Group seeks to preserve historic Elmhurst cemetery

From the Queens Gazette:

Underneath a muddy desolate back lot near 47-11 90th Street in Elmhurst exists a forgotten cemetery. Almost two centuries ago, African-American residents of what was then known as Newtown buried their family and friends in this sacred place of eternal rest.

According to the Elmhurst History & Cemeteries Preservation Society, a total of 310 burials were made in the cemetery. Some burials have been removed but numerous remains are still at the site. The society stated that the African American community in Elmhurst traces backs to the time of slavery in the late 1600s.

In 1828 a parcel of land was donated to former slaves who were members of the United African Society (later known as St. Mark's AME Church) one year after slavery was abolished in New York State. The first African American church, parsonage, school and cemetery were set up at this site. Elmhurst had a free African American community living, working and worshiping in this particular area of Newtown.

In 1914, Booker T. Washington came to speak in Elmhurst to help raise funds for the St. Mark's AME church.

The goal of the society is to make the site a NYC Landmark and for it to be placed under the National Register of Historic Places.

More information, including a petition to save the burial ground, can be viewed here.

Kew Gardens house dating back to 1899 is teardown-bound

From the Queens Gazette:

The three-story Tudor style home at 116-17 Grosvenor Lane was built in 1899—one of many homes located in a forest-like setting.

The Grosvenor Realty Group acquired the property in September, 2017 for $1.35 million and has announced plans to demolish the home in December.

The developer is planning to build a 65-foot-tall, seven-story residential building at the site that will feature 19 apartments and a first-floor residential lobby, along with a laundry room and parking in the cellar for an unspecified number of bicycles.

19 apartments and parking for bicycles? Great. Grosvenor Lane used to be one of the most lovely lanes in the borough. Now it's almost completely crappified.

Columbus isn't going anywhere

From NBC:

A city commission has decided to keep a controversial statue of Christopher Columbus that stands in Columbus Circle, officials said. Katherine Creag reports.

The history of often overlooked Blissville

From Brick Underground:

Blissville, a slice of Long Island City bordered by Calvary Cemetery, the Long Island Expressway, and Newtown Creek, is a rough-hewn, mostly forgotten outpost of New York City.

Once a bustling industrial hub, most of Blissville today is occupied by warehouses, auto repair shops, and yes, there are still some factories. There is also a light sprinkling of homes and storefronts, and much of the building stock dates back to the 19th century. Calvary Cemetery looms along the length of Greenpoint Avenue, the main drag of the neighborhood. The walls surrounding the cemetery, and some of the nearby streets, are littered with broken bottles and other trash, giving today's Blissville an unloved look. The gated cemetery is the only swath of green in the neighborhood—there are no parks or playgrounds.

In the neighborhood’s odoriferous glory days in the 19th century, its location on the banks of Newtown Creek is what made Blissville a place to know. By the 1850s, the creek’s banks were lined with glue factories, smelting and fat-rendering plants, refineries, foundries, and other heavy industries, connected to the rest of the country by trains that ran through the area. Now, not coincidentally, the creek is among the most polluted bodies of water in the country.

East Elmhurst's beloved boulder

From the Times Ledger:

Generations of children in East Elmhurst and Corona grew up with a giant boulder as an important part their lives. It’s where they played and fought and had tea parties and picnics. The youngsters used to bury their pets around it because they loved the Giant Rock and in later years they grew concerned for its future in the middle of the rapid development in and around LaGuardia Airport.

In 1980, a Crowne Plaza Hotel was to be built on the site and adults who were once the children who climbed on the boulder rallied around it fearing developers would destroy the big rock with explosives. Attempts were ineffective and the rock still bears scars of the attempted demolition.

Nearly 20 years later they returned to rally around the rock that was threatened by the construction of the Hampton Inn.

The 1,000-ton boulder, left behind by the glacier that created Long Island 12,000 years ago, became a centerpiece of the parking lot of the two hotels but it had a plaque calling it The Ditmars Boulevard Crowne Plaza Pet Rock after employees at the two hotels had a competition to name it.

