Freeport Police Department (New York)
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Freeport is a village in the town of Hempstead, in Nassau County, on the South Shore of
Long Island Long Island is a densely populated island in the southeastern region of the U.S. state of New York (state), New York, part of the New York metropolitan area. With over 8 million people, Long Island is the most populous island in the United Sta ...
, in New York state. The population was 43,713 at the 2010 census, making it the second largest village in New York by population. A settlement since the 1640s, it was once an oystering community and later a resort popular with the New York City theater community.Newsday.com Long Island History: Freeport
Retrieved July 20, 2006.
It is now primarily a bedroom suburb but retains a modest commercial waterfront and some light industry.


History


Pre-colonial settlement

Before people of European ancestry came to the area, the land was part of the territory of the Meroke Indians.Bill Bleyer
Freeport: Action on the Nautical Mile
Newsday.com. Retrieved November 14, 2008. .
"L.I. Town Marks Anniversary With Remembrances of Times Gone By; Fete in Freeport to Hail 70th Year: Town to Mark Anniversary With Parade Saturday", ''The New York Times'', October 16, 1962, p. 41. 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 Hempstead in 1659, cleared land, and built a cabin."Old Freeport Days: New Development Site Was Once an Indian Encampment", ''The New York Times'', May 23, 1937, p. 199.


19th century: development

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 oystering. 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 John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Second ...
; 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's 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.Mason-Draffen, Carrie. (March 30, 1997) ''
Newsday ''Newsday'' is an American daily newspaper that primarily serves Nassau and Suffolk counties on Long Island, although it is also sold throughout the New York metropolitan area. The slogan of the newspaper is "Newsday, Your Eye on LI", and f ...
'' "Living In – Diversity Freely Spices Freeport." Section: Life; Page E25.
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 is in Rockville Centre. Public street lighting was begun in 1907, and a public fire alarm system was adopted in 1910.


