport Golf Club, established on June 22, 1900, was located south of Merrick Road and west of Bayview Avenue. The 2,494-yard, nine-hole course with five bunkers was bounded by cedar trees. In 1898, the Freeport Land Company voted to allow the Freeport Gold Club fifty acres of land for a links. The club was organized during a meeting at the Crystal Lake Hotel in which William A. Hope of Brooklyn presided and Ernest S. Wallace recorded, and a constitution and bylaws were adopted. Originally, there were 72 members and membership was limited to 150 members. Johnnie Dunn, the former caretaker of the Montclair New Jersey Club, was hired to redo the course and John Turnbull was hired as the golf club's caretaker and professional instructor. W. T. Miller, Charles L. Wallace and Daniel B. Raynor were among the club's governors. In 1900, John C. Kelley was elected president of the Freeport Golf Club and Herbert F. Gunnison served as vice president.
The course was first played on July 4, 1900. A barn used as a clubhouse was destroyed by fire in November 1900 and resulted in the destruction of valuable golf equipment. In 1901, ground was broken for a new clubhouse designed by architect Woodruff Leeming and constructed by the firm of Randall and Miller. The clubhouse featured a veranda, an assembly hall with cathedral-style windows, and a fireplace. Locker rooms were available for both men and women. Tournaments were held throughout the season. Guests of members were charged 50 cents per day or $5 per month to play the links.
In 1902, the Freeport Golf Club incorporated. Its directors included: George F. Taylor, Frank Arguimbau, Frederic E. Story, Daniel Arguimbau, Frederic R. Vernon, Charles L. Wallace, William G. Miller, Hamilton G. King, John W. Bailey, Horace Secor, Jr., and John C. Kelley.
In 2016, the Freeport Landmarks Preservation Commission commemorated the golf grounds with a road side marker.
Click here for images related to the Freeport Golf Club.
Sources:
"Clubhouse Burned." The Standard Union. November 8, 1900, 9. Accessed May 22, 2023. Newspapers.com.
"Fourteen Years Ago." Nassau County Review. July 17, 1914. Accessed June 27, 2017. http://nyshistoricnewspapers.org/lccn/sn95071433/1914-07-17/ed-1/seq-1/.​​​​​
"Freeport Golf Course. The Brooklyn Daily Eagle. August 27, 1902, 7. Accessed June 27, 2017. https://bklyn.newspapers.com/image/50414613/?terms=%22freeport%2Bgolf%2Bclub%22.
"Freeport Golf Club. The Brooklyn Daily Eagle. July 1, 1901, 10. Accessed June 27, 2017. https://bklyn.newspapers.com/image/50354457/?terms=%22freeport%2Bgolf%2Bclub%22.
"Freeport's New Golf Links." The Brooklyn Daily Eagle. April 15, 1898, 4. Accessed May 22, 2023. http://nyshistoricnewspapers.org/lccn/sn83031151/1898-04-15/ed-1/seq-4/
Krieg, Cynthia J. and Regina G. Feeney. Freeport. Charleston, SC: Arcadia Publishing, 2012.
"Local." Nassau County Review." August 17, 1900, 3. Accessed June 27, 2017.http://nyshistoricnewspapers.org/lccn/sn95071433/1900-08-17/ed-1/seq-3/.
"Society." Brooklyn Life. July 6, 1901, 19. Accessed June 27, 2017. https://bklyn.newspapers.com/image/83198163.
West Part of Ocean Avenue, 1906. Atlas of Nassau County, Long Island. E. Belcher Hyde.
"Views on the Links of the Freeport Golf Club." August 18, 1901, 8. The Brooklyn Daily Eagle. Accessed June 27, 2017.https://bklyn.newspapers.com/image/50356701/?terms=%22freeport%2Bgolf%2Bclub%22.
Researched by Regina G. Feeney, August 1, 2016.
Updated by Regina G. Feeney, May 22, 2023.
The Freeport Gun Club was organized in 1893. In 1895, Dr. Thomas D. Carman won a Christmas Day clay pigeon shooting competition that was sponsored by the club.
The Freeport Gun Club was reorganized in 1896. Officers included Dr. Thomas D. Carman, president; J. T. Cotter, secretary; Chauncey T. Sprague, treasurer.
In 1916, the Freeport Gun Club was able to secure land near the Freeport River for a clubhouse. After a reorganization in 1921, the club had 57 members. F. Alcorn was president and T. Hirsch was captain. The Freeport Gun Club was associated with the Sport Lovers' Nook, located adjacent to club.
There was also a North Freeport Gun Club that held its first shoot in February 1896. Officers of this club included George Mole, president; Fred Scherr, Jr., secretary; and Thomas L. Smith, treasurer.
See Also:
Sources:
"Dr. Carman Won the Shoot." The Brooklyn Daily Eagle. December 26, 1895, 10. Accessed March 21, 2019. https://bklyn.newspapers.com/image/50404578/?terms=%22freeport%2Bgun%2Bclub%22.
"Freeport." South Side Observer. August 11, 1893, n.p. Accessed March 21, 2019. fultonhistory.com
"Freeport Gun Club." The Brooklyn Daily Eagle. September 17, 1901, 8. Accessed March 20, 2019. https://bklyn.newspapers.com/image/50404578/?terms=%22freeport%2Bgun%2Bclub%22.
"Freeport Gun Club is Ready for Shooting." The Freeport News. March 18, 1921, 8. Accessed March 21, 2019.http://nyshistoricnewspapers.org/lccn/sn95071012/1921-03-18/ed-1/seq-8/.
"Gun Clubs." Brooklyn Citizen Almanac. Brooklyn: Brooklyn Citizen, 1894.
Researched by Regina G. Feeney, April 2, 2019.
Freeport Hall is an apartment building located at 200 West Merrick Road. In 1926, ownership shares in Freeport Hall Inc. began appearing in newspaper advertisements. Freeport real estate brokers Mayer, McCord, and Carroll were the rental agents. The architectural firm of Cherry and Matz created the building's design and it was built by Apartment Developments, Inc. Before its construction, neighbors had expressed opposition to multi-family dwellings in Freeport. The expansive front lawn was said to be an attempt to appease the neighbors by making the area conform to the "rustic features" of the residential sections of Freeport.
The building cost $350,000 to construct. During the groundbreaking ceremony, Village President (Mayor) John Cruickshank help throw out a shovel of dirt. Prior to the groundbreaking, the Village of Freeport approved the construction of 36 garages in rear of the building. To avoid congestion to the area where the rear garages were situated, cars entered the east driveway and exited by the west driveway. The building's property originally had 150 feet of frontage and extended back 330 feet.
The building, opened in 1927, included 48 apartments with three, four, or five rooms and a bathroom. Rent ranged from $90 to $150 per month. An advertisement for Freeport Hall said that it was "the ideal apartment, city convenience with all the country's charm." The advertisement also claimed that the building was "five minutes to ten golf courses." Freeport Hall also featured an elevator. There was a rental office on the premises and also one at 17 Battery Place, New York, NY. George T. McQuade was the president of the management agency.
In 1944, a cigarette left in an oversized stuffed chair caused a blaze on the top floor of Freeport Hall. At the time of the fire, the building was owned by Arstra Realty, Company, located at 424 Madison Avenue, New York, NY. In 1946, resident Peter S. Beck jumped to his death from the Empire State Building.
In the 1850s, a toll house for the Merrick Jamaica Plank Road stood on the road close to the front of the property where Freeport Hall stands today.
Click here for material related to Freeport Hall.
See Also:
Sources:
"Freeport Flashbacks." The Leader. August 4, 1955, 8. Accessed January 21, 2018. http://nyshistoricnewspapers.org/lccn/sn95071064/1955-08-04/ed-1/seq-8/.
Freeport Hall Apartment [advertisement]. The Brooklyn Daily Eagle. April 1, 1927, 24. Accessed January 21, 2018. https://bklyn.newspapers.com/image/57555410/?terms=%22freeport%2Bhall%22%2Bfreeport.
Freeport Hall Apartment [advertisement]. Nassau Daily Review. March 29, 1926, 12. Accessed January 21, 2018. fultonhistory.com.
'Man Plunges to Death From Empire State." https://bklyn.newspapers.com/image/52868270/?terms=%22200%2Bw.%2BMerrick%2Broad%22
"Receiver Gets Freeport Hall Apartments." The Brooklyn Daily Eagle. January 3, 1930, 13. Accessed January 22, 2018. https://bklyn.newspapers.com/image/58233924/?terms=%22freeport%2Bhall%22.
"Vamps Do Good Job At Apartment Fire." The Leader. April 13, 1944, 1. Accessed January 21, 2018. http://nyshistoricnewspapers.org/lccn/sn95071064/1944-04-13/ed-1/seq-4/.
"Work Is Begun on Erection of Freeport Hall." The Nassau Daily Review. June 2, 1926, 1. Accessed January 22, 2018. fultonhistory.com.
Researched by Regina G. Feeney, January 22, 2018.
Freeport Harbor is the section of Freeport south of Front Street, which includes Guy Lombardo Avenue and all the streets that run perpendicular to it. Many of the homes in this area were constructed after 1940. This includes the Grove Park Homes located on South Grove Street (now Guy Lombardo Avenue) and Layton Street. The Grove Park Homes went on the market in 1953 and were sold by Gale-Oppenheimer.
Sources:
Grove Park Homes [advertisement]. The Leader. June 11, 1953, 16. Accessed May 11, 2018. http://nyshistoricnewspapers.org/lccn/sn95071064/1953-06-11/ed-1/seq-16/.
Grove Park Homes [advertisement]. Newsday. June 26, 1953, 96.
Researched by Regina G. Feeney, May 11, 2018.
Freeport Heights was a residential section of Freeport, which was developed by the Long Island Realty Company in 1906. This area is part of Roosevelt.
Researched by Cynthia J. Krieg and Regina G. Feeney, May 31, 2016.
The Freeport Hotel was located on South Main Street across the street from the Long Island Rail Road. Julius F. Weigel was the proprietor in 1894. In 1913, the proprietor was listed as M. M. Stulz. The proprietor in 1923 was Lyman N. Jones. In 1940, the hotel was described as a three-story building with 23 rooms and four stories. Its address was listed as 5-9 Main Street. The hotel later became a rooming house.
About 1958, the property was acquired by New York State pursuant to the Long Island Rail Road grade-crossing elimination project. At this time the stores located in the Freeport Hotel building included the Rose Bar, the Texas Ranger restaurant, Swift Cleaners, and Central Barber Shop. On August 3, 1958, fire destroyed the vacant hotel.
A 1869 article mentions a hotel called the "Freeport Hotel" whose proprietor was Tom Wright. It is unclear if this hotel was related to the latter establishment.
Click here for images of the Freeport Hotel.
Sources:
"Blaze Hits Stores, Hotel in Freeport; Hunt Arson Link." Newsday. August 4, 1958, 4.
"Freeport Hotel." The Brooklyn Daily Eagle. May 27, 1923, 61. Accessed October 5, 2016. https://bklyn.newspapers.com/image/60014578/?terms=%22Freeport%2BHotel%22​.
