Settling Queens

By LIZ GOFF

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To Your Neighborhood
Astoria • Auburndale • Bayside
Bellerose • Corona • Douglaston
Elmhurst • Flushing • Forest Hills
Fresh Meadows • Glendale
Howard Beach • Jamaica
Jackson Heights • Little Neck
Long Island City • Maspeth
Ozone Park • Queens Village
Rego Park • Richmond Hill • Ridgewood Rockaway • Whitestone
Woodhaven • Woodside

When the ice melted, there was Queens, a great melting pot that drew gene-rations of families to its shores seeking a better life, sharing their cultures and beliefs and setting down roots to make Queens what it is today.

Vast chapters have been penned documenting families with names like Astor, Bowne, Steinway, Parsons and Rikers and their contributions to the development of Queens.

But what about their neighbors? The folks who built the houses, cultivated the land, kept shop and taught in the schools while making some history of their own as the years grew up?

From The First To Settle

Astoria, Queens – In 1651, William Hallet arrived in Astoria from England to claim the rights to the Jacques Bentyn tract at Hallets Point.

Astoria’s first permanent settler purchased the land from the Native American in 1652.

Hallet became the first permanent settler in the area when he purchased Astoria in 1652 for 58 fathoms of wampum, seven coats, one blanket and four kettles.

Astoria grew and thrived for 200 years, and by 1839 the area boasted a population of 750 people. At that time, Stephen Halsey – probably the first "community activist" in the area – renamed "Sintsink" (a Native American name) after his friend and associate John Jacob Astor.

Halsey revamped the town, building stores, factories and homes. For many years to follow, Astoria was the summer resort to some of New York’s wealthiest families.

Improved ferry service drew large crowds of people to the North Beach Amusement Resort (now LaGuardia Airport) and Schutzen Park, an old-fashioned beer garden located at Broadway and Steinway Street.

Astoria was a quiet town in 1830, where local law enforcement slapped a $5 fine on anyone caught firing a gun, bathing nude, or flying a kite.

Local farmers headed to the taverns once the crops came in, waiting to load their produce onto the Manhattan-bound ferry.

settling-reenact.gif (15499 bytes)
Some of the early settlers of Astoria
are represented in this modern
Queens re-enactment.
Tribune Photo By Ira Cohen

Did you know that one farmer invented the Manhattan cocktail during a long wait for the "produce ferry?"

More than 2,250 people called Astoria home by 1850 – a population that exploded by the 1870s when large numbers of Irish, German and Polish immigrants flooded the shores of Astoria. Many came to seek work on the construction of the Long Island Rail Road.

Jasper Durner arrived in Queens in the mid-1800’s. He left his family behind when he emigrated from Germany, sending for his wife and children one by one when he scraped together enough money for their passage by boat.

In the 1840’s, Durner established a dairy farm on a tract of land at Northern Boulevard and Steinway Street (at the site of the present Merit gas station). The farm became somewhat profitable, and Durner sent for his family, pre-paying their passage aboard one of the great ships that sailed from Europe into New York’s harbor.

Queens got the name from Queen Catherine of Braganza. This
controversial statue of the Queen built
to be placed in the modern borough has been surrounded by controversy and claims that the Queen engaged in
the slave trade.

Durner sent for his 10-year-old daughter in the fall of 1847, and waited for the notice of when her ship would dock. He couldn’t have known of the danger his daughter faced when she reached the ship in Germany.

There were, at the time, bands of criminals who preyed on young passengers who traveled to America alone. They would grab the youngster, change his or her travel class, send the child into steerage and pocket the difference in the price of the ticket.

Durner’s daughter was kidnapped by the men. She traveled to America in steerage, surviving only on black bread and water. Her father was considered "rich" for the land he owned, so instead of a notice to pick the girl up at the ship, he received a ransom note demanding "$50" for her safe return.

Durner sold some livestock and promptly met the demand, then stood in a dirt road alongside his farm at an appointed time, waiting for his daughter to arrive.

The girl, who spoke only German, was terrified, sick from the "rocky" trip and the bad food she was given. She was cold and confused – but her spirits rose when her kidnappers tossed her into a horse-drawn cart and told her she was headed to her father’s farm.

As the cart turned onto a road leading to the farm, the girl spotted a familiar figure – her father in the distance. Fearful that she would not be released, the girl tumbled out of the cart, breaking both hips in the fall. The cart sped off as Durner ran to his daughter.

Durner eventually sold his tract to the Long Island Rail Road. The girl recovered, but walked with a limp. She married and raised five children on a farm located at 31st Street and 34th Avenue.

This site used to welcome visitors to North Beach Amusement Resort in the early days of Astoria.
Tribune Photo Ira Cohen

The Durner farmhouse was moved, when the land was sold, to a tract some miles away – on 35th Street between 36th and 37th Avenues, where it sits to this day.