1900–1939: expansion

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 The New York and Long Island Traction Company was a street railway company in Queens and Nassau County, New York, United States. It was partially owned by a holding company for the Long Island Rail Road and partially by the Interborough Rap ...
ran trolleys through Freeport to Jamaica, Hempstead, and Brooklyn. These trolleys went down Main Street in Freeport, connecting to a ferry at Scott's Hotel near Ray Street. In later years these ferries departed from Ellison's dock on Little Swift Creek, served by separate trolleys operated by the
Great South Bay Ferry Company Great may refer to: Descriptions or measurements * Great, a relative measurement in physical space, see Size * Greatness, being divine, majestic, superior, majestic, or transcendent People * List of people known as "the Great" *Artel Great (born ...
. 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 Company Freeport, a variant of free port, may refer to: Places United States *Freeport, California *Freeport, Florida *Freeport, Illinois *Freeport, Indiana *Freeport, Iowa *Freeport, Kansas *Freeport, Maine, a New England town **Freeport (CDP), Maine, the ...
ran a trolley 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 Merrick Road is an east–west urban arterial in Queens, Nassau, and Suffolk counties in New York, United States. It is known as Merrick Boulevard or Floyd H. Flake Boulevard in Queens, within New York City. Merrick Road runs east from the Queens ...
airplane factory (see also ''
Heinrich Pursuit The Heinrich Pursuit (Victor Scout) was an American fighter prototype of the 1910s. It was the only known aircraft designed by Albert S. Heinrich. Development During the 19 months in which the US participated in World War I, several attempts we ...
''). 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 start of the 20th 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 Trixie Friganza (born Delia O'Callaghan; November 29, 1870February 27, 1955) was an American actress. She began her career as an operetta soubrette, working her way from the chorus to starring in musical comedies to having her own feature act o ...
,
Sophie Tucker Sophie Tucker (born Sofia Kalish; January 13, 1886 – February 9, 1966) was an American singer, comedian, actress, and radio personality. Known for her powerful delivery of comical and risqué songs, she was one of the most popular entertaine ...
, Harry Ruby, Fred Stone, Helen Broderick, Moran and Mack,
Will Rogers William Penn Adair Rogers (November 4, 1879 – August 15, 1935) was an American vaudeville performer, actor, and humorous social commentator. He was born as a citizen of the Cherokee Nation, in the Indian Territory (now part of Oklahoma ...
, Bert Kalmar,
Richard Whiting Richard Whiting may refer to: * Richard Whiting (abbot) (1461–1539), last Abbot of Glastonbury Abbey before the Dissolution of the Monasteries * Richard A. Whiting (1891–1938), writer of popular songs, father of singer Margaret Whiting and act ...
, Harry von Tilzer,
Rae Samuels Rachel May "Rae" Samuels (May 3, 1887 – October 24, 1979) was an American vaudeville entertainer, known as "The Blue Streak of Vaudeville". Life and career Samuels was born in Youngstown, Ohio, one of ten children, and began performing on st ...
, Belle Baker,
Grace Hayes Grace Hayes (August 3, 1895 – February 1, 1989) was an American actress, singer, vaudeville entertainer and nightclub owner. Hayes owned the Grace Hayes Lodge in the San Fernando Valley in Los Angeles, California, and later the Las Vegas ...
,
Pat Rooney Patrick Eugene Rooney (born November 28, 1957) is a former Major League Baseball player. Rooney played for the Montreal Expos in . He batted and threw right-handed. Career He was drafted by the Expos in the 20th round of the 1978 amateur draft ...
,
Duffy and Sweeney Duffy may refer to: People *Duffy (surname), people with the surname Duffy or Duffey *Duffy (nickname) *Duffy (singer) (born 1984), Welsh singer, born Aimee Ann Duffy Places *Duffy, Australian Capital Territory, a suburb of Canberra * Duffy, Ohio ...
, the
Four Mortons 4 (four) is a number, numeral (linguistics), numeral and numerical digit, digit. It is the natural number following 3 and preceding 5. It is the smallest semiprime and composite number, and is tetraphobia, considered unlucky in many East Asian c ...
,
McKay and Ardine McKay, MacKay or Mackay is a Scottish / Irish surname. The last phoneme in the name is traditionally pronounced to rhyme with 'eye', but in some parts of the world this has come to rhyme with 'hey'. In Scotland, it corresponds to Clan Mackay. No ...
, and
Eva Tanguay Eva Tanguay (August 1, 1878 – January 11, 1947) was a Canadian singer and entertainer who billed herself as "the girl who made vaudeville famous". She was known as "The Queen of Vaudeville" during the height of her popularity from the early 1 ...
.
Buster Keaton Joseph Frank "Buster" Keaton (October 4, 1895 – February 1, 1966) was an American actor, comedian, and filmmaker. He is best known for his silent film work, in which his trademark was physical comedy accompanied by a stoic, deadpan expression ...
,
W. C. Fields William Claude Dukenfield (January 29, 1880 – December 25, 1946), better known as W. C. Fields, was an American comedian, actor, juggler, and writer. Fields's comic persona was a misanthropic and hard-drinking egotist who remained a sympathe ...
, 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 is a peninsular neighborhood and entertainment area in the southwestern section of the New York City borough of Brooklyn. The neighborhood is bounded by Brighton Beach and Manhattan Beach, Brooklyn, Manhattan Beach to its east, L ...
–style
amusement park An amusement park is a park that features various attractions, such as rides and games, as well as other events for entertainment purposes. A theme park is a type of amusement park that bases its structures and attractions around a central ...
called Playland Park thrived from the early 1920s until the early 1930s but was destroyed by a fire on June 28, 1931.John Rather
If You're Thinking of Living In Freeport
''The New York Times'', January 17, 1999. Retrieved November 16, 2008.
Miguel Bermudez and Donald Giordano
Freeport Fire Department :: History
Freeport Fire Department. Accessed online 2015-11-17.
With the resurgence of the
Ku Klux Klan The Ku Klux Klan (), commonly shortened to the KKK or the Klan, is an American white supremacist, right-wing terrorist, and hate group whose primary targets are African Americans, Jews, Latinos, Asian Americans, Native Americans, and ...
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.


