{ title: 'The leader. (Freeport, N.Y.) 1941-1987, September 01, 1977, Page 10, Image 10', download_links: [ { link: 'http://www.loc.gov/rss/ndnp/ndnp.xml', label: 'application/rss+xml', meta: 'News about NYS Historic Newspapers - RSS Feed', }, { link: '/lccn/sn95071064/1977-09-01/ed-1/seq-10/png/', label: 'image/png', meta: '', }, { link: '/lccn/sn95071064/1977-09-01/ed-1/seq-10.pdf', label: 'application/pdf', meta: '', }, { link: '/lccn/sn95071064/1977-09-01/ed-1/seq-10/ocr.xml', label: 'application/xml', meta: '', }, { link: '/lccn/sn95071064/1977-09-01/ed-1/seq-10/ocr.txt', label: 'text/plain', meta: '', }, ] }
Image provided by: Freeport Memorial Library
..rU But this particular visitor — admittedly somewhat myoinc — is . unable to locate ilie antique shop known as the Old Oyster Wharf. He spends time knocking on the doors of the ancient red- stained structures and, finding them empty,turns to leave. As he does, however, he finally spots the object of his search — 'set e^’en further apart from Main Street then the other buildings, half-hidden under a huge tree -theiastremaina^f-what-was-OT a thrivirg.commcrce. Inside, as on the outside, he discovers the soul of the past pre served with charm. . \Watch your step,\ cautions ♦be fiwner. Dorothea fl. HUDSON POINT 301 Hudson Aye. - F reeport 623-9808 nSHING STATION at the Mouth of Hudson Canal 0 Gas 0 Ice • Baft •B e e r 0 Hqmecooked Food - 0 ^nacksrClgqrott 0 r Came In end Meet Our Dock Mistress Tha Old Oyster Wharf Visit To Another Land ty ft/charef Senders come to a stop. With its isolation, with its dense and verdant foliage, the ler. “The floor is crooked bc- cause there's no foundation under H. In fact, v(here you’re standing IflO B lLs^^ GAT *We Accept Master Charge BShKAniBrtcard Mobil Credit Card “It's just three blocks from the heart of the village,’’ says the gracious pn^rietreas,'\but jrou fright now is where the oysters ^used to float. Instead of a founda-r tioD, the oy'stermen built hatch-- ways under the house so they could m U their oysters right from the floor.\ WAVE CREST MARINE, Inc. Indeedi only a few feet in from the . traffic-laden pavement of ., the drifting sound of Freeport’s Smith Main Street,' in Freeport,* the visitors fin(!U himself lost in Creek’s slow tide, and by eerie, intangible presence — secluded, sleepy and' shady pcriiapa by the spirits of long- ... j-_j .-dead dystcrmca wfao’ve remain- tgs throughout the years st the over 100-years old in which cadt site of their formw haunts. (The in tb f t . ................... ..... glade, wandering among md- stained weatfer-bcateaten ’ building: oysterman, Chiaunccy'Spta^e, the Old Oyster Wharf was the center of as in d u s ^ that lined the east side of Main Street. Be- ^nningin the 1860's, as the bot tom of Freeport Creek was turned into an artificial but prolific shellfish bed, the oyster trade General Boat Yard ;dt and\ fissure m me agea propnetrtss SeiKlf, it ia later wood conjures up a memory of teamed, cc^csscs to being a bit (be past, and It seems as if the psychic, so there may be some- time of a century has suddenly, thingfoit.) ■ fioutished'in the village-ioc .^the next several decades. \ •• • — As' Long ' Island’s population 185 Hudson Ave. 546-3089 grew, however, the industry — Kii-T, 8 r i i r ^ p Services and Repairs Travel Lift Service Wet and Dry Storage Ftueport; H.Y. BrweaSeWsra ™ AAAKO AAARINA 117 Hudson Ave. Freeport • 378-7331 Roy 4 Pete ■DIv. of Cderon Marine- Industries, Inc. •• bn Hudson Channel Safes and Service MERCRUISER ' ' CUMMINGS MARINE AIR steady supply of water — gra- dually died. Hie inldal strike against it fell when • the water from local wells and streams be gan being pumped-to Brooklyn, ' thus redudeg the flow into Free- -pcai -Oeek and consequently weakemug the supply of micro organisms fe^ on by the oysters. Next came In d u s t^ iwflution, followed finally by the b a l i n g of .the Wantagh-Jones Beach'wuse- way: sand dredged for the cause way’s constnu^pn w ^ spilled into the c«ek — the oysters were smothered; and their beds de stroyed- ■ ’ By the 1%0’s, Freeport’s oyster trade was fimshid; . ■— -‘‘Th'at^s- where - I-lcome .in,’!:, explains. Mrs. hffljer. \It’U , be 31 years in October since I first ' saw this place.. Both my husband and my son were real estate bro- BALDWIN MARINE SUPPLYj INa 1162 AtbnUcAv&.Baldwin WOOLSEY MARlivE PAINTS MARINE HARDWARE - ACCESSORlES.etc. - kers ^ d planning e n ^ e e r s , and ^ 1 was helping them with ^ e s . ' They wanted to buy this property, so they drove me d o ^ here to s«5 UT~Wefl7l>y~this'time\l'was' tiieS ^ f the rebuilding and re- luOding habilitationrand when-Fsaw-thiS'-^ with its six lovely buQcyngs, 1 ^ knew.l wanted to keep it Just the ^ It WF* f t T^vntmlvwi n f New England, which is where I'm from; “I tell you, it looked like , a piece of Cape Q>d had been cut efi and. dropped down .on Long Island,\-' she; Tecalls as she finish^ setting the shop’s table. The table itself dates m m 1790. h’s known as a tavern table with a stretchy, base: extendbg from each of its tegs is a low wood rung which served as a heel rest and prevented muddy riding boots-from-dirtylng- the Uvem floor. ' \So she continaes, \I said to them, 'you see .that Utile L O m i .THULEADHR Subscribo Todoyl ■ 24SOw GroTrtStr«t Frwort, N.Y, 11520 ■ ■ Su&^pt/on to THE LEADER. Pfeasa tertd Ere^iort's M leading newspaper to: building over there? Well. I’D • ^ along with b u ^ g the property tf you let me open a store there.’ My son looked at me and groan ed. TD give you SSO a month for -tent,’ ! said. They both con sented- .c, “When 1 first moved in,\ she laoghs,'\theTe were two liffie old seamen living m_tbe back. The f. . — o il _ _ __ t * f _ ________ _ yotin^st was 81 arwi the rthet ‘ was but they used to run up and down the stairs like little boys. Whenever the creek rose and the water came up, they’d just drill holes in the floor and let It seep out- I wonder whatever became of them...” Except for the addition of , front porch, 4he-Wharf has n:— ' fB fr090i \A Bustness Bounded on Customer Confidence^' RANK BRADFORD T \ ■ . - Competitive Rates Cali Us tor a Premium Quotation Wef Iniuje B an d . im la BOATS 64 So. Grove SL Freeport