History buffs and curious locals alike can now uncover Port Washington’s history by accessing recently digitized archives of the Port Washington News. Every edition from 1903 through 1996 is available on the Port Washington Public Library website.
For three years, library archivists have been working to digitize over 115,000 pages of The Port News. Through the database on the public library website, anyone can read complete editions of the paper or search for articles based on keywords like a name or address.
The Friends of the Library spearheaded the effort to fund the digitization process, raising around $15,000 since 2021 to digitize microfilms of often fragile newspaper pages.
“We are delighted we’re keeping the tradition alive and that the library will keep it alive for its entire history by digitizing past issues,” said Victoria Schneps, president of Schneps Media.
The paper’s earliest editions weren’t flashy. No images adorned the covers, only pillars of texts featuring the day’s most popular syndicated columns. The most prominent “story” on The Port Washington News’ first edition on March 20, 1903, was the poem “The Haunted Palace,” by Edgar Allen Poe.
While most of the older, lower-grade wood-pulp copies of The Port News have disintegrated into dust, the stories, businesses, and happenings around town still have an impact on life around Port Washington and Nassau County today.
One hundred years ago, on Feb. 20, 1925, the front page of The Port Washington News featured a story announcing the creation of the Nassau County Police Department next to a schedule of vaudeville performances at the long-gone Nassau Theatre.
“The Port News since 1903 has been the chronicler of life in our town. The FOL is so pleased to make possible this one-of-a-kind historical resource,” said FOL President Pamela O’Connell.
O’Connell used the archive to search her Victorian-era home’s history. After combing through mentions of her address, she stumbled across a paid advertisement from 1919 placed by a former occupant of her home. The unknown woman politely asked neighbors to return the purse and expensive pin she lost one Sunday morning while taking a train to Manhattan.
“It was like a window opened to the past, it’s a fascinating thing,” O’Connell said.
Port Washington Library archivist Liz Agramonte says when members approach her asking about their home’s history, she can find former homeowners and their stories by searching the newspaper’s archives. The original family at Agramonte’s home were socialites who frequently posted notices advertising parties.
While the digitization process started three years ago, preserving every edition of The Port News has been a nearly century-long effort. From the 1950s through the early 2010s, the library documented its collection of The Port News onto microfilm records. But finding specific stories or keywords would be a tedious task flipping through each edition, Agramonte said. With more libraries selling their microfilm projectors and fewer people learning the skill, the PWPL decided to upload its 20th-century archive on the web.
The library hired the company Advantage Archives to help digitize the stored-away microfilm collections, and after three years of waiting, members of the public can access every newspaper page. The database joins other 20th century archives on the PWPL website, like the Nassau County and Port Washington Telephone Directories.
To access the library’s research databases, including the Port Washington News archive, visit portwashington.advantage-preservation.com.