1940–present: recent history

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 Shorecrest Hotel (originally the
Crystal Lake Hotel A crystal or crystalline solid is a solid material whose constituents (such as atoms, molecules, or ions) are arranged in a highly ordered microscopic structure, forming a crystal lattice that extends in all directions. In addition, mac ...
) on January 14, 1958. During the 1950s local merchants resisted building any shopping malls 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
rumrunner Rum-running or bootlegging is the illegal business of smuggling alcoholic beverages where such transportation is forbidden by law. Smuggling usually takes place to circumvent taxation or prohibition laws within a particular jurisdiction. The ...
s. 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 AL, Al, Ål or al may stand for: Arts and entertainment Fictional characters * Al (''Aladdin'') or Aladdin, the main character in Disney's ''Aladdin'' media * Al (''EastEnders''), a minor character in the British soap opera * Al (''Fullmetal ...
in 1950 remains in Freeport and in his family. Grover's company built fishing skiffs 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 Columbian is the adjective form of Columbia. It may refer to: Buildings * The Columbian Theatre, a music hall in northeastern Kansas * The Columbian (Chicago), a building in Illinois Published works * '' The Columbian'', a daily newspaper publi ...
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 A submarine (or sub) is a watercraft capable of independent operation underwater. It differs from a submersible, which has more limited underwater capability. The term is also sometimes used historically or colloquially to refer to remotely op ...
and the first vessel to complete a submerged transit across the North Pole.


Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the village has a total area of . The village is bisected by east–west New York State Route 27 (Sunrise Highway). The
Meadowbrook State Parkway The Meadowbrook State Parkway (also known as the Meadowbrook, the Meadowbrook Parkway or the MSP) is a parkway in Nassau County, New York, in the United States. Its southern terminus is at a full cloverleaf interchange with the Bay and Ocean par ...
defines its eastern boundary. The south part of the village is penetrated by several canals that allow access to the Atlantic Ocean by means of passage through salt marshes. The oldest canal is the late 19th-century Woodcleft Canal. Freeport has extensive small-boat facilities and a resident fishing fleet, as well as charter and open water fishing boats.


Demographics

As of the census 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 Asian may refer to: * Items from or related to the continent of Asia: ** Asian people, people in or descending from Asia ** Asian culture, the culture of the people from Asia ** Asian cuisine, food based on the style of food of the people from Asi ...
, 0.1% Pacific Islander, 17.2% from other races, and 5.4% from two or more races. Hispanic or
Latino Latino or Latinos most often refers to: * Latino (demonym), a term used in the United States for people with cultural ties to Latin America * Hispanic and Latino Americans in the United States * The people or cultures of Latin America; ** Latin A ...
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. As of 2010, the population was 42,860. The demographics were as follows: * Hispanic – 17,858 (42.5%) * Black alone – 13,226 (30.9%) * White alone – 10,113 (23.6%) * Asian alone – 669 (1.6%) * Two or more races – 174 (0.4%) * Other race alone – 292 (0.7%) * American Indian alone – 94 (0.2% At the 2020 American Community Survey, the Latino population was 16.2% Dominican, 9%
Salvadoran Salvadorans (Spanish: ''Salvadoreños''), also known as Salvadorians (alternate spelling: Salvadoreans), are citizens of El Salvador, a country in Central America. Most Salvadorans live in El Salvador, although there is also a significant Salvado ...
, 4.2% Puerto Rican, 3% Guatemalan, 2.2% Colombian, 1.7% Ecuadorian.


Government

Freeport's government is made up of four trustees and a mayor, who are elected to four-year terms; one trustee also serves in the capacity of deputy mayor. Freeport's first African American mayor, Andrew Hardwick, was elected in 2009; he was succeeded on March 20, 2013 by Robert T. Kennedy The current Deputy Mayor is (Trustee) Ronald Ellerbe. The other current Trustees are, Jorge Martinez, Christopher Squeri, and Evette Sanchez. Freeport's current government is a coalition of Democrats, Republicans and Independents.


Infrastructure


Transportation


Road

Merrick Road Merrick Road is an east–west urban arterial in Queens, Nassau, and Suffolk counties in New York, United States. It is known as Merrick Boulevard or Floyd H. Flake Boulevard in Queens, within New York City. Merrick Road runs east from the Queens ...
and Sunrise Highway both run roughly east-west through the village. Additionally, the
Meadowbrook State Parkway The Meadowbrook State Parkway (also known as the Meadowbrook, the Meadowbrook Parkway or the MSP) is a parkway in Nassau County, New York, in the United States. Its southern terminus is at a full cloverleaf interchange with the Bay and Ocean par ...
forms much of Freeport's eastern border with Merrick. The Southern State Parkway runs east-west about a mile north of Freeport's northern border with Roosevelt. Additionally, Freeport would have been the southern terminus of the never-built
Freeport–Roslyn Expressway The Freeport–Roslyn Expressway (also known as the Freeport–Roslyn Express Highway) was a proposed north–south Limited access highway, limited-access highway, that would have run between Freeport, New York, Freeport and East Hills, New York, ...
. This short-lived proposal in the early 1950s was killed largely by community opposition.


