Freeport, New York
Encyclopedia
Freeport is a village in the town of Hempstead, Nassau County
, New York
, USA
, on the South Shore
of Long Island
. The population was 42,860 at the 2010 census. A settlement since the 1640s, it was once an oyster
ing community and later a resort popular with the New York City
theater community. It is now primarily a bedroom suburb
but retains a modest commercial waterfront and some light industry. The village is racially and ethnically diverse: the 2000 census shows the population as 42.9% White, 32.6% African American, and 33.5% Hispanic or Latino of any race.
, in the southwestern part of Nassau County, within the town of Hempstead. Freeport has its own municipal electric utility, police department, fire, electric and water departments. Freeport is New York State's second-biggest village and has a station
on the Long Island Rail Road
.
The south part of the village is penetrated by several canal
s that allow access to the Atlantic Ocean
by means of passage through salt marsh
es. The oldest of these canals is the late 19th century Woodcleft Canal. Freeport has extensive small-boat facilities and a resident fishing fleet, as well as charter and open fishing boats.
Freeport's government is made up of four trustees and a mayor. One trustee also serves in the capacity of deputy mayor. Freeport's first African American mayor, Andrew Hardwick, was elected in 2009. The current Deputy Mayor is Carmen Pineyro, and William White Jr, Jorge Martinez & Robert T. Kennedy are trustees. The mayor and board of trustees are elected to four-year terms.
is to the west, and Merrick
is to the east. Roosevelt
lies to the north. The south village boundary is not precisely defined, lying in the salt flats and bays.
in 1659, cleared land, and built a cabin.
In 1853, residents voted to rename the village Freeport, adopting a variant of a nickname used by ship captains during colonial times because they were not charged customs
duties to land their cargo.
After the Civil War
, Freeport became a center for commercial oyster
ing. This trade began to decline as early as the beginning of the 20th century because of changing salinity and increased pollution in Great South Bay
. Nonetheless, even as of the early 21st century Freeport and nearby Point Lookout
have the largest concentration of commercial fishing activity anywhere near New York City.
From 1868, Freeport was served by the Southside Railroad, which was a major boon to development. The most prominent figure in this boom was developer John J. Randall; among his other contributions to the shape of Freeport today were several canals, including the Woodcleft Canal, one side of which is now the site of the "Nautical Mile". Randall, who opposed all of Freeport being laid out in a grid, put up a Victorian house
virtually overnight on a triangular plot at the corner of Lena Avenue and Wilson Place to spite the grid designers. The Freeport Spite House
still is standing and occupied.
In January 1873, before Nassau County had split off from Queens, the Queens County treasurer set up an office at Freeport. The village residents voted to incorporate the village on October 18, 1892. At that time, it had a population of 1,821. In 1898, Freeport established a municipal electric utility, which still operates today, giving the village lower electricity rates than those in surrounding communities. It is one of two municipally-owned electric systems in Nassau County, the other being in Rockville Centre
. Public street lighting was begun in 1907, and a public fire alarm system was adopted in 1910.
In the years after incorporation, Freeport was a tourist
and sportsman's destination for its boating and fishing.
From 1902 into the late 1920s, the New York and Long Island Traction Corporation ran trolleys
through Freeport to Jamaica
, Hempstead, and Brooklyn
. These trolleys went down Main Street in Freeport, connecting to a ferry
near Woodcleft Avenue. The ferries took people to Point Lookout, about three miles (5 km) south of Freeport, where there is an ocean beach. For a few years after 1913, the short-lived Freeport Railroad ran a train nicknamed "the Fishermen's Delight" along Grove Street (now Guy Lombardo Avenue) from Sunrise Highway to the waterfront. Also in this era, in 1910 Arthur and Albert Heinrich flew the first American-made, American-powered monoplane
, built in their Merrick Road
airplane factory (see also Heinrich Pursuit
). WGBB
, founded in 1924, became Long Island's first 24-hour radio station.
In the late 19th century, Freeport was the summer resort of wealthy politicians, publishers, and so forth. At the time, travel from Freeport to New York City required a journey of several hours on a coal-powered train, or an even more arduous automobile trip on the single-lane Merrick Road.
According to Elinor Smith
, the arrival of Diamond Jim Brady and Lillian Russell
around the turn of the century marked the beginning of what by 1914 would become an unofficial theatrical artists' colony, especially of vaudeville
performers. Freeport's population was largest in the summer season, during which most of the theaters of the time were closed and performers left for cooler climes. Some had year-round family homes in Freeport. Leo Carrillo
and Victor Moore
were early arrivals, later joined by Fannie Brice, Trixie Friganza
, Sophie Tucker
, Harry Ruby
, Fred Stone
, Helen Broderick
, Moran and Mack, Will Rogers
, Bert Kalmar
, Richard Whiting
, Harry von Tilzer
, Rae Samuels, Belle Baker
, Grace Hayes, Pat Rooney, Duffy and Sweeney, the Four Mortons, McKay and Ardine, and Eva Tanguay
. Buster Keaton
, W. C. Fields
, and many other theatrical performers who did not own homes there were also frequent visitors.
Several of Freeport's actors gathered together as the Long Island Good Hearted Thespian Society (LIGHTS), with a clubhouse facing onto Great South Bay. LIGHTS presented summer shows in Freeport from the mid-1910s to the mid-1920s. LIGHTS also sponsored a summertime "Christmas Parade", featuring clowns, acrobats, and once even some borrowed elephants. It was held at this unlikely time of year because the theater people were all working during the real Christmas season. A Coney Island
–style amusement park
called Playland Park thrived from the early 1920s until the early 1930s but was destroyed by a fire.
With the resurgence of the Ku Klux Klan
on Long Island in the 1920s many villages in Nassau and Suffolk counties were the focal point of Klan activity. According to a story in Newsday detailing the history of Long Island, "often, respected clergymen and public officials openly supported the Klan and attended its rallies. On Sept. 20, 1924, for instance, the Klan drew 30,000 spectators to a parade through Freeport -- with the village police chief, John M. Hartman, leading a procession of 2,000 robed men.... the founding of one of Long Island's first klaverns, in Freeport, was memorialized on Sept. 8, 1922, in the Daily Review, which carried a banner headline about the meeting at Mechanics Hall on Railroad Avenue. About 150 new members were greeted by seven robed Klansmen."
By 1937, Freeport's population exceeded 20,000, and it was the largest village in Nassau County. After World War II
the village became a bedroom community for New York City
. The separation between the two eras was marked by a fire that destroyed the Freeport Hotel in the late 1950s. During the 1950s local merchants resisted building any shopping mall
s in the village and subsequently suffered a great loss of business when large malls were built in communities in the central part of Long Island.
The landscape of Freeport underwent further change with a significant increase in apartment building construction. When such buildings went up in just two years in the early 1960s, the Village passed a moratorium on multi-unit residential construction.
While never a major boatbuilding center, Freeport can boast some notable figures in that field. Fred and Mirto Scopinich operated their boatyard in Freeport from just after World War I
until they moved it to East Quogue
in the late 1960s. Their Freeport Point Shipyard built boats for the United States Coast Guard
, but also for Prohibition
-era rumrunners. From 1937 to 1945 the shipyard built small boats for the United States Navy
and British Royal Navy
. The marina and dealership operated by Al Grover in 1950 remains in Freeport and in his family. Grover's company built fishing skiff
s from the 1970s until about 1990. One of these, a 26-footer, carried Grover and his sons from Nova Scotia
to Portugal
in 1985, the first-ever crossing of the Atlantic Ocean
by a boat powered by an outboard motor
. Columbian Bronze operated in Freeport from its 1901 founding until it closed shop in 1988. Among this company's achievements was the propeller for the , an operational nuclear-powered
submarine
and the first vessel to complete a submerged transit across the North Pole
.
. The Nautical Mile is a strip along the water that features well-known seafood restaurants, crab shacks, bars, eclectic little boutiques, fresh fish markets, as well as party cruise ships and casino boats that float atop the canals. People line up for the boat rides and eat at restaurants that feature seating on the water's edge and servings of mussels, oysters, crabs, and steamed clams ("steamers") accompanied by pitchers of beer. An 18-hole miniature golf course is popular among families. The Sea Breeze waterfront park—which includes a transient marina, boardwalk, rest rooms and benches—opened in 2009 at the foot of the Nautical Mile. It has proven to be a very popular spot to sit and watch the marine traffic and natural scenery. This is in addition to an existing scenic pier.
