Owning a memento of Rockville Centre dating back to the late 1800s or early 1900s can cost as little as $20, thanks to a collaboration between Lost Dog Art and Frame Co. and the Rockville Centre Historical Society.
James McDonald, owner-designer of Lost Dog, located at 19 S. Park Ave., moved his shop from Brooklyn to Rockville Centre three years ago and reached out to the historical society last fall to discuss a partnership that would allow him to bring some of its images and maps out of the archives and into people’s homes as prints and framed art.
“I’ve always been a history buff,” said McDonald, who met with RVC Historical Society President Frank E Seipp to discuss his idea. “A lot of the historic images they have are stored in file cabinets and there’s some iconic stuff,” he added. “I was really intrigued with what I saw.”
Some of the images that caught McDonald’s eye were the downtown area and train station, the Fire Department’s fleet of vehicles, and a group of youngsters surrounding New York Yankees icon Mickey Mantle at the Recreation Center.
While RVC Village’s Phillips House Museum, located in a restored Victorian-era home at 28 Hempstead Ave., has been shuttered since Covid-19 hit in early March, the collaboration moved forward during the pandemic and gained traction over the summer when McDonald secured 15 images and one map.