Rail

Freeport is served by the
Freeport Freeport, a variant of free port, may refer to: Places United States *Freeport, California *Freeport, Florida *Freeport, Illinois *Freeport, Indiana *Freeport, Iowa *Freeport, Kansas *Freeport, Maine, a New England town **Freeport (CDP), Maine, the ...
station on the
Long Island Rail Road The Long Island Rail Road , often abbreviated as the LIRR, is a commuter rail system in the southeastern part of the U.S. state of New York (state), New York, stretching from Manhattan to the eastern tip of Suffolk County, New York, Suffolk Co ...
's Babylon Branch.


Bus

Freeport serves as a hub for several Nassau Inter-County Express bus routes: * n4/n4x: Freeport – Jamaica * n19: Freeport – Sunrise Mall * n40/41: Freeport – Mineola * n43: Freeport –
Roosevelt Field Mall Roosevelt Field is a shopping mall in East Garden City, New York and Uniondale, New York. It was designed by I. M. Pei and is the largest shopping mall on Long Island, in the state of New York, and the eighth largest shopping mall in the United ...
* n88: Freeport – Jones Beach (Summer Service Only)


Utilities


Sewage

Freeport is connected to sanitary sewers. The village maintains a sanitary sewer system which flows into Nassau County's system, which treats the sewage from the village's system through the Nassau County-owned
sewage treatment plants Sewage treatment (or domestic wastewater treatment, municipal wastewater treatment) is a type of wastewater treatment which aims to remove contaminants from sewage to produce an effluent that is suitable for discharge to the surrounding envir ...
.


Water

The Village of Freeport owns and maintains its own water system. Freeport's water system serves the entire village with water.


Arts and 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 City. 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. 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 Puerto Ricans ( es, Puertorriqueños; or boricuas) are the people of Puerto Rico, the inhabitants, and citizens of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico and their descendants. Overview The culture held in common by most Puerto Ricans is referred t ...
, Dominicans,
Mexicans Mexicans ( es, mexicanos) are the citizens of the United Mexican States. The most spoken language by Mexicans is Spanish language, Spanish, but some may also speak languages from 68 different Languages of Mexico, Indigenous linguistic groups ...
, Colombians and other Latin American countries.
Hispanics The term ''Hispanic'' ( es, hispano) refers to people, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or Hispanidad. The term commonly applies to countries with a cultural and historical link to Spain and to viceroyalties former ...
are mostly wealthy/rich people moving from Brooklyn, Queens, Manhattan, and North Jersey, or directly from their countries via the nearby John F. Kennedy International Airport. Among the many Latin-American-themed businesses are the Gala Foods Supermarkets, several grocery stores or "bodegas", 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 The Long Island Rail Road , often abbreviated as the LIRR, is a commuter rail system in the southeastern part of the U.S. state of New York (state), New York, stretching from Manhattan to the eastern tip of Suffolk County, New York, Suffolk Co ...
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.