Freeport has an ethnically and racially diverse population. Freeport's African-American population lives largely in the northern section of the village. There is one housing project, named after Nassau County's first black judge, Moxie Rigby. Freeport's Hispanic
community is made up of Puerto Ricans
and immigrants who hail from Colombia
, the Dominican Republic
, El Salvador
, Guatemala
, Honduras
, and many other Latin American nations. Among the many Latin-American-themed businesses are the Compare Foods Supermarkets, several grocery stores, and restaurants along Merrick Road and Main Street that serve Caribbean, Central American, Dominican, and South American cuisines.
Freeport, along with neighboring Merrick
, is also the gateway to Jones Beach
, one of the largest state beaches in New York. One famous area is the Town of Hempstead Marina, where people from all over Long Island dock their boats. Freeport is a 45-minute ride by the Long Island Rail Road
to Manhattan, making the trip an easy commute to New York City.
From 1974 to 1986, Freeport was one of the few Long Island towns to hold a sizeable open-air market area, known as the Freeport Mall. The heart of the Main Street business area was closed to vehicular traffic and reconfigured for pedestrians only. The experiment was not a success. The W. T. Grant
store that was supposed to anchor the mall closed, along with the rest of that chain, shortly after the mall opened. The mall area became shabby and disused, and many businesses failed. The mall was dismantled and returned to through traffic with regular parking on each side of the street.
There is also a Catolic School, The De La Salle School, which is run by the Christian Brothers. It accepts boys from grades 5-8.
Children in grades 9–12 attend Freeport High School, which borders the town of Baldwin
and sits beside the Milburn duck pond, which is fed by a creek, several hundred yards of which was diverted underground when the high school was built. Freeport High School's mascot is the Red Devil, and its colors are red and white. The school has track-and-field facilities. One unique feature of the school's curriculum is a science research program run in cooperation with the State University of New York at Stony Brook
. The school offers numerous advanced placement courses and was a pioneer in distance learning at the high school level. Roughly 87 percent of the high school's graduates go on to some form of higher education. A community night school for teen-agers had 236 students as of 1999.
As early as 1886, Freeport's schools began the then-unusual policy of providing their students with free textbooks. In 1893, the newly incorporated village constructed a ten-room brick schoolhouse. Also in the late 19th century, the community was among the first Long Island communities to establish an "academic department", offering classes beyond the elementary school level.
Freeport saw its share of the social, political, and racial turbulence of the late 1960s and early 1970s. The 1969–70 school year saw three high school principals in the village's only high school, succeeded in August 1970 by William McElroy, formerly the junior high school principal, who came to the position "in the midst of racial tension and a constantly-polarizing student body"; McElroy backed such initiatives as a student advisory committee to the Board of Education and, in his own words, "made [him]self available to any civic-minded group" that wished to discuss with him the situation in the school. By May 1972, he could claim success, of a sort. "Formerly, a fight between a black and a white student would automatically become racial; now a fight is just a fight—between two students."
The Freeport High School newspaper, Flashings, founded 1920, is believed to be the oldest high school paper on Long Island. It has won numerous awards over several decades. From 1969 until 1999 it operated under "free press" guidelines unusual for a high school newspaper, with an active role for the students in picking their own faculty adviser, and with ultimate editorial control firmly in the hands of students. Throughout that time, Ira Schildkraut functioned as faculty adviser. In 1999 the school administration removed Schildkraut from that role, and attempted to establish themselves as censors. That last decision was turned back by the school board after it drew attention from, among others, The New York Times
and the Student Press Law Center. However, the resolution of the dispute did reduce the student journalists' role in selecting their own faculty adviser, and increased the faculty adviser's editorial authority relative to the student journalists'.
In June 2008 sixteen people were arrested after violence erupted in the high school. In a 2010 Newsday story regarding Long Island eighth-grader scores on Regents Exams, which have traditionally been given to students in ninth grade and up, Freeport was ranked in the lower tier.
A drive was started in 1920 to construct a library building. The resulting library at the corner of Merrick Road and Ocean Avenue, a Beaux Arts building designed by architect Charles M. Hart, opened on Memorial Day
, 1924. A year later it was renamed Freeport Memorial Library. In 1928, a tablet was erected with the names of Freeport's war dead from the American Civil War
, Spanish American War, and World War I.
Additional wings were dedicated on April 19, 1959, and on Memorial Day, 1985. Plaques were added to honor Freeporters who died in World War II, the Korean War
, and the Vietnam War
.
. An unsuccessful 1989 plan would have turned the building into condos. Currently, the parcel is the subject of litigation and ongoing investigations by various agencies.
and eventually demolition derbies
. In the early 1930s it was the playfield for a semi-pro
baseball
team: the Penn Red Caps took their name from the caps worn by Pullman porters. For a few years after that, the NFL
Brooklyn Dodgers
football
team, who, like their baseball namesakes
, played at Ebbets Field
, used the stadium as a midweek training site. The site is now a BJs Warehouse Club.
Freeport is home to the Freeport Recreation Center, which features an enclosed, year-round ice skating rink; an indoor pool; an outdoor Olympic-size pool; an outdoor diving tank; an outdoor children's pool; handball courts; sauna; steam room; fully equipped workout gyms; basketball courts; and snack bars serving hot and cold foods. The "Rec Center" also offers evening adult classes and hosts a pre-school program, camp programs, and a senior center.
Freeport is bisected by east-west New York State Route 27
, Sunrise Highway. Meadowbrook Parkway defines its eastern boundary.
of 2000, there were 43,783 people, 13,504 households, and 9,911 families residing in the village. The population density
was 9,531.3 people per square mile (3,682.9/km²). There were 13,819 housing units at an average density of 3,008.3 per square mile (1,162.4/km²). The racial makeup of the village was 42.9% White, 32.6% African American, 0.5% Native American, 1.4% Asian, 0.1% Pacific Islander, 17.2% from other races
, and 5.4% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 33.5% of the population.
There were 13,504 households out of which 36.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 49.7% were married couples
living together, 17.8% had a female householder with no husband present, and 26.6% were non-families. 21.2% of all households were made up of individuals and 8.1% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 3.20 and the average family size was 3.65.
In the village the population was spread out with 26.4% under the age of 18, 9.1% from 18 to 24, 32.1% from 25 to 44, 22.0% from 45 to 64, and 10.5% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 35 years. For every 100 females there were 92.6 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 89.3 males.
The median income for a household in the village in 1999 was $55,948, and the median income for a family was $61,673. Males had a median income of $37,465 versus $31,869 for females. The per capita income
for the village was $21,288. About 8.0% of families and 10.6% of the population were below the poverty line, including 11.5% of those under age 18 and 7.4% of those age 65 or over.
Other residents:
Nassau County, New York
Nassau County is a suburban county on Long Island, east of New York City in the U.S. state of New York, within the New York Metropolitan Area. As of the 2010 census, the population was 1,339,532...
, New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
, USA
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, on the South Shore
South Shore (Long Island)
The South Shore of Long Island, in the U.S. state of New York, is the area along Long Island's Atlantic Ocean shoreline. Though some consider the South Shore to include parts of Queens, particularly the beach communities in the Rockaways such as Belle Harbor, the term is generally used to refer to...
of Long Island
Long Island
Long Island is an island located in the southeast part of the U.S. state of New York, just east of Manhattan. Stretching northeast into the Atlantic Ocean, Long Island contains four counties, two of which are boroughs of New York City , and two of which are mainly suburban...
. The population was 42,860 at the 2010 census. A settlement since the 1640s, it was once an oyster
Oyster
The word oyster is used as a common name for a number of distinct groups of bivalve molluscs which live in marine or brackish habitats. The valves are highly calcified....
ing community and later a resort popular with the New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
theater community. It is now primarily a bedroom suburb
Suburb
The word suburb mostly refers to a residential area, either existing as part of a city or as a separate residential community within commuting distance of a city . Some suburbs have a degree of administrative autonomy, and most have lower population density than inner city neighborhoods...
but retains a modest commercial waterfront and some light industry. The village is racially and ethnically diverse: the 2000 census shows the population as 42.9% White, 32.6% African American, and 33.5% Hispanic or Latino of any race.
