Editing Freeport, New York (section)

== History ==
[[File:Freeport NY-1873.jpg|thumb|left|Map of Freeport, 1873]]
[[File:Freeport, NY 1921 map.jpg|thumb|left|Map, 1921{{hidden begin|title=More details}}This map of Freeport relates to a sewer bond issue; the districts shown are sewer districts, and trunk sewers are shown in detail. The borders shown are not exactly those of the village (Freeport continues north of Seaman Avenue, and of course this map is cut off to the south). The map predates the construction of [[Sunrise Highway]] (just south of the railroad tracks), and roughly the northern two-thirds of what is shown as a reservoir at left is now the site of Freeport High School and its grounds. However, this does provide a detailed map of most Freeport streets at that time, a great many of which still retain the same locations and names.{{hidden end}}]]

===Pre-colonial settlement===
Before people of European ancestry came to the area, the land was part of the territory of the [[Metoac|Meroke]] Indians.<ref name="Bleyer">Bill Bleyer, [http://www.newsday.com/community/guide/lihistory/ny-historytown-hist001k,0,6458691.story?coll=ny-lihistory-navigation Freeport: Action on the Nautical Mile], Newsday.com. Retrieved November 14, 2008. {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090620224752/http://www.newsday.com/community/guide/lihistory/ny-historytown-hist001k,0,6458691.story?coll=ny-lihistory-navigation|date=June 20, 2009|title=Archival copy}}.</ref><ref name="NYT Oct 16, 1962">"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.</ref> Written records of the community go back to the 1640s.<ref name="NYT Oct 16, 1962" /> The village now known as Freeport was part of an area called "the Great South Woods" during colonial times.<ref name="NYT Oct 16, 1962" /> 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 (village), New York|Hempstead]] in 1659, cleared land, and built a cabin.<ref name="Newsday1" /><ref name="NYT Oct 16, 1962" /><ref name="NYT May 23, 1937">"Old Freeport Days: New Development Site Was Once an Indian Encampment", ''The New York Times'', May 23, 1937, p. 199.</ref>

===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.<ref name="Newsday1" /><ref name="NYT Oct 16, 1962" /><ref name="NYT May 23, 1937" />

After the [[American Civil War|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]].<ref name="Bleyer" /> Nonetheless, even as of the early 21st century Freeport and nearby [[Point Lookout, New York|Point Lookout]] have the largest concentration of commercial fishing activity anywhere near New York City.<ref>[http://www.nyswaterfronts.org/Final_Draft_HTML/Tech_Report_HTM/Land_Use/Maritime_Centers/Maritime_Pt2_PointLookout.htm Point Lookout] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110727134932/http://www.nyswaterfronts.org/Final_Draft_HTML/Tech_Report_HTM/Land_Use/Maritime_Centers/Maritime_Pt2_PointLookout.htm |date=July 27, 2011 }}, Coastal Resources Online, New York State Department of State Division of Coastal Resources. Part of a technical report on Maritime centers. Retrieved November 16, 2008.</ref>

From 1868, Freeport was served by the [[South Side Railroad of Long Island|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".<ref name="Bleyer" /> Randall, who opposed all of Freeport's being laid out in a grid, put up a [[Victorian architecture|Victorian house]] virtually overnight on a triangular plot at the corner of Lena Avenue and Wilson Place to spite the grid designers.<ref name="Diversity">Mason-Draffen, Carrie. (March 30, 1997) ''[[Newsday]]'' "Living In – Diversity Freely Spices Freeport." Section: Life; Page E25.</ref> The [[spite house|Freeport Spite House]] still is standing and occupied.<ref name="Diversity" />

In January 1873, before Nassau County had split off from [[Queens County, New York|Queens]], the Queens County treasurer set up an office at Freeport.<ref>{{cite news|date=January 13, 1873|title=Long Island|journal=The New York Times}}</ref> The village residents voted to incorporate the village on October 18, 1892.<ref name="Newsday1" /><ref name="NYT Oct 16, 1962" /> At that time, it had a population of 1,821.<ref name="NYT May 23, 1937" /> In 1898, Freeport established a municipal electric utility, which still operates today, giving the village lower electricity rates than those in surrounding communities.<ref name="Bleyer" /> It is one of two municipally owned electric systems in Nassau County; the other is in [[Rockville Centre, New York|Rockville Centre]].<ref>{{Harvnb|Smits|1974|p=51}}</ref> Public street lighting was begun in 1907, and a public fire alarm system was adopted in 1910.<ref>{{Harvnb|Smits|1974|p=56}}</ref>

===1900–1939: expansion===
[[File:Freeport-Baldwin NY Kissing Bridge postcard c. 1913.jpg|thumb|right|The "Kissing Bridge," which no longer exists, crossed the Freeport-Baldwin border over Milburn Creek at Seaman Avenue. Postcard {{circa|1913}}.]]
In the years after incorporation, Freeport was a [[tourist destination|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 [[Tram|trolleys]] through Freeport to [[Jamaica, Queens|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]]. The ferries took people to [[Point Lookout, New York|Point Lookout]], about three miles (5&nbsp;km) south of Freeport, where there is an ocean beach. For a few years after 1913, the short-lived [[Freeport Railroad Company]] ran a trolley nicknamed "the Fishermen's Delight" along Grove Street (now [[Guy Lombardo]] Avenue) from [[Sunrise Highway]] to the waterfront.<ref name="Bleyer" /> Also in this era, in 1910 [[Arthur Heinrich|Arthur]] and [[Albert Heinrich (aviator)|Albert Heinrich]] flew the first American-made, American-powered [[monoplane]], built in their [[Merrick Road]] airplane factory (see also ''[[Heinrich Pursuit]]'').<ref name="Bleyer" /> [[WGBB]], founded in 1924, became Long Island's first 24-hour radio station.<ref name="Bleyer" />

