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Image provided by: Freeport Memorial Library
l^;I ■ m ''. •■■•,'■ ■ ■•-v^iv•.■c ..,.J • PuB'Out S^ctidh fEADFJl Long Island^s Boating & Fishing Newspaper Volume / — No. 16 October 19. 1972 Woodcleft, Center of Fun Times R ^ d a ll Park, was the site for much of Freeport's old-time recreation or a t least the jumping off place for fun when you tfai^ of the ferries that took fun s e tters from Woodcleft Canal to Point Lookout John J . RandaU's development there provided for lu>tel iHmding that was actually something Out of the *'Gay Nineties.” llie Woodcleft Inn fronting the bathing beach at the head of Woodcleft Canal, certainly ap peared ornate its wide, near girdling, veranda. Some 125 rooms were available for guests there. The Crystal Lake Hotel JUST THE NEIGH^RHpOD''CRICK.*' W ooddeft C^ai; Freeport,' one o f the' bUsiest.vreterways on die Soutfi Shore todtry, in the late ISSOs before John Randall and partner Wjlliarn Miller struck on in novative idea of man-made canals to create a waterfront. was named for one of the lovely ponds that used to dot the Freeport area. This hotel ‘ charged its 125 guests |8.00 to $15.00 a week. The palatial Im perial Hotel's rates started at $15.00. Freeporters long ago went sailing on picnics in the bays or on the ocean beach at Point 'Lookout. Increasingly, other Town of Hempstead citizens sought these retreats. Later they were able to come by trolley from Mlneola and the “Toonerville Trolley” along what is Atlantic Avenue from Brooklyn. Passengers from these and the train could be met by coaches. Hien a trolley - reffered to as “The Fisherman's Driight” took transfers on down to W(^cleft Canal. Thomas F. Forbes owned this trolley that ran down Grove St. Mr. Forbes also owned the fleet of five ferries that com muted to Point Lookout. Hie salt Wetlands were also popular among the waterfront himters. In. fact, t h ^ m a rsto* niirjcM a i w e / t u m i u c - r f tjrw a y . Guides in years gone by used'to do a good business taking out shooting parties, someUmes by sailboat. In later years, In the 1920’s - Freeport had Long Island’s biggest amusement park. TTiere were rides, chutes, and a rollercoaster that climbed high in the sky. ,.V DIVING BEAUTY. This photo, found in one of the oldest homes on Freeport's Woodcleft Canal, is simply marked. \Agnes Woodcleft Canal.” OLD OYSTER HOUSE. This hut photographed In 1881, was ona of many throughout the Village where oyitere were stored during the winter to prevent their freezing. Village Tied to Sea Products Shellfish were very important symbol, but the close Ue of to the economy of Freeport barit Freeport to the sea waa also “in the good old days” (before ampl^ shown when the opposition poUutlon)....apd resid ^ ts found adopted the anchor as their in- . ____ _____ seem e d aie. ure > m u h e N u s s sthi^ horses and bugf^es dattered always w atdiful for a sloop flying down from the Village past Raynor’s Mill Pond and down along with Freeport River, was paved with c ^ t w shells which, when ground into the dirt, made a fairly hard road surface. Such ingenuity may have prompted one political party formed right after the Village’s incorporation, to take on the oyster shell for its Waterfront Just a Creek PAGODAS? We'd certainlv like to explelii, but the only designation this photo carries Is \Freeport Cmino Creek,\ By CUN'TON E. METZ Village Historian Freeport’s famous waterfront - bayfront canals and creeks - once donsisted primarily of a narrow channel east of Main St. and a waterway known as Milbum Creek, on the com munity’s west boundary. When our village incorporated in 1692 about one-third of its present area lay outside the in corporated limits. ’Thirty-eight years elapsed before bayfront, most territory below Atlantic Ave. and a big section of the southeast was annexed. Although in the mid-lSth century Milbum Creek boasted a busy \Port of Hempstead” that served much of southwestern Nassau County, nearly all the landing places were on Baldwin's side. Coe's Neck (the early name of southwest Freeport) had at tracted at least one oysterhouse, Wesley Smith’s, at Anchor St., but few other marine activities had started on what was the shore of Tredwell family farms. In the “ Gay Nineties\ John J. Randall I and his partner William G. Miller introduced to south Freeport a creative idea: Raising the level of lowland by pumping into It All from the bottom of man-made canals. They were among the first Long Islanders who cecc^oizod pubUc demand for waterfront. Woodcleft Canal, bearing the name <d an early RandaJl sub division, and R a n ^ Bay, where the South Shore Yacht Club popularized our marine at tractions, were just a few of the ‘Father of Freeport’s” con tributions toward making this “the boating and fishing capital of the East.” Miller, his partner who was Village President from 1893 to 19(X), provided home rule leadership during the critical formative years Randall & Miller built as well as sold many of the homes that graced our streets. After digging Woodcleft Canal they followed through with a bathing beach at the head of the canal on Front St. The progressive firm constructed a 200-guest hotel, facing the water, which drew influential people capable of spreading praise for Freeport to distant cities. From the nearest city came a Mayor of New York who escaped from the trials of office by hiding at Woodcleft Inn while his friends in the city told white lies that he had gone to several other places for a rest. Until well into the 20th century oysterboats took up much of the dock space along FTeeport Creek. Nanrowness of the channel did not deter fairly large boats from using it, nor did the fact that dre<j^g was often needed to keep navigation open. OeapUe these handicaps oystermen managed v e r y well from about i860 through the turn of the century. “Families who formerly made a precarious living from fishing a clam baset from the masthead - - a signal that the boat was ready ' to take on clams for the New York market. Soft-shell crabs were as plentiful with hundreds waiting out on a bar waiting to be picked up and packed in long, low baskets, pla<^ in rows and covered with a cabbage or eel grass for shipment to market or clamming can get a good living from two or three acres of oysters,\ said the Weekly South Side Observer in 18B2. Peak output seems to have been achieved in 1901, when a total harvest of 3,547,652 bushels was reported from the Town of Hempstead. Clifford Smith, grandson of C^pl. Abe Smith whose old oysterhouse stood for years on Hanse Ave., told about a coffee “A ship was wrecked on the ocean beach,” he said, “with lots of coffee. When news of this came across the bay, people rushed over. Many sa il ^ home with coffee from the wreck, but as soon as they tasted it they were unhappy - it had been ruined by salt water. So they built a “coffee road” from Hanse Ave to the dock at my grandfather's place, with coffee beans about a foot deep.\ We don't know when Edward Raynor or his descendants started the mill which ran until the 1880s south of Hanse Park, but it is safe to say grinding of com or wheat was a top priority after settlement of Raynor South. We know that John Pine started a mill on Milbum Creek in 1686 with a millpond where Freeport School stands. Pioneer families bad good reason to pick a home site near the bay o r a stream leading to it. (Continued on Page 5WL)