Description
Freeport lies on the south shore of Long IslandLong Island
Long Island is an island located in the southeast part of the U.S. state of New York, just east of Manhattan. Stretching northeast into the Atlantic Ocean, Long Island contains four counties, two of which are boroughs of New York City , and two of which are mainly suburban...
, in the southwestern part of Nassau County, within the town of Hempstead. Freeport has its own municipal electric utility, police department, fire, electric and water departments. Freeport is New York State's second-biggest village and has a station
Freeport (LIRR station)
Freeport is a station on the Babylon Branch of the Long Island Rail Road. It is located in Freeport Plaza between Henry Street and Benson Place just north of NY 27 in Freeport, New York....
on the Long Island Rail Road
Long Island Rail Road
The Long Island Rail Road or LIRR is a commuter rail system serving the length of Long Island, New York. It is the busiest commuter railroad in North America, serving about 81.5 million passengers each year. Established in 1834 and having operated continuously since then, it is the oldest US...
.
The south part of the village is penetrated by several canal
Canal
Canals are man-made channels for water. There are two types of canal:#Waterways: navigable transportation canals used for carrying ships and boats shipping goods and conveying people, further subdivided into two kinds:...
s that allow access to the Atlantic Ocean
Atlantic Ocean
The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's oceanic divisions. With a total area of about , it covers approximately 20% of the Earth's surface and about 26% of its water surface area...
by means of passage through salt marsh
Salt marsh
A salt marsh is an environment in the upper coastal intertidal zone between land and salt water or brackish water, it is dominated by dense stands of halophytic plants such as herbs, grasses, or low shrubs. These plants are terrestrial in origin and are essential to the stability of the salt marsh...
es. The oldest of these canals is the late 19th century Woodcleft Canal. Freeport has extensive small-boat facilities and a resident fishing fleet, as well as charter and open fishing boats.
Freeport's government is made up of four trustees and a mayor. One trustee also serves in the capacity of deputy mayor. Freeport's first African American mayor, Andrew Hardwick, was elected in 2009. The current Deputy Mayor is Carmen Pineyro, and William White Jr, Jorge Martinez & Robert T. Kennedy are trustees. The mayor and board of trustees are elected to four-year terms.
Surrounding communities
BaldwinBaldwin, Nassau County, New York
Baldwin is a hamlet located in the town of Hempstead in Nassau County, New York, United States. The population was 24,033 at the 2010 census.Baldwin is also a station on the Babylon Branch of the Long Island Rail Road....
is to the west, and Merrick
Merrick, New York
Merrick is a hamlet in the Town of Hempstead in Nassau County, New York, USA. As of the 2010 census, the CDP population was 22,097. The name "Merrick" is taken from Meroke, the name of the Algonquian tribe formerly indigenous to the area...
is to the east. Roosevelt
Roosevelt, New York
Roosevelt is a hamlet in Nassau County, New York, United States. The population was 16,258 at the 2010 census.Roosevelt is in the town of Hempstead.-Geography:Roosevelt is located at ....
lies to the north. The south village boundary is not precisely defined, lying in the salt flats and bays.
History
Before people of European ancestry came to the area, the land was part of the territory of the Meroke Indians. Written records of the community go back to the 1640s. The village now known as Freeport was part of an area called "the Great South Woods" during colonial times. In the mid-17th century, the area was renamed Raynor South, and ultimately Raynortown, after a herdsman named Edward Raynor, who had moved to the area from HempsteadHempstead (village), New York
Hempstead is a village located in the town of Hempstead, Nassau County, New York, United States. The population was 53,891 at the 2010 census.Hofstra University is located on the border between Hempstead and Uniondale.-Foundation:...
in 1659, cleared land, and built a cabin.
In 1853, residents voted to rename the village Freeport, adopting a variant of a nickname used by ship captains during colonial times because they were not charged customs
Customs
Customs is an authority or agency in a country responsible for collecting and safeguarding customs duties and for controlling the flow of goods including animals, transports, personal effects and hazardous items in and out of a country...
duties to land their cargo.
After the Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
, Freeport became a center for commercial oyster
Oyster
The word oyster is used as a common name for a number of distinct groups of bivalve molluscs which live in marine or brackish habitats. The valves are highly calcified....
ing. This trade began to decline as early as the beginning of the 20th century because of changing salinity and increased pollution in Great South Bay
Great South Bay
Great South Bay is a lagoon situated between Long Island and Fire Island, in the State of New York. It is approximately long. It's protected from the Atlantic Ocean by Fire Island, a barrier island, as well as the eastern end of Jones Beach Island and Captree Island.Robert Moses Causeway adjoins...
. Nonetheless, even as of the early 21st century Freeport and nearby Point Lookout
Point Lookout, New York
Point Lookout is a hamlet located in the town Hempstead in Nassau County, New York. The population was 1,219 at the 2010 census.-Geography:...
have the largest concentration of commercial fishing activity anywhere near New York City.
From 1868, Freeport was served by the Southside Railroad, which was a major boon to development. The most prominent figure in this boom was developer John J. Randall; among his other contributions to the shape of Freeport today were several canals, including the Woodcleft Canal, one side of which is now the site of the "Nautical Mile". Randall, who opposed all of Freeport being laid out in a grid, put up a Victorian house
Victorian architecture
The term Victorian architecture refers collectively to several architectural styles employed predominantly during the middle and late 19th century. The period that it indicates may slightly overlap the actual reign, 20 June 1837 – 22 January 1901, of Queen Victoria. This represents the British and...
virtually overnight on a triangular plot at the corner of Lena Avenue and Wilson Place to spite the grid designers. The Freeport Spite House
Spite house
A spite house is a building constructed or modified to irritate neighbors or other parties with land stakes. Spite houses often serve as obstructions, blocking out light or access to neighboring buildings, or as flamboyant symbols of defiance...
still is standing and occupied.
In January 1873, before Nassau County had split off from Queens, the Queens County treasurer set up an office at Freeport. The village residents voted to incorporate the village on October 18, 1892. At that time, it had a population of 1,821. In 1898, Freeport established a municipal electric utility, which still operates today, giving the village lower electricity rates than those in surrounding communities. It is one of two municipally-owned electric systems in Nassau County, the other being in Rockville Centre
Rockville Centre, New York
Rockville Centre is a village located in Nassau County, New York, in the United States. As of the 2010 census, the village had a total population of 24,023. The town is made up of middle to upper middle class residents, most of the wealthier residents residing on the north side of town near the...
. Public street lighting was begun in 1907, and a public fire alarm system was adopted in 1910.
In the years after incorporation, Freeport was a tourist
Tourist destination
A tourist destination is a city, town, or other area that is dependent to a significant extent on the revenues accruing from tourism. It may contain one or more tourist attractions and possibly some "tourist traps."...
and sportsman's destination for its boating and fishing.
From 1902 into the late 1920s, the New York and Long Island Traction Corporation ran trolleys
Tram
A tram is a passenger rail vehicle which runs on tracks along public urban streets and also sometimes on separate rights of way. It may also run between cities and/or towns , and/or partially grade separated even in the cities...
through Freeport to Jamaica
Jamaica, Queens
Jamaica is a neighborhood in the borough of Queens in New York City, New York, United States. It was settled under Dutch rule in 1656 in New Netherland as Rustdorp. Under British rule, the Village of Jamaica became the center of the "Town of Jamaica"...
, Hempstead, and Brooklyn
Brooklyn
Brooklyn is the most populous of New York City's five boroughs, with nearly 2.6 million residents, and the second-largest in area. Since 1896, Brooklyn has had the same boundaries as Kings County, which is now the most populous county in New York State and the second-most densely populated...
