Northport Historical Society & Museum's landmark diorama gets a makeover with help from local train club

Keith Fensterer and Terry Reid check out the historical diorama of Northport on display at the Northport Historical Society & Museum. Credit: Rick Kopstein
With help from a model train club, the Northport Historical Society & Museum has unveiled its recently refurbished
diorama of the village's Main Street showing what the area looked like more than a century ago.The diorama, like some of the buildings it depicts, is a landmark. It has been displayed intermittently in the museum's gallery since it was donated in 1982, museum officials said. It features buildings along Main Street as they appeared between 1915 and 1919 — from the village's west end, near Northport Harbor, uphill and to the east toward Trinity Episcopal Church.
Terry Reid, executive director of the museum, said visitors there are immediately drawn to the diorama.
“It’s the first thing they see when they walk in,” she said. “But over time it had faded; it got a little dilapidated.”
While planning the yearlong exhibit “The History of Our Main Street,” museum leaders decided the diorama would play a key role. So they put out a call to the community to help restore it.
That call was answered by Keith Fensterer, a member of the Northport Chamber of Commerce and the Nassau Lionel Operating Engineers, a Levittown-based model train club.
The club removed and transported the diorama to its facility in January, when the museum closes for the month, and began painstakingly restoring it, Reid said.
A team of about 12 members cleaned, refurbished and added elements to the 7-foot-long structure over a six-week period. The $2,000 restoration was paid for with donations from Northport-area merchants and supporters.
While several of the buildings depicted have been lost to history — either fire or progress — other building fronts remain surprisingly familiar. Roof lines and window placements are similar, even if facades have been added, Reid said.
The restored diorama was unveiled last month with updated signs and scenes, in miniature, of people fishing, playing checkers and shopping. And in a nod to the village trolley that rumbled along Main Street between 1902 and 1924, the diorama now features a trolley that's wired to move.
Fensterer said the restoration relied on the talents of several members of the club to deliver a realistic project.
“It takes a village to do these types of projects,” he said.
Here are some of the landmarks the diorama depicts.
According to information on the church’s website, the cornerstone of the building was placed on June 16, 1889, and the first service was held on Christmas Eve of that year. The church has undergone several expansions over the years, including the enlargement of the main worship space in the 1960s. Its congregation today is led by the Rev. Andrew Garnett.
The bar is known to locals and international literary fans alike as a favorite watering hole of Beat Generation writer Jack Kerouac. The poet and author of the classic novel "On the Road" lived nearby in the 1950s and '60s and was a frequent patron. The back part of the building was constructed in 1887 and used as a hotel. In 1921, a brick facade was added. After Prohibition, part of the building was used as a bar. In 1962, Peter Gunther bought the bar, which remains today. Just to the east is a building that now houses the Firefly Artists Gallery, which, in the diorama, is a drugstore.
Four buildings on the north side of Main Street, near the harbor, greet visitors approaching the village from the west. The building on the corner of Main and Bayview Avenue, featuring a florist shop and nail salon, was built in 1850 and used as a grocery store. Next to it, going east, is a distinctive building designed in 1895 that was used as a real estate business and Northport’s namesake bank. Today it is home to an insurance company. Next to that is a building featuring three storefronts that have been used over the years as a meat market, bakery and a deli. And then there is the building that houses The Sweet Shop, a family-owned and operated luncheonette and confectioner since 1929. It was built in 1895 and used as a bank.
With help from a model train club, the Northport Historical Society & Museum has unveiled its recently refurbished
diorama of the village's Main Street showing what the area looked like more than a century ago.The diorama, like some of the buildings it depicts, is a landmark. It has been displayed intermittently in the museum's gallery since it was donated in 1982, museum officials said. It features buildings along Main Street as they appeared between 1915 and 1919 — from the village's west end, near Northport Harbor, uphill and to the east toward Trinity Episcopal Church.
Terry Reid, executive director of the museum, said visitors there are immediately drawn to the diorama.
“It’s the first thing they see when they walk in,” she said. “But over time it had faded; it got a little dilapidated.”
Miniature Main Street
- The historical diorama has been displayed intermittently at the Northport Historical Society & Museum since it was donated in 1982.
- It features buildings along Main Street as they appeared between 1915 and 1919.
Members of a Levittown-based model train club refurbished and added elements to the 7-foot-long diorama over a six-week period earlier this year.
While planning the yearlong exhibit “The History of Our Main Street,” museum leaders decided the diorama would play a key role. So they put out a call to the community to help restore it.
That call was answered by Keith Fensterer, a member of the Northport Chamber of Commerce and the Nassau Lionel Operating Engineers, a Levittown-based model train club.
The club removed and transported the diorama to its facility in January, when the museum closes for the month, and began painstakingly restoring it, Reid said.
A team of about 12 members cleaned, refurbished and added elements to the 7-foot-long structure over a six-week period. The $2,000 restoration was paid for with donations from Northport-area merchants and supporters.
While several of the buildings depicted have been lost to history — either fire or progress — other building fronts remain surprisingly familiar. Roof lines and window placements are similar, even if facades have been added, Reid said.
The restored diorama was unveiled last month with updated signs and scenes, in miniature, of people fishing, playing checkers and shopping. And in a nod to the village trolley that rumbled along Main Street between 1902 and 1924, the diorama now features a trolley that's wired to move.
Fensterer said the restoration relied on the talents of several members of the club to deliver a realistic project.
“It takes a village to do these types of projects,” he said.
Here are some of the landmarks the diorama depicts.
Trinity Episcopal Church
According to information on the church’s website, the cornerstone of the building was placed on June 16, 1889, and the first service was held on Christmas Eve of that year. The church has undergone several expansions over the years, including the enlargement of the main worship space in the 1960s. Its congregation today is led by the Rev. Andrew Garnett.
Gunther’s Tap Room
The bar is known to locals and international literary fans alike as a favorite watering hole of Beat Generation writer Jack Kerouac. The poet and author of the classic novel "On the Road" lived nearby in the 1950s and '60s and was a frequent patron. The back part of the building was constructed in 1887 and used as a hotel. In 1921, a brick facade was added. After Prohibition, part of the building was used as a bar. In 1962, Peter Gunther bought the bar, which remains today. Just to the east is a building that now houses the Firefly Artists Gallery, which, in the diorama, is a drugstore.
Corner of Main Street
Four buildings on the north side of Main Street, near the harbor, greet visitors approaching the village from the west. The building on the corner of Main and Bayview Avenue, featuring a florist shop and nail salon, was built in 1850 and used as a grocery store. Next to it, going east, is a distinctive building designed in 1895 that was used as a real estate business and Northport’s namesake bank. Today it is home to an insurance company. Next to that is a building featuring three storefronts that have been used over the years as a meat market, bakery and a deli. And then there is the building that houses The Sweet Shop, a family-owned and operated luncheonette and confectioner since 1929. It was built in 1895 and used as a bank.

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