Architecture

Just north of the high school and the railroad tracks is the ruin of the former Brooklyn Waterworks, 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 Reservoir. 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. Long Island Traditions also describes the sites of notable architecture in Freeport's history, such as bay men's homes and commercial fishing establishments, some of which are still existing, as well as the still-existing Fiore's Fish Market and Two Cousins, which are located in historic waterfront buildings, built by the owners, so they could negotiate directly with the baymen as they pulled into dock. Long Island Traditions also describes and provides a photograph of the no-longer existing Woodcleft Hotel and important boatyards, about which the site writes:
"In Freeport the Maresca boatyard stands on the site of what is now the Long Island Marine Education Center owned by the Village of Freeport. Founded in the 1920s by Phillip Maresca, they built both recreational and commercial boats. Their customers included Guy Lombardo and party boat captains. The business was taken over by Everett Maresca, who died in 1995. The original building remains relatively intact, consisting of a large concrete block structure. Further down on Woodcleft Canal stands the former Scopinich Boatyard, now part of Shelter Point Marine services. The structure is obscured by corrugated metal siding but elements of its original frame structure remain. The yard was founded by Fred Scopinich, a Greek immigrant in the early 1900s. His grandson Fred moved the yard to East Quogue. The Freeport yard specialized in building commercial fishing boats including trawlers, government boats for the Coast Guard, rum running boats, as well as sailboats and garveys for local baymen. Finally the original Grover boatyard, founded by Al Grover, stands on Woodcleft Avenue a short distance from the Maresca yard. A modest frame building, approximately 20 people worked there. Today the yard is located north of the Nautical Mile on South Main street, run by Grover's sons. Their yard consists of modern corrugated structures used primarily for maintenance and storage."


Libraries

The
Freeport Memorial Library The Freeport Memorial Library is the main library serving the Incorporated Village of Freeport in Nassau County, on the South Shore of Long Island, in New York, United States. Its service area is known as the Freeport Library District. It is a ...
, which is the library serving the Freeport Library District, is the main library in Freeport. The Baldwin and Roosevelt Library Districts serve some of the northernmost portions of the village.


Schools

Freeport Public Schools (FPS) operates the community's public schools. For the 2009–10 school year, there were 6,257 students enrolled in Freeport's public schools.NYSED
The New York State District Report Card Accountability and Overview Report 2009–10
, ''New York State Education Department'', February 5, 2011. Retrieved April 21, 2011.
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. In 2017, The school remodeled, with an added track and field. A Catholic school, the De La Salle School, is run by the Christian Brothers and accepts boys from grades 5–8. Children in grades 9–12 attend Freeport High School, which borders the town of
Baldwin Baldwin is a Germanic name, composed of the elements ''bald'' "bold" and ''win'' "friend". People * Baldwin (name) Places Canada * Baldwin, York Regional Municipality, Ontario * Baldwin, Ontario, in Sudbury District * Baldwin's Mills, Qu ...
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
Stony Brook University Stony Brook University (SBU), officially the State University of New York at Stony Brook, is a public research university in Stony Brook, New York. Along with the University at Buffalo, it is one of the State University of New York system's ...
. 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 teenagers 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 imelf 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 dispute's resolution 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'. From about 1970 to 1973, the town and Freeport High School achieved recognition because of the performance of its math team ("The Mathletes") in regional inter-school math competitions and performance on advanced mathematics tests, including the
International Mathematical Olympiad The International Mathematical Olympiad (IMO) is a mathematical olympiad for pre-university students, and is the oldest of the International Science Olympiads. The first IMO was held in Romania in 1959. It has since been held annually, except i ...
and those from the
Mathematical Association of America The Mathematical Association of America (MAA) is a professional society that focuses on mathematics accessible at the undergraduate level. Members include university, college, and high school teachers; graduate and undergraduate students; pure a ...
(MAA). In addition, in about 1970, Freeport High School became one of the few schools in the country then to have a general purpose computer on the premises dedicated to student use and teaching programming, an IBM 1620 donated by IBM. The 1620 was later replaced by remote access to a DEC System 10 then, later, an on-site PDP-11/40 running the RSTS/E time sharing system, also dedicated to the students. Much credit for the team and computers goes to FHS math teachers and to the Freeport School District's head of Mathematics, Joseph Holbrook. In June 2008, 16 people were arrested after violence erupted in the high school. In a 2010 ''Newsday'' story regarding Long Island eighth-grader scores on
Regents Exams In New York State, Regents Examinations are statewide standardized examinations in core high school subjects. Students are required to pass these exams to earn a Regents Diploma. To graduate, students are required to have earned appropriate credit ...
, which have traditionally been given to students in ninth grade and up, Freeport was ranked in the highest tier.