Many of the German immigrants headed to Bowery Bay, at the tip of Astoria (at 42nd Street near Berrian Boulevard).

They set up homes on a 400-acre tract dubbed "Steinway Village." The village boasted a post office, library, kindergarten and streetcar – all amenities created by the Steinway family for use by employees of their piano factory.

The Steinway family lived in a mansion nearby, on a hill overlooking the factory and the village. The mansion still stands on 42nd Street and Berrian Boulevard, extensively rehabilitated by its present owner, Michael Halbernian.

settling-mansion.gif (21435 bytes)
The Steinway Mansion as it
appears today on 42nd Street
and Benian Boulevard.
Tribune Photo By Ira Cohen

Another monument to the Steinways is the bustling commercial strip that bears their name and runs from Berrian Boulevard to Northern Boulevard – through the original "Steinway Village."

Did you think delicatessens were a "thing" of the 20th century?

Think again!

Between 1864 and 1889, there were nine delicatessens in Astoria – but only two sewer pipes.

There were 191 grocers, 10 Chinese laundries, 14 news dealers, 28 physicians and dentists, one telegraph office, 12 undertakers – but no banks.

One corsetiere operated out of a store in Steinway Village, 48 shoe and boot dealers dotted the Astoria area, along with 50 cigar dealers, 63 butchers, four bowling alleys – but just one policeman.

Growing On A-Parallel

Flushing Queens – Flushing has always been a town with spirit. Make that two spirits.

The township, settled in 1695, included the areas now known as Flushing, College Point, Whitestone, Malba, Bayside, Fresh Meadows, Douglaston, Little Neck, Beechhurst and Kew Gardens Hills.

Flushing welcomed back the Remonstrance last year with local residents and historians anxious to see the historic declaration of religious freedom and (below) local actors re-enacting the signing. Tribune Photo By Ira Cohen

Flushing was settled by a group of Englishmen who dubbed the area "Vlissingen" after an ancient Dutch town.

The Quakers came to Flushing in 1657. Their arrival sparked a series of events that tested the promise of freedom offered by the New World.

Shortly after the Quakers arrived, Governor Peter Stuyvesant banned the practice of all but the Dutch Reformed religion in the township, despite the existence of the Flushing Remonstrance.

The charter, issued on Dec. 27, 1657 by the Dutch government, guaranteed the freedom of religious worship. The document was signed by 28 landholders in Flushing, and later provided the basis for a battle by the Quakers and others who sought true freedom of worship in the New World.

The Queens Botanical Gardens, shown in 1958, continue the tradition of horticulture that began with the settlers’ first nurseries.

The Quaker Meeting House in Flushing is the oldest house of worship in New York City, and it still welcomes visitors to worship each week.

John Bowne was an Englishman who came to Flushing in 1661. He built his home and subsequently opened it to any Quaker who sought to practice their religion without fear of persecution
(for more on the freedom to believe
click here.)

Bowne was arrested for his actions, imprisoned and exiled. He eventually took his case before authorities at the Dutch West Indies Company. His freedom was restored in 1664 – at the same time the Dutch authorities restored freedom of religion in Flushing. Bowne had sacrificed his freedom to establish one of the basic principles of freedom in the New World.

Bowne returned to his home, where he remained until his death in 1694. But did he ever really leave?

During its long life, the Flushing Town Hall has filled many roles, from army recruitment to clerks office and police station (shown) and from disco to its modern–day use as a performance space and jazz club.

If He Did…

…Who is the "friendly" spirit roaming through the oldest building in Queens?

Might it be the specter of John Bowne, master of the house?

While no one knows for sure if there is a ghost at Bowne House, visitors to the 342-year-old house have passed down tales of a friendly presence there – described by some as a "Colonial spirit."

Some say it’s Bowne who roams the house – a spectral image said to send shivers up the spines of even non-believers.

Tree Haven

"The Mother of Tree" is what early settlers dubbed Flushing, where French Huguenots settled and established the first nurseries in the area.

William Prince opened the Linaen Botanic Gardens in 1732, which remained in operation for almost 200 years.

Samuel Parsons later opened the Parson Nurseries in Flushing, which drew the likes of George Washington and Thomas Jefferson, who purchased cuttings of rare plants and shrubs.

Planted by Parsons, the giant weeping beech tree – the only living landmark – stood on 375th Avenue and Parsons Boulevard until 1998.

The tree was cut down in ceremonial fashion, a victim of age and a tree "disease," but its siblings live on at the site.

Convicts To Culture

The building sings the songs of a dozen generations. Standing in the midst of the mortar and steel of "downtown" Flushing, the Flushing Town Hall is a symbol of culture through the centuries. It stands regal and majestic – the heart and soul of the Flushing community.