Lant, J. H. Hempstead, Jamaica, Freeport, Rockville Centre, Baldwin & Pearsalls. 1894.
"The Merrick Camp Meeting." The Brooklyn Daily Eagle. August 16, 1869, 2. Accessed October 5, 2016. https://bklyn.newspapers.com/image/50504394/?terms=%22Freeport%2BHotel%22.
The Montauk Business Directory of Long Island: Queens Nassau and Suffolk Counties. New York: Mort F. Levy Publishing Co., Inc., 1913.
Researched by Regina G. Feeney, October 5, 2016.
Freeport Hospital was located at 267 South Ocean Avenue. Part of the hospital was the former home of James Dean, a mayor of the Village of Freeport. The home was later owned by the Collier and Phillips families. The Lipman family purchased the house in 1929. They were forced to sell it in the 1930s during the Great Depression. The house became a private hospital in 1940s. Neighborhood and local government protests kept the hospital from becoming a treatment center for narcotic addictions in the late 1960s.
In 1972, the hospital became a pioneer in the modern treatment of alcoholism, the only such treatment hospital in New York State. This initiative was started by Dr. Frank Herzlin, who persuaded the hospital board of trustees to allow him to use four beds to treat alcoholics. The Freeport Hospital had an international reputation. In 1986, Dr. Herzlin was awarded an Icelandic knighthood. The "Freeport Club" was an organization of Icelanders who sought treatment at the Freeport Hospital.
Financial and labor problems led to the closure of the Freeport Hospital. In 1999, the Village of Freeport purchased the hospital and grounds for $650,000. Houses replaced the hospital around 2002. The development is known as the Beechwood Commons.
Click here for images related to the Freeport Hospital.
See Also:
Sources:
Freeport Hospital [Vertical File]. Freeport Memorial Library.
Hager, Fred and Isabel Drach. "Time of Innocence." The Leader. October 10, 2002, 1. Accessed June 13, 2016. http://nyshistoricnewspapers.org/lccn/sn95071065/2002-10-10/ed-1/seq-1/.
Researched by Regina G. Feeney, June 16, 2016.
The Freeport Incinerator, was located on Albany Avenue south of Mill Road. The Village began discussing the construction of a municipal incinerator in 1924. The following year, the State Division of Sanitation recommended that the village close the dump on East Merrick Road and build an incinerator to handle the disposal of trash. In 1926, the Village purchased three acres of land on Merrick Road for $4,500 to build an incinerator for garbage. In 1927, after Freeporters voted in favor on the erection of an incinerator plant in the village, the $60,000 contract to construct such a facility was awarded to Borge-Ellison.
In the early morning of August 29, 1939, furnace caretaker William Dowling, discovered a fire in the building. The fire burned through the wooden beams in ceiling causing the roof to collapse. It was reported that the fire cased $10,000 in damages to the incinerator. At the time of the fire, the Freeport Incinerator served the communities of Jones Beach, Baldwin, Merrick, Oceanside, South Hempstead, and Freeport. By 1942, the Nassau County Health Department described Freeport's incinerator as being "hopelessly inadequate" and called for it to be enlarged. In 1956, the interior and exterior of the incinerator were remodeled and repaired under Harry J. Chuisano, the Superintendent of the Highway and Sanitation Departments. The following year residents of southeast Freeport and south Merrick complained about foul odors coming from the Freeport dump located next to the incinerator. Mayor William F. Glacken stated that the odors came from inextinguishable subterranean fires at the dump site.
Talk of closing the incinerator began in 1963, when a collapse on a changing floor occurred and caused damage to the structure. The following year, Freeport opened a new incineration plant. After Christmas, the incinerator opened on two consecutive Saturdays so residents could depose of excess wrapping paper and boxes, as well see the new plant.
Another fire damaged the incinerator in 1977. Soon afterwards, federal and state agencies mandated the shutting down of local incinerators and Freeport's incinerator closed permanently. In 1980, the Village of Freeport considered selling the facility to BW Energy Systems, a Manhattan based company which wanted to build a plant on the site that could convert garbage into fuel oil. The Village of Freeport withdrew from its plan with BW Energy Systems after a massive public outcry. When the Village considered a garbage waste-to-energy plant in 2010, public opposition once again won out.
The Freeport Incinerator was torn down in 2016.
See Also:
Sources:
Bell, Dennis. "Freeport Bars Trash-Recycling Plant." Newsday. August 20, 1980.
"Freeport's Incinerator Collapses." The Leader. July 18, 1963, 1. Accessed July 18, 2018. http://nyshistoricnewspapers.org/lccn/sn95071064/1963-07-18/ed-1/seq-1/.
"Freeport Incinerator Is Inadequate, Barron Says." Newsday. September 24, 1942, 10.
"Freeport Receives Incinerator Plans; Acts on New Lights." The Brooklyn Daily Eagle. October 11, 1924, 3. Accessed June 28, 2018. https://bklyn.newspapers.com/image/58087679/?terms=Freeport%2BReceives%2BIncinerator%2BPlans.
"Freeport Votes Contract For $60,000 Incinerator." The Brooklyn Daily Eagle. June 25, 1927. Accessed May 23, 2018. https://bklyn.newspapers.com/image/59854573/?terms=Freeport%2Bincinerator.
"Garbage Disposal Proposal." Village News. June 1980, 2. Accessed July 19, 2018. https://cdm16694.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/p15281coll12/id/17274/rec/47.
"Golding, Jim. Mayor Hardwick: Garbage Plant 'Off the Table.'" The Leader. June 24, 2010, 1. Accessed July 24, 2018. http://nyshistoricnewspapers.org/lccn/sn95071065/2010-06-24/ed-1/seq-1/.
"Incinerator In Use Again After Extensive Remodeling." The Leader. September 6, 1956, 6. Accessed May 23, 2018. http://nyshistoricnewspapers.org/lccn/sn95071064/1956-09-06/ed-1/seq-6/.
"Incinerator Open Next 2 Saturday." The Leader. December 24, 1964, 3. Accessed July 18, 2018. http://nyshistoricnewspapers.org/lccn/sn95071064/1964-12-24/ed-1/seq-3/.
"Incinerator Site Bought in Freeport." The Brooklyn Daily Eagle. June 12, 1926, 24. Accessed July 18, 2018. https://bklyn.newspapers.com/image/57480655/?terms=freeport%2Bincinerator%2Bsite.
"Mayor of Freeport Blames Odors on Old, Buried Fires." Newsday. September 10, 1957, 27.
"$10,000 Fire Damages Freeport Incinerator." The Brooklyn Daily Eagle. August 29, 1939, 16. Accessed July 18, 2018. https://bklyn.newspapers.com/image/52800189/?terms=%22freeport%2Bincinerator%22.
Researched by Regina G. Feeney, July 24, 2018.
Freeport Iron Works was established in Freeport around 1926. The company was located at 65 South Columbus Avenue (near Alexander Avenue) in the Bennington Park section of Freeport. Around 1944, the business was taken over by Emmett R. Peavey (1903-1975). In 1960, Freeport Iron Works doubled its square footage with a new building which extended from South Columbus Avenue to Benson Place. The new building was 200 feet long, 42 feet wide and 25 feet high, and cost $70,000. The company spent approximately $28,000 for the construction of a 25 ton traveling crane capable of lifting a carload of steel.
The Freeport Iron Works provided steel rings used in the construction of sewers in Chile and shipped steel products to Anchorage, AK for an order placed by the U.S. Army. Freeport Iron Works had clients as far away as Australia. On Long Island, the Freeport Iron Works built the steel stairs for The Leader's building at 154 East Merrick Road in Freeport and provided steel parts for schools in Rockville Centre and Baldwin. Freeport Iron Works created the rods needed for bulkheads on waterfront properties. It also provided iron and steel for 16,000 homes built by Levitt and Son in Pennsylvania.
It was reported in 1953 that the Freeport Iron Works processed 5,000 tons of steel annually.
Peavey's son, Emmett Robert Peavey, Jr. (1925-1962) was a manager in the Freeport Iron Works as well as being a partner in the South Shore Heat Treating and Plating Company located on East Merrick Road.
Tragedy struck the Freeport Iron Works in 1962. While loading a truck, five tons of steel beams rolled off and Peavey, Jr. and employee John W. Morgan (1910-1962) of 131 East Merrick Road were crushed to death. Peavey was 37 and Morgan was 52 years old.
See Also:
Sources:
Ancestry.com.
"Freak Mishap Takes 2nd Life." Newsday. October 8, 1962, 22.
"Freeport Iron Works is Doubling Its Capacity." The Leader. February 5, 1953, 5. Accessed January 22, 2019. http://nyshistoricnewspapers.org/lccn/sn95071064/1953-02-05/ed-1/seq-5/.
Researched by Regina G. Feeney, January 23, 2019.
Freeport Italian-American Delicatessen (also known as the Italian-American Delicatessen, the Italian-American Deli, and Freeport Catering and Deli) was located at 52 West Merrick Road. The deli was founded in 1958 by four friends: Jack Santangelo, Pete Pangos, Nick Scutakes, and Sam Santoriello. It was reported that the four owners were all able to speak Italian, Greek, and Spanish. The deli also provided a catering service.
Sometime in the 1970s, the deli was owned by Michael A. (Mike) Ocera and his wife, Terry (Theresa). In 1982, the deli was advertised as Freeport Catering & Deli. A specialty of Freeport Catering & Deli was a stuffed bread known as "bello panuzzo."
Sources:
Caplan, Geoff. "In the Spot-Lite: Freeport Italian-American Delicatessen." The Leader. September 2, 1965, 5. Accessed April 6, 2019. http://nyshistoricnewspapers.org/lccn/sn95071064/1965-09-02/ed-1/seq-5/.
Freeport Catering & Deli [advertisement]. The Leader. December 2, 1982, 5. Accessed April 6, 2019. http://nyshistoricnewspapers.org/lccn/sn95071064/1982-12-02/ed-1/seq-5/.
"Freeport Italian-American Exotic Delicatessen Celebrates 7th Year." The Leader. February 18, 1965, 1. Accessed April 6, 2019. http://nyshistoricnewspapers.org/lccn/sn95071064/1965-02-18/ed-1/seq-1/.
Researched by Regina G. Feeney, April 6, 2019.
Freeport Lumber Company was originally the lumber department of the John J. Randall Company. Sold by Randall in 1922, the Freeport Lumber Company was taken over by George Stevens, James Lord, and Robert C. Hansen. Hansen had worked as the manager of Randall's lumber department and was associated with the Nassau Lumber Company in Hempstead.
In 1948, a fire destroyed a two-story timber warehouse on the property. Two years later, Joseph Rothchild, a lumber company employee, found a lighted candle on the property near some wood shavings. This arson attempt may have been an attempt to cover up a theft. Missing from the property was a portable sander and bandsaw. At the time, Jack Rosenstein of 145 Randall Avenue was the owner of the Freeport Lumber Company.
Click here for material related to Freeport Lumber Company.
Sources:
"Man Thwarts Arson Try at Freeport." Nassau Daily Review-Star. January 30, 1950, 1. Accessed June 30, 2021. http://nyshistoricnewspapers.org/lccn/sn83031113/1950-01-30/ed-1/seq-1/.