Nearly half a year ago, the group addressed a letter to both hotels requesting the name be changed back to Giant Rock.

“We didn’t hear back so we put up a petition online,” Drew said. “But before we could tell them about it we got a letter from them saying they wanted to rededicate it.”

Vivian Callendar and Deborah Tyson, two principal founding members of the Corona-East Elmhurst Historical Preservation Society were thrilled with the group’s success.

My Parents moved from Harlem to Corona and it was a very big deal in 1927,” Callendar said. “When you got out of Harlem this was like the country and this is where we all played together, whether you were from Corona or East Elmhurst.”

Last survivor standing no more

From Brownstoner:

A curious survivor, a freestanding Second Empire mansion at 489 Washington Avenue in Clinton Hill, will soon vanish, to be replaced by an apartment building. Workers were demolishing the upper floors of the already gutted house before Labor Day weekend, knocking holes in the roof and walls.

The faux-stone sheathing is gone, the stoop demolished, and windows and masonry have been removed from the side facades.

The mansard-roofed house is located just outside the Clinton Hill Historic District, and therefore unprotected. Plans call for conversion of the property into a four-story, 21-unit residential building.

This stretch of Washington Avenue, between Gates and Fulton streets, was once scattered with grand 19th century residences on generous lots. In the 20th century, many of the large homes were transformed into religious, institutional or commercial uses. Today, only a few of the houses remain, interrupted by new condos and 20th century apartments.

Falling back on fallout shelters

From PIX11:

Decades after the end of the Cold War, old “Fallout Shelter” signs are still all around New York City. But people are beginning to look at them in a whole new light given the nuclear tensions between the United States and North Korea.

These bomb shelters were built after Gov. Nelson Rockefeller called for a massive shelter program in 1960 (he later had shelters installed in the governor’s mansion and his three homes). Shelters were built in office and apartment buildings and even high-profile places, allegedly including The Waldorf-Astoria and Grand Central Terminal. In 2006, a shelter in the Brooklyn Bridge was also uncovered.

The shelters were stocked with supplies like aspirin, toilet paper and biscuits. By the 1970s however, the shelters had run out of financial support nationally and locally. The remaining supplies were either removed, destroyed or forgotten.

Most of the shelters have been repurposed, with only their faded signs remaining. And until recently, few have given them a second look.

Enjoy these old photos of Ridgewood

There's some Glendale and Middle Village, too.

Save Astoria's historic Dulcken House before it makes the demo list

Hello Crapper:

I just had to post this.

NOW (!!!) I find out about it being torn down. I used to live 2 blocks away from this house and passed it by everyday coming home from school as a kid. I never even heard of Dulcken or knew of the house's possible historical import. I bet you never heard of him before either? Kind of sums up what's wrong with historical preservation in Queens: The public finds out quite often about the historical significance of these things AT THE VERY LAST MINUTE.

It's disgusting and heart-breaking.

At the front,
GtheA

PS Too bad the old black and white photo doesn't have a date. The elevated subway is conspicuously missing on the left side of the photo which means it's quite ancient, no?

Tiffany glass found at new school site, incorporated into design

From NY1:

The site of new public school in Queens became an archeology dig after construction workers discovered fragments left behind by one of America's great artists, Louis Comfort Tiffany.

LPC turns its back on another Queens historic site

From the Queens Chronicle:

In a blow to Queens preservationists, a Downtown Flushing building with a rich history involving Quakerism will be replaced with an eight-story mixed-use building.

The Orthodox Meeting House and Cornucopia Masonic Temple are attached at the site, which is located at 137-66 Northern Blvd.

English colonists bought the location from Matinecock Indians in the 17th century, when Flushing was a Dutch New Netherlands colony, according to zoning consultant Paul Graziano, who made a report about the building’s viability for landmarking in 1994 under a contract with the Queens Historical Society.

A British guardhouse was at the location by the end of the 1600s to defend against Native American attacks. The building was demolished for firewood in 1776.