Recruits with the Union Army gathered in Flushing in 1861, before they headed south to fight in the Civil War.

Area politicians were embarrassed when they realized the Flushing area had no indoor meeting place. To remedy the problem, a town hall was built in 1864 – soon to become a cultural and political center for the entire city.

Flushing Town Hall has served as an opera house, police station, jail and a dinner theater.

Town Hall was declared a city landmark in 1967 and was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 1972.

The building was vacated in the 1970s and fell into a period of neglect and disrepair.

The community became alarmed by a large number of homeless people who took up residence there, and sought relief from the city and local legislators to clean up the site. After much publicity and public pressure, the Town Hall was refurbished and reopened to the public in 1993.

But there’s more history attached to the hall – history of a "spiritual nature." To understand, we must first travel back to the days of the Civil War, when Flushing Town Hall was home to the local opera company.

Upstairs, at the Flushing Opera House, when the great stage of the grand ballroom was host to some of the era’s most popular performers.

Legend has it that the impresario of the opera house, having been called off to fight in the War Between the States, vowed to return to the hall after war was won.

The impresario never made it home. He was killed during the war – never to keep his promise to return to the Flushing stage.

Or Did He?

Over the years, reports of strange goings-on and spectral sightings at the hall have led many people to believe that the impresario did return.

New immigrants have changed the flavor of Queens’ earliest neighborhoods. These performers from the Helen Skarla Dance Studio are wearing the masks necessary for ancient Greek drama in a performance at Athens Square Park in Astoria – now home to one of the largest Greek population outside of Greece.
Tribune Photo By Liz Goff

Passers-by report strange sounds and music, dancing eerily from the old ballroom – always empty at the time, always deserted.

During massive renovations at the hall in the mid-70s, workers refused to stay in the building alone after witnessing what they described as a man dressed in the garb of a Union soldier, climbing the staircase leading to the old stage.

Workers were further jolted when a radio, left at one end of the ballroom, twice turned itself off while they were busy painting and plastering across the room.

Most of the ghostly goings-on reported at the hall are linked, in one way or another, to music – a sign believed by many to indicate that the impresario has returned to his beloved stage.

And The Music Plays On

Flushing was incorporated as a village in April 1837. The area was a nursery and summer resort area throughout the 19th century.

First Signs Of City Life

Long Island City, Queens – What neighborhood stirs memories of gristmills, Revolutionary soldiers and the aroma of bread baking?

Long Island City is the largest community in Queens County, and was the earliest part of Queens to be recognized by the Dutch in 1642. Licenses were granted to some Dutch citizens to settle in Queens – some of those in Long Island City.

The name may look menacing in this piece of local 20th Century graffiti, but the colonists named the place after the Dutch who settled it and the tributary waters that flowed throughout it. Tribune Photo By Liz Goff

The political and administrative heart of Long Island City has always been in the "downtown" area of Hunters Point – close to the intersection of Vernon Boulevard and Jackson Avenue.

Though it’s hard to imagine, just over a decade and a half ago, "downtown" Long Island City was a small island, barely more than four blocks wide and measuring just a little less than that in length. The rest of the area was a vast, low-lying meadow, flooded at every tide by the waters of the East River.

This area, watered daily by the "pure and unpolluted flow of the river and surrounding creeks," spawned a huge crop of salt hay. In the summer, crowds of waterfowl nestled in the sleepy meadows, where fish bred in abundance in shallow, clear waters.

Rocky crops dotted the area, remainders of the granite base of Manhattan Island.

Wisps and walls of trees and bush filled the area, where beavers built dams and Indians fished in icy clear streams.

In 1870, the hamlets of Hunters Point, Ravenswood, Astoria, Bowery Bay and Middletown united to form Long Island City. The area grew by leaps and bounds, due to its extensive waterfront, commercial traffic on Newtown Creek and its position as a railroad terminal.

The united people of Long Island City were thrilled when the bill for the new city passed the Assembly, and later the Senate. Headlines rang out the news, "The Day of Jubilee Has Come!" – and on Wednesday, May 4, 1870, guns were fired and flags were displayed on homes throughout the area to celebrate. Long Island City was incorporated. The area was no longer a geographical expression. It was a political reality.

The Long Island City Courthouse – now a landmark structure – was formally dedicated on April 4, 1877. Still turning the wheels of justice, the courthouse is considered one of the most prominent buildings in Long Island City – and architecturally one of the most impressive.

Long Island City became a part of Greater New York on Jan. 1, 1898.

In about 1869, a small congregation of Roman Catholics began worshipping in a public building in Long Island City that accommodated about 500 people.

In November 1874, Fr. Ignatius O’Brien came to the area and inspired the construction of a frame building, seating 1,200, at the corner of 24th Street and 42nd Road in Dutch Kills.

