In this section you can view archival and contemporary photographs provided by professional photographers, sandminers and their families and historical resources. They reveal the variety of activities connected with the Port Washington sandmines over time, and the geological basis for the industry's success.

Scrapbook

Samples of news clippings, flyers, letters, postcards, magazine articles and announcements featuring 'Sands of Port' and 'Particles of the Past' programs, booklets and exhibitions. These initial projects were made possible by funding from the New York Council for the Humanities, the New York State Council on the Arts (Folk Arts Program), and private foundations and donors. This section is arranged by type of material and then chronologically, from past to present.

The Book

We invite visitors to follow the story of sandmining in Port Washington as told by historian Elly Shodell and selected men and women who lived and worked in the sandbanks. If you would like to add any information, please send your e-mail to (localhistory@pwpl.org) and we will include it in an electronic update.

Movies

Live footage from 1981 and 1994 captures the interaction between sandminers and interviewers, exploring the environmental impact and historical context of Port Washington's sandbanks. Includes a rare video interview with retired sandminer Al Marino ("A Good Livelihood"), and a Cablevision production ("Back to Port") which chronicles, among other things, remnants of the final years of sandmining activity on West Shore Road.

Audio

Read the words and hear the voices of sandminers and their family members as they recall their years working and living on the sandbanks, and what it meant to them. Listen to the sounds of work and home in these excerpts from the Port Washington Public Library oral history project. Included are a radio spot with Albert Michael Salerno (retired sandminer) and Lucy Salerno (librarian, Port Washington Public Library); a walking tour with local historian Dr. George Williams; and an audio montage produced by Charles Potter, which accompanied the exhibition "Particles of the Past: Sandmining on Long Island, 1870s-1980s". Time clips are indicated in minutes and seconds. Full tape recordings can be heard at the Local History Center, Port Washington Public Library, One Library Drive, Port Washington, NY 11050.

Transcripts

First-hand testimony from sandminers was collected during an Oral History Project conducted by the Port Washington Public Library in 1983 under a grant from the New York Council for the Humanities and the New York State Council on the Arts (Folk Arts Program). Additional interviews with Al and Lucy Salerno in 2001 bring the story up to date, thanks to Jim Metzner Productions, Inc. ('Pulse of the Planet' radio program) and Allan Zullo, director of research for the Pope family saga. Interview transcripts provide detailed information on every aspect of the Port Washington's sandmining story---including memories of immigration, working conditions, education, social and cultural life and current controversies about land use and the environment.

Resources

This section contains additional reference materials pertinent to sandmining on Long Island, its geology, social history, and importance to New York City. Sub-categories are: Books and Guide (some with full text), Selected Bibliography, and Timeline of the Port Washington sandbanks.