"New Concern Buys Randall Lumber Dept." The Daily Review. October 3, 1922, 3. Accessed June 30, 2021. http://nyshistoricnewspapers.org/lccn/sn95071431/1922-10-03/ed-1/seq-3/.
"Warehouse Fire Probed at Freeport." Nassau Daily Review-Star. February 25, 1948, 21. Accessed June 30, 2021. http://nyshistoricnewspapers.org/lccn/sn83031113/1948-02-25/ed-1/seq-21/.
Researched by Regina G. Feeney, June 20, 2021.
Freeport Manor was developed in 1904 by the Craig Realty Co. Lots sold for $49. In 1906, property in this section was being sold for $75 by the Charles S. Powell Realty Co. This section in northwest Freeport includes Craig Avenue.
Researched by Cynthia J. Krieg and Regina G. Feeney, May 31, 2016.
Freeport Merchants Association was organized in 1927. In 1928, the association had 50 members and Abraham Litwak served as the president. Around 1932, the Freeport Merchant Association merged with the Freeport Chamber of Commerce. Five years later, the association organized again with Irving Grebinar as its president. Freeport's first Election Day sale was organized by the Freeport Merchants Association in 1949.
During the Christmas season in 1957, the Freeport Merchants Association sponsored a Santa Claus visit by which he arrived by helicopter.
In the early 1960s, the Freeport Merchants Association merged once again with the Freeport Chamber of Commerce becoming the Retail Division of the Chamber.
Click here for a list of members of the Freeport Merchants Association from 1956.
See Also:
Sources:
"Freeport to Stage First Election Day Sale." Newsday. November 7, 1949, 34.
"Santa's Landing in His Helicopter" [advertisement]. The Leader. November 1928, 16. Accessed September 8, 2017. http://nyshistoricnewspapers.org/lccn/sn95071064/1957-11-28/ed-1/seq-16/
"Shopping with Gen Tully." The Leader. March 7, 1963, 5. Accessed September 8, 2017. http://nyshistoricnewspapers.org/lccn/sn95071064/1963-03-07/ed-1/seq-5/
The Long Island Almanac and Year Book, 1928. New York: The Brooklyn Daily Eagle, 1928.
Researched by Regina G. Feeney, September 8, 2017.
The Freeport Manor (also known as Freeport Manor Inn and Charles and Ann's Freeport Manor) was located at 35 North Main Street. The restaurant was originally the Small Fry. The Freeport Manor opened in 1950 with Erich L. Bruns (?-1957) and Anna Scheele as proprietors. In 1953, the proprietors were John Crocini and Fernando Cattaneo. Two years later, Danish born Charles Taylor became the new owner. Taylor added the "Viking Room" that included murals by Freeport artist John Brailer and a $3,000 piano-organ. This room sat only couples.
In 1961, the Freeport Manor was once again under new management with George Price as the chef. The Freeport Manor became the Spouter Inne in 1966 and Stroodles owned by Bill Hearst in the 1970s. It became Taste of Honey II in 1983 and was co-owned by Julius O. Pearse.
Click here for material related to the Freeport Manor.
Sources:
Carroll, John C. "Stepping Out." The Leader. October 27, 1955, 7. Accessed June 29, 2021. http://nyshistoricnewspapers.org/lccn/sn95071064/1955-10-27/ed-1/seq-7/.
"Erich L. Bruns Dies; Ran Freeport Manor." The Leader. April 11, 1957, 4. Accessed June 29, 2021. http://nyshistoricnewspapers.org/lccn/sn95071064/1957-04-11/ed-1/seq-4/.
The Freeport Manor [advertisement]. The Leader. December 14, 1950, 4. Accessed June 29, 2021. http://nyshistoricnewspapers.org/lccn/sn95071064/1950-12-14/ed-1/seq-4/.
The Freeport Manor [advertisement]. The Leader. August 10, 1961, 6. Accessed June 29, 2021. http://nyshistoricnewspapers.org/lccn/sn95071064/1961-08-10/ed-1/seq-6/.
Spouter Inne [advertisement]. The Leader. March 3, 1966, 7. Accessed June 29, 2021. http://nyshistoricnewspapers.org/lccn/sn95071064/1966-03-03/ed-1/seq-7/.
Taste of Honey [advertisement]. The Leader. June 2, 1983, 5. Accessed June 29, 2021. http://nyshistoricnewspapers.org/lccn/sn95071064/1983-06-02/ed-1/seq-5/.
Vasil, Eddie. "Man About Town." The Leader. November 30, 1950, 5. Accessed June 29, 2021. http://nyshistoricnewspapers.org/lccn/sn95071064/1950-11-30/ed-1/seq-5/.
Researched by Regina G. Feeney, July 1, 2021.
Freeport News was a weekly newspaper published in Freeport. The earliest reference to this publication appeared in the 1893 edition of the United States Postal Guide. This early edition of the newspaper was described as being eight pages in length and featured 48 columns. Edward Ritchie (1865-1896) was the original publisher. This newspaper most likely ceased publication after Ritchie's death.
In February, 1921, Vol. 1 No. 1 of a newspaper also called Freeport News was published. John J. O'Neill and Samuel R. Fisk were the publishers of this newspaper. Fisk also served as advertising manager. John J. O'Neill served as the newspaper's editor and sole publisher after Fisk left in March 1921. Freeport News was an eight page newspaper that focused primarily on local events. The newspaper office was located at 31A Railroad Avenue, Freeport. An annual subscription cost $2.00 per year. In November 1921, the Freeport News adopted a smaller size page and doubled the total number of pages to 16. It also moved its printing offices to 180 Olive Boulevard (now Sunrise Highway).
In 1922, John J. O'Neill sold his interest in the Freeport News to a new publisher. Cecil Johnson became the new editor.
Click here to access the digitized collection of the Freeport News.
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Sources:
"Communicated." The East Hampton Star. February 25, 1921, 4. Accessed October 3, 2017. http://nyshistoricnewspapers.org/lccn/sn83030960/1921-02-25/ed-1/seq-4/,
"Death of Edward Ritchie." The Brooklyn Daily Eagle. February 9, 1896, 8. Accessed October 2, 2017. https://bklyn.newspapers.com/image/50336248/?terms=%22death%2Bof%2Bedward%22%2Britchie%2Bfreeport.
Edward Ritchie obituary. South Side Observer. February 14. 1896, (n.p.). Accessed October 2, 2017. fultonhistory.com.
"Mr. Fisk Leaves." Freeport News. March 18, 1921, 4. Accessed October 2, 2017. http://nyshistoricnewspapers.org/lccn/sn95071012/1921-03-18/ed-1/seq-4/.
"Out On Long Island." The Brooklyn Daily Eagle. February 27, 1921, 54. Accessed October 3, 2017. https://bklyn.newspapers.com/image/55391577/?terms=%22samuel%2Br.%2Bfisk%22%2Bo'neill.
"Town Talk." The Suffolk County News. February 17, 1922, 5. Accessed October 3, 2017. http://nyshistoricnewspapers.org/lccn/sn84031477/1922-02-17/ed-1/seq-5/.
Researched by Regina G. Feeney, October 3, 2017.
Freeport Mills was a wholesale and retail dealer of flour, feed, grain, oil meal, baled hay and straw managed by Isaac Horsfall. The original mills were located on what is now Mill Road. In 1894, the location of Freeport Mills was given as Henry Street.
The origin of this mill may date back to 1761, when documents refer to the location as Carl's or Smith's mill. In 1774, Amos Smith sold this mill to Stephen and George Hewlett, Jr. Joseph Swezey became the next owner. Swezey would later sell the mills and pond to Daniel Raynor (1791-1867) in 1829 for $5,500.​ His son, Edward (circa 1821-1892), ran the mill in the 1850s; he was succeeded by Bedell Raynor.
Horsfall purchased the mills in 1874 and, eleven years later, he sold the waterfront site and meadowlands to the City of Brooklyn Water Department. In 1891, the City of Brooklyn advertised an auction of the mill and its machinery. The grist mill was described as a heavily timbered building, part of which was built in 1877.
After selling the mill to the City of Brooklyn, Horsfall moved the business to a new location on Henry Street and switched from water to engine power.
In 1898, the Freeport Mills were purchased by Frans Ruhl.
See Also:
Mills (see attached writings by Clinton E. Metz)
Sources:
"Auction Sales." The Brooklyn Daily Eagle. March 16, 1891, 3. Accessed October 18, 2016. http://bklyn.newspapers.com/image/50470930/?terms=hotels%2Bfreeport.
"Local," Queens County Review. November 11, 1898, 3. Accessed October 4, 2016. http://nyshistoricnewspapers.org/lccn/sn95071432/1898-11-11/ed-1/seq-3/.
Metz, Clinton. "South Shore Millers of Hempstead Town - The Indispensable Few." The Nassau County Historical Society Journal, vol. 35, (1980): 35-45.
Researched by Regina G. Feeney, October 18, 2016.
Freeport Motor Inn and Marina (also known as the Freeport Motor Inn and Boatel) is located at 445 South Main Street. When the hotel opened in 1964, it included 47 units with double-sized twin beds and what was described as "Hollywood-style" bathrooms. The Freeport Motor Inn was built by Joseph Creamer and later managed by his son, Chris Creamer.
In the 1990s, the Freeport Motor Inn and Boatel gained infamy as the rendezvous location of trysts between Amy Fisher and Joey Buttafuoco.
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Sources:
"Exotic Touch Draws Diners to Outrigger." Newsday. August 9, 1965, 15C.
Vasil, Eddie. "News and View." The Leader. June 11, 1964, 1. Accessed January 13, 2020. http://nyshistoricnewspapers.org/lccn/sn95071064/1964-06-11/ed-1/seq-1/
Researched by Regina G. Feeney, March 25, 2020.
Freeport Music Shop was located at 43 West Merrick Road in 1920, South Main Street in 1926, and Sunrise Highway and Church Street in 1928. The proprietors were Essig and Ives.
In 1928, Freeport radio station W.G.B.B. had a program called the Freeport Music Shop Hour.
The Freeport Music Shop went out of business in the early 1930s. In 1933, a New York brewery purchased the property with the hopes of creating a beer garden. The Freeport Shop was located on the former site of the Boulevard Hotel.
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Sources:
Freeport Music Shop (advertisement). Nassau County Review. October 29, 1920, 8. Accessed December 27, 2016. http://nyshistoricnewspapers.org/lccn/sn95071433/1920-10-29/ed-1/seq-8/.
"Plan Beer Garden At Ex-Music Shop." The Brooklyn Daily Eagle. March 21, 1933. 19. Accessed January 3, 2017. https://bklyn.newspapers.com/image/59895423/?terms=%22freeport%2Bmusic%2BShop%22.
Voyageur, 1928 (Freeport High School Yearbook).
Researched by Regina G. Feeney, December 27, 2016.