After the war ended, the site was bought by Orthodox Quakers for use as a secret meeting place (which they had used the location for since the 1600s), according to the report by Graziano, who is running in the nascent Democratic primary race against Councilman Paul Vallone (D-Bayside). They built a meeting house there in 1827. It immediately bordered the Quaker Meeting House during that era, which also saw a split in the religious group known as the Separation: Factions were divided between the Hicksite and Orthodox sects.

The Landmarks Preservation Commission rejected protecting the site in 2014, finding that “it did not rise to the level of an Individual Landmark” according to spokeswoman Damaris Olivo. She did not immediately return a request for comment when asked why it was not determined to be deserving of the status or who submitted the building for landmark consideration.

“If it was in Manhattan, it would have been designated 40 years ago,” Graziano told the Chronicle.

The owner of the site today, an LLC, will build 12 units in the planned eight-story structure, according to the real estate news website YIMBY. Retail, medical office and residential space is set to go there, and demolition permits were filed last year.

Large collection of historical records to be better preserved

From NBC:

Long buried inside the granite of Surrogate Court, what was ancient history to New York is alive again. Geog Huth and Joe Van Nostrand aren't merely history buffs -- they're history's keepers. Their task now is to dust off New York's old court records and deliver them to a larger, safe space. John Chandler reports.

Iron Coffin Lady is laid to rest

From the Times Ledger:

Saturday’s featured speaker was archeologist Scott Warnasch, who was working out of the New York City Medical Examiner’s Office identifying 9/11 remains in October 2011 when he was called to the construction site at 90-11 Corona Ave. to investigate a homicide.

“The operator of a backhoe shattered the coffin and dragged the body out,” Warnasch said. “The construction crew headed for the hills and called us and that’s where I came in. She was so well preserved, we discovered lesions on her skin.”

The archeologist knew the woman had died from smallpox and he was intrigued by her casket, which resembled an Egyptian sarcophagus. Warnasch knew it was the type of coffin that was very expensive and used to bury elites the likes of Dolly Madison, Daniel Webster and President Zachary Taylor, not an African-American woman in her 20s or 30s.

Warnash began years of research and discovered from an 1850 census on Newtown that the woman, who was likely named Martha Peterson, did domestic work in the home of the man who produced the special caskets in a Woodside foundry.

“Clearly the Iron Coffin Lady was loved by her community and was given everything she needed for a proper burial despite the fear of smallpox,” Warnasch said. She was buried in the cemetery at the original location of St. Mark, and Rev. Detherage was determined to pay her back for the indignities of her unearthing.

“She reminds us of where we come from and where we are going as a people and a community of faith,” Detherage said. “When people don’t know their own heritage, they are discounted.”

AMEN.

Iron Coffin Lady exhibit & funeral this weekend

From NY1:

The woman being buried is now known as the Iron Coffin Lady. Archaeologists determined she is a 30-something African-American who died in the 1850s.

Her mumified body was discovered five years ago when a construction crew accidentally dug up her steel coffin while building apartments at 90-15 Corona Ave.

The site was the original St. Mark Church and African burial ground. It was founded in 1828 by the United African Society of Long Island.

Many church members were not aware of the Elmhurst location.

"Because of her and because of the finding of her, our church has had a renewed fervor in learning more about who we are and who we were," Detherage said. "We lost some of the history throughout the years."

Researchers believe the woman was born in the 1820s and lived in a part of Newtown, which is now called Elmhurst, Queens.

Forensic archaeologist Scott Warnasch says the woman's body was so well-preserved, investigators initially thought she might have been a recent homicide victim. But he knew right away she was not because of her elaborate coffin.

Warnasch and a research team spent years investigating the woman. While they don't know exactly who she was, they know some details about her and how she died.

"She had apparently died of smallpox," Warnasch said.

Fifteen other remains were also found at the site. Detherage and the developer have been negotiatiating a deal to build a memorial there. The city says all construction has been halted there until both sides come to an agreement.

Meanwhile, after a weekend of exhibits and tributes at the church, a funeral will be held on Sunday at 4 p.m. for the Iron Coffin Lady.

