Our Mission
Welcome to our Society's web site
.
We hope that it will help you in understanding both our town's origins as
well as our future goals.
Society's History
The first Freeport Historical Society was established in 1941 by the Hon. Hilbert R. Johnson, Freeport judge and historian, with assistance from numerous other local civic-minded individuals. They then purchased the Daniel Raynor homestead, constructed in 1783 at South Main Street below Mill Road, for a museum. The intervening World War II years, and extensive damage to the building from a fierce 1944 hurricane, resulted in this Society�s demise.
Efforts to reestablish a historical society
resumed twenty years later and on May 7, 1961, the first official meeting of our
present Freeport Historical Society was conducted. A temporary charter issued by
the New York State Education Department just prior to that time, recognized
William J. Kaland, Isabel H. Tree, Kenneth Vought, Edward Vasil and David K.
Kadane and their associates and successors as representing a corporation for the
purposes of securing, displaying and preserving artifacts and disseminating the
history of Freeport�s rich and varied past.
Negotiations
to purchase our museum building at 350 South Main Street began during the summer
of 1961 and before the year had ended, the Society unofficially opened its doors
to the public in spite of major repair and renovation being conducted.
An extensive Civil War collection of artifacts that was loaned to the
Society by its first president, William J. Kaland, marked the official grand
opening of the Freeport Historical Museum in l962. Within five years, the museum
mortgage (secured through the benevolent action of several members) was
satisfied through a major fundraiser. An
additional donation from the Freeport Rotary Club represented the final mortgage
payment.
A second fund raiser, the Museum Restoration
Fund, resulted in the complete renovation and restoration of the museum�s
exterior. The front porch was
removed and replaced with the identical reconstruction of its original design.
A rear structure support system, consistent with the building�s
architecture, was installed. 
Historically correct replacement of the
windows was completed through a grant of community development funds.
The museum�s interior electrical and plumbing systems have undergone
major updating. The main reception room is now a showplace, and room-by-room
renovation has been completed.
A
sophisticated system of inventorying
the Society�s irreplaceable assets �our photographs and artifacts�
conducted initially by the museum curator, is an ongoing project.
In keeping with the 21st century, the collection is being
computerized.
Four
decades of Freeport Historical Society sponsored activities have included a wide
range of informative and entertaining programs.
They include art shows, craft and antique fairs, reenactments, garden
parties, and tours. Tours for
fourth grade students in the Freeport schools are an important way to pass on
our heritage to the younger generation. Twice
a year open meetings reflect the interests of the community with presentations
that feature genealogical studies, local writers, and Freeport�s history.
These activities are in addition to securing, displaying and preserving
artifacts from Freeport�s more than three hundred year history.
Located within the bounds of the Raynor
Historical Museum building originated as a small bayman�s cottage of the Civil
War era. Dr. and Mrs. Thomas Horace
Evans, owners of 350 South Main Street for a half-century until its sale to the
Society, were responsible for the evolution of this simply adorned, six plus
room, four level structure. Uniquely
intact, with a poured concrete foundation, the structure contains both low and high ceilings and parts of the
original hand-hewn beams are visible in one of its several attics.
Dr.
Evans was a noted professor of anatomy, writer of texts, and an innovator in
several aspects of the sciences. Gertrude Evans was similarly renowned for her
art and photography, and was versed in anthropology and Egyptology.
Many of their possessions are displayed throughout the Museum to remind
the visitor of the building�s former owners� contributions to society and to
the history of Freeport.
Contact Information
- Telephone
- 516-623-9632
- Postal address
- 350 South Main Street
- Freeport, New York 11520