The Northport Historical Society’s second decade, 1972-1982, proved to be an important one filled with major accomplishments. Board President, Howard Knowles, along with Rowley Bialla, applied for a permanent charter as the provisional charter was set to expire. The Board also revamped its by-laws, adopting a governing board of trustees that would be elected by Society members and serve three staggered three-year terms, a model still used today.

Mayor Peter Campbell cuts the ribbon to officially open the Museum, with Henrietta Van Siclen.

Jack Kerouac is undoubtedly one of Northport’s most famous residents of the late-twentieth century.

1977 Times Magazine file.

Author Thelma Jackson ends her book African Americans in Northport: An Untold Story with a list of graves of African Americans in Genola Cemetery, East Northport. One family that rests there is the Braziers. Until now, information on this family has been scattered across newspapers, yearbooks, census’, and church records. Taken together, one can see a family with deep roots in Northport and to other African American communities of Long Island. Here are the stories of the Braziers in Northport.

Lottie Brazier senior portrait. Northport High School Yearbook 1927. Copyright Northport Historical Society 2022.

When you think of the first people who lived on our corner of this island, who do you see in your mind’s eye? What names do you give them?

Title page of booklet written by Edwin L. Brooks, Asharoken Village Historian, 1953. Illustration by Rube Goldberg.

1962 – 1972 – The Northport Historical Society Organizes and Grows

When word got out that another Victorian home was to be razed and a flat roofed, cinderblock A&P was to be erected on the corner of Main Street and Norwood Avenue, Marilyn Campbell was so upset, she couldn’t sleep at night. She sent a telegram to the chairman of A&P, threatening a boycott of the store and signed herself as President of the Northport Historical Society. 

Our Founding Mother - Marilyn Campbell

In honor of Hanukkah and the rich history of Jewish life in Northport-East Northport, we hope you will enjoy eight mini-profiles on members of the Jewish community in NENP. Concluding this piece is a brief history of the East Northport Jewish Center.

Saltz and Alter store, circa 1900. Image copyright Northport Historical Society.

This is the story of how our community came together in the face of fear and devastation during the year after the September 11th attacks.

A view of local officials and mourners gathered in Northport Park on September 16th, 2001.

Shirley Geller spent much of her life cultivating beauty. In 1985, she brought new beauty into the world by planting a wild garden in the middle of a pavement parking lot, and saved some Northport history along the way.

Mainspring Archive: Andrew Geller Collection.

June is Pride Month, when people around the world celebrate the diverse ways in which humans love each other, and honor the civil rights battles LGBT people fought before and continue to fight today.

A mural painted by the Northport High School Gay Straight Alliance. Photo by Kristin Orig.