Freeport Oaks was residential development built in the 1930s by Mark Kanner and Sons, Inc. Streets included: Maple Drive, Pennsylvania Avenue, Putnam Avenue, Oxford Drive, Essex Court, and Chelsea Court. Houses in this development were brick Georgian style on 60 x 100 plots, and included: heated garages, open porches, slate roofs, wood burning fireplaces, copper leaders/gutters, steel girders, breakfast nooks, and a washroom on the first floor.
Researched by Cynthia J. Krieg and Regina G. Feeney, May 31, 2016.
Freeport Polo Club had a field located in the Bayview section of Freeport, secured from Onslow-Moore Company. Members included sheriff and village judge Stephen P. Pettit, Anthony N. Fedden, Frank Prendergast, Tom Ford, and actors Fred Stone, Vernon Castle, and Frank Tinney.
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Sources:
"Freeport." Nassau County Review. June 11, 1915, 1. Accessed October 4, 2016. http://nyshistoricnewspapers.org/lccn/sn95071433/1915-06-11/ed-1/seq-1/.
"Interesting Polo Contests." Nassau County Review. April 30, 1915, 1. Accessed October 5, 2016. http://nyshistoricnewspapers.org/lccn/sn95071433/1915-04-30/ed-1/seq-1/.
"Polo Game at Freeport." Nassau County Review. July 21, 1915, 1. Accessed October 5, 2016. http://nyshistoricnewspapers.org/lccn/sn95071433/1916-07-21/ed-1/seq-1/.
Researched by Regina G. Feeney, October 5, 2016.
Freeport Point is a section of Freeport located south of Front Street. Before 1930, this area was outside the village boundaries and under the control of the Town of Hempstead. Freeport Point included the South Shore Yacht Club, Playland Park, Freeport Bay Estates, and Woodcleft Avenue. In 1930, 200 residents petitioned the Village of Freeport Board for this section to be annexed to Freeport. On May 27, 1930, the Town of Hempstead board voted to accept the residents' petition for annexation, and the matter was then referred to the Board of Trustees of the Village of Freeport for ratification.
The Freeport Point Shipyard was located in Freeport Point from 1924 to 1968.
Click here to see a map of the area that was below the Village limits.
Sources:
"Hempstead Board O.K's Freeport Annexation." The Brooklyn Daily Eagle. May 27, 1930, 5. Accessed July 19, 2018. https://bklyn.newspapers.com/image/59904487/?terms=%22freeport%2Bpoint%22.
Krieg, Cynthia J. and Regina G. Feeney. Freeport. Charleston, SC: Arcadia Publishing, 2012.
"Rally Petitions Annexation of Freeport Point." The Brooklyn Daily Eagle. April 16, 1930, 12. Accessed July 19, 2018. https://bklyn.newspapers.com/image/59904487/?terms=%22freeport%2Bpoint%22.
Researched by Regina G. Feeney, July 19, 2018.
Freeport Point Boatyard (later known as the Freeport Point Shipyard), was founded in 1923 by brothers Frederick (1891-1975) and Mirto (Mike) Scopinich (1898-1986) along with family friend and fish dealer, Captain John Carcich (1867-1943). The boatyard was located on Woodcleft Avenue. In 1938, the brothers purchased Carcich's share of the business for $25,000.
This boatyard built many varieties of watercraft including yachts, police boats, United States air-sea rescue boats, and British Royal Navy patrol boats during World War II. They also constructed boats for the Lighthouse Service, the Public Health Service, and the New York Harbor Patrol. In the 1920s, the shipyard built a number of commercial fishing vessels, including the 50 foot Benita in 1926 and the Lindy, a 52 foot trawler named in honor of Charles Lindbergh.
During the years Prohibition was in effect (1920-1933), Freeport Point Shipyard built 15 vessels for the Coast Guard and 30 for rumrunners. The shipyard could complete a rumrunning boat in two weeks. Rumrunner boats were outfitted with two or three 500 horsepower World War I surplus airplane engines as well as bulletproof pilot houses and engine rooms. To outrun patrol boats, the rumrunners were equipped with a smokescreen device that was connected to the boats' exhaust system. Though registered as fishing vessels, the rumrunners could travel 32 to 35 mph fully loaded with illicit alcohol. Scopinich built rumrunners included the Everitt built in 1929; the Anna B. built in 1932, purportedly for the owner of a Hempstead speakeasy; and the Wanda, which was later captured by the U.S. Coast Guard. It was alleged that the Freeport Point Shipyard constructed three 42 foot rumrunners for notorious bootlegger Dutch Schultz, which were capable of transporting 600 cases of alcohol. The Scopinich brothers built the Maureen in 1931; she was able to avoid capture for the rest of Prohibition. Two years after Prohibition’s repeal, Maureen's sister ship, the Mona Lola, grounded at Jones Beach leaving between 800 and 1,500 cases of Cuban liquor strewn along the beach.
Ultimately, Prohibition led to improvements to marine design and production in Freeport. In 1930, the shipyard built two 45-foot double cabin commuter boats with a "v" type bottom and outfitted with 400-horsepower motors. The mahogany trimmed boats, with a traveling speed of 30 to 32 miles per hour, were delivered to New York City. Pete Budinich and John Marinzulich purchased two draggers from Freeport Point in 1934, the Polaris and Niram. Freeport Point launched the Caliban V in 1937 for Captain Roy Merritt, owner of the Caliban Fleet.
To ensure Freeport Point was awarded its regional share of government boat contracts, the shipyard appointed Judge Hilbert Johnson as an officer. Johnson, a first generation American, was a much respected politician and local personality. Johnson's support helped bring prestigious maritime contracts to Freeport. In 1937, Freeport Point constructed The Chief, the first boat for the newly organized marine division of the Nassau County Police Department.
After Prohibition was repealed in 1933, the rumrunner fast-boat design became popular with the U.S. Navy. In the 1960s, the shipyard constructed a 28-foot skiff based on the rumrunner design, named the Columbia II.
In the years that led up to World War II, the Freeport Point Shipyard began construction of patrol boats, crash boats and buoy boats for the U.S. Army and Navy.
Freeport Point Shipyard was awarded the Army and Navy "E" award, which was given to war plants for excellence during wartime. In 1941, two 40-foot Army ambulance boats, each outfitted with six stretcher cots and other medical equipment, were constructed and delivered to the Brooklyn Navy Yard. Due to the high volume of wartime production, the Village of Freeport in 1943 gave the shipyard permission to erect two temporary shelters to store lumber and government furnished engines. During the war, Freeport Point employed between 55 and 80 men. By the close of the war, employment decreased to 12 men. Freeport Point's $280,000 government contract was believed to be the largest boat building contract awarded to a company located in Nassau County.
One of the first boats constructed after the war was a 45 foot trawler named Sturgeon, purchased by Freeporter and commercial fisherman Ben Bracco.
In the 1960s, the Scopinichs designed and built a 32-foot popular pleasure cruiser known as "The Freeporter." One of the largest pleasure crafts constructed by Freeport Point Shipyard was a 65-foot yacht for Nicholas Goulandris, a Greek shipping magnate. The shipyard also built a 52-foot motor sailboat that was shipped to Venezuela. In 1961, the shipyard built 20 boats that ranged in size from 32 to 37 feet. In 1965, the shipyard launched the 65-foot ferry named Zee Whiz. This was the first ferryboat constructed at the yard. The $130,000 ferry included three 6-110 General Motors' diesel engines with a combined horsepower of 945 and had a capacity of 150 passengers. The ferry took five months to construct.
Joseph C. Scopinich (1926-2007), Mirto's son, worked as the shipyard's mechanical engineer. He helped design and build boats for the New York Police Harbor Unit and two ferries that carried passengers to Fire Island. Fred's sons, Fred, Jr. and Mario, known as "Toots," opened the Hampton Shipyard in East Quogue in 1956.
Click here for images of Freeport Point Shipyard.
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Sources:
“Army Ambulance Boat Built at Freeport.” Nassau Daily Review-Star. May 29, 1941, 19. Accessed October 10, 2019. http://nyshistoricnewspapers.org/lccn/sn83031113/1941-05-29/ed-1/seq-19/.
"Army-Navy E Award." Newsday. March 27, 1943, 1.
Bleyer, Bill. "Tying Up the Last in a Long Line." Newsday. Monday, March 25, 2019, A28.
"County Police Boat to be Named "Chief.'" Nassau Daily Review-Star. June 28, 1937, 19. Accessed October 13, 2019.http://nyshistoricnewspapers.org/lccn/sn83031113/1937-06-28/ed-1/seq-19/.
"Freeport Boat Builders Praised by Navy for Speed Records." Nassau Daily Review--Star. November 10, 1942, 16. Accessed August 12, 2019. http://nyshistoricnewspapers.org/lccn/sn83031113/1942-11-10/ed-1/seq-6/.
"Freeport Point Yard to Complete Cruisers." The Nassau Daily Review. May 31, 1930, 12, Accessed August 12, 2019. http://nyshistoricnewspapers.org/lccn/sn95071428/1930-05-31/ed-1/seq-13/
"Freeport Point Shipyard Launches 65' Ferry Boat." The Leader. August 6, 1964, 11. Accessed August 13, 2018. http://nyshistoricnewspapers.org/lccn/sn95071064/1964-08-06/ed-1/seq-11/.
Knickerbocker, Dave. “Shipbuilding: And Allied Industries Have Smooth Sailing in Current Boating Boom.” Newsday. January 27, 1962, 39 M.
"Mona Lola Rum Cargo Is Piling Up on Beach." The Brooklyn Daily Eagle. February 3, 1935, 1. Accessed August 13, 2019. https://bklyn.newspapers.com/image/52833723/?terms=%22mona%2Blola%22%2Bprohibition.
"Nassau Shipyards Work on Contracts Totaling $1,000,000." The Brooklyn Daily Eagle. November 11, 1942, 40. Accessed October 9, 2019. https://www.newspapers.com/image/52868703/?terms=%24280%2C000%2B%22freeport%2Bpoint%22.
"Rum Boat Grounds Off Jones Beach." The New York Times. February 3, 1935, 18.
Schofer, Laura. “Marker Honors Freeport Point Shipyard.” The Leader. October 1, 2015, 1. Accessed October 11, 2019. http://nyshistoricnewspapers.org/lccn/sn95071065/2015-10-01/ed-1/seq-1/.
Scopinich, Jr., Fred. "Memories of Freeport's Waterfront" [Part I]. The Leader. July 19, 2007, 15. Accessed October 9, 2019. http://nyshistoricnewspapers.org/lccn/sn95071065/2007-07-19/ed-1/seq-15/.
Scopinich, Jr., Fred. "Memories of Freeport's Waterfront" [Part II]. The Leader. August 9, 2007, 8-11. Accessed October 9, 2019. http://nyshistoricnewspapers.org/lccn/sn95071065/2007-08-09/ed-1/seq-8/.
Scopinish, Jr. Fred. “Memories of Freeport’s Waterfront” [Part III]. The Leader. August 16, 2007, 15. Accessed October 11, 2019. http://nyshistoricnewspapers.org/lccn/sn95071065/2007-08-16/ed-1/seq-15/.
Sexton, William. "Bootleg Booze Floated The Island's Shipyards." Newsday. August 12, 1984, C6.