. These trolleys went down Main Street in Freeport, connecting to a ferry
Ferry
A ferry is a form of transportation, usually a boat, but sometimes a ship, used to carry primarily passengers, and sometimes vehicles and cargo as well, across a body of water. Most ferries operate on regular, frequent, return services...
near Woodcleft Avenue. The ferries took people to Point Lookout, about three miles (5 km) south of Freeport, where there is an ocean beach. For a few years after 1913, the short-lived Freeport Railroad ran a train nicknamed "the Fishermen's Delight" along Grove Street (now Guy Lombardo Avenue) from Sunrise Highway to the waterfront. Also in this era, in 1910 Arthur and Albert Heinrich flew the first American-made, American-powered monoplane
Monoplane
A monoplane is a fixed-wing aircraft with one main set of wing surfaces, in contrast to a biplane or triplane. Since the late 1930s it has been the most common form for a fixed wing aircraft.-Types of monoplane:...
, built in their Merrick Road
Merrick Road
Merrick Road, named Merrick Boulevard inside New York City, is a road running from Jamaica, Queens, New York east through Merrick, New York to the line between Nassau and Suffolk Counties, where it becomes Montauk Highway. A bit of it at the east end is signed and maintained by the New York State...
airplane factory (see also Heinrich Pursuit
Heinrich Pursuit
The Heinrich Pursuit was an American fighter prototype of the 1910s. It was the only known aircraft designed by Albert S. Heinrich.- Development :...
). WGBB
WGBB
WGBB is an AM radio station licensed by the FCC in Freeport, New York. It is located at 1240 kHz on the AM dial.-History:WGBB has been serving the Long Island area since 1924. WGBB serves western Suffolk, Nassau, Queens, Brooklyn and parts of New Jersey.It was founded and managed by Harry H...
, founded in 1924, became Long Island's first 24-hour radio station.
In the late 19th century, Freeport was the summer resort of wealthy politicians, publishers, and so forth. At the time, travel from Freeport to New York City required a journey of several hours on a coal-powered train, or an even more arduous automobile trip on the single-lane Merrick Road.
According to Elinor Smith
Elinor Smith
Elinor Smith , was a pioneering American aviatrix, once known as "The Flying Flapper of Freeport". She was the first woman test pilot for both Fairchild and Bellanca...
, the arrival of Diamond Jim Brady and Lillian Russell
Lillian Russell
Lillian Russell was an American actress and singer. She became one of the most famous actresses and singers of the late 19th century and early 20th century, known for her beauty and style, as well as for her voice and stage presence.Russell was born in Iowa but raised in Chicago...
around the turn of the century marked the beginning of what by 1914 would become an unofficial theatrical artists' colony, especially of vaudeville
Vaudeville
Vaudeville was a theatrical genre of variety entertainment in the United States and Canada from the early 1880s until the early 1930s. Each performance was made up of a series of separate, unrelated acts grouped together on a common bill...
performers. Freeport's population was largest in the summer season, during which most of the theaters of the time were closed and performers left for cooler climes. Some had year-round family homes in Freeport. Leo Carrillo
Leo Carrillo
Leopoldo Antonio Carrillo , was an American actor, vaudevillian, political cartoonist, and conservationist.-Family roots:...
and Victor Moore
Victor Moore
Victor Frederick Moore was an American actor of stage and screen, as well as a comedian, writer, and director.-Personal life:...
were early arrivals, later joined by Fannie Brice, Trixie Friganza
Trixie Friganza
Trixie Friganza , born Delia O’Callaghan, began her career as an operetta soubrette, working her way from the chorus to starring in musical comedies to having her own feature act on the vaudeville circuit....
, Sophie Tucker
Sophie Tucker
Sophie Tucker was a Russian/Ukrainian-born American singer and actress. Known for her stentorian delivery of comical and risqué songs, she was one of the most popular entertainers in America during the first half of the 20th century...
, Harry Ruby
Harry Ruby
Harry Ruby was a Jewish American songwriter and screenwriter.After failing in his early ambition to become a professional baseball player,...
, Fred Stone
Fred Stone
Fred Andrew Stone was an American actor. Stone began his career as a performer in circuses and minstrel shows, went on to act on vaudeville, and became a star on Broadway and in feature films, which earned him a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.-Biography:He was particularly famous for appearing...
, Helen Broderick
Helen Broderick
Helen Broderick was an American film and stage actress known for her comic roles, especially as a wisecracking sidekick.-Career:...
, Moran and Mack, Will Rogers
Will Rogers
William "Will" Penn Adair Rogers was an American cowboy, comedian, humorist, social commentator, vaudeville performer, film actor, and one of the world's best-known celebrities in the 1920s and 1930s....
, Bert Kalmar
Bert Kalmar
Bert Kalmar was a Jewish American lyricist.He was born in New York, New York. He ran away from home at the age of 10 to become a magician at a tent show, and retained an interest in magic all his life. He never got much of an education, but decided to make a career in show business...
, Richard Whiting
Richard A. Whiting
Richard Armstrong Whiting was a composer of popular songs including the standards, "Hooray for Hollywood", "Ain't We Got Fun?" & "On the Good Ship Lollipop"....
, Harry von Tilzer
Harry Von Tilzer
Harry Von Tilzer was a very popular United States songwriter.-Biography:Von Tilzer was born in Goshen, Indiana under the name Aaron Gumbinsky which he shortened to Harry Gumm. He ran away and joined a traveling circus at age 14, where he took his new name by adding 'Von' to his mother's maiden...
, Rae Samuels, Belle Baker
Belle Baker
Belle Baker was an American singer and actress. Popular throughout the 1910s and 1920s, Baker introduced a number of ragtime and torch songs including Irving Berlin's "Blue Skies" and "My Yiddishe Mama". She performed in the Ziegfeld Follies and introduced a number of Irving Berlin's songs...
, Grace Hayes, Pat Rooney, Duffy and Sweeney, the Four Mortons, McKay and Ardine, and Eva Tanguay
Eva Tanguay
Eva Tanguay was a Canadian-born singer and entertainer who billed herself as "the girl who made vaudeville famous".-Early life:...
. Buster Keaton
Buster Keaton
Joseph Frank "Buster" Keaton was an American comic actor, filmmaker, producer and writer. He was best known for his silent films, in which his trademark was physical comedy with a consistently stoic, deadpan expression, earning him the nickname "The Great Stone Face".Keaton was recognized as the...
, W. C. Fields
W. C. Fields
William Claude Dukenfield , better known as W. C. Fields, was an American comedian, actor, juggler and writer...
, and many other theatrical performers who did not own homes there were also frequent visitors.
Several of Freeport's actors gathered together as the Long Island Good Hearted Thespian Society (LIGHTS), with a clubhouse facing onto Great South Bay. LIGHTS presented summer shows in Freeport from the mid-1910s to the mid-1920s. LIGHTS also sponsored a summertime "Christmas Parade", featuring clowns, acrobats, and once even some borrowed elephants. It was held at this unlikely time of year because the theater people were all working during the real Christmas season. A Coney Island
Coney Island
Coney Island is a peninsula and beach on the Atlantic Ocean in southern Brooklyn, New York, United States. The site was formerly an outer barrier island, but became partially connected to the mainland by landfill....
–style amusement park
Amusement park
thumb|Cinderella Castle in [[Magic Kingdom]], [[Disney World]]Amusement and theme parks are terms for a group of entertainment attractions and rides and other events in a location for the enjoyment of large numbers of people...
called Playland Park thrived from the early 1920s until the early 1930s but was destroyed by a fire.
With the resurgence of the Ku Klux Klan
Ku Klux Klan
Ku Klux Klan, often abbreviated KKK and informally known as the Klan, is the name of three distinct past and present far-right organizations in the United States, which have advocated extremist reactionary currents such as white supremacy, white nationalism, and anti-immigration, historically...
on Long Island in the 1920s many villages in Nassau and Suffolk counties were the focal point of Klan activity. According to a story in Newsday detailing the history of Long Island, "often, respected clergymen and public officials openly supported the Klan and attended its rallies. On Sept. 20, 1924, for instance, the Klan drew 30,000 spectators to a parade through Freeport -- with the village police chief, John M. Hartman, leading a procession of 2,000 robed men.... the founding of one of Long Island's first klaverns, in Freeport, was memorialized on Sept. 8, 1922, in the Daily Review, which carried a banner headline about the meeting at Mechanics Hall on Railroad Avenue. About 150 new members were greeted by seven robed Klansmen."
