i£x Htbrtfi SEYMOUR DURST When you leave, please leave this hook Because it has heen said "Sver'thing comes t' him who waits Except a loaned hook." Avery Architectural and Fine Arts Library Gift of Seymour B. Durst Old York Library ILLUSTRATED FLUSHING and VICINITY College Point Broadway- Flushing Malba -on- the - Sound Whitestone Bayside Douglaston Little Neck IN THE THIRD WARD, QUEENS BOROUGH CITY OF NEW YORK 1=1 Compiled, Edited and Published by DARBY RICHARDSON under the auspices of Business Men's Association of Flushing Flushing Association Upper Flushing Association Copyrighted, 1917, by Darby Richardson AN APPRECIATION Y 'HANKS are due George IV. Breck for the artistic cover; Richard F. Outcault for Buster Brown sketch; Everett P. Martin, Christopher Clark and Park Commissioner John E. Weier for photographs; President George W. Pople and the Publicity Committee of the Business Men's Association of Flushing — Tax Com- missioner John J. Halleran, Chairman, Ellis Parker Butler, Clinton T. Roe and R. E. Hecker; and the ladies and gentlemen who have contributed the articles on Flushing and Vicinity. The Editor. Cover and half-tone plates by Hagopian Photo Engraving Company, New York Printing by Isaac Goldmann Company, New York. FLUSHING is villagy, and therein lies its old-fashioned charm. Its heritages of old houses and old trees, old friends and old ways pos- sess a magic lure to all who once come under its spell. Every town has its Main Street, and Flushing's hasn't changed in many years save for the garish movie heaven that has thrust itself into the midst of a quiet settlement. Henry, the old cigar maker, still rolls many shapes for many tastes, and every nook has its devotees of Havana and tellers of local history. Nobody seems ever to do any business in Flushing — everybody is always visiting in a next-door-neighbor sort of way; yet through and underneath this friendly calm flows a steady stream of North Shore trade, from old Whitestone and College Point, Bayside and Little Neck and a dozen more surrounding towns — for Flushing is a veritable tollgate of well-stocked shops that feed and clothe the sixty thousand or more residents of the Third Ward of Queens Borough. Over its drawbridge across Flushing Creek must pass all who come and go between New York and these Long Island points. Flushing doesn't have to be apologized for or explained — it needs only to be introduced to weary, long-suffering, pent-up flat-occupants to become the belle of New York's suburban beauties. Flushing is hos- pitable, Flushing people are hospitable, and a few more choice souls will be welcomed into its delightful community. So this book is a shy presentation of the prettiest, quaintest and neatest of New York's country daughters to a large number of benighted fellow-beings, in the certainty that the introduction will be followed by an early call and later by a home under the shade of Flushing's trees. Flushing's Trees ! One never saw so many beautiful trees of so many kinds in a lifetime anywhere else ; there are more trees in Flushing than there are people. But wait and let Mr. Martin describe some of them for you. And "Why I live in Flushing," as told by Ellis Parker Butler, could well be told over and over by many thousands of happy and con- tented home-dwellers who have found rest and peace and quietude here. Other articles by Flushing men and women will tell you what Flushing is doing. Read them all — their wholesomeness is refreshing, and they may lead you on to the Road to Happiness. IN SEARCH OF A HOME Assuredly there is no more wretched, cooped-up, cigar-box dwelling on the face of the globe than the average New York apartment house. Every year ceilings are lower and rents higher. The buildings are uncomfortable, depressing, and if not physically unsanitary they are most unhealthy for the mind. And yet, as one walks through the city, one is constrained to believe that it is largely the cliff dweller's fault. He insists upon following the crowd, packing into apartments hardly large enough for a healthy cat. —Editorial in New York Globe, July 9, 1917. The answer is — Flushing. 3 4 NEW YORK'S SUBWAYS SOON TO REACH FLUSHING AND VICINITY Proposed Extension of Rapid Transit from Alburtis Avenue, Corona, through Flushing to the City Line at Little Neck and to College Point, Malba and Whitestone, by Leasing Tracks of L. I. R. R. Co. THE Dual Subway is shortly to be extended to Flushing and vicinity. Trains are expected to be in operation by May, 1918, with 5 cents fare from any point on present Subway to Flushing, Main and Bridge Streets, and 10 cents to points beyond to Little Neck and White- stone Landing. Agreement is about to be made between the Public Service Commission and the Long Island Railroad for leasing the tracks of the Railroad from Corona through Flushing to Little Neck and to College Point, Malba and Whitestone. Development possibilities of the Flushing district are enormous, and Flushing will probably witness a real estate boom smilar to that which occurred in the Bronx a few years ago. The Third Ward of Queens Borough, which comprises Flushing and other villages shown on accompanying map, lies no farther from Herald Square than does the Bronx, which it almost equals in area — 30 square miles. Soon no more will one have to apologize — "I've got to catch my train," for when the Subway runs through the Flushing district one need not travel there on time-table schedule. And no railroad terminal sta- tion to be reached first, either. Through trains will be operated from Times Square and Grand Central express stations, and one will get to Flushing points in less time than to the Bronx or Washington Heights. Through trolleys now run to Flushing and College Point from 59th Street and Second Avenue, New York, for 5 cents fare in less than one hour; and the Long Island Railroad operates 30 trains a day from Penn- sylvania station in 18 minutes to Flushing. Commutation is $7.10 per month. Appreciation of the coming Subway service to the Flushing section will prompt the forehanded to secure a home in Flushing or vicinity by buying, before the rise in prices, a plot of ground for future building or a residence already erected. 5 You Blame THKE ARtTv^ Reasons VhY I LIVE IN TLVSHttW ONE Re ASotf TVAvS BOfeN HE^:,Th£ OTHER- ONE 1< T THlHKlT 15 ThE VEKY NICEST ToWN ™ iHi^ coMrKf. Turn: ARtiyo w dOQP TREASONS *W BORM INFLV^JWtf- IT JS^l/CH 4 LOVELY Town />mpBe^jpe:s nYPAvms -WERE LlVTNnYThin6 it is n't 7he Fault of OUR^CMooLS. IF J An Not >WPY ^AV£ EVeRYTH INC KCRC HEALTH ANj)HAPP/A/e^ WHY I LIVE IN FLUSHING By ELLIS PARKER BUTLER, