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History of Freetown

Sat, 10/08/2022 - 07:42
The circa-1885 George and Sarah Melissa Fowler House, which has been preserved by the Town of East Hampton.
East Hampton Library Long Island Collection

Allison McGovern, an archaeologist and anthropology lecturer at Columbia University, will speak at 1 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 8, at the East Hampton Historical Farm Museum about the origins of East Hampton's Freetown neighborhood, which Black and Indigenous people have called home for more than 200 years. Ms. McGovern has gathered oral histories from Freetown residents to document the neighborhood's beginnings and evolution.

The farm museum is on North Main Street in East Hampton at the corner of Cedar Street. Ms. McGovern's talk will be held in the shelter of the barn on the property in the event of rain.

Villages

Item of the Week: The MacKay Twins at Play, 1892

This cyanotype photograph shows Dorothy MacKay and Ruth MacKay, the twin daughters of Emily McIlvaine DuBois MacKay and the Rev. William Richard MacKay, playing on the gate to their house on Cottage Avenue.

Jul 16, 2026

An East Hampton Tradition: St. Luke’s Summer Fair

St. Luke’s Episcopal Church’s annual summer fair — its 140th! — happens on Saturday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Jul 9, 2026

Beach Signs for the Instagram Era

New signs were installed last week at the three lifeguarded East Hampton Village beaches: Main, Georgica, and Two Mile Hollow. They were designed by Emma Edwards, the 21-year-old owner of Dama Creative Solutions.

Jul 9, 2026

 

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