The congregation took off in leaps and bounds and, thanks to the efforts and generosity of the church community, St. Patrick’s Roman Catholic Church was built on 29th Street and 40th Avenue – a "majestic" house of worship made of brick and terra cotta trimmings. The cornerstone of the church was laid on Sept. 11, 1898.

The cost? An estimated $45,000.

With the growth of the congregation, worshippers at St. Patrick’s realized the need for a school for local youngsters.

The first St. Patrick’s School was built of wood and filled with a belief in the growth of the area. Some years later, elementary school students who attended "St. Pat’s" were unable to stay in the school building when it rained or snowed because the roof of the building leaked. What to do?

Parishioners reached deep into their pockets and sought contributions for the construction of new school building. But perhaps the most impressive method of gathering funds was performed by the youngsters themselves – who went door to door in the Dutch Kills area, "selling" bricks for two cents a piece, bricks that would be used in the construction of the school.

St. Patrick’s Church stands today, refurbished and remarkable as a symbol of the faith of the community.

1614: ASTORIA SETTLED

Square Miles: 2.7

Origin of Name: Named after John Astor.

Ethnic Mix: 20% Greek, 20% Italian, 20% Hispanic, 10% Black, 30% Mixed.

Tallest building: Shore Towers Condominium.

Famous Street Names: Steinway Street – "The World’s Longest Department Store," Ditmars Boulevard.

Landmarks: Steinway Mansion and The Riker Rapelye-Lent House.

Oldest Building: The Riker Rapelye-Lent House.

First Street: Broadway.

Oldest Business: Steinway Piano.

Celebrities Past & Present: Tony Bennett, Ethel Merman.

Most Interesting Fact: SS Hussar, a British payroll ship sunk in the 18th Century under what is now the Hell Gate Bridge. It still lies buried, with $5 million in gold waiting to be found.

Claim to Fame: Houses the largest motion picture studios between Hollywood and London.

1628: FLUSHING SETTLED

Origin of Name: Named after "Vlissingen," a Dutch town where many of Flushing’s settlers originated.

Tallest Building: The Sheraton LaGuardia Hotel in downtown Flushing.

Famous Street Names: 37th Avenue was named for Congressman Benjamin Rosenthal.

Landmarks: The Bowne House, the Quaker Meeting House, Flushing Town Hall, the Flushing Armory, St. Michael’s Church (first Roman Catholic congregation in Queens).

Celebrities: Louis Armstrong grew up in Flushing, as did Gertrude Ederle and Nancy Reagan.

Claim to Fame: A history of religious freedom; home to the largest Korean-American community in the city; a thriving downtown economy in a time of recession.

1637: BAYSIDE SETTLED

Origin of Name: The first official reference to "Bayside" is in a property deed signed by John H. Smith and his wife to Silas Titus, dated May 1, 1793. The description of the property boundaries in the deed read, "… on every side by a highway that is on the north by a highway that leads to the bay side…" Judge Effingham Lawrence officially named Bayside in 1799.

Oldest Building: c. 1790 Cornell Appleton House on 33rd Road and 214th Place.

Famous Street Names: In 1920, so many actors lived along Corbett Road that it was dubbed "Actors Row." Also, silent screen star Pearl White used to stroll down Bell Boulevard with a white pig on a leash. Horace Harding Expressway was named after stockbroker James Horace Harding in 1926. Harding commissioned engineering studies for the road, originally called Nassau Boulevard. Abraham Bell was a wealthy shipping merchant who owned over 300 acres of land in Bayside. Bell Boulevard was named after him.

School Facts: In 1842, the first public school was built for $360 near 48th Avenue and 216th Street. In 1859, as Bayside’s population continued to grow, a larger, two-room school was built north of the original land owned by William Titus. In 1898, it became P.S. 31 and is today called the William Titus School. The John Golden School, P.S. 162, at 201-02 53rd Ave., was named after the noted theatrical producer. Golden owned a large estate at 215th Place and 32nd Avenue, formerly owned by movie star Pearl White. He donated the property to the city, stipulating that it become a public park especially for the use of young people. Golden later hosted an annual extravaganza at the estate called "Bayside Is A Harmonious Town."

First Street: Bell Boulevard (originally Bell Avenue).

Landmarks: In 1862, the U.S. government acquired the area of Willets Point and began construction of what came to be Fort Totten army Reserve Base. Originally, it was developed for protection against possible raids by Confederate ships during the Civil War. In 1870, it became the first Engineers Depot in the United States. The fort was reactivated in 1898 and major fortifications were placed on a hill above the fort. In 1901, President McKinley named the Fort after Brigadier General Joseph G. Totten, creator of the eastern coastal defenses. It has now been excised by the U.S. Amry and is under the supervision of the New York City Fire Department. Most of the land will be opened up for public use and parkland.