"Shed for Boatyard." The Leader. February 18, 1943, 8. Accessed October 9, 2019. http://nyshistoricnewspapers.org/lccn/sn95071064/1943-02-18/ed-1/seq-1/.
Researched by Regina G. Feeney, April 20, 2021.
Freeport Poultry Farms was located on Babylon Turnpike and Carroll Street in Freeport in the 1910s. It was managed by Henry Vollmer.
The farm incorporated in 1913 with $15,000 in capital stock. Its directors included Henry E. Wood of Brooklyn, John L. Raynor of Freeport, and Frederick Wood of Glen Ridge.
Sources:
Freeport Poultry Farms (advertisement). The Nassau Post. January 14, 1916, 6. Accessed November 21, 2016. http://nyshistoricnewspapers.org/lccn/sn95071434/1916-01-14/ed-1/seq-6/.
"The Freeport Poultry Farms Exterior and Interior Views." The Nassau Post. September 19, 1914, 1. Accessed November 21, 2016. http://nyshistoricnewspapers.org/lccn/sn95071434/1914-09-19/ed-1/seq-1/.
"New Freeport Company." The Brooklyn Daily Eagle. March 9, 1913, 39. Accessed November 21, 2016. https://bklyn.newspapers.com/image/54219198/?terms=freeport%2Bpoultry%2Bfarms.
Researched by Regina G. Feeney, November 21, 2016.
Freeport Press was a short-lived newspaper in Freeport during the early 1920s.
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Source:
Researched by Regina G. Feeney, June 29, 2016.
The Freeport Recorder was a local weekly newspaper. It was founded in 1924 and was edited by Carl Anton. Anton and George Young served as publishers. Anton had previously worked for the Rockville Centre Owl and Roslyn News. He would later serve as president of Nassau County branch of the International Typographical Union.
In a 1927 advertisement, The Freeport Recorder was billed as "Freeport's only newspaper." It sold for two cents a copy or $1 for annual subscription. Its office was located at 7 Railroad Avenue.
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Sources:
"Band Together." The Nassau Post. July 27, 1917, 8. Accessed January 3, 2016. http://nyshistoricnewspapers.org/lccn/sn95071434/1917-07-27/ed-1/seq-8/.
The Suffolk County News. September 26, 1924, 9. Accessed January 3, 2016. http://nyshistoricnewspapers.org/lccn/sn84031477/1924-09-26/ed-1/seq-9/.
Voyageur, 1927 (Freeport High School Yearbook).
Researched by Regina G. Feeney, January 3, 2017.
Freeport Recreation Center is also known as the Freeport Community Center, and was once referred to as the Hanse Park Community Center. It is located at 130 East Merrick Road in the Raynor Rock Smith Building. The building was designed by architect Edward V. Giannasca; Sea Crest Construction Corp. was the contractor which built it. Dedicated in 1974, the recreation center opened to the public in 1975. It sits on 13 acres that were originally part of Horsfal's Pond and later called Hanse Park. The center cost $6 million dollars to construct. In 1975, the facility included a swimming pool, steam and sauna baths, an exercise room, gymnasium, dining areas, a game room, playground, bocci and handball courts, and a skating rink that was converted to a miniature golf course during the summer season. In 1975, membership for a Freeport resident was $2 a year.
In 2009, the Village held a ceremony to honor former Mayor Robert J. Sweeney. Since the Freeport Recreation Center was the vision of Mayor Sweeney during his term in office, a plaque in his honor was unveiled at this ceremony. The plaque hangs in the front entrance to the Freeport Recreation Center.
What current Freeporters refer to as the "Rec" was not Freeport's first effort at a recreational facility for the community. Though talk of creating a recreation center in Freeport began around 1912, Freeport's first recreation center finally came to fruition on January 10, 1965 with the creation of a youth center. This facility was located at 61 Pine Street, which was part of the Freeport Schools. This five room center had a jukebox, television, two game rooms, an art room, lounge, and an all purpose room. It was open Monday through Saturday. This center was a product of the combined efforts of the Freeport Parks Commission, the Mayor's Committee for Youth, Freeport's Council for Youth, and the Board of Education. Teen volunteers participated in painting and decorating the facility.
Click here for images related to the Freeport Recreation Center.
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Sources:
"Remembering Robert Sweeney." The Leader. February 19, 2009, 11.
"$6 Million Center Opens in Freeport." The New York Times. June 22, 1975, 92.
"Youth Center Dedication Jan. 10." Village News. January 1965, 1.
Researched by Regina G. Feeney, November 5, 2016.
Freeport River (also known as the Freeport Creek or Mill River) is one of the few naturally occurring waterways in Freeport. Tributaries to the Freeport River were reported to include Cow Creek, Smith Creek, and Denton Creek.
A sawmill and gristmill at the head of the Freeport River was constructed around 1761 which documents refer to as Carl's or Smith's mill. The mill passed ownership several times and was eventually sold to Daniel Raynor in 1829 for $5,500. Subsequent owners included Edward and Bedell Raynor, which led to the mills being dubbed the Raynor's Mill.
An 1892 United States Engineer Office letter reported that 40 oyster boats navigated the Freeport Creek. The letter also described Freeport's oyster industry as employing 100 people and harvesting from the river about 30,000 to 50,000 bushels of oysters annually.
In 1900, a $130,000 lawsuit was filed by Freeport's oystermen against New York City alleging that the siphoning off of fresh water from local waterways damaged the oyster crop. The plaintiffs included J. Joseph Raynor, S. Foster Sprague, Richard Bedell, Hewlett Simonson, James B. Raynor, and John Wesley Raynor.
That same year, the river was dredged creating an average depth of four feet at low tide for a distance of one mile.
The Town of Hempstead agreed in 1933 to allow the Long Island Park Commission to obtain some of its fill needed to build the Meadowbrook Parkway by dredging the Freeport River. The dredging widened and straightened the waterway making it more navigable.
In 2006, Operation SPLASH put in a trap, connected to the storm drains that feed into the Freeport River, in an effort to collect debris. It was reported that garbage as far away as Old Country Road was found before it emptied in the Freeport River.
In 2019, the 1,200 feet of electrical cables once laid under of the Freeport River were buried 50 feet under the river's seabed. Three concrete vaults were also constructed to secure 25,000 additional feet of cable. Started in the years after Hurricane Sandy, the Freeport Channel Crossing Electrical Improvements Project was developed through the New York Rising program.
Click here for images of the Freeport River.
Sources:
Casey, Thomas L. "Preliminary Examination of Channel Connecting Freeport With Great South Bay, New York." House of Representatives, 1892.
"City Sued for Damages." The Brooklyn Daily Eagle. February 19, 1900, 7. Accessed May 12, 2020. https://bklyn.newspapers.com/image/50384144/?terms=oysters%2Bfreeport%2Bsprague%2Braynor%2B%24130%2C000.
"Dredging Freeport Creek." The Brooklyn Daily Eagle. September 16, 1900, 36. Accessed May 12, 2020. https://bklyn.newspapers.com/image/50354053/?terms=%22freeport%2Bcreek%22.
Harrington, Mark. "Freeport: $7M Power Project Done." Newsday. May 22, 2019, 29.
Smith, Jennifer. "Has Anybody Seen This Dock?" Newsday. July 17, 2009, 19.
"Town to Deepen Freeport." The Nassau Daily Review. October 11, 1933, 2. Accessed January 21, 2022. https://www.newspapers.com/image/577529646/?terms=%22freeport%20creek%22&match=1.
Researched by Regina G. Feeney, May 15, 2020.
Updated by Regina G. Feeney, January 21, 2021.
Freeport Riverside Sanitarium was located at 387 South Grove Street. It opened in 1926.
During its first year, 81 births took place, 76 operations were performed, 34 medical cases were treated, and first aid was provided for 21 accident victims.
Nurses included Lena Dien and Mary Horn.
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Source:
"Sanitarium Ends First Year with Excellent Records." Nassau Daily Review. July 10, 1927, 1. Accessed June 14, 2016. http://www.fultonhistory.com/Fulton.html.
Researched by Regina G. Feeney, June 13, 2016.
Freeport-Roslyn Expressway was a proposed ten lane, 12.5 mile highway that was to run from the north shore to the south shore and was unveiled around 1951. The south shore portion of the expressway's route was to run between Freeport and Baldwin, following Milburn Creek. The $40,000,000 project was to be "a cross-island feeder, or leg of the proposed Horace Harding Expressway Extension." The Freeport-Roslyn Expressway was expected to relieve congestion from east-west roads. Opposition to this expressway was immediate. The Baldwin-Freeport Expressway Protest Committee (later The Freeport-Roslyn Expressway Protest Committee) was formed in November 1951. This committee raised $18,000 and collected 20,000 signatures from those opposed to the plan. Freeport's Northeast Civic Association publicly endorsed the expressway. In October 1952, the County of Nassau abandoned the project.
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Sources:
"County Abandons All Plans for Expressway." Newsday. October 22, 1952, 22.
Hanning, Leo P. "Expressway Plans Stalled for Three Weeks." Newsday. July 24, 1951, 4.
"NE Freeport Civics Endorse Expressway." Newsday. February 11, 1952, 33.
"Purpose of Freeport-Roslyn Expressway." The Leader. January 17, 1952, 5. Accessed May 21, 2018. http://nyshistoricnewspapers.org/lccn/sn95071064/1952-01-17/ed-1/seq-5/.
"26 Groups Opposing Route of Expressway, Committee Reports." The Leader. February 7, 1952, 1. Accessed May 21, 2018. http://nyshistoricnewspapers.org/lccn/sn95071064/1952-02-07/ed-1/seq-1/.
Researched by Regina G. Feeney, May 21, 2018.
Freeport Sanitarium (also referred to as the Freeport Sanitarium and Maternity Institute) was established in 1909 by Bertha Reiss, who served as the facilities' superintendent. It was located on Rutland Road, near Grand Avenue (77 Rutland Road).
In 1918, Reiss was convicted and sentenced to two years minimum/three years six-months maximum in prison at Auburn, NY for performing an abortion. The charge against her was brought by Mrs. Frances Murphy of Lynbrook. In 1919, Governor Alfred E. Smith commuted her sentence to 11 months and 24 days minimum, three years, six months maximum.
In the 1920s, the name "Freeport Sanitarium" was used to referred to another medical facility located on South Ocean Avenue. That facility was also called the Watson Sanitarium.
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Sources:
"Freeport." South Side Messenger. February 5, 1905, 1. Accessed June 13, 2016. http://nyshistoricnewspapers.org/lccn/sn96083504/1909-02-05/ed-1/seq-1/.
"Freeport Sanitarium" [Advertisement]. Nassau County Review. November 26, 1909, 3. Accessed June 13, 2016. http://nyshistoricnewspapers.org/lccn/sn95071433/1909-11-26/ed-1/seq-3/.
"Governor Pardons Eight, Saves Slayer from Chair." New-York Tribune. December 4, 1919, 4. Accessed August 7, 2017. http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83030214/1919-12-04/ed-1/seq-4/.
