A surviving Long Island Press image from 1968 documents the planning of the Freeport waterfront marina later known as Guy Lombardo Marina.
The photograph does not show the marina under construction. It shows a drawing of the proposed project, identified by the Long Island Daily Press Photograph Morgue Collection as a “proposed marina and harbor of refuge in Freeport.”
The drawing is labeled “Town of Hempstead Department of Conservation and Waterways, Long Creek.”
The project had already been under discussion for several years.
On Dec. 22, 1966, The Leader reported on Town of Hempstead plans for a $1 million transient marina on 41 acres. The amount represented the proposed project at that stage, not necessarily its final construction cost.
By 1968, the project had moved further along. The Freeport Memorial Library’s historical timeline records that Town of Hempstead funding was approved that year for a marina at the end of South Grove Street. The library specifically identifies the project as the marina later known as Guy Lombardo Marina.
South Grove Street was subsequently renamed Guy Lombardo Avenue.
The surviving Press photograph provides another clue to the timing. Although the Queens Public Library catalog dates the image only to 1968, production markings on the reverse of the print appear to narrow its use by the newspaper to late March and early April.
A time stamp appears to read “1968 MAR 27 PM 1:54.” Other markings include “4 col,” indicating a four-column image, “For use 4/2” and a “FIRST EDITION” stamp. A handwritten notation appears to identify the subject as “Refuge Harbor.”
Those markings suggest the image was being prepared for possible newspaper use around April 2, although the actual Long Island Press page has not been located and an April 2 publication date therefore cannot yet be confirmed.
Construction of the marina took several more years.
“Freeport As It Was,” a local history published in 1976 and preserved by the Freeport Memorial Library, lists among the events of 1975: “Village Recreation Center and Town Marina completed.”
That provides a documented completion year approximately seven years after the 1968 rendering was prepared for the Press.
Today, the facility is the Freeport Guy Lombardo Marina at 898 Guy Lombardo Marina Avenue. The Village of Freeport lists 252 boat slips at the marina.
Aerial view of Freeport Guy Lombardo Marina at the southern end of Guy Lombardo Marina Avenue. The Village of Freeport currently lists 252 boat slips at the facility. Photo: Village of Freeport official website.
The 1968 photograph therefore preserves an unusually early look at the planning of a waterfront facility that remains part of Freeport more than half a century later.
The finished marina survives.
The Village of Freeport currently lists the Freeport Guy Lombardo Marina at 898 Guy Lombardo Marina Avenue. The municipal site lists 252 boat slips, transient slips, a fishing pier and other facilities.
The 1968 photograph therefore preserves an unusually early look at the planning of a waterfront facility that remains part of Freeport more than half a century later.
One detail remains unresolved. The surviving drawing specifically describes the project as a “marina and harbor of refuge.” Later records generally refer to the completed facility as the Town Marina, Long Creek Marina or Guy Lombardo Marina. The available records do not establish whether every element of the harbor-of-refuge design shown in 1968 was ultimately constructed.
Proposed Marina and Harbor in Freeport, 1968. This photograph of a drawing shows a proposed marina and harbor of refuge on Long Creek and is labeled “Town of Hempstead Department of Conservation and Waterways, Long Creek.”
Photo credit: Long Island Daily Press, “Proposed Marina And Harbor in Freeport,” 1968. Long Island Daily Press Photograph Morgue Collection, Queens Public Library. Gelatin silver print, 8 x 10 inches. Identifier: aql:22966 / ldp-001215 / ldp-001215.tif. Copyright holder unknown.
Sources:
- Queens Public Library Digital Archives, Long Island Daily Press Photograph Morgue Collection
Source for the 1968 photograph, its title, description, date, creator and archival identification.
https://digitalarchives.queenslibrary.org/ - The Leader, Dec. 22, 1966, Page 8
Contemporary reference to Town of Hempstead plans for a $1 million transient marina on 41 acres.
https://www.nyshistoricnewspapers.org/?a=d&d=tl19661222-01.1.8 - Freeport Memorial Library, Local History Resources: Timeline of Freeport
Records that in 1968 Town of Hempstead funding was approved for a marina at the end of South Grove Street and identifies it as later known as Guy Lombardo Marina.
https://libguides.freeportlibrary.info/LocalHistory/timelinefreeport - Freeport Memorial Library, Freeport History Encyclopedia
Confirms that South Grove Street is now Guy Lombardo Avenue.
https://libguides.freeportlibrary.info/Encyclopedia/z - Freeport As It Was, Freeport Memorial Library/New York Heritage Digital Collections
Its chronology records the Village Recreation Center and Town Marina as completed in 1975.
https://nyheritage.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/p15281coll12/id/19326/ - Village of Freeport, Freeport Guy Lombardo Marina
Current municipal source listing the marina at 898 Guy Lombardo Marina Avenue and giving its capacity as 252 slips.
https://www.freeportny.gov/956/Freeport-Guy-Lombardo-Marina