1637: LITTLE NECK SETTLED

Year Founded: 1637 by Adrian Block.

Famous Street Names: Van Nhostrand Court was named after the Van Nostrand family.

First Street: Northern Boulevard.

Landmarks: The Zion Episcopal Church was built in 1830.

Claim to Fame: Since 1928, Little Neck’s Memorial Day parade has consistently been one of the biggest, if not the biggest, annual parade in New York City.

1641: MASPETH SETTLED

Origin of Name: Named after the Mespot Indians who lived near the head of Newtown Creek, west of Maspeth, in 1609.

Ethnic Mix: Polish, Lithuanian, Italian, German, growing numbers of Korean, Puerto Rican and Greek.

Famous Street Names: Maurice Avenue, named after James Maurice who owned a duck pond on 58th Street and Rust Street and much of the land in the area.

Landmark: The two large red gas tanks that lie on the Elmhurst border.

Claim to Fame: Before Judy Garland hit it big in "The Wizard of Oz," she used to sing at the area’s only theater, which is now a bingo parlor.

Most Interesting Fact: In 1895, a bunch of bookies staged a county fair in Maspeth to include horse racing. The authorities discovered that the races were fixed and showed up. The jockeys, knowing what was up, rode their horses right out of the fair and vanished into the countryside.

1642: LONG ISLAND CITY SETTLED

Origin of Name: Originally a stretch of land on Long Island, the name "Long Island City" was adopted after the area was "civilized."

Tallest Building: Citicorp Tower

Oldest Building: Queens County Bank, 51-02 2nd St.

Landmarks: St. Mary’s Church, Engine Co. 258, Ladder Co. 115 Bldg., 108th Precinct, Queens County Bank, Hunter’s Point Historic District, P.S. 1, Brewster Building, Degnon Terminal, Vernon Boulevard.

First Street: Old Ridge Road, located between 29th and 30th Streets in Dutch Kills, this dirt road is the last piece of the last original road in Long Island City.

Famous Street Names: West Street, Dutch Kills Street, Borden Avenue.

Celebrities: Jackie Gleason, Patty Duke, Ethel Merman.

Claim to Fame: The "center of it all" – Long Island City lies in the center of the "hub" of western Queens, within minutes of Manhattan, "and the world."

Most Interesting Fact: The original millstone from Burger Jorissen’s Mill on Dutch Kills (1647) lies in a traffic island adjacent to the Long Island Savings Bank at Bridge Plaza.

1645: WHITESTONE SETTLED

Origins of Name: The Dutch discovered a white glacial boulder at the spot where the East River meets the Long Island Sound within Whitestone, Malba got its name from the first letter of the surnames of the men who laid out the community; and Beechhurst and was named for a grove of beech trees.

Ethnic Mix: Irish, German.

Famous Street Names: Parsons Boulevard was named after the Parsons’ Family. Francis Lewis Boulevard was named after Francis Lewis, a signer of the Declaration of Independence.

Landmarks: Oscar Hammerstein House at 168-11 Powells Cove Blvd., circa 1924.

Celebrities Past and Present: Walt Whitman, Charles Colden, Mary Pickford, Harry Houdini.

1652: ELMHURST SETTLED

Origin of Name: Named for elm trees that surrounded the neighborhood.

Ethnic Mix: Indian, Hispanic.

Tallest Building: Lefrak Buildings.

Famous Street Names: Van Loon Street, Queens Boulevard, Broadway.

Landmarks: Presbyterian Church, Moore Homestead.

Most Interesting Fact: Elmhurst was held captive by the British during the Revolutionary War. Today, more than 150 languages are spoken here.

1656: JAMAICA SETTLED

Origin of Name: Derives its name from the Jeneco or Genego tribe of Indians.

Ethnic Mix: African-American, Caribbean.

Tallest Building: Rochdale Village, Control Tower at Kennedy Airport.

Famous Street Name: Jamaica Avenue has been an Indian trail, a King’s Highway, and a county turnpike for Long Island farmers and farm wagons leading to markets in Brooklyn and Manhattan where they sold the fruits and vegetables they grew.

Most Interesting Fact: In 1836, Wilson Rantus, a black leader, purchased lots on Douglas Avenue, Jamaica, for $120. He and his neighbors developed a civil rights movement to advance black interests on "The Green" (170th to 175th Streets, between present-day Jamaica Avenue and Douglas Avenue) and in New York State.

1662: JACKSON HEIGHTS SETTLED

Origin of Name: Named after John C. Jackson, "architect" of Jackson Avenue; now Northern Boulevard.

Ethnic Mix: German, Irish, Hispanic, Colombian, Mexican, Indian and Argentinean.

Landmarks: St. Joan of Arc R.C. Church.

Celebrities Past and Present: Charlie Chaplin, Douglas Fairbanks Jr., Carroll O’Connor, Kevin Dobson, Don Rickles.