"Midwife Sentenced." Nassau County Review. December 27, 1918, 1. Accessed August 7, 2017, 1. http://nyshistoricnewspapers.org/lccn/sn95071433/1918-12-27/ed-1/seq-1/.
Researched by Regina G. Feeney, June 13, 2016.
Updated August 7, 2017, Regina G. Feeney
Freeport Sea Clam Company began in 1953 by William (Billy) Granau (1922-2003). Granau, also known as Billy Botch, began clamming with a single 30-foot skiff in 1949. By 1977, his fleet had six boats, including two 70-foot, diesel powered, all steel ships. Endeavor, built to Granau's specifications, was capable of dredging 70,000 bushels of skimmer clams per year. Another boat in Granau's fleet was the Enterprise.
Freeport Clam Company was located on the Freeport River at 355 South Main Street.
Before being drafted into the US Navy during World War II, Granau lived in Ozone Park, Queens, New York and worked for Sperry's Gyroscope in Brooklyn. While in the Navy, Granau served on the USS Princeton. He married Charlotte Uihleim in 1950.
Sources:
Ancestry.com
"Down Freeport River." The Leader. September 22, 1977, 22. Accessed September 2, 2020. http://nyshistoricnewspapers.org/lccn/sn95071064/1977-09-22/ed-1/seq-22/.
"The Granau Fleet." The Leader. June 15, 1972, 13. Accessed September 2, 2020. http://nyshistoricnewspapers.org/lccn/sn95071064/1972-06-15/ed-1/seq-13/.
"Profile: Professional Clammer." The Leader. June 15, 1972, 13. Accessed September 2, 2020. http://nyshistoricnewspapers.org/lccn/sn95071064/1972-06-15/ed-1/seq-13/.
Researched by Regina G. Feeney, September 2, 2020.
Freeport Social Club was an organization that formed in the mid 1890s. They were known for organizing social gatherings, especially costume and masquerade parties, parades as well as an annual moonlight sail.
In 1909, board members included: Charles Werkheiser, Archer B. Wallace, Henry Sigmond, Miss M. E. Stokes, Miss M. C. Robinson, Marie Sigmond, Charles Sigmond, Walter Cozzens, and W. W. Cameron.
The club was credited with initiating the Freeport Calathumpian (also spelled Calothumpian) parade held on Thanksgiving.
Sources:
"The Centre of Activity." South Side Messenger. December 17, 1909, 1. Accessed August 26, 2016. http://nyshistoricnewspapers.org/lccn/sn96083504/1909-12-17/ed-1/seq-1/.
"Freeport's Calothumpians Parade to Martial Music." The Brooklyn Daily Eagle. November 25, 1932, 24. Accessed September 3, 2016, 2016. http://bklyn.newspapers.com/image/59997844/?terms=Parade%2Bfreeport%2BThanksgiving%2Bmohr.
Researched by Regina G. Feeney, September 3, 2016.
See:
Freeport Sporting Club was a boxing club organized in 1916 by sporting men from Freeport, Baldwin and Manhattan. Its clubhouse was located on East Merrick Road near the Colonial Hotel.
The boxing competitions included such competitors as Wee Wee Barton, Walter Mohr, Frankie Dundee, and Kid Lock.
In the 1920s, boxing matches for the Freeport Sporting Club were held at the Freeport Auditorium.
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Sources:
"Boxing Club to Re-Open." Nassau County Review. May 11, 1917, 1. Accessed September 28, 2016. http://nyshistoricnewspapers.org/lccn/sn95071433/1917-05-11/ed-1/seq-1/.
"Freeport." Nassau County Review., April 21, 1916, 1. Accessed September 28, 2016. http://nyshistoricnewspapers.org/lccn/sn95071433/1916-04-21/ed-1/seq-1/.
Freeport Auditorium [advertisement]. The Freeport News. April 08, 1921, 2. Accessed September 28, 2016. http://nyshistoricnewspapers.org/lccn/sn95071012/1921-04-08/ed-1/seq-2/
"To Have a Boxing Club." The Nassau County Review. March 31, 1916, 5. Accessed September 28, 2016. http://nyshistoricnewspapers.org/lccn/sn95071433/1916-03-31/ed-1/seq-5/.
Researched by Regina G. Feeney, September 28, 2016.
Freeport Stadium, officially known as the Freeport Municipal Stadium, opened in 1931. The stadium was constructed of reinforced concrete and originally had a capacity of 2,027. Later, midget auto races attracted crowds as large as 10,000. The Penn Red Caps, a semiprofessional baseball team, played at the stadium. The Brooklyn Dodgers football team used the stadium as the site for their midweek training. Other facilities included a football field, one-fifth of a cinder track, a baseball field, and six tennis courts.
In 1976, the Freeport High School football team returned to playing home games at Freeport Stadium after six years of playing at Hofstra University during which time the Stadium was undergoing renovations.
The Freeport Stadium closed in 1983. A campaign to save the Freeport Stadium failed and its buildings were demolished in 1987. Caldor, a discount department store, opened on the site in 1992. BJ's replaced this store in 2002.
In the fall of 1990, Village Trustees voted to name a new street that was constructed on the former stadium property "Stadium Drive."
The Freeport Landmarks Preservation Commission added a roadside marker near the original entrance to the stadium.
Click here for images related to the Freeport Stadium.
Click here for additional information related to the Freeport Stadium.
Sources:
"BJ's Replaces Former Caldor." The Leader. January 3, 2002, 3. Accessed January 2, 2018. http://
"FHS Football Back to Stadium." Village News. Freeport: NY. November 1974, 1.
Krieg, Cynthia J. and Regina G. Feeney. Freeport. Charleston, SC: Arcadia Publishing, 2012.
"Memories of Freeport Stadium." The Leader. October 28, 2010, 14. Accessed January 2, 2018. http://
"New Police." The Leader. October 4, 1990, 12. Accessed June 16, 2018. http://nyshistoricnewspapers.org/lccn/sn95071065/1990-10-04/ed-1/seq-12/.
Researched by Cynthia J. Krieg, January 2, 2018.
Updated by Regina G. Feeney, June 16, 2018.
Updated by Regina G. Feeney, May 9, 2019.
Freeport Taxicab Company was incorporated in 1909; the headquarters were located at 27 Railroad Avenue. The directors of this company were Willett G. Smith, Jacob Post, and Jessie Post. The company started with capital equaling $1,000.00.
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Sources:
Aero view of Freeport, Long Island, N.Y. 1909. New York: Hughes & Bailey, 1909. Accessed August 10, 2016. https://www.loc.gov/resource/g3804f.pm005650/.
"Freeport News." Nassau County Review. May 28, 1909, 1. Accessed August 10, 2016. http://nyshistoricnewspapers.org/lccn/sn95071433/1909-05-28/ed-1/seq-1/.
Researched by Regina G. Feeney, August 10, 2016.
Freeport Terrace was a residential development located in Roosevelt and owned by the Glenada Realty Company; the development was constructed in the mid-1910s. It was located east of North Main Street and included Stevens Street, Losee Street (now Stevens Street), and Luman Street (now Independence Avenue). Later, this area became part of the Inc. Village of Freeport.
Source:
Supreme Court of Nassau County [legal notice]. Nassau County Review. April 16, 1915, 4. Accessed July 3, 2018. http://nyshistoricnewspapers.org/lccn/sn95071433/1915-04-16/ed-1/seq-4/.
Researched by Regina G. Feeney, July 3, 2018.
Freeport Terrace was a residential development located in south Freeport. Around 1953, Creative Homes, Inc. constructed 110 split level homes on Adams Street, Nassau Street, South Long Beach Avenue and Casino Street. Homes included five to seven rooms and the homeowners' choice of one or two bathrooms. The homes included an expandable multipurpose area with dormer windows and an attached garage. The smaller model was priced between $11,990 and $13,990. The larger model, which featured a finished den, sold for $14,990.
Charles Horwitz, Jr. was the president of Creative Homes, Inc. and A. B. Thorner was its sales director. Later, Henry A. Klar Realty of Bayside served as its exclusive sales agent.
Sources:
"Split-Level Homes in Freeport Colony." The Brooklyn Daily Eagle. December 6, 1953, 19A. Accessed July 3, 2018. https://bklyn.newspapers.com/image/53930588/?terms=%22freeport%2Bterrace%22.
"Split-Level Homes Sunday." The Leader. February 19, 1953, 6. Accessed July 3, 2018. http://nyshistoricnewspapers.org/lccn/sn95071064/1953-02-19/ed-1/seq-6/.
Researched by Regina G. Feeney, July 3. 2018.
Freeport Theatre (also known as the Freeport Theater), located on East Sunrise Highway and Henry Street, opened circa 1922 as a vaudeville and movie house. The 15,000 square-foot building was constructed in the French Renaissance style. Made of white glazed terra-cotta, the theater offered 12 proscenium boxes and six mezzanine loges. It had large dressing rooms, an organ, and a cantilevered balcony. The orchestra pit accommodated 26 musicians. There were five movie projection machines and seats for 2,000 patrons. The theater's architect was Major Robert T. Rasmussen. The Daily Review newspaper in 1924 remarked on the building's safety features. The theater was said to be constructed with 32 double wide doors that allowed the audience to exit the building in three minutes. There was also a sprinkler system that was fed by roof top tanks carrying 20,000 gallons of water. Self-contained fire pumps with a combined 1,000 feet of fire hose were located throughout the building. The stage was described as being a "six story building" that was 81 feet wide, 88 feet long, and nearly 70 feet about the stage floor. Eighty feet above the stage were 66 sets of lines from which scenery could be hung for live performances. In 1924, the Freeport Theatre had 56 pieces of scenery. The theater included a spacious lounging room, a smoking room, rest rooms, cloak room, and a candy counter.
The Freeport Theatre construction was the result of the formation of the Freeport Theatre Corporation that began selling stock in 1921. Its board of advisors included: Oscar Jacobs, David Levy, William Martin, Albin Johnson, Jacob C. Post, Robert T. Rasmussen, William F. Hanse, Peter Beck, Dr. Leo Halpin, Stephen P. Pettit, Dr. William H. Runcie, Lyman Jones, Hyman Schloss, and Dr. Melvin Schloss. Stephen P. Pettit served as the corporation's president and Edward S. Keogh was its legal counsel. It was reported that the theater cost $300,000 to build.
During the 1940s, the Village of Freeport and later the Freeport Chamber of Commerce sponsored community Christmas parties at the Freeport Theatre. One such party in 1940 entertained 2,500 children.
Edith Wolfe worked as the candy saleswoman at the Freeport Theatre.
The Freeport Theatre closed as a movie house around 1971. Arnold "Whitey" Carlson purchased the Freeport Theatre around 1973 (he purchased the Grove Theatre in 1976). For a brief time, the Freeport Theatre operated as the disco On Stage. Carlson hired Ramos Gonzales to paint a streetscape mural on the Henry Street side of the building. The mural covered 180 feet of the 200-foot-long wall and the entire 50-foot height. Over the original side doors the mural included a sign that read "Back Stage." After heated exchanges with the village board about the tax assessment of his properties, Carlson decided to put the theaters up for sale.
In 1978, the Freeport Arts Council failed to raise $160,000 needed to purchase the Freeport Theatre to use as their headquarters.
