The Long Island Collection

Freeport Memorial Library is dedicated to the collection of local history and culture.  The Long Island Room Collection consists of a variety of books, periodicals, artifacts, maps, and other documents pertaining to New York State and Long Island (Brooklyn, Queens, Nassau, and Suffolk) history.  Most of this collection is available in our catalog.

If you are making a special trip to use the material from our Long Island Collection, please make an appointment by phone (516-379-3274) or email ( This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it ) 

Because of the delicate nature of some of the materials in this collection, permission must be given before items can be photocopied, scanned, or photographed.

Digital Collection

In the fall of 2004, the Freeport Memorial Library, in collaboration with the Freeport Historical Society, joined a digitization initiative sponsored by the Long Island Libraries Resources Council.  The goal of this project is to create a database of items pertaining to Long Island history and make these items accessible through the Internet.  In 2005, the Long Island Libraries Resources Council received a grant to begin digitizing local newspapers.  Because of Freeport's commitment to the digitization project, the Library was asked to be the first organization to participate in this phase of the initiative.  The Library currently has six newspapers, representing the years 1895 to 1921, online and fully searchable.

With a collection of over 3,000 images and seven newspapers, the Library and the Historical Society continue to add material to this project monthly.  If you have photographs that you would like to add to Long Island Memories, please contact the Freeport Historical Society at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

Digital Images

View the Entire Freeport Collection

View Collection by subject/theme

• Architectural Details
• Bennington Park
• Charles V. Brady collection
• Freeport Fire Department
• Library Dedication (1924)
• Freeport Police Department
• Freeport Utilities (Electric, Highway, Sanitation, Water, etc.)
• Freeport in the 1950s
• Houses
• Houses of Worship
• Hurricanes
• John F. Delorme Collection (Pictorial History of Early Freeport)
• Jones Beach
• North Main Street (Al Velocci Collection)
• Stores
• Trolleys
• Vaudeville
• Waterfront

Newsletters

• Village of Freeport Newsletters, 1952 to current

Digital Newspapers

Long Island Memories Project:

• Daily Review of Nassau County - March 1921 to June 1921
• Freeport News - February 1921 to November 1921
• Leader - 1941 to 1990 (except 1945); 2001 to 2004
• Nassau County Review - January 1899 to March 1921
• Nassau Post - January 1914 to January 1918
• Queens County Review - November 1894 to December 1989
• South Side Messenger - July 1908 to December 1918

Additional Newspapers

• Brooklyn Daily Eagle - 1841 to 1902 (Maintained by the Brooklyn Public Library)
• Historic American Newspapers - Library of Congress
• Historical Newspapers and Indexes on the Internet
• New York State Historical Newspapers
• New York Times - 1851 to present (for Freeport Library card holders only)
• Newsday - 1985 to present (for Freeport Library card holders only)
• Suffolk County Newspapers

Microfilm

• Long Island Graphic - January 1961 to December 1996
• Long Island Kernel - March 1958 to April 1979

Digital Books and Documents

• 1931-31 Freeport Telephone Directory by Street (from the Freeport Historical Society)
• Concert to Celebrate the 350th Anniversary of the Founding of Freeport, 2009
• Directory, The First Methodist Episcopal Church, 1919
• Documents Relating to the History of the Early Colonial Settlements Principally on Long Island, 1883
• Freeport High School Alumni Directory, 1911
• Freeport High School Alumni Directory, 1914
• Freeport Long Island illustrated, c1907
• Freeport --Old and New (1917-1918)
• Freeport:  Past and Present, with a Prospect of Its Future, 1990
• Golden Jubilee Anniversary Firemen's Association of the State of New York, 1922
• Harpo Marx in Freeport
• History of Freeport's Police Court (1962)
• History of Jones Beach by Robert Moses (transcript)
• LIGHTS Members Booklet
• Minutes of Village Incorporation Preliminary Meetings, 1892
• Personal Reminiscences of Men and Things on Long Island, Daniel Tredwell, 1912 (pdf)
• South Shore Millers of the Hempstead Town by Clinton Metz

Brochures

• Freeport Story
• Freeport Soldiers
  • Civil War
  • Spanish American War
  • World War I
  • World War II
    • WW II - Part 1
    • WW II - Part 2
    • WW II - Part 3
    • WW II - Part 4
    • WW II - Part 5
    • WW II - Part 6
  • Korean War
  • Vietnam
• Honor Rolls
  • World War I
  • World War II
  • Baptist Church
  • B'nai Israel
• How to Research Your Freeport Family
• How to Research Your Freeport House
• L.I.G.H.T.S. Club

Time Lines

• Freeport
• Library
• Schools

Freeport Biographies

• Freeport Biographies 1896
• Freeport Biographies 1925
• Notable Freeport Women

Freeport Then and Now Exhibit

Annual exhibit in July - The Freeport Memorial Library and the Freeport Historical Society present photographs of houses, events, and people from historic Freeport.

History Resources

• Freeport High School Graduates 1934 and 1935 addresses
• Freeport History Blog
• Freeport Historical Society
• History of Queens County with illustrations, Portraits & Sketches of Prominent Families and Individuals. New York: W.W. Munsell & Co.; 1882.
  (includes information on Hempstead and Freeport)
• Long Island Forum - The Library has bound volumes of the LI Forum from 1938 to 2004.  Patchogue-Medford Library created an online index for this periodical.
• Long Island Division, Queens Public Library
• Long Island Genealogy
• Nassau County Historical Societies
• New York Heritage - Digital Collection
• New York State Archives - Digital Collections
• Purcell Family of America Index 2012