By 1937, Freeport's population exceeded 20,000, and it was the largest village in Nassau County. After World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
the village became a bedroom community for New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
. The separation between the two eras was marked by a fire that destroyed the Freeport Hotel in the late 1950s. During the 1950s local merchants resisted building any shopping mall
Shopping mall
A shopping mall, shopping centre, shopping arcade, shopping precinct or simply mall is one or more buildings forming a complex of shops representing merchandisers, with interconnecting walkways enabling visitors to easily walk from unit to unit, along with a parking area — a modern, indoor version...
s in the village and subsequently suffered a great loss of business when large malls were built in communities in the central part of Long Island.
The landscape of Freeport underwent further change with a significant increase in apartment building construction. When such buildings went up in just two years in the early 1960s, the Village passed a moratorium on multi-unit residential construction.
While never a major boatbuilding center, Freeport can boast some notable figures in that field. Fred and Mirto Scopinich operated their boatyard in Freeport from just after World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
until they moved it to East Quogue
East Quogue, New York
East Quogue, originally settled in 1673 as Fourth Neck, is a hamlet in Suffolk County, New York, United States. The population was 4,265 at the 2000 census.East Quogue is in the Town of Southampton.-Geography:...
in the late 1960s. Their Freeport Point Shipyard built boats for the United States Coast Guard
United States Coast Guard
The United States Coast Guard is a branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven U.S. uniformed services. The Coast Guard is a maritime, military, multi-mission service unique among the military branches for having a maritime law enforcement mission and a federal regulatory agency...
, but also for Prohibition
Prohibition in the United States
Prohibition in the United States was a national ban on the sale, manufacture, and transportation of alcohol, in place from 1920 to 1933. The ban was mandated by the Eighteenth Amendment to the Constitution, and the Volstead Act set down the rules for enforcing the ban, as well as defining which...
-era rumrunners. From 1937 to 1945 the shipyard built small boats for the United States Navy
United States Navy
The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...
and British Royal Navy
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...
. The marina and dealership operated by Al Grover in 1950 remains in Freeport and in his family. Grover's company built fishing skiff
Skiff
The term skiff is used for a number of essentially unrelated styles of small boat. The word is related to ship and has a complicated etymology: "skiff" comes from the Middle English skif, which derives from the Old French esquif, which in turn derives from the Old Italian schifo, which is itself of...
s from the 1970s until about 1990. One of these, a 26-footer, carried Grover and his sons from Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia is one of Canada's three Maritime provinces and is the most populous province in Atlantic Canada. The name of the province is Latin for "New Scotland," but "Nova Scotia" is the recognized, English-language name of the province. The provincial capital is Halifax. Nova Scotia is the...
to Portugal
Portugal
Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...
in 1985, the first-ever crossing of the Atlantic Ocean
Atlantic Ocean
The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's oceanic divisions. With a total area of about , it covers approximately 20% of the Earth's surface and about 26% of its water surface area...
by a boat powered by an outboard motor
Outboard motor
An outboard motor is a propulsion system for boats, consisting of a self-contained unit that includes engine, gearbox and propeller or jet drive, designed to be affixed to the outside of the transom and are the most common motorized method of propelling small watercraft...
. Columbian Bronze operated in Freeport from its 1901 founding until it closed shop in 1988. Among this company's achievements was the propeller for the , an operational nuclear-powered
Nuclear marine propulsion
Nuclear marine propulsion is propulsion of a ship by a nuclear reactor. Naval nuclear propulsion is propulsion that specifically refers to naval warships...
submarine
Submarine
A submarine is a watercraft capable of independent operation below the surface of the water. It differs from a submersible, which has more limited underwater capability...
and the first vessel to complete a submerged transit across the North Pole
North Pole
The North Pole, also known as the Geographic North Pole or Terrestrial North Pole, is, subject to the caveats explained below, defined as the point in the northern hemisphere where the Earth's axis of rotation meets its surface...
.
Culture
Freeport is a Long Island hot spot during the summer season in New York. A popular festival occurs on Freeport's Nautical Mile (the west side of Woodcleft Canal) the first weekend in June each year, which attracts many people from across Long Island and New York CityNew York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
. The Nautical Mile is a strip along the water that features well-known seafood restaurants, crab shacks, bars, eclectic little boutiques, fresh fish markets, as well as party cruise ships and casino boats that float atop the canals. People line up for the boat rides and eat at restaurants that feature seating on the water's edge and servings of mussels, oysters, crabs, and steamed clams ("steamers") accompanied by pitchers of beer. An 18-hole miniature golf course is popular among families. The Sea Breeze waterfront park—which includes a transient marina, boardwalk, rest rooms and benches—opened in 2009 at the foot of the Nautical Mile. It has proven to be a very popular spot to sit and watch the marine traffic and natural scenery. This is in addition to an existing scenic pier.
Freeport has an ethnically and racially diverse population. Freeport's African-American population lives largely in the northern section of the village. There is one housing project, named after Nassau County's first black judge, Moxie Rigby. Freeport's Hispanic
Hispanic
Hispanic is a term that originally denoted a relationship to Hispania, which is to say the Iberian Peninsula: Andorra, Gibraltar, Portugal and Spain. During the Modern Era, Hispanic sometimes takes on a more limited meaning, particularly in the United States, where the term means a person of ...
community is made up of Puerto Ricans
Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico , officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico , is an unincorporated territory of the United States, located in the northeastern Caribbean, east of the Dominican Republic and west of both the United States Virgin Islands and the British Virgin Islands.Puerto Rico comprises an...
and immigrants who hail from Colombia
Colombia
Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia , is a unitary constitutional republic comprising thirty-two departments. The country is located in northwestern South America, bordered to the east by Venezuela and Brazil; to the south by Ecuador and Peru; to the north by the Caribbean Sea; to the...
, the Dominican Republic
Dominican Republic
The Dominican Republic is a nation on the island of La Hispaniola, part of the Greater Antilles archipelago in the Caribbean region. The western third of the island is occupied by the nation of Haiti, making Hispaniola one of two Caribbean islands that are shared by two countries...
, El Salvador
El Salvador
El Salvador or simply Salvador is the smallest and the most densely populated country in Central America. The country's capital city and largest city is San Salvador; Santa Ana and San Miguel are also important cultural and commercial centers in the country and in all of Central America...
, Guatemala
Guatemala
Guatemala is a country in Central America bordered by Mexico to the north and west, the Pacific Ocean to the southwest, Belize to the northeast, the Caribbean to the east, and Honduras and El Salvador to the southeast...
, Honduras
Honduras
Honduras is a republic in Central America. It was previously known as Spanish Honduras to differentiate it from British Honduras, which became the modern-day state of Belize...
, and many other Latin American nations. Among the many Latin-American-themed businesses are the Compare Foods Supermarkets, several grocery stores, and restaurants along Merrick Road and Main Street that serve Caribbean, Central American, Dominican, and South American cuisines.
Freeport, along with neighboring Merrick
Merrick, New York
Merrick is a hamlet in the Town of Hempstead in Nassau County, New York, USA. As of the 2010 census, the CDP population was 22,097. The name "Merrick" is taken from Meroke, the name of the Algonquian tribe formerly indigenous to the area...
, is also the gateway to Jones Beach
Jones Beach State Park
Jones Beach State Park is a state park of the U.S. state of New York. It is located in southern Nassau County, in the hamlet of Wantagh, on Jones Beach Island, a barrier island linked to Long Island by the Meadowbrook State Parkway, Wantagh State Parkway and Ocean Parkway .The park is renowned for...
, one of the largest state beaches in New York. One famous area is the Town of Hempstead Marina, where people from all over Long Island dock their boats. Freeport is a 45-minute ride by the Long Island Rail Road
Long Island Rail Road
The Long Island Rail Road or LIRR is a commuter rail system serving the length of Long Island, New York. It is the busiest commuter railroad in North America, serving about 81.5 million passengers each year. Established in 1834 and having operated continuously since then, it is the oldest US...
to Manhattan, making the trip an easy commute to New York City.