Claim to Fame: First garden apartments community.

1678: QUEENS VILLAGE SETTLED

Origin of Name: In 1824, it was renamed "Brushville" for Thomas Brush, and then, in 1826, it borrowed the name "Queens" from its Nassau neighbor, which was named for Queen Catherine of Braganza, wife of Charles II of England.

Tallest Building: Jamaica Water Tank at Springfield Boulevard.

Oldest Building: 18th Century, Parsonage of Embury Methodist Church.

Oldest Business: Formerly the Commonwealth Hotel, now reconstructed and expanded as Antun’s Caterers on Springfield Boulevard.

First Street: The first residential street was 218th Street. It was built in the 1870s.

Landmarks: The Creed Farmhouse was built around 1780 and is now the office of Antun’s Caterers. The Dutch Reform Church, built in 1858, is now the Queens Reform Church. Belmont Race Track is also located here.

Celebrities Past and Present: Painter Charles Henry Miller and mayoral candidate and former assemblyman John Esposito.

Interesting Fact: Most Democratic candidates for president since 1960 have visited Antun’s Caterers.

1686: ROCKAWAY SETTLED

Origin of Name: Rockaway Native Americans – Reckawoque – which means place of shining water.

Ethnic Mix: Irish, Jewish, Italian, Black and Hispanic.

Tallest Building: Roy Reuther Houses – senior residence on Beach 9th Street.

Oldest Building: Irish Circle – was Schilling’s Roadhouse built in 1892.

Oldest Business: The Wave and Loeb & Mayer Meats – both in 1893.

First Street: Rockaway Beach Boulevard was Washington Avenue and evolved from Native American trail.

Landmark: Cornell Family Burial Cemetery – Richard Cornell, the first white settler in Rockaway was buried there in 1694.

Celebrities Past and Present: Far Rockaway High School graduates: Dr. Joyce Brothers; Nancy Lieberman – female basketball star; Dr. Jonas Salk – discovered polio vaccine. Summer homes: mayors Jimmy Walker and Abe Beam; Sarah Bernhardt; Kate Smith.

Claim to Fame: Site of the first transatlantic flight in May 1919 (years before the Lindbergh flight) from Rockaway to Europe.

Most Interesting Fact: The roller coaster that was in Rockaway Playland was filmed for the opening scene of Mike Todd’s "Cinerama" – the first wide screen movie made.

Commerce/Industry Leader: Adult home/nursing home industry.

1826: WO0DSIDE SETTLED

Origin of Name: Named by John A.F. Kelly for the "woody" area surrounding Kelly’s homestead.

Ethnic Mix: Irish, German, South American, Asian.

Tallest Building: Big Six Co-op.

Famous Street Name: Betts Avenue

Landmark: Donovan’s Pub.

1835: DOUGLASTON SETTLED

Origin of Name: Originally called Marathon, the village was renamed in 1872 at the request of William B. Douglas.

Landmarks: The Allen-Beville House at 29 Center Dr. is a farmhouse built in 1848 for Benjamin P. Allen. It was acquired by the Beville family in 1946. Cornelius Van Wyck’s farmhouse, built in 1735, still stands at 126 West Dr.

Celebrities Past and Present: Angela Lansbury, Joan Crawford, George Raft, Ginger Rogers, Arthur Treacher, Claudio Arrau, Betty Furness, Hedda Hopper, Annette Kellerman, John McEnroe Jr.

Interesting Fact: An 1870 windmill, which originally served the Douglas farms at 222 Arleigh Rd., was destroyed by vandals in 1986 at the Alley Pond Environmental Center. But a $300,000 working reproduction of the windmill, now located at 228-06 Northern Blvd., has since been completed. Today, the public can see how wind-powered water pumps function and visit a 35-foot-high observation deck.

1835: WOODHAVEN SETTLED

Origin of Name: Originally named Woodville (which means Woodstown). Since there was already a Woodville in upstate New York, the name was changed to Woodhaven.

Ethnic Mix: Lithuanian, Italian, Irish, Polish, Russian, Hispanic, Asian.

Tallest Building: Franklin K. Lane High School.

Oldest Business: Leader Observer founded in 1909.

First Street: Jamaica Avenue, originally an Indian trail, became a roadway and then a toll road.

Celebrities Past and Present: Mae West lived on 89th Street; Betty Smith lived in Woodhaven when she wrote "A Tree Grows In Brooklyn," Donald Trump’s father, Fred, started out by building rooming houses in Woodhaven.

1854: RIDGEWOOD SETTLED

Ethnic Mix: Italian, Yugoslavian and Hispanic (used to be mainly German).

Tallest Building: St. Aloysius Roman Catholic Church, 360 Seneca Ave., built in 1917.

