Sand Hole Church

Methodist Church (also known as the Freeport Methodist Episcopal Church and the Freeport United Methodist Church) in Freeport was established in 1833 when William B. Raynor helped the Methodists purchase a small wooden store on the west side of the Hempstead-Babylon Turnpike, south of Seaman Avenue, and had it moved to the property of John B. Powell (today Babylon Turnpike, north of Grand Avenue). This original church, known as the Sand Hole Church, was used by the congregation for 25 years and was presided over by local and itinerant preachers.

Later, the Methodists erected a church on South Main Street for a cost of $1,800. In 1891, on Pine Street between Church Street and South Grove Street (Guy Lombardo Avenue), the Methodists built and dedicated a new building. It was reported the new church accommodated 400 people in the Sunday school room and 375 in the church.

The original steeple had to be lowered after it was damaged by lightning around 1959. The steeple had been hit by lightning sometime in its early history, but no major damage was reported. The steeple was hit by lightning a third time in 1993.

In 1935, the New York State Education Department dedicated a roadside marker on the church’s original location.