Welcome back, long time no see! | |
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Hi everyone, I'm Sarah Brown, and I am thrilled to introduce myself as the newly appointed Executive Director of the Greenlawn-Centerport Historical Association. I recently graduated from Stony Brook University, obtaining my Bachelor of Arts with a concentration in Art History and Criticism. In my spare time, I thoroughly enjoy visiting museums, historic sites, and antiquing for postcards.
I look forward to meeting you all and immersing myself in the rich history of Greenlawn and Centerport.
Unfortunately with the departure of our previous Executive Director, the Dine & Discover was cancelled. However, I am looking forward to new opportunities to engage the community with their history.
This year we are hoping to begin digitizing our collection, making it available 24/7 for members and students. We are also looking to create virtual tours of both the Gardiner House and Suydam Homestead, as both properties are currently closed to the public.
As a new director, I'm open to feedback and suggestions:
What would you like to see come back? What exhibits would you like to see?
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Looking to become a member or renew?
An annual membership entitles you to a subscription to our quarterly newsletter and monthly e-newsletter, in addition to discounts on programs. You will also get early access to our digitized collection, and virtual exhibits/tours.
Senior/Student - $20
Individual - $25
Family - $40
Sponsor - $75
Patron - $125
Click a tier & pay online via Square
or
Mail a check to:
GCHA
31 Broadway, Greenlawn, NY 11740
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2024 Pickle Festival
Actively Seeking Volunteers
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Due to the popularity of the pickle festival last year, we are already seeking out volunteers! If you are interested please either
email us at info@greenlawncenterporthistorical.org
or call us at (631) 754-1180!
The Pickle Festival will be on Saturday, September 21st, starting at around 10am.
Great for completing volunteer hours for high school students and scouts!
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100 Years - Inside the Greenlawn School Cornerstone
(Current Window Exhibit outside GCHA Office in the Harborfields Public Library)
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On a lovely Sunday at 2:30 pm on September 23, 1924, a time capsule was placed within the Greenlawn School cornerstone, containing a copper box filled with items of the era. The stone was put into place by William E. Hendric, the President of the Board of Trustees, using a silver trowel which can be found in a display case near the kitchen and meeting room of the present library. The copper box time capsule contained:
“… a copy of the Holy Bible and a New Testament…
a silk American flag…
a copy of the Brooklyn Eagle of Friday (Sept. 19) containing a picture and a write-up on the new school,
a copy of The Long-Islander,
a picture of Greenlawn taken from an aeroplane,
a copy of the cornerstone laying program,
a list of the teachers and school children,
and some coins of the day.”
as written about in the September 26, 1924 edition of The Long-Islander.
Today you can view the cornerstone right outside the GCHA office.
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Pictured Below:
Scan of the September 19, 1924 article on the Greenlawn School from the Brooklyn Eagle (In Collection)
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Stories from Tony Guarnaschelli Transcribed
Our Treasurer and Resident Greenlawn Expert
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Beginnings of the Pickle Festival
“We had it in the auditorium [1970s], and then in the hallway, they had 3 pails of pickles and there’s about 70 pickles in a 5-gallon pail. They sold out and thought, “Wooooow this is unbelievable.” Then it got a little too big and we went on the front lawn [of the library]; there were some trees that were not there then, they’re there now. And I ordered 20 pails, and one of the women, she moved away, she might be dead by now, she screamed at me, “You’re crazy! We’re gonna get stuck with them pickles!” Oh god, she drove me nuts. That day they had Greenlawn Day, so they closed off Broadway, and they had vendors in the street and everything. I think it was an hour and twenty minutes, the 20 pails were gone. So, I said to [the woman about how they sold out], and she just went “Oh (huffed).” So, then we outgrew this and went to the farm, and then it blew out of sight.”
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How the GCHA got the Gardiner Farm
"So, they [Herbert and his lawyer] set up a trust; I mean really set everything down and out, what’s gonna happen. So, finally I said, “Great I’m glad you got it.” A while went along, he said something about, “You know this isn’t really right,” “What’s the matter,” "Well," he said “I’m leaving everything to you. Everything.” So, I said, “Well Herbert that would be unbelievably generous, but my kids will sell this place in a heartbeat. I don’t want this place to... [disappear]” So, I said, “We got to give it to the Greenlawn Historical,” “I don’t know those people,” Oh god, strangers were the plague. [Took] probably 3 years to convince him, “I’m on the board. As long as I’m alive Herbert, it’ll be here.” So finally, after... you didn’t hound him, bring it up and drop it. He’ll stew a couple days and then he’ll bring it up when you come back. He’d be thinkin. So, he said to me, “Is that what you want me to do,” “It’s the only way we can save it Herbert,” so he said, “Well alright.” Then, I said to Herbert, “You got to give us some money to keep the place going,” “Yeah, no problem.” So, then he goes, “Well suppose I give it to them. Suppose they want a giant parking lot here or they want to sell 2 acres,” “No, no." [Then] he says, “I’m gonna give you lifetime rights, for the rest of your life, to farm here as you wish.” That’s the key word, wish. And then he said, “It can never be sold. They can never break it up, and if times change where they don’t want it anymore, its gotta go to another non-profit, and then I want a sign up that it’s “John Gardiner Farm,” I want the family remembered.”
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Support our Association
Gift Options
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Greenlawn-Centerport Historical Association Mug
$12.00
Click here!
| Buy either book at our office in the library for a membership discount! | | | |
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Centerport
Discover the Deco estates, summer camp spots, and stunning landscapes that Long Island's North Shore coastal community of Centerport has to offer.
Once known as Little Cow Harbor, the coastal community of Centerport on Long Island's north shore is rich in natural resources, including a beautiful harbor with several freshwater streams surrounded by wooded hills. Centerport was originally the site of several important mills, but in the late 19th century, it became a summer retreat for both the rich and the not so rich. Youth camps, most notably the Franciscan Brothers' Camp Alvernia; guesthouses; and resorts as well as popular restaurants dotted the shoreline. In the early 20th century, large estates were established by the Vanderbilt, Van Iderstine, Burling, Morse, DeBrabant, Whitney, and Corbin families on the Little Neck peninsula. As the 20th century progressed, modest and generously sized houses replaced the small farms and many of the large estates. The unspoiled natural beauty and rich history has for centuries drawn residents whose love of Centerport continue to make our village a great place to live.
Click here! $20.00
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Greenlawn: A Long Island Hamlet
From the archives of the Greenlawn-Centerport Historical Association comes this striking visual history of the north shore Long Island hamlet of Greenlawn.
Originally known as Oldfields, the area was settled in the early 1800s by farmers. The extension of the Long Island Railroad through the farmlands in 1867-1868 provided the impetus for the development of a profitable pickle and cabbage industry, the growth of the community, and the arrival of vacationers, many of whom soon became year-round residents. Greenlawn includes stories of the Halloween eve conflagration, the Adirondack-style vacation retreat, the opera house, the farmhouse murders, the vaudevillians, and the Pickle King, among others. Today, houses cover the old farmlands; yet Greenlawnwith -one main street of small shops, a railroad crossing that halts traffic throughout the day, and many historical buildings-still retains its small-town charm.
Click here! $20.00
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