Sports and recreation

In the early 1930s, Freeport was the playing field for the
Pennsylvania Red Caps of New York The Pennsylvania Red Caps of New York were an independent baseball club that played in the Negro leagues during 12 seasons spanning 1916–1934. The title of this team had little to do with the state of Pennsylvania, but it did have a close connect ...
, a semi-pro baseball team which took their name from the caps worn by
Pullman porters Pullman porters were men hired to work for the railroads as porters on sleeping cars. Starting shortly after the American Civil War, George Pullman sought out former slaves to work on his sleeper cars. Their job was to carry passengers’ bagg ...
. For a few years after that, the
NFL The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the major ...
's
Brooklyn Dodgers The Brooklyn Dodgers were a Major League Baseball team founded in 1884 as a member of the American Association (19th century), American Association before joining the National League in 1890. They remained in Brooklyn until 1957, after which the ...
football team, which, like their baseball namesakes, played at Ebbets Field, using the stadium as a midweek training site. The site is now a Warehouse
BJ's Wholesale Club BJ's Wholesale Club Holdings, Inc., commonly referred as BJ's, is an American membership-only warehouse club chain based in Marlborough, Massachusetts, operating on the East Coast of the United States in addition to Ohio, Michigan, and Indiana. ...
. 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 racing Stock car racing is a form of automobile racing run on oval tracks and road courses measuring approximately . It originally used production-model cars, hence the name "stock car", but is now run using cars specifically built for racing. It ori ...
and eventually
demolition derbies Demolition derby is a non-racing 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 veh ...
. 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.