From 1974 to 1986, Freeport was one of the few Long Island towns to hold a sizeable open-air market area, known as the Freeport Mall. The heart of the Main Street business area was closed to vehicular traffic and reconfigured for pedestrians only. The experiment was not a success. The W. T. Grant
W. T. Grant
W. T. Grant or Grants was a United States-based chain of mass-merchandise stores founded by William Thomas Grant that operated from 1906 until 1976. The stores were generally of the variety store format located in downtowns.-History:...
store that was supposed to anchor the mall closed, along with the rest of that chain, shortly after the mall opened. The mall area became shabby and disused, and many businesses failed. The mall was dismantled and returned to through traffic with regular parking on each side of the street.
Schools
For the 2009-10 school year, there were 6,257 students enrolled in Freeport's public schools. The children of Freeport, in grades 1–4, attend four magnet elementary schools, each with a different specialty: Archer Street (Microsociety and Multimedia), Leo F. Giblyn (School of International Cultures), Bayview Avenue (School of Arts and Sciences), and New Visions (School of Exploration & Discovery). In grades 5 and 6, all public school children attend Caroline G. Atkinson School on the north side of the town. Seventh and 8th graders attend John W. Dodd Middle School. The Middle School is built on the property that housed the older Freeport High School, but not on exactly the same site. The old high school served for some years as the junior high; then the new junior high was built on what was previously parking lot and playground, and the old building was torn down.There is also a Catolic School, The De La Salle School, which is run by the Christian Brothers. It accepts boys from grades 5-8.
Children in grades 9–12 attend Freeport High School, which borders the town of Baldwin
Baldwin, Nassau County, New York
Baldwin is a hamlet located in the town of Hempstead in Nassau County, New York, United States. The population was 24,033 at the 2010 census.Baldwin is also a station on the Babylon Branch of the Long Island Rail Road....
and sits beside the Milburn duck pond, which is fed by a creek, several hundred yards of which was diverted underground when the high school was built. Freeport High School's mascot is the Red Devil, and its colors are red and white. The school has track-and-field facilities. One unique feature of the school's curriculum is a science research program run in cooperation with the State University of New York at Stony Brook
State University of New York at Stony Brook
The State University of New York at Stony Brook, also known as Stony Brook University, is a public research university located in Stony Brook, New York, on the North Shore of Long Island, about east of Manhattan....
. The school offers numerous advanced placement courses and was a pioneer in distance learning at the high school level. Roughly 87 percent of the high school's graduates go on to some form of higher education. A community night school for teen-agers had 236 students as of 1999.
As early as 1886, Freeport's schools began the then-unusual policy of providing their students with free textbooks. In 1893, the newly incorporated village constructed a ten-room brick schoolhouse. Also in the late 19th century, the community was among the first Long Island communities to establish an "academic department", offering classes beyond the elementary school level.
Freeport saw its share of the social, political, and racial turbulence of the late 1960s and early 1970s. The 1969–70 school year saw three high school principals in the village's only high school, succeeded in August 1970 by William McElroy, formerly the junior high school principal, who came to the position "in the midst of racial tension and a constantly-polarizing student body"; McElroy backed such initiatives as a student advisory committee to the Board of Education and, in his own words, "made [him]self available to any civic-minded group" that wished to discuss with him the situation in the school. By May 1972, he could claim success, of a sort. "Formerly, a fight between a black and a white student would automatically become racial; now a fight is just a fight—between two students."
The Freeport High School newspaper, Flashings, founded 1920, is believed to be the oldest high school paper on Long Island. It has won numerous awards over several decades. From 1969 until 1999 it operated under "free press" guidelines unusual for a high school newspaper, with an active role for the students in picking their own faculty adviser, and with ultimate editorial control firmly in the hands of students. Throughout that time, Ira Schildkraut functioned as faculty adviser. In 1999 the school administration removed Schildkraut from that role, and attempted to establish themselves as censors. That last decision was turned back by the school board after it drew attention from, among others, The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
and the Student Press Law Center. However, the resolution of the dispute did reduce the student journalists' role in selecting their own faculty adviser, and increased the faculty adviser's editorial authority relative to the student journalists'.
In June 2008 sixteen people were arrested after violence erupted in the high school. In a 2010 Newsday story regarding Long Island eighth-grader scores on Regents Exams, which have traditionally been given to students in ninth grade and up, Freeport was ranked in the lower tier.
Freeport Memorial Library
The Freeport Memorial Library is one of Nassau County's largest public libraries. The library was founded in 1884 as part of the school system, granted a provisional charter by the state Board of Regents in 1895, and a permanent charter on December 21, 1899. In 1911 it was moved from a school building to a rented room in the Miller Building on South Grove Street. At that time it was a membership library: members paid ten cents for a card and were permitted to borrow two books at a time, one fiction and one nonfiction.A drive was started in 1920 to construct a library building. The resulting library at the corner of Merrick Road and Ocean Avenue, a Beaux Arts building designed by architect Charles M. Hart, opened on Memorial Day
Memorial Day
Memorial Day is a United States federal holiday observed on the last Monday of May. Formerly known as Decoration Day, it originated after the American Civil War to commemorate the fallen Union soldiers of the Civil War...
, 1924. A year later it was renamed Freeport Memorial Library. In 1928, a tablet was erected with the names of Freeport's war dead from the American Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
, Spanish American War, and World War I.
Additional wings were dedicated on April 19, 1959, and on Memorial Day, 1985. Plaques were added to honor Freeporters who died in World War II, the Korean War
Korean War
The Korean War was a conventional war between South Korea, supported by the United Nations, and North Korea, supported by the People's Republic of China , with military material aid from the Soviet Union...
, and the Vietnam War
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...
.
Architecture
Just north of the high school and the railroad tracks is the ruin of the former Brooklyn Water Works, described by Christopher Gray of the New York Times as looking like an "ancient, war-damaged abbey." Designed by architect Frank Freeman and opened in 1891 to serve the City of Brooklyn (later made a borough of New York City), it was fully active until 1929 with a capacity of 54 million gallons a day, and remained in standby for emergency use until 1977, when the pumps and other machinery were removed. See Ridgewood ReservoirRidgewood Reservoir
Ridgewood Reservoir is a decommissioned 19th century reservoir that sits on the Brooklyn-Queens border and is part of Highland Park. The reservoir and park are bounded on the north by the Jackie Robinson Parkway, on the south by Highland Boulevard, on the west by Vermont Place and on the east by...
. An unsuccessful 1989 plan would have turned the building into condos. Currently, the parcel is the subject of litigation and ongoing investigations by various agencies.
Sports and recreation
From 1931 until the early 1980s, Freeport was home to Freeport Speedway, originally Freeport Municipal Stadium. Seating about 10,000, the stadium originally hosted "midget" auto races; after World War II it switched to stock car racingStock car racing
Stock car racing is a form of automobile racing found mainly in the United States, Canada, New Zealand, Great Britain, Brazil and Argentina. Traditionally, races are run on oval tracks measuring approximately in length...
and eventually demolition derbies
Demolition derby
Demolition derby is a motorsport usually presented at county fairs and festivals. While rules vary from event to event, the typical demolition derby event consists of five or more drivers competing by deliberately ramming their vehicles into one another...
. In the early 1930s it was the playfield for a semi-pro
Semi-professional
A semi-professional athlete is one who is paid to play and thus is not an amateur, but for whom sport is not a full-time occupation, generally because the level of pay is too low to make a reasonable living based solely upon that source, thus making the athlete not a full professional...
baseball
Baseball
Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each. The aim is to score runs by hitting a thrown ball with a bat and touching a series of four bases arranged at the corners of a ninety-foot diamond...
team: the Penn Red Caps took their name from the caps worn by Pullman porters. For a few years after that, the NFL
National Football League
The National Football League is the highest level of professional American football in the United States, and is considered the top professional American football league in the world. It was formed by eleven teams in 1920 as the American Professional Football Association, with the league changing...
