Cotton Inn
Building as bike shop, 2011 (Via Google Maps). 
Building vacant, 2024 (Via Google Maps). 
Building as the Celebrity Club, 1950’s (Via https://pocketsights.com/tours/place/Celebrity-Club-59839:6677) 
Advertisement for Freeport Manufacturing Co., The Nassau Daily Review, March 28th, 1932, page 11. 
Rally Announcement, The Nassau Daily Review, October 31st, 1934, Page 4. 
Description of an arrest near the Cotton Inn, The Nassau Daily Review, September 30th, 1935, Page 14. 
Clipping naming Guy Miceli as the owner of the Cotton Inn, The Nassau Daily Review-Star, August 22nd, 1939, Page 2. 
Advertisement for an anti-Jim Crow rally headlined by Paul Robeson, The Hempstead Sentinel, September 16th, 1948, Page 8.
Clipping describing the 1952 fire, Brooklyn Eagle, June 23rd, 1952, Page 9.
Clipping showing the building for sale, Nassau Newsday, August 4th, 1971, Page 83. Known Name(s)
Cotton Inn
Address
77 E. Sunrise Highway Freeport, NY
Physical Status
Extant
Description
The building is a single story, rectangular in shape, made of brick with a flat roof, possibly built in 1934. It has a slightly stepped facade on the roofline facing the street. At the time of its listing in the Green Book, the structure may have had metal exterior siding with four windows facing the street and a small awning covering the entrance to glass double doors. Today, the building features a white painted brick facade and only two windows facing the street, with the outer two no longer extant. The building once also had an alleyway situated to its left, which is now occupied by the structure at 67 NY-27.
Detailed History
Opened around 1934, the Cotton Inn was a popular nightclub spot for the African American community in Freeport. It occupied the location once used by the Freeport Manufacturing Co. for dressmaking, though it is unclear if this business operated in the same building. The club boasted a full orchestra and bar. In 1939, the owner of the establishment was Gaetano "Guy" Miceli, who may have also owned the Roosevelt Tavern at 401 Nassau Road. Community events were held at the venue, including a rally for the Freeport Colored Republican Club in 1934. Actor and singer Paul Robeson also spoke at a civil rights rally at the Cotton Inn in 1948. Newspapers from the area also reported a great deal of crime in and surrounding the establishment. The Cotton Inn closed in 1949 and became the Celebrity Club, which operated into the 1960s and served much the same purpose in the community as its predecessor, hosting events and gatherings. Iving Cohan owned the club in the early 1950s. In 1952, a fire caused $10,000 in damage to the structure, possibly accounting for some of the changes to it over time. The building was offered for sale in 1971, at which time it was listed as having a wood floor, air-conditioning, and 3750 square feet of floor space. By 2012, the building was in use as a motorcycle repair shop. As of March 2025, it is vacant.