Notable people

* Cindy Adams, gossip columnist. *
Desi Barmore Desi Barmore (דזי בארמור; born May 27, 1960) is an American-Israeli former basketball player. He played the forward and center positions. Barmore played in the Israeli Basketball Premier League, and for the Israeli national basketball tea ...
(born 1960), American-Israeli basketball player * Medea Benjamin (born Susan Benjamin), political activist, co-founder of Code Pink * Leo Carrillo, actor (Pancho in the ''
Cisco Kid The Cisco Kid is a fictional character found in numerous film, radio, television and comic book series based on the fictional Western character created by O. Henry in his 1907 short story "The Caballero's Way", published in ''Everybody's Magaz ...
'' series) built a home on Randalls Channel at the corner of Roosevelt and South Long Beach Avenues. *
Broderick Crawford William Broderick Crawford (December 9, 1911 – April 26, 1986) was an American stage, film, radio, and television actor, often cast in tough-guy roles and best known for his Oscar- and Golden Globe-winning portrayal of Willie Stark in ''All t ...
, actor * Patrick Day, former professional boxer *
Justin Dunn Justin Warren Dunn (born September 22, 1995) is an American professional baseball pitcher for the Cincinnati Reds of Major League Baseball (MLB). He has previously played in MLB for the Seattle Mariners. Dunn played college baseball at Boston ...
, baseball pitcher drafted in the
2016 Major League Baseball draft The 2016 Major League Baseball (MLB) First-Year Player Draft began on June 9, 2016, to assign amateur baseball players to MLB teams. The draft order is the reverse order of the 2015 MLB season standings. In addition, compensation picks will be d ...
*
Chris Edmonds Chris Edmonds (born January 1, 1978) is a former end and fullback in the National Football League (NFL). He played for the Cincinnati Bengals in 2002 and 2003. He signed as an undrafted free agent after the 2001 NFL Draft after playing at th ...
, 1985 NCAA Division 1 Wrestling Champion *
D'Brickashaw Ferguson D'Brickashaw Montgomery Ferguson (born December 10, 1983) is a former American football offensive tackle who played ten seasons for the New York Jets of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the University of Virg ...
, Pro Bowl offensive tackle for the
New York Jets The New York Jets are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Jets compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. The J ...
* Flavor Flav (William Jonathan Drayton, Jr.), rapper and reality TV star; grew up in Freeport and neighboring Roosevelt *
Kay Gardner Kay Gardner (born 1927) was a municipal politician in Toronto, Ontario. She was born in Poland and moved with her family to Canada in 1929. The family lived in Alberta and British Columbia. In 1947 she married a journalist, Ray Gardner, in Londo ...
, a musician, composer, author, and
musical producer A record producer is a recording project's creative and technical leader, commanding studio time and coaching artists, and in popular genres typically creates the song's very sound and structure.Virgil Moorefield"Introduction" ''The Producer as ...
who lived in Freeport * George Gollin, an elementary particle physicist and physics professor * Eddie Gordon, professional mixed martial arts fighter and UFC's TUF winner *
Morlon Greenwood Morlon O'Neil Greenwood (born July 17, 1978) is a former American football linebacker. Early years Greenwood attended Freeport High School and participated in both football and wrestling. At first, he was a wrestling athlete who had won the ...
, football player * Havoc, of hip-hop group
Mobb Deep Mobb Deep was an American hip hop duo from New York City. The duo consisted of rappers Prodigy and Havoc. They are considered to be among the principal progenitors of hardcore East Coast hip hopEdwards, Paul, 2009, ''How to Rap: The Art & Scien ...
, lives in Freeport * Gabriel Heatter, radio personality * Jay Hieron, retired professional mixed martial arts fighter and
IFL IFL may refer to: ;American football *Intense Football League, (2004–2008) in the United States, merged into the Indoor Football League *Indoor Football League, (2008–present) in the United States *Intercontinental Football League, a European l ...
welterweight champion *
Mitch Kapor Mitchell David Kapor ( ; born November 1, 1950) is an American entrepreneur best known for his work as an application developer in the early days of the personal computer software industry, later founding Lotus, where he was instrumental in deve ...
, founder of Lotus Development Corporation and the designer of Lotus 1-2-3 * Joe Kelly, comic book writer and founder of Man of Action Studios which created Ben 10 and Big Hero 6. * Erik Larson, author of books such as ''Isaac's Storm'' and '' The Devil in the White City'', attended Freeport High School * Peter Lerangis, American author of children's and young-adult fiction; valedictorian of the FHS Class of 1973 * Paul Alan Levy, free speech litigator with Public Citizen Litigation Group * Steve Lieberman, punk rock bassist, flautist, singer signed to JDub Records known as The Gangsta Rabbi; served as Freeport Village Comptroller (1998-2014) * Guy Lombardo, musician and big bandleader, lived in Freeport during the latter portion of his life; his former residence on South Grove Street (now Guy Lombardo Avenue) included a boathouse where he kept his powerful speed boats, which he raced on the ocean *
Jerry Mackey Jerry Joseph Mackey (born September 20, 1984 in New York City) is a former American football linebacker. He was signed by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers as an undrafted free agent in 2007. He played college football at Syracuse Orange#Football history, ...
, a former American football linebacker signed by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers *
Charles Manning Charles Anthony Woodward Manning (18 November 1894 – 10 March 1978) was a South African academic. He is considered to be a leading figure in the English School tradition of international relations scholarship. Early life and education Ch ...
, international fashion model * Donnie McClurkin, Grammy Award-winning American gospel singer, and founder and pastor of Perfecting Faith Church in Freeport *