Oldest Building: The Onderdonk House – 1709.

Famous Street Name: Fresh Pond Road, named after the many fresh water ponds that were in the area.

First Street: Flushing Avenue (named in 1850s) was a Native-American footpath and was improved by colonists in 1642.

Landmark: Onderdonk House. Ridgewood is one of the largest federal historic districts in the U.S.

Celebrities Past and Present: Phil Rizzuto. James Cagney briefly attended P.S. 71.

Claim to Fame: Once known as a beer capital – had many breweries and saloons.

Commerce/Industry Leader: Knitting mills.

1865: GLENDALE SETTLED

Origin of Name: Named by George S. Schott who came from a town in Ohio named Glendale and acquired a considerable part of Glendale in payment of a debt.

Ethnic Mix: German, Italian, Hispanic.

Tallest Building: Woods Inn, 1830s.

Oldest Building: George Werst Funeral Home, Cooper Avenue and 72nd Street, built in the middle 1800s as a mansion for the Liggettmeyer tobacco family.

Oldest Business: Woods Inn.

Claim to Fame: There are 12 cemeteries in Glendale and more tombstones than living people.

Most Interesting Fact: Glendale’s building boom ended in the 1930s when the last farm was sold and subdivided for $5,500 houses which are worth more than $200,000 today.

1870: CORONA SETTLED

Origin of Name: Parcels sold by realtors using crown insignia. "Crown" in Italian is "Corona."

Ethnic Mix: Italian, Puerto Rican, Colombian, Asian, Indian.

Tallest Building: Lefrak Development, 18 stories.

Famous Street Names: Horace Harding Expressway, Roosevelt Avenue, Junction Boulevard, Queens Boulevard.

Landmarks: Combes Sanitarium.

Oldest Business: The Lemon Ice King of Corona.

Celebrities Past and Present: Louis Armstrong.

Claim to Fame: Home of two World’s Fairs.

Most Interesting Fact: Mentioned in the Simon and Garfunkel song "Me and Julio Down by the Schoolyard."

1880: OZONE PARK SETTLED

Origin of Name: Named for the invigorating breezes that blew over it from Jamaica Bay and the Atlantic Ocean.

Ethnic Mix: Italian, Polish, some Asian and Hispanic.

Oldest Businesses: Aqueduct Race Track, 1894; Boo’s Florist, 1932.

Famous Street Names: Rockaway Boulevard was named after the Rockaway Indians. It was an ancient Native-American trail used by the tribes living in central Queens and eastern Brooklyn, to travel to Rockaway Beach to dig for clams.

Landmarks: Aqueduct Race Track, opened in 1894 along Rockaway Boulevard. At that time, the grandstand was a wooden shack.

1887: BELLEROSE SETTLED

Origin of Name: Belle Rose was the daughter of the Rose family, who farmed a tract of land named Gladioli Fields; Floral Park was named by John Lewis Childs for its beautiful surroundings.

Ethnic Mix: Irish, Italian, German.

Tallest Building: Creedmoor Psychiatric Center.

Oldest Building: House at 4 Massachusetts Blvd., built in 1910.

Landmarks: 1772 Colonial Farmhouse at 75-50 Little Neck Pkwy., and the Queens County Farm Museum.

Most Interesting Fact: The annual summer festival at St. Gregory Roman Catholic Church attracts over 35,000 people each year to the 10-day event. Also, Bellerose contains one of four postal routes in Queens that is serviced by Nassau County. So when a Flushing resident mails a letter to a Bellerose neighbor, that letter goes through the Flushing Post Office to Nassau County’s to Bellerose.

Commerce/Industry Leader: Historically, vegetable farming.

1888: RICHMOND HILL SETTLED

Origin of Name: Named after popular resort of the time that overlooked the Thames River, outside of London.

Ethnic Mix: Large White Roman Catholic population, growing number of Indian residents.

Tallest Building: Jamaica Hospital at 89th Avenue and the Van Wyck Expressway.

Oldest Business: Triangle Hofbrau – famed dining place of Jim Corbett, Babe Ruth and Mae West – started as Doyle’s Hotel in 1864. It is the oldest continuously run restaurant in Queens and the oldest still-used tavern on Long Island.

Famous Street Name: Lefferts Boulevard named after the Lefferts family.

First Street: Fulton Street (now Jamaica Avenue) was a Native-American trail converted to a street in the early 1700s by the British.

Celebrities Past and Present: Jacob Riis – Danish-born journalist (1849-1913) who fought for better tenement housing for the poor and recreation areas for the young – also created Christmas seals. Lived at 84-39 120th St from 1885 to 1911, among other locations in Richmond Hill. Ernest Ball – songwriter, author of "When Irish Eyes Are Smiling," among others. Jack Cassidy, Rodney Dangerfield and Cyndi Lauper are all graduates of Richmond Hill High School.

