The more things change......

Mustard warms Elmhurst

Wealthy residents rise in protest against a factory in their midst.

Wealthy residents of the Elmhurst section of Queens have risen in protest against the location of a mustard and spice factory of the Durkee Company on Corona Avenue and Card Place, in the very midst of their homes. The proposed site is almost bounded by property belonging to St.Bartholomew's Roman Catholic Church, St. Jame's Episcopal Church, the Elmhurst Methodist Church and the Newtown Dutch Reformed Church. Within a stone's throw are homes of well-known members of the theatrical profession. All the property was originally sold under restriction.
With the information that the Cord Meyer Company had sold the property to the Durkee Company came the statement that the factory would be surrounded by lawns and flower beds, and it would be an ornament to the community. But this did not satisfy the residents, and last evening William Boyes announced that he had been engaged as counsel by several of them to oppose in court the establishment of the factory.

Published in the New York Times March 16, 1917


Two subjects I will touch upon as this blog grows are:

1. Cord Meyer - the developer of Elmhurst
2. at the turn of the century Elmhurst was a wealthy neighborhood, with large homes lining Whitney avenue. Most were plowed under to meet the post World War One housing boom.