Freeport

Chief city and tax-free port on the island of Grand Bahama, in the West Indies; population (1997 est) 35,000. Freeport is the second-largest city in the Bahamas, and with neighbouring Lucaya (with which it is twinned) it is the centre of tourism and commerce on Grand Bahama. A large industrial zone incorporates huge oil-bunker installations, a refinery belonging to the Bahamas Oil Refining Company (BORCO), a cement factory, a tube factory, pharmaceutical works, chemical-processing plants, and food-processing centres. Chief exports include food, chemicals, and oil.

The island of Grand Bahama was largely undeveloped until 1955 when US financier Wallace Groves entered into an agreement with the Bahamas government to develop a city and tax-free port in the area designated Freeport. By the late 20th century, it was attracting over half a million visitors per year with its hotels, golf courses, beaches, casino and duty-free shops.

Groves agreed to pay for government services in Freeport, dredge the deepwater harbour, and encourage settlers, commercial developers, and industries with tax concessions. The Grand Bahama Port Authority, with Groves as president, was established to administer the area. In 1960 he formed the Grand Bahama Development Company to promote tourism and purchased the area which is now the neighbouring city of Lucaya. Because of the way in which it was built from scratch on undeveloped land, Freeport is also known as ‘Magic City’.

Freeport

Town and administrative headquarters of Stephenson County, northwest Illinois; population (2000) 26,400. It is situated on the Pecatonica River, 21 km/13 mi south of the Wisconsin state border and 45 km/28 mi west of Rockford. It is a trading and shipping point for local dairy and agricultural products. Manufactures include medicines, batteries, switches, paper products, steel tanks, shop and farm machinery, tires, and toys. Many insurance companies have their headquarters here.

Freeport was settled in 1835 on the site of a Winnebago village by people dissatisfied with working conditions in the nearby Galena lead mines. Railways reached the town in the 1850s, stimulating economic development. The Freeport Doctrine, stipulating that local legislation could counteract the effects of the Supreme Court's slavery-affirming Dred Scott Decision, was set forth by Stephen Douglas in the second Lincoln-Douglas debate, held here 27 August 1858.

Freeport

Town in Cumberland County, southwest Maine; population (1990) 6,900. Including the villages of Porter Landing and South Freeport, it is situated on Casco Bay, 24 km/15 mi northeast of Portland. A former shipbuilding centre where the final papers establishing Maine as an independent state were signed in 1820, Freeport is best known as the home of the L L Bean retail and mail order company. In the 1980s Bean was joined by numerous other ‘factory outlets’ and discount stores, making the town a shopping mecca. A yachting harbour, on the Harraseeket River, and crab fishing and packing are also important. The Desert of Maine, an area of glacial sand dunes, is to the northwest.

Freeport

Community in Hempstead town, Nassau County, southeast New York; population (1990) 39,900. It is located 40 km/25 mi east-southeast of Manhattan, on Long Island's South Shore. It has a well-developed commercial waterfront area, and is a centre for boating and fishing, with access to the Atlantic Ocean through the Jones Inlet; it is also a gateway to Jones Beach, and a regional shopping hub.

Freeport

Town in Brazoria County, southeast Texas; population (1990) 11,400. It is situated at the mouth of the Brazos River, 88 km/55 mi south of Houston. Founded in 1912 by exploiters of local sulphur deposits, it is in an area also producing salt, oil, and gas. The town has a deepwater port with a commercial shrimp fleet. It is also the centre of the Brazosport complex. The town processes and exports gasoline and chemicals, and a big desalinization plant is nearby.