Developer Paul Beggins, in 1985, proposed developing the theater into a five-story office and retail space with an adjacent eight-story office building with a six-tier garage. This plan was supported by the Village. Biggins received $100,000 in federal community development loan through the Village for this project. The theater's redevelopment stalled and difficulties arose when it was realized that the plan needed approval from the Metropolitan Transit Authority to construct garage space over Long Island Rail Road parking.
The Village purchased the theater on November 21, 1986 for $350,000. After the building was demolished, two stores were constructed on the theater site, one of which was Blockbuster Video.
In 1916, there was a Freeport Theatre located on Broadway, opposite the Long Island Rail Road depot. It was closely associated with the Triangle Fine Arts Company. This theater, known as the Crystal Theatre in 1912, closed in 1917.
Click here for images related to the Freeport Theater.
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Sources:
"Arts Council Loses Theatre." The Leader. May 11, 1978, 1. Accessed November 20, 2017. http://nyshistoricnewspapers.org/lccn/sn95071064/1978-05-11/ed-1/seq-1/.
Edith Wolfe obituary. The Leader. November 25, 1971, 8. Accessed November 20, 2017. http://nyshistoricnewspapers.org/lccn/sn95071064/1971-11-25/ed-1/seq-8/.
"Editorial." The Leader. November 22, 1979, 4. Accessed November 22, 2017. http://nyshistoricnewspapers.org/lccn/sn95071064/1979-11-22/ed-1/seq-4/.
"Fete 2,500 Children At Freeport Party." Newsday. December 18, 1940, 21.
Freeport Theatre Corporation [advertisement]. The Freeport News. September 16, 1921, 6. Accessed November 22, 2017. http://nyshistoricnewspapers.org/lccn/sn95071012/1921-09-16/ed-1/seq-6/.
"Freeport Theatre Planned and Built to Provide Comfort and Safety of Its Patrons, With All Modern Conveniences." The Daily Review. March 7, 1924, 15. Accessed November 22, 2017. fultonhistory.com
"Freeport's $300,000 Theatre To Be Completed Sept. 1, Says Report to Board of Trustees." The Daily Review. January 28, 1922, 1. Accessed November 22, 2017. fultonhistory.com.
"Hearing on Plan to Demolish Theater." Newsday. December 4, 1986, 29.
Krieg, Cynthia J. and Regina G. Feeney. Freeport. Charleston, SC: Arcadia, 2012.
"Moving Picture Hose Closed." Nassau County Review. February 2, 1917, 1. Accessed November 22, 2017. http://nyshistoricnewspapers.org/lccn/sn95071433/1917-02-02/ed-1/seq-1/.
"Recreation News." Freeport. January 1959, vol. 8, no. 12, 2. November 21, 2017. http://cdm16694.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/singleitem/collection/p15281coll12/id/17520/rec/1.
"Village Plans to Spend $435,000." The Leader. November 29, 1979, 16. Accessed November 22, 2017. http://nyshistoricnewspapers.org/lccn/sn95071064/1979-11-29/ed-1/seq-16/.
Researched by Cynthia J. Krieg and Regina G. Feeney, December 4, 2017.
Freeport Times was a short-lived newspaper in Freeport during the early 1920s.
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Source:
Researched by Regina G. Feeney, June 29, 2016.
Freeport Tuna Club was founded in 1937. It was reported to be the first tuna club founded on Long island. The club's purpose was to "interest and encourage members in all forms of rod and reel sport fishing and particularly to stimulate an interest in tuna fishing--to encourage competition among the members and other clubs under a set of standardized rules, and to use all legitimate methods to protect the interests of rod and reel fishermen." Its first board included Mervin L. Dickerson as president; George Quackenbos and Harold S. Blumenthal, vice presidents; James H. Combes, secretary; Fred Nutchey, treasurer; and John Wolf, William Cosenza, Fred Brenner, Charles Jetter, and Sahak Beyenderian as directors. That year, the Freeport Tuna Club passed a resolution endorsing Nassau County's decision to pay one-third the cost of improving Jones Inlet.
A 1939 challenge issued by the Freeport Tuna Club to the Brielle Tuna Club resulted in the U.S. Atlantic Tuna Tournament. By 1964, this tournament was affiliated with 48 fishing clubs from the Atlantic coast.
The Freeport Tuna Club was a pioneer member of the International Game Fish Association. In the 1960s, the club joined the International Spin Fish Association.
The club began sponsoring a fishing festival in 1975. Prizes for species of bluefish, sharks, tuna, and swordfish were awarded at this tournament. The event was held at newly constructed Long Creek Marina (now the Guy Lombardo Marina).
The headquarters of the Freeport Tuna Club is located at 275 Hudson Avenue, which is also known as the Freeport Tuna Club Marina.
Click here for images related to the Freeport Tuna Club.
Sources:
Buff, Ray. "Rod and Gun." The Brooklyn Daily Eagle. March 6, 1937, 9. Accessed March 26, 2019. https://bklyn.newspapers.com/image/53707723/?terms=%22freeport%2Btuna%2Bclub%22.
Knickerbocker, Dave. "3 Tournaments for the Angler." Newsday. August 14, 1975, 130.
Paran, Pat. "I Cover the Waterfront." The Leader. April 9, 1964, 10. Accessed March 26, 2019. http://nyshistoricnewspapers.org/lccn/sn95071064/1964-04-09/ed-1/seq-10/.
Rood, Horace F. "Hunting and Fishing. The Brooklyn Daily Eagle. June 8, 1937, 21. Accessed March 26, 2019. https://bklyn.newspapers.com/image/52759999/?terms=%22freeport%2Btuna%2Bclub%22.
White, William H. "Rod and Reel. The Leader. August 22, 1968, 8. Accessed March 26, 2019. http://nyshistoricnewspapers.org/lccn/sn95071064/1968-08-22/ed-1/seq-8/.
Researched by Regina G. Feeney, March 28, 2019.
Freeport Trotting Association was a short-lived horse racing organization that was formed in 1902. Its officers included Stephen P. Pettit (President); Allen Hunt (secretary); and Theodore Bedell (treasurer). The only race documented occurred on Thanksgiving Day in 1902 at the Lynbrook Driving Park before a crowd of 500 people.
Horses entered included:
Barber Boy - Charles J. Georgens
Doughnut - A. N. Fedden
Rabbit - Edward Willets
Eagle - E. V. Baldwin
Blacksmith - Miles S. Rhodes
Kittie - Thomas E. Powers
Rover C. - Joseph Chabeau
Jack-o'-Lantern - Charles Lott
Dick - Silas A. Williams
Dandy, Fred Ortell
Greyfriar - Benjamin T. Smith
Duke - Frank Southard
Legito - Benson Smith
Sources:
"Freeport Trotting Ass'n." Brooklyn Times Union. November 13, 1902, 8. Accessed July 5, 2023. Newspapers.com.
"Trotting Races at Lynbrook Driving Park." November 28, 1902, 17. Accessed July 5, 2023. Newspapers.com.
Researched by Regina G. Feeney, July 5, 2023.
Freeport Village Inn Restaurant was an Italian-American restaurant and cocktail lounge that was located at 14-16 Newton Boulevard. The restaurant was opened by Joe LiPuma on October 27, 1961. It served lunch and dinner and was open daily from 11 a.m. to 2 a.m. In 1962, the Freeport Village Inn advertised that it was offering a seafood menu.
Click here for images of the Freeport Village Inn Restaurant.
Sources:
Freeport Village Inn [advertisement]. The Leader. May 31, 1961, 17. Accessed November 2, 2017. http://nyshistoricnewspapers.org/lccn/sn95071064/1962-05-31/ed-1/seq-17/.
"Joe LiPuma Opens New Restaurant in Freeport's Center." The Leader. October 26, 1961, 1. Accessed November 2, 2017. http://nyshistoricnewspapers.org/lccn/sn95071064/1961-10-26/ed-1/seq-1/.
Researched by Regina G. Feeney, November 2, 2017.
The Freeport Water Department was established in 1894, a year after a fire destroyed the wooden school building on Pine Street. Lack of a municipal water service forced firemen to form a bucket brigade while local residents tried in vain to put out the flames by throwing snowballs. In 1894, Village residents approved the construction of a $40,000 municipal water plant and William R. Smith was appointed its first superintendent. In 1898, the small brick pumping station, located on Centre Street (now Sunrise Highway) was enlarged to include an electric power plant. Freeport had 450 water consumers in 1907. Six years later, the number of consumers increased to 1,450.
Sometime in the late 1920s, Well No. 1 was deepened to 500 feet. This well was taken out of service in 1955. Well No. 2 was created in 1929 but later abandoned. A half million gallon water tank was constructed at the Northeast Watershed, located off Lakeview Avenue, in 1929. Well No. 3 was added in 1930 and Well No. 4 was added at the Northeast Watershed in 1936. In 1937, a million gallon water tank as well as Wells No. 5 and No. 6 were constructed in northwest Freeport. In 1941, annual water use was 629,861,974 gallons. Freeport enacted compulsory water metering in 1946. By 1951 Freeport water consumption reached 727,126,108 gallons annually. Plans were developed in 1954 to construct Wells No. 7 (northwest) and No. 8 (northeast). While painting the water tower on Sunrise Highway in 1955, a tarpaulin fell onto power lines causing a 10-minute local blackout. That same year, Well No. 1 was taken out of service. Construction of Well 1a at the Northeast Watershed began in 1965. Well No. 9 was constructed in the northwest in 1970. In 1979, the Freeport Memorial Library paid homage to the Water Department by painting its Bookmobile to match the blue and green waves that had been painted on the water towers.
In 1980, in celebration of "Its Okay Not to Drink [alcohol] Month," the Village of Freeport produced 400 one ounce bottles containing Freeport tap water to be distributed as party favors. By 2003, Freeport had a daily pumping capacity of 15 million gallons. Covering five square miles, the Freeport Water Department oversaw eight deep wells which supplied water to 1,200 fire hydrants and was responsible for 126 miles of water mains. A new water facility that includes Wells No. 10, 11, and 12, was dedicated on the site of the former campgrounds on Prince Avenue in 2005.
The Freeport Landmarks Preservation Commission erected a roadside marker outside the site of the original pumping station on Sunrise Highway in 2018.
Click here for images related to the Freeport Water Department.
Sources:
"Announce Plans to Improve Water Department." The Leader. June 11, 1964, 2. Accessed April 21, 2018. http://nyshistoricnewspapers.org/lccn/sn95071064/1964-06-11/ed-1/seq-2/.
Bermudez, Miguel and Donald Giordano. An Illustrated History of the Freeport Fire Department, 1893-2008. Freeport, NY, Freeport Fire Department, 2008.
"Contract is Awarded for Two Deep Wells to Augment Supply." The Leader. December 1, 1955, 1. Accessed April 21, 2018. http://nyshistoricnewspapers.org/lccn/sn95071064/1955-12-01/ed-1/seq-1/.
"Falling Tarpaulin Blacks Out Entire Section of Village." The Leader. May 5, 1955, 3. Accessed April 21, 2018. http://nyshistoricnewspapers.org/lccn/sn95071064/1955-05-05/ed-1/seq-3/.