Local church will bury 150-year old mummy

St. Mark

African Methodist Episcopal Church

95-18 Northern Blvd., Jackson Heights, New York 11372

Phone: 718-899-3306             Fax: 718-899-1636

E-Mail: STMARKCHURCH2@verizon.net

Rev. Kimberly L. Detherage, Esq., Pastor

After almost five years of testing, investigation and research, the 150-year old mummy, the Iron Coffin Lady, uncovered at a construction site that was once the graveyard on the first site of today’s Saint Mark African Methodist Episcopal Church, will be commemorated, memorialized and buried on Saturday, Sunday and Monday, November 5th, 6th and 7th. The officers and members of St. Mark have planned a memorial reception, traditional funeral and burial befitting this historic figure who is a past parishioner of the church.

The memorial reception will commence at 11am Saturday, November 5th and feature exhibits and presentations that interweave the history of African American burial grounds and the church’s history with the possible story of the Iron Coffin Lady’s past life. Donations to offset the costs of the burial, memorial park creation and maintenance are encouraged and greatly appreciated.

Speakers will include archaeologist Scott Warnash, PhD, who was working out of the New York City Medical Examiner’s Office identifying 9/11 remains when he was called to the site in Queens to examine what was thought to be a murder victim’s remains. Warnash, who has made an extensive study of iron coffins and the remains found inside them, will speak on their history as well as the possible identification of the Iron Coffin lady through her DNA and artifacts.

Sandra Arnold of the Periwinkle Project, named for the flower found in many ancient African American burial grounds and operating out of Brown University, is an ongoing documenter of African American graveyards will address the commonalities and peculiarities of these graveyards as well as the database she is compiling of these sites.

Professor Gerald Conlogue, PhD, of Quinnipiac University, who has extensively studied and scanned the mummified remains, will relate his findings on the Iron Coffin Lady. There will also be a report of research findings from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

The traditional funeral will be on Sunday, November 6th at 4pm at St. Mark AME Church on Northern Boulevard and 96th Street in Queens. The Iron Coffin Lady will be eulogized by St. Mark’s Pastor Kimberly L. Detherage, Esquire, and the service will feature tributes from the church family as well as officials of the AME Church. The funeral follows the church’s morning worship service.

The Iron Coffin Lady will be buried at Flushing Cemetery in Flushing, Queens from St Mark Church. The procession will leave St. Mark on Monday, November 7th at 9:30 am, and the Iron Coffin Lady will be re-interred and her body finally laid to rest.
________________________________________

They uncovered a slave grave site in Manhattan and it became a national park.
They uncovered one in Queens and it became condos.
Welcome to the World's Borough!

Queensboro Plaza subway from 1940 to 1960

Remembering Ramblersville

Curbed has a fascinating piece on Ramblersville, a forgotten section of Hamilton Beach.

Never forgotten

Queens Library makes historic photos available online

From the Times Ledger:

The Archives at Queens Library has collected more than 50,000 items since 1912, detailing the history of the four counties that originally comprised Long Island, including Queens, Kings, Nassau and Suffolk, before New York City consolidated in 1898.

The new space for the archives features climate-controlled storage units to preserve the older items, and users accessing the archives online will be able to search through the contents by neighborhood, material type and collection name. The archives include maps, books, newspapers, musical scores, and thousands of photographs from throughout the history of the four counties.

The archives can be accessed online at digitalarchives.queenslibrary.org.

Watching Elmhurst history slowly get destroyed

"Dear Crappy,

This home, built in the 1700's which the neighborhood of Elmhurst tried to save from demo, was denied by the LPC from being declared a landmark. The home last year right after Labor Day had two suspicious fires, and seemed destined for demo. A couple of weeks ago a fence went up around it. Right after most of it came down, the house would have been saved had a stop work order came in time due to the improper removal of asbestos inside. Thanks." - Elmhurst Resident

"It looks like the developers have intentions of building a multi family homes instead of preserving Queens historic home.

They purchased all surrounding homes are knocking them down.

It's sad." - Another Elmhurst Resident