Most Interesting Fact: The Simonson Funeral Home opened in 1887 at 94th Street and 101st Avenue in Ozone Park, and moved to its present location of 119-04 Hillside Ave. in 1920. It is the oldest family-owned funeral home in the state.

1890: HOWARD BEACH SETTLED

Landmarks: Frank M. Charles Memorial Park, a strip of sand at 165th Avenue between Shellbank and Hawtree Basins, named after a local World War I hero. Our Lady of Grace Church, 100-05 159th Ave., opened in 1924. During the Depression, the church ran a cafeteria to feed children and distribute bread.

Ethnic Mix: Italian and Irish.

Famous Street Names: Remsen Court, named after Col. Jeromus Remsen. The old Howard Beach Post Office was next to Smitty’s Bar on Remsen Court.

Celebrities Past and Present: Tennis player Vitas Gerulaitis, John Gotti, Woodie Guthrie (composer of "This Land is Your Land").

Interesting Fact: Around 1933 the Brackman family sold part of their farm to a few entrepreneurs who built the Cross Bay International speedway. It was a quarter-mile oval track in operation until the late 1930s, but closed because of a few serious accidents.

EARLY 1900s: FRESH MEADOWS

Ethnic Mix: White, Black, Asian, Hispanic.

Tallest Building: The Fresh Meadows Development Complex.

Oldest Building: The strip of stores along the southern side of Horace Harding Expressway is the oldest in the neighborhood.

Famous Street Names: Francis Lewis Boulevard; Horace Harding Expressway.

First Street: Union Turnpike.

Landmarks: There is a Native-American burial ground on 182nd Avenue, between 67th and 69th Avenues.

Claim to Fame: Successfully forced the Helmsley-Spear company to settle for building maintenance; successfully fought to maintain police and fire facilities.

Commerce/Industry Leader: Small Business.

1905: AUBURNDALE SETTLED

Tallest Building: Several five and six story apartment buildings near edge of neighborhood.

Oldest Building: The Treasureland Development, built in the early 1920s, between 35th and 29th Avenues, from 200th to 205th Streets.

Oldest Business: Jerry’s Hardware at Horace Harding Expressway and 175th Street has been in Auburndale for three generations.

Famous Street Names: The Treasureland Development was a popular setting for 1920s detective novels.

First Street: Northern Boulevard.

Landmark: The Treasureland Development is one of the oldest suburban housing developments in the city.

Claim to Fame: Site of the 1987 fire bombing of the "boarder baby house," where Mayor Koch first coined the political term "NIMBY" ("Not In My Back Yard).

Most Interesting Fact: Has had its name changed more than most neighborhoods in Queens.

Commerce/Industry Leader: No real leader among small business community.

1906: FOREST HILLS SETTLED

Origin of Name: Named for Forest Park, the largest park in Queens, on the southern border.

Ethnic Mix: Jewish, Irish/Italian Catholic, Asian, Indian and Hispanic.

Tallest Building: Kennedy House, a 33-story co-op at 110-11 Queens Blvd.

Oldest Building: Professional office building on 72nd Avenue, built in 1906.

Oldest Business: Ermish Meats, 71st Road.

First Street: Queens Boulevard.

Landmarks: Remsen Family Center on Alderton and Metropolitan Avenues; the Forest Hills Inn in Station Square.

Celebrities: Geraldine Ferraro, the first woman to run for Vice President of the U.S.; Dale Carnegie; Thelma Ritter (actress); Ernest Grunfeld (former vice president of the Knicks).

Claim to Fame: "This is a neighborhood where real estate values and commercial rents remain high, that is relatively crime-free, and has superior schools." – Jeff Gottlieb, Queens Historian.

Most Interesting Fact: Gerald McDonald Park on Queens Boulevard was given its name in 1933, over the protest of Borough President George Upton Harvey, who had originally named the park Thomas Harvey Park in honor of his father.

1925: REGO PARK SETTLED

Ethnic Mix: Jewish, Catholic, Asian, Hispanic.

Tallest Buildings: Bowery Savings Bank, Queens Boulevard and 63rd Avenue; Park City Estates, 99th Street and 62nd Drive.

Famous Street Names: Eliot Avenue named after topographical engineer Walter Eliot.

Celebrities Past and Present: Sid Caesar, Eddie Bracken, June Havoc, Herbert Miller, Fred Silverman, Marty Ingels, Tommy Mackell, Bess Myerson, Gypsy Rose Lee and Vera Ellen.

Claim to Fame: Martin Landau and Barbara Bain were married in 1957 at the Boulevard, a nightclub located where the New York Telephone building currently is at 63rd Avenue and Queens Boulevard.

Most Interesting Fact: Rego Park has, in recent years, emerged as an independent community, separate from Forest Hills.