Brooklyn Dodgers
Brooklyn Dodgers (NFL)
The Brooklyn Dodgers were an American football team that played in the National Football League from 1930 to 1943, and in 1944 as the Brooklyn Tigers. The team played its home games at Ebbets Field. In 1945, because of financial difficulties, the team was merged with the Boston Yanks...
football
American football
American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...
team, who, like their baseball namesakes
Los Angeles Dodgers
The Los Angeles Dodgers are a professional baseball team based in Los Angeles, California. The Dodgers are members of Major League Baseball's National League West Division. Established in 1883, the team originated in Brooklyn, New York, where it was known by a number of nicknames before becoming...
, played at Ebbets Field
Ebbets Field
Ebbets Field was a Major League Baseball park located in the Flatbush section of Brooklyn, New York, USA, on a city block which is now considered to be part of the Crown Heights neighborhood. It was the home of the Brooklyn Dodgers of the National League. It was also a venue for professional football...
, used the stadium as a midweek training site. The site is now a BJs Warehouse Club.
Freeport is home to the Freeport Recreation Center, which features an enclosed, year-round ice skating rink; an indoor pool; an outdoor Olympic-size pool; an outdoor diving tank; an outdoor children's pool; handball courts; sauna; steam room; fully equipped workout gyms; basketball courts; and snack bars serving hot and cold foods. The "Rec Center" also offers evening adult classes and hosts a pre-school program, camp programs, and a senior center.
Geography
Freeport is located at 40°39′14"N 73°35′13"W (40.653935, -73.587005).Freeport is bisected by east-west New York State Route 27
New York State Route 27
New York State Route 27 is an east–west long state highway extending from Interstate 278 in the New York City borough of Brooklyn to Montauk Point State Park on Long Island, New York, United States...
, Sunrise Highway. Meadowbrook Parkway defines its eastern boundary.
Demographics
As of the censusCensus
A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring and recording information about the members of a given population. It is a regularly occurring and official count of a particular population. The term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common...
of 2000, there were 43,783 people, 13,504 households, and 9,911 families residing in the village. The population density
Population density
Population density is a measurement of population per unit area or unit volume. It is frequently applied to living organisms, and particularly to humans...
was 9,531.3 people per square mile (3,682.9/km²). There were 13,819 housing units at an average density of 3,008.3 per square mile (1,162.4/km²). The racial makeup of the village was 42.9% White, 32.6% African American, 0.5% Native American, 1.4% Asian, 0.1% Pacific Islander, 17.2% from other races
Race (United States Census)
Race and ethnicity in the United States Census, as defined by the Federal Office of Management and Budget and the United States Census Bureau, are self-identification data items in which residents choose the race or races with which they most closely identify, and indicate whether or not they are...
, and 5.4% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 33.5% of the population.
There were 13,504 households out of which 36.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 49.7% were married couples
Marriage
Marriage is a social union or legal contract between people that creates kinship. It is an institution in which interpersonal relationships, usually intimate and sexual, are acknowledged in a variety of ways, depending on the culture or subculture in which it is found...
living together, 17.8% had a female householder with no husband present, and 26.6% were non-families. 21.2% of all households were made up of individuals and 8.1% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 3.20 and the average family size was 3.65.
In the village the population was spread out with 26.4% under the age of 18, 9.1% from 18 to 24, 32.1% from 25 to 44, 22.0% from 45 to 64, and 10.5% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 35 years. For every 100 females there were 92.6 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 89.3 males.
The median income for a household in the village in 1999 was $55,948, and the median income for a family was $61,673. Males had a median income of $37,465 versus $31,869 for females. The per capita income
Per capita income
Per capita income or income per person is a measure of mean income within an economic aggregate, such as a country or city. It is calculated by taking a measure of all sources of income in the aggregate and dividing it by the total population...
for the village was $21,288. About 8.0% of families and 10.6% of the population were below the poverty line, including 11.5% of those under age 18 and 7.4% of those age 65 or over.
Notable Freeporters
Graduates of Freeport High School:- D'Brickashaw FergusonD'Brickashaw Ferguson-New York Jets:Ferguson finally reached the NFL when the New York Jets drafted him with the 4th pick overall after Vince Young was chosen by the Titans. On July 26, 2006, Ferguson signed a five-year deal with the Jets that was similar to the $35 million deal that 2005’s No. 4 pick, Cedric Benson,...
, probowl offensive tackle for the New York Jets - Dick Finley, member of the National Lacrosse Hall of Fame.
- George GollinGeorge GollinGeorge D. Gollin is an American physics professor at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Besides his work on particle physics and the International Linear Collider, he has since 2003 made numerous efforts in fighting institutions which are considered to be diploma mills, which has...
, elementary particle physicist and physics professor - Morlon GreenwoodMorlon GreenwoodMorlon O'Neil Greenwood is an American football linebacker for the Omaha Nighthawks of the United Football League. He was drafted by the Miami Dolphins in the third round of the 2001 NFL Draft...
, football player - Jay HieronJay HieronJames Thomas Hieronymus , better known as Jay Hieron, is an American professional mixed martial arts fighter. He is known for his wrestling base and heavy hands....
, professional mixed martial artsMixed martial artsMixed Martial Arts is a full contact combat sport that allows the use of both striking and grappling techniques, both standing and on the ground, including boxing, wrestling, Brazilian jiu-jitsu, muay Thai, kickboxing, karate, judo and other styles. The roots of modern mixed martial arts can be...
fighter and IFLInternational Fight LeagueThe International Fight League was an American mixed martial arts promotion billed as the world's first MMA league. It was founded on January 7, 2006 and closed on July 31, 2008...
welterweight champion - Mitch KaporMitch KaporMitchell David Kapor is the founder of Lotus Development Corporation and the designer of Lotus 1-2-3. He is also a co-founder of the Electronic Frontier Foundation and was the first chair of the Mozilla Foundation...
, founder of Lotus Development Corporation and the designer of Lotus 1-2-3Lotus 1-2-3Lotus 1-2-3 is a spreadsheet program from Lotus Software . It was the IBM PC's first "killer application"; its huge popularity in the mid-1980s contributed significantly to the success of the IBM PC in the corporate environment.-Beginnings:... - Erik Larson, author of works such as Isaac's Storm and The Devil in the White CityThe Devil in the White CityThe Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair That Changed America is a 2003 non-fiction book by Erik Larson presented in a novelistic style. The book is based on real characters and events. Leonardo DiCaprio purchased the film rights in 2010.The book is set in Chicago circa...
- Peter LerangisPeter LerangisPeter Lerangis is an author of children's and young-adult fiction.-Career:Lerangis's work includes The Viper's Nest and The Sword Thief, two titles in the New York Times–bestselling children's-book series The 39 Clues, the historical novel Smiler's Bones, the YA dark comedy-adventure novel wtf,...
, American author of children's and young-adult fiction; valedictorian of the FHS Class of 1973 - Lou ReedLou ReedLewis Allan "Lou" Reed is an American rock musician, songwriter, and photographer. He is best known as guitarist, vocalist, and principal songwriter of The Velvet Underground, and for his successful solo career, which has spanned several decades...
, singer-songwriter and founding member of The Velvet UndergroundThe Velvet UndergroundThe Velvet Underground was an American rock band formed in New York City. First active from 1964 to 1973, their best-known members were Lou Reed and John Cale, who both went on to find success as solo artists. Although experiencing little commercial success while together, the band is often cited... - Dick SchaapDick SchaapRichard Jay Schaap was an American sportswriter, broadcaster, and author.-Early life and education:...
, was an AmericanUnited StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
sportswriter, broadcaster, and author - Harold E. VarmusHarold E. VarmusHarold Elliot Varmus is an American Nobel Prize-winning scientist and the 14th and current Director of the National Cancer Institute, a post he was appointed to by President Barack Obama. He was a co-recipient Harold Elliot Varmus (born December 18, 1939) is an American Nobel Prize-winning...
, 1989 recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or MedicineNobel Prize in Physiology or MedicineThe Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine administered by the Nobel Foundation, is awarded once a year for outstanding discoveries in the field of life science and medicine. It is one of five Nobel Prizes established in 1895 by Swedish chemist Alfred Nobel, the inventor of dynamite, in his will... - Paul Wehrum, member of the National Lacrosse Hall of Fame.