[[File:Hughes & Bailey 1909 map of Freeport, NY.jpg|thumb|left|1909 [[Hughes & Bailey]] map]]
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.<ref>{{Harvnb|Smith|1981|pp=22–25}}</ref>  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.<ref name="Bleyer" /> Some had year-round family homes in Freeport.<ref>{{Harvnb|Smith|1981|pp=25–34}}</ref> [[Leo Carrillo]] and [[Victor Moore]] were early arrivals,<ref name="Smith-26">{{Harvnb|Smith|1981|p=26}}</ref> later joined by [[Fannie Brice]], [[Trixie Friganza]], [[Sophie Tucker]], [[Harry Ruby]],<ref>Lawrence van Gelder, "A Pioneer Pilot Clears Some Clouds", ''The New York Times'', July 5, 1981. p. LI2.</ref> [[Fred Stone]], [[Helen Broderick]], [[Moran and Mack]], [[Will Rogers]], [[Bert Kalmar]], [[Richard A. Whiting|Richard Whiting]], [[Harry von Tilzer]], [[Rae Samuels]], [[Belle Baker]], [[Grace Hayes]], [[Patrick Rooney (actor)|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.<ref name="Smith-26" />

[[File:Freeport - Crystal Lake Hotel.jpg|thumb|right|A 1910s postcard of the Crystal Lake Hotel.]]
Several of Freeport's actors gathered together as the Long Island Good Hearted Thespian Society (LIGHTS), with a clubhouse facing onto Great South Bay.<ref name="Bleyer" /><ref>{{Harvnb|Smith|1981|pp=27–28}}</ref> LIGHTS presented summer shows in Freeport from the mid-1910s to the mid-1920s.<ref name="Bleyer" /> 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.<ref>{{Harvnb|Smith|1981|p=28}}</ref> A [[Coney Island]]–style [[amusement park]] called Playland Park thrived from the early 1920s until the early 1930s but was destroyed by a fire on June 28, 1931.<ref name="Rather">John Rather, [https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9E05E1D81331F934A25752C0A96F958260&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=all If You're Thinking of Living In Freeport], ''The New York Times'', January 17, 1999. Retrieved November 16, 2008.</ref><ref name="fire">Miguel Bermudez and Donald Giordano, [http://www.freeportfd.org/about/history/ Freeport Fire Department :: History], Freeport Fire Department. Accessed online November 17, 2015.</ref>

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,<blockquote>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.<ref>David Behrens, "The KKK Flares Up on LI", ''Newsday'', 1998. Reproduced online [http://brookhavensouthhaven.org/history/KKK/KKK_Long_Island.htm at brookhavensouthhaven.org] (no archive date) and {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040612225622/http://www.newsday.com/extras/lihistory/7/hs725a.htm|date=June 12, 2004|title=(archive link)}} from the ''Newsday'' "Long Island, Our Story" site. Retrieved October 4, 2011.</ref></blockquote>

===1940–present: recent history===
[[File:Freeport, NY - Sigmond Opera House c. 1913.jpg|thumb|The Sigmond Opera House (shown here {{circa|1913}}), originally a [[vaudeville]] theater and later a cinema, stood at 70 South Main Street. It burned on January 31, 1924.<ref name="fire" />]]

By 1937, Freeport's population exceeded 20,000, and it was the largest village in Nassau County.<ref name="NYT May 23, 1937" /> 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]]) on January 14, 1958.<ref name="fire" /> 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.<ref>{{Harvnb|Smits|1974|p=204}}</ref>

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, New York|East Quogue]] in the late 1960s. Their Freeport Point Shipyard built boats for the [[United States Coast Guard]], but also for [[Prohibition in the United States|Prohibition]]-era [[rumrunner]]s.<ref>{{cite video|url=http://www.tv.com/history-alive/rumrunners-moonshiners-and-bootleggers/episode/988813/recap.html?tag=episode_header;recap|title=History Alive: Rumrunners, Moonshiners and Bootleggers Trivia and Quotes|date=February 23, 2007|location=History Channel|access-date=March 11, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110629022904/http://www.tv.com/history-alive/rumrunners-moonshiners-and-bootleggers/episode/988813/recap.html?tag=episode_header%3Brecap|archive-date=June 29, 2011|url-status=dead|medium=television}}</ref> From 1937 to 1945 the shipyard built small boats for the [[United States Navy]] and British [[Royal Navy]].<ref name="Bleyer" /> 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]].<ref name="Bleyer" /> [[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 {{USS|Nautilus|SSN-571|6}}, an operational [[Nuclear marine propulsion|nuclear-powered]] [[submarine]] and the first vessel to complete a submerged transit across the [[North Pole]].<ref name="Bleyer" />