www.forgotten-ny.com has a new entry on the Horse Brook that used to run through Elmhurst. Check it out:
Our Mister Brook
While your there don't forget to visit his Elmhurst page.
Have you been to Elmhurst
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Elmhurst
Elmhurst was first known as Middleburgh, and later as Hastings, when it was established in 1652. Colonists began to refer to Hastings as “new town” in order to distinguish it from Queen’s first and abandoned settlement of Maspeth (established in 1642, abandoned in 1644). In 1683, the name Newtown was officially given to the village and township. In 1896 Cord Meyer jr. successfully rallied to change the town’s name to Elmhurst (meaning “a grove of elms”) in an effort to disassociate his development from the notoriously polluted Newtown Creek.
Places to order old Elmhurst photos
Elmhurst on the web
Labels
- railroad (24)
- Cord Meyer (22)
- Durkee (12)
- fire (9)
- Newtown (6)
- Clement Clarke Moore (4)
- overdevelopment (3)
- questions (3)
- police (2)
- PS89 (1)
- Whitney Avenue (1)
Elmhurst Books
- Elmhurst: from town seat to mega suburb (1995) Vincent F. Seyfried
- The future of us all (1998) Roger Sanjek
Real Estate / Map links
About Me
Things I'm looking for
- Any photos you care to share
- Recollections / photos of Fairyland
- Recollections/photos of the Knickerbocker / Elmhurst Coal and Ice Company
- A photo of the Golden Hour Diner
Send me stuff !!!
Do you have old photos of Elmhurst to share? Send a copy to OldElmhurstNY@hotmail.com and I'll put them up.
Fond memories of 11373? I'll post them too.
Fond memories of 11373? I'll post them too.
7 comments:
sweet pic! excellent blog! 11373 4eva
I was born and lived 'til I was 4 years old on 53rd ave. by the Ascencion School. I'd love to see some pix of that block to see how my fetal recall is.
George
goawayhole@cox.net
I lived in Elmhurst from 1946 through 1976 before stupidly moving to nearby Jersey. However, my parents remained residents of Elmhurst from 1940 through 1999 and so I spent a great deal of time in Elmhurst over the years. When my wife and I retired from the Civil Service we decided to spend 1/2 the year in Elmhurst. We liked the cost of living in Elmhurst as well as the nearby communities (ethnic groups) of Jackson Heights, Forest Hills, Flushing and Maspeth. In the early 1950's, when I spent most of my free time playing sports in P.S. 102, there were few cars parked on the street and there were plenty of empty lots, including the entire area of Lefrak City. I played baseball on a lot adjacent to Fairyland, across Queens Boulevard from the Elmwood Theater (Now the Rock Church).
As the years went by Elmhurst gradually changed from being a community of people of European descent to one of Asian and Hispanic descent. English is rarely spoken on the streets these days including in any of the wonderful Asian mom and pop stores that line Broadway all the way up to Roosevelt Avenue.
When I was a kid in the 1950's there were no homeless people in Elmhurst while now they are a frequent everyday sight. The Grand Avenue subway station is crowded now while back then it often seemed oddly abandoned. And if today you take the subway from either Grand Avenue or Elmhurst Avenue or Roosevelt Avenue you will most likely not hear English spoken.
I moved back to Elmhurst because it is where my parents lived their entire married lives and because it is the place where I grew up and always felt comfortable in. Things have changed in ways that would have certainly be inconceivable in the 1950's and even into the mid and late 1960's. When I was growing up we never ate out as a family. But even had we wanted to there would have been a dearth of choices, like Howard Johnson's on Queens Boulevard. There were very few restaurants in Elmhurst proper, certainly less than a hand full (not counting the Candy Store counters). But now, within a mile radius of my apartment house door there must be 300 restaurants, and all are affordable. I like the umbrella's that the Asian women carry. I like the noise, the dirt, the hustle of Broadway and of course further west, Roosevelt Avenue. I don't like the honking horns but what can you do? But I do like it when I see great tanks filled with live fish being delivered to a Chinese supermarket. I do like the Chinese Supermarkets. Walk around the supermarket, paying special attention to the fish department and the tofu choices. Check out all the dried foods. I like the colorful clothing of the Indians, Moslems, South Americans, etc. As you walk Broadway towards Roosevelt Avenue you will not believe you are still in America. There are no tourists in Elmhurst, yet it is in its own way more interesting than Park Avenue in Manhattan.
As I already said, Elmhurst coop living is affordable middle-class living. You absolutely can retire to NYC on a moderate income if you take advantage of residential locations other than Manhattan. And besides, in Elmhurst you have the subway and buses at your doorstep.
ACTUALLY HORSEBROOK STILL RUNS IN ELMHURST IT RUNS RIGHT UNDER THE TARGET BEST BUY LOCATION ON QUEENS BLVD THEY HAVE A SPECIAL PUMP THAT CONTROLS THAT AND IT ACTUALLY FINISHES OFF AT FLUSHING RIVER YUP WE STILL HAVE HORSEBROOK CREEK!!
thanks for this infor, i would like to read more about this topic.
hi anonymous who wrote the longer entry, i see you know a lot about the neighborhood and would love to hear more of your stories, anyway i can have your personal email?? ive also wanted to talk to somebody with more information. thanks!
I love this blog! I was born and raised in Elmhurst and have always been fascinated by this history. I understand that change is inevitable but I do want to preserve the houses the way they are and stop building those unsightly cement multi family houses with no greenery whatsoever. I envision and Elmhurst that is beautiful with Newtown Pippin apple Trees (those are considered heirloom now --- look it up on Wikipedia!) and Elm Trees (hence our name Elmhurst) and treasured old family houses and beautiful greenery everywhere, Heck I even want the Horsebook Creek back!
Thanks for your work with this blog -- I hope you write soon ! And I hope you sign the petition to save Horsebrook House which is in danger of being torn down -- it's the oldest historic residential home in Elmhurst from 1700!!!!!
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