"Freeport Water Super Named to Water Supply Committee." The Leader. August 4, 2003, 10. Accessed April 21, 2018. http://nyshistoricnewspapers.org/lccn/sn95071065/2003-08-14/ed-1/seq-10/.
"It's Okay Not to Drink Month." Village News. September 1983, 4. Accessed April 21, 2018. https://cdm16694.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/p15281coll12/id/17237/rec/4.
"Local Topic: A Big Municipal Plant." Nassau County Review. November 7, 1913, 1. Accessed April 21, 2018. http://nyshistoricnewspapers.org/lccn/sn95071433/1913-11-07/ed-1/seq-1/.
"Nautical and Nice." The Leader. July 12, 1979, 3. Accessed April 21, 2018. http://nyshistoricnewspapers.org/lccn/sn95071064/1979-07-12/ed-1/seq-3/.
Researched by Regina G. Feeney, April 21, 2018.
Updated by Regina G. Feeney, March 27, 2023.
Updated by Regina G. Feeney, August 14, 2023.
Freeport Yacht Club was founded in the early 1930s by members of the Freeport Fire Department who wanted a reasonably priced boating club. Their first clubhouse was a large ship that been a submarine tender for the US Navy. It was towed to Freeport from Oyster Bay and was known as the concrete boat.
Click here for material related to the Freeport Yacht Club.
Sources:
Bailey, Merrill R. "On the Waterfront." Nassau Daily Review-Star. January 21, 1938, 26. Accessed August 26, 2021. http://nyshistoricnewspapers.org/lccn/sn83031113/1938-01-21/ed-1/seq-26/.
"Gay Pennants Fly as Yacht Clubs Open Another Season." Nassau Daily Review-Star. May 31, 1938, 13. Accessed August 26, 2021. http://nyshistoricnewspapers.org/lccn/sn83031113/1938-05-31/ed-1/seq-12/
Krieg, Cynthia J. and Regina G. Feeney. Freeport. Charleston, SC: Arcadia Publishing, 2012.
Researched by Regina G. Feeney, August 26, 2021.
Addie Edvadna Frost (1863-1923) was the long-time proprietor of the Crystal Lake Hotel. She managed the hotel with her husband, Edward P. Frost, beginning in about 1895. She was the proprietor of the hotel until her death in 1923.
She was known locally as "Ma Frost." She was loved by the members of Freeport Truck Company No. 1, for whom she would cook hot meals. Her son, Ward R. Frost, succeeded his mother as manager of the hotel until it was sold in 1946.
Addie E. Frost is buried in Greenfield Cemetery.
See Also:
Source:
"Mrs. A. E. Frost to Be Buried on Monday." The Daily Review. December 15, 1923, 1. Accessed November 3, 2016. fultonhistory.com.
Researched by Regina G. Feeney, November 3, 2016.
Edward P. Frost (1859-1907) was the founder and proprietor of the Crystal Lake Hotel and Cottage. Frost was a native of Oceanside. As a young boy, he lost his arm in an accident. He studied telegraphy and became an expert operator. Frost served as the telegraph operator for the Long Beach Hotel when it first opened. He also worked as a timekeeper for the Brooklyn Elevated Railway Company. At one time, Frost managed a boarding house in Brooklyn during the winter months.
In 1895, Frost opened the Crystal Lake Cottage as a summer hotel. Four years later, he constructed a larger hotel that could accommodate 150 guests.
Frost was married to Addie E. Frost; they had one son, Ward R. Frost. Frost died at the age of 48 and is buried in Greenfield Cemetery.
See Also:
Crystal Lake Hotel and Cottage
Source:
Obituary of Edward P. Frost. Nassau County Review. April 26, 1907, 1. Accessed November 5, 2016. http://nyshistoricnewspapers.org/lccn/sn95071433/1907-04-26/ed-1/seq-1/.
Researched by Regina G. Feeney, November 5, 2016.
Ward Ryder Frost (1896-1975) was the second generation of the Frost family to manage the Crystal Lake Hotel. His father, Edward P. Frost, started the hotel in 1895. His mother, Addie E. Frost, served as the proprietor until her death in 1923.
Frost served as a Navy corpsman during World War I. In 1924, he marred Eveleen A. Donohue (1898-1976). They had two sons, Ward R. Jr. and Donald J. Frost.
Frost was a member of the Spartan Masonic Lodge 956 of Freeport, the Freeport Chamber of Commerce, and the Lions Club. He was a founding member of the Freeport Yacht Club. Frost was active in the Freeport Fire Department and served as a Republican district committeeman in the 1940s and 1950s.
Frost died at the age of 79 in Littleton, CO and is buried in Fort Logan National Cemetery.
See Also:
Crystal Lake Hotel and Cottage
Sources:
"Donohue-Frost." The Brooklyn Daily Eagle. July 20, 1924, 25. Accessed November 5, 2016. https://bklyn.newspapers.com/image/57581514/?terms=%22ward%2Br.%2Bfrost%22.
Obituary of Ward R. Frost, Sr. Newsday. September 12, 1975, 41.
Researched by Regina G. Feeney, October 5, 2016.
Chester A. Fulton (1871-1953) was the owner of the Fulton Funeral Home in Freeport. He was born in Canada to a farming family. As a young man, Fulton found employment in a casket factory in Buffalo and later with the New York and Brooklyn Casket Company. He eventually became an embalmer.
In 1904, Fulton came to Freeport and took over an undertaking and furniture business on Church Street and Merrick Road founded by Carman Peasall (or Pearsall). In 1923, he built his headquarters in what was known as the Shirley Building. Fulton was the first undertaker in New York State to use motorized hearses. His vehicles included two ambulances and two hearses. Fulton was a member of the Spartan Lodge (Free and Accepted Masons), Knights Templar, Elks Club, the Odd Fellows, South Shore Yacht Club, Excelsior Hook and Ladder Company for which he furnished the first horses, and he helped organize the Exchange Club. Fulton was a member of the Methodist Church. He conducted business in Freeport for 49 years. He endeared himself to so many people that he became known as “Dad” Fulton.
Fulton and his wife Cecelia lived at 168 Lexington Avenue. They are both buried in buried in Greenfield Cemetery, Uniondale, NY.
Click here for images related to Chester A. Fulton.
Source:
"Chester A. Fulton, 82 Freeport." Newsday. July 10, 1953, 93.
Hazelton, Henry Isham. The Boroughs of Brooklyn and Queens Counties of Nassau and Suffolk Long Island, New York 1609-1924 (Volume 5). New York: Lewis Historical Publishing Company, Inc., 1925.
Researched by Regina G. Feeney, July 10, 2016.
Chester Curtis Fulton (also known as Curtis Fulton) (1898-1955) was born in Brooklyn and came to Freeport in his youth. At 18, he joined his father's (Chester A. Fulton) funeral business. After his father’s death in 1953, he successfully incorporated the business under the name of Chester A. Fulton and Son Funeral Home, Inc.
Fulton was a member of the Freeport Fire Department, the Spartan Masonic Lodge, and the Freeport Elks Club. He and his wife, Marion, lived at 50 Roosevelt Avenue.
Before his death, Fulton took up painting and ceramics. He died of a heart attack in 1955.
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Sources:
Chester C. Fulton. [obituary]. Newsday. March 15, 1955, 125.
"Curtis Fulton Dies After Heart Attack; Poor Health Recently." The Leader. March 17, 1955, 1. Accessed December 5, 2018. http://nyshistoricnewspapers.org/lccn/sn95071064/1955-03-17/ed-1/seq-1/.
Researched by Regina G. Feeney, December 7, 2018.
Fulton Savings Bank (also known as the "round bank") opened a branch in Freeport in 1962; it was located on the southeast corner of Merrick Road and South Long Beach Avenue. The bank offered savings accounts, savings bank life insurance, depositor loans, safe deposit boxes, savings bank money orders, travelers checks, foreign remittances, and home improvement loans. In 1962, the Fulton Savings Bank offered a four percent interest rate. An opening celebration was held at the bank on March 8th, 9th, and 10th of 1962.
In 1977, Fulton Savings Bank merged with the Metropolitan Savings Bank. HSBC was the last bank to operate in this building.
The bank building was demolished in August 2019.
Click here for images related to the "round bank."
Sources:
Fulton Savings Bank [advertisement]. The Leader. March 1, 1962, 9. Accessed July 19, 2017. http://nyshistoricnewspapers.org/lccn/sn95071064/1962-03-01/ed-1/seq-9/.
"Bank Merger Detailed." Newsday. December 20, 1977, 33.
Researched by Regina G. Feeney, July 19, 2017.
Updated by Regina G. Feeney, August 9, 2019.
Fulton Street was renamed Merrick Road (circa 1906). Before the Civil War, Fulton Street was part of the Merrick and Jamaica Plank Road - a wood plank road that had tolls. A tollhouse was located just east of South Long Beach Avenue.
See Also:
Merrick and Jamaica Plank Road
Merrick Road
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.
William Furst (1852-1917) was a leading composer of incidental music for theatrical productions. He was also an orchestra director for the Empire Belasco Theatres. Furst wrote accompanying musical selections for many of David Belasco's plays. He wrote one grand opera, entitled Theodora, and composed light operas for Lillian Russell. He also wrote music for productions of stars such as Maude Adams and Geraldine Farrar.
Furst died as a result of a cerebral embolism that he suffered after a fall in his garden. He lived at 239 South Ocean Avenue.
Source:
William Furst Obituary. Nassau County Review. July 13, 1917. Accessed June 24, 2016. http://nyshistoricnewspapers.org/lccn/sn95071433/1917-07-13/ed-1/seq-8/.
"Veteran Composer Wm. Furst Is Dead." The New York Times. July 12, 1917.
Researched by Cynthia J. Krieg, June 24, 2016.
George Fyfe (circa 1877-1960) was a jeweler and optician who worked at 30 West Merrick Road from 1900 to 1950. He continued his optometry practice after ending his career as a jeweler. In 1950, his business was taken over by Julius Posner and relocated to 6 West Merrick Road.
He also was one of the original trustees of the Freeport Elks Club.
Fyfe and his first wife, Lena, had one son, Lester. She died in 1919. He and his second wife, Augusta, lived at 100 Park Avenue.
Sources:
Aero view of Freeport, Long Island, N.Y. 1909. New York: Hughes & Bailey, 1909. Accessed August 10, 2016. https://www.loc.gov/resource/g3804f.pm005650/.
"Elks' Dinner at Club Marks 40th Anniversary of Lodge." The Leader. October 11, 1951, 9. Accessed August 11, 2016. http://nyshistoricnewspapers.org/lccn/sn95071064/1951-10-11/ed-1/seq-9/.
"George F. Fyfe, Was 83." Newsday. November 17, 1960, 35C.
Julius Posner [Advertisement]. The Leader. July 27, 1950, 7. Accessed August 11, 2016. http://nyshistoricnewspapers.org/lccn/sn95071064/1950-07-27/ed-1/seq-7/.
Researched by Regina G. Feeney, August 11, 2016.