Eddie Murphy Edward Regan Murphy (born April 3, 1961) is an American actor, comedian, writer, producer, and singer. He rose to fame on the sketch comedy show ''Saturday Night Live'', for which he was a regular cast member from 1980 to 1984. Murphy has als ...
, attended junior high school at John W. Dodd Middle School * Billy Murray (singer), Vaudeville-era singer * Wade Nichols (born Dennis Posa), pornographic actor, cast member in '' The Edge of Night'', and a singer *
Shelly Peiken Shelly Meg Peiken is an American songwriter who is best known for co-writing the US No. 1 hits " What a Girl Wants" and " Come On Over Baby" by Christina Aguilera the US No. 2 hit "Bitch" by Meredith Brooks, "Almost Doesn't Count" by Brandy, and ...
is an American songwriter who is best known for co-writing the US #1 hits "What A Girl Wants" and "Come On over Baby" by Christina Aguilera. * Prodigy, of hip-hop group
Mobb Deep Mobb Deep was an American hip hop duo from New York City. The duo consisted of rappers Prodigy and Havoc. They are considered to be among the principal progenitors of hardcore East Coast hip hopEdwards, Paul, 2009, ''How to Rap: The Art & Scien ...
, lived in Freeport *
Emanuel Pupulidy Emanuel M. Pupulidy (October 10, 1918 – August 20, 1996) was an American race car driver of the 1950s and 1960s. He was also referred to as Emil Pupulidy, Emil Pupilidy, Emanuel Pupilidy, Pup Pupulidy or Pup Pupilidy. Life He was born on Octob ...
(1918—1996), a race car driver *
Lou Reed Lewis Allan Reed (March 2, 1942October 27, 2013) was an American musician, songwriter, and poet. He was the guitarist, singer, and principal songwriter for the rock band the Velvet Underground and had a solo career that spanned five decades. ...
, singer-songwriter and founding member of The Velvet Underground *
Branch Rickey Wesley Branch Rickey (December 20, 1881 – December 9, 1965) was an American baseball player and sports executive. Rickey was instrumental in breaking Major League Baseball's color barrier by signing black player Jackie Robinson. He also creat ...
, owner of the
Brooklyn Dodgers The Brooklyn Dodgers were a Major League Baseball team founded in 1884 as a member of the American Association (19th century), American Association before joining the National League in 1890. They remained in Brooklyn until 1957, after which the ...
* Dick Schaap, an American sportswriter, broadcaster, and author *
Samantha Sepulveda Samantha Sepulveda is a Long Island police officer who gained fame when the ''New York Post'' reported that she is also an Internet glamour model. Early life Sepulveda was born in the Dominican Republic. At age five, she moved to the United State ...
, a
Long Island Long Island is a densely populated island in the southeastern region of the U.S. state of New York (state), New York, part of the New York metropolitan area. With over 8 million people, Long Island is the most populous island in the United Sta ...
police officer who gained fame when the '' New York Post'' reported that she is also an Internet glamour model * Henry Slocum, inventor of the inflatable "Mae West" vest-style lifejacket * Clifton Smith, a former American football linebacker who played
college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...
at
Syracuse University Syracuse University (informally 'Cuse or SU) is a Private university, private research university in Syracuse, New York. Established in 1870 with roots in the Methodist Episcopal Church, the university has been nonsectarian since 1920. Locate ...
* Elinor Smith, a 1920s aviator *
Hale Smith Hale Smith (June 29, 1925 – November 24, 2009) was an American composer, arranger, and pianist.De Lerma, Dominique-Rene"African Heritage Symphonic Series" Liner note essay. Cedille CDR061. Biography Born in Cleveland, Ohio, he learned pian ...
, a 20th-century composer * Susan Sullivan, an actress * Brandon Tartikoff, a television executive who grew up in Freeport *
Noel Thompson Noel Thompson is a Northern Irish news journalist with BBC Northern Ireland. He was part of the presenting team for BBC Radio Ulster's flagship morning programme Good Morning Ulster.National Wrestling Hall of Fame inductee * Harold E. Varmus, the 1989 recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine *
Jean R. Yawkey Jean Remington Yawkey (January 24, 1909 – February 26, 1992) was the wife of Tom Yawkey and owner of the Boston Red Sox from 1976 to her death in 1992. Biography Jean Yawkey was born Jean Hollander in Brooklyn, New York. She grew up in Freeport ...
, wife of Boston Red Sox owner Tom Yawkey and owner of the team from his death in 1976 until her own in 1992; grew up in Freeport. * Michael Zielenziger, American journalist and author


In popular culture

*''
History Alive History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbrella term comprising past events as we ...
'', season 1, episode 56: "Rumrunners, Moonshiners and Bootleggers" (1995) describes boat making operations and illicit business ventures in Freeport. * '' The Sopranos'', season 5, episode 8: "
Marco Polo Marco Polo (, , ; 8 January 1324) was a Venetian merchant, explorer and writer who travelled through Asia along the Silk Road between 1271 and 1295. His travels are recorded in ''The Travels of Marco Polo'' (also known as ''Book of the Marv ...
" (April 25, 2004) reveals that the crew of
Lupertazzi crime family The Lupertazzi family is a fictional American organized crime family in the HBO series ''The Sopranos''. The family is based in New York City. The family consists of an administration and eight crews. The family is an ally of the Soprano family i ...
member Jerry Basile operates in Freeport.


References


Sources

* . * *


Further reading

* * * Mainly images. * * contains numerous recent photos of Freeport on p. 27–60; images from p. 61 onward are not Freeport. *


External links


Official website

Freeport Fire Department official website
includin
an extensive history

Freeport Public Schools official website
{{authority control Villages in New York (state) Villages in Nassau County, New York Populated coastal places in New York (state) 1853 establishments in New York (state)