- Michael ZielenzigerMichael ZielenzigerMichael Zielenziger, born on June 28, 1955 in New York City, is an American journalist and author, and a visiting scholar at the Institute of International Studies, University of California, Berkeley. Previously, he was attached to the Institute of East Asian Studies. He was the Tokyo-based bureau...
, American journalistJournalistA journalist collects and distributes news and other information. A journalist's work is referred to as journalism.A reporter is a type of journalist who researchs, writes, and reports on information to be presented in mass media, including print media , electronic media , and digital media A...
and author
Other residents:
- Leo CarrilloLeo CarrilloLeopoldo Antonio Carrillo , was an American actor, vaudevillian, political cartoonist, and conservationist.-Family roots:...
, actor (Pancho in the Cisco Kid series) built a home on Randalls Channel at the corner of Roosevelt and South Long Beach Avenue. - Broderick CrawfordBroderick CrawfordBroderick Crawford was an Academy Award-winning American stage, film, radio and TV actor, often cast in tough-guy roles and best known for his starring role in the television series "Highway Patrol."-Early life:...
, actor. - Flavor FlavFlavor FlavWilliam Jonathan Drayton, Jr. , better known by his stage name Flavor Flav, is an American rapper and television personality who rose to prominence as a member of the rap group Public Enemy...
grew up in Freeport and neighboring RooseveltRoosevelt, New YorkRoosevelt is a hamlet in Nassau County, New York, United States. The population was 16,258 at the 2010 census.Roosevelt is in the town of Hempstead.-Geography:Roosevelt is located at ....
. - Kay GardnerKay Gardner (composer)Kay Gardner was a musician, composer, author, and musical producer involved in using music for creative and healing purposes. Her compositions include works for chamber orchestra, symphony orchestra, choir, flute, voice and piano...
, was a musicianMusicianA musician is an artist who plays a musical instrument. It may or may not be the person's profession. Musicians can be classified by their roles in performing music and writing music.Also....* A person who makes music a profession....
, composerComposerA composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...
, authorAuthorAn author is broadly defined as "the person who originates or gives existence to anything" and that authorship determines responsibility for what is created. Narrowly defined, an author is the originator of any written work.-Legal significance:...
, and musical producer who lived in Freeport. - Freeport was also the home to the musician Guy LombardoGuy LombardoGaetano Alberto "Guy" Lombardo was a Canadian-American bandleader and violinist.Forming "The Royal Canadians" in 1924 with his brothers Carmen, Lebert, and Victor and other musicians from his hometown, Lombardo led the group to international success, billing themselves as creating "The Sweetest...
during the latter portion of his life. His former residence on South Grove Street (now Guy Lombardo Avenue) included a boat house where he kept his powerful speed boats, which he raced on the ocean. - Havoc and ProdigyProdigy (rapper)Lance Albert Johnson Banks, better known as Prodigy, is an American rapper and one half of the hip-hop and rap duo Mobb Deep....
of hip-hop group Mobb DeepMobb DeepMobb Deep is an American hip hop duo from Queensbridge, Queens, New York, U.S., that consists of Havoc and Prodigy. The duo is "one of the most critically acclaimed hardcore East Coast hip-hop groups." The group is best known for its dark, hardcore delivery, as exemplified by the single "Shook Ones...
currently live in Freeport. - Grammy AwardGrammy AwardA Grammy Award — or Grammy — is an accolade by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the music industry...
-winning AmericanUnited StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
gospelGospel musicGospel music is music that is written to express either personal, spiritual or a communal belief regarding Christian life, as well as to give a Christian alternative to mainstream secular music....
singer Donnie McClurkinDonnie McClurkinDonald Andrew McClurkin, Jr. is an American gospel music singer and minister. He has won three Grammy awards, ten Stellar awards, two BET awards, two Soul Train awards, one Dove award and one NAACP Image award for his work....
is founder and pastor of Perfecting Faith Church in Freeport. - Branch RickeyBranch RickeyWesley Branch Rickey was an innovative Major League Baseball executive elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1967...
, owner of the Brooklyn Dodgers. - Henry Slocum, inventor of the inflatable "Mae West" vest-style lifejacket.
- Elinor SmithElinor SmithElinor Smith , was a pioneering American aviatrix, once known as "The Flying Flapper of Freeport". She was the first woman test pilot for both Fairchild and Bellanca...
, 1920s aviatrix. - Susan SullivanSusan SullivanSusan Michaela Sullivan is an American actress, known for several notable roles on various television programs. Sullivan played the role of Lenore Curtin Delaney on the daytime soap opera, Another World ; waitress Lois Adams during the first season of the comedy It's a Living, Maggie Gioberti...
, actress. - Shawn Z. TarrantShawn Z. TarrantShawn Z. Tarrant is an American politician who represents the 40th legislative district in the Maryland House of Delegates. Tarrant is a member of the House Health and Government Operations Committee, Insurance Subcommittee and Secretary to the Legislative Black Caucus of Maryland.- Background...
, Delegate, Maryland General Assembly. - Brandon TartikoffBrandon TartikoffBrandon Tartikoff was a television executive who was credited with turning around NBC's low prime time reputation with such hit series as Hill Street Blues, L.A. Law, ALF, Family Ties, The Cosby Show, Cheers, Seinfeld, Miami Vice, The Golden Girls, Knight Rider, The A-Team, St...
, television executive, grew up in Freeport, but did not attend the public high school. - Steve LiebermanSteve LiebermanSteve Lieberman is a Jewish-American punk rock singer, musician, composer and producer residing in Long Island, New York...
, punk rock bassist, flautist, singer signed to JDub RecordsJDub RecordsJDub Records is a non-profit record and event production company striving to build community through new and innovative Jewish music and cross cultural musical dialogue.-History:...
known as The Gangsta Rabbi - Jean R. YawkeyJean R. YawkeyJean Remington Yawkey was the wife of Tom Yawkey and owner of the Boston Red Sox from 1976 to her death in 1992....
, wife of Boston Red SoxBoston Red SoxThe Boston Red Sox are a professional baseball team based in Boston, Massachusetts, and a member of Major League Baseball’s American League Eastern Division. Founded in as one of the American League's eight charter franchises, the Red Sox's home ballpark has been Fenway Park since . The "Red Sox"...
owner Tom YawkeyTom YawkeyThomas Austin Yawkey, born Thomas Austin , was an American industrialist and Major League Baseball executive. Born in Detroit, Michigan, Yawkey became president of the Boston Red Sox in 1933, and was the sole owner of the team for 44 seasons, longer than anyone else in baseball history.-Early...
and owner of the team from his death in 1976 until her own in 1992, grew up in Freeport.
Film
- Salt (2010) - Filmed a scene on Merrick Road.
Television
- The SopranosThe SopranosThe Sopranos is an American television drama series created by David Chase that revolves around the New Jersey-based Italian-American mobster Tony Soprano and the difficulties he faces as he tries to balance the often conflicting requirements of his home life and the criminal organization he heads...
episode, "Marco Polo", reveals that the crew of Lupertazzi crime family member, Jerry Basile, operates in Freeport.
External links
- Freeport official website
- Re-Imagining Freeport's North Main Street Corridor and Station Area, September 15, 2009 contains numerous recent photos of Freeport on p. 27–60; images from p. 61 onward are not Freeport.
- Freeport Public Schools official website
- Bill Bleyer, Freeport: Action on the Nautical Mile, Newsday.com. Archival copy, archived on the Internet ArchiveInternet ArchiveThe Internet Archive is a non-profit digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It offers permanent storage and access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, music, moving images, and nearly 3 million public domain books. The Internet Archive...
. - New York Auto Racing History, includes Freeport Speedway
- Long Island.com: Welcome to the Village of Freeport
- Freeport on Long Island Memories, Long Island Library Resources Council digitization program. Mainly images.
Nautical Mile links
- Freeport Nautical Mile website
- Interactive Map of Nautical Mile, Freeport, NY
- Operation Splash, Freeport group fighting waterfront pollution
- Freeport's Nautical Mile - What it is, things to do...
- Nautical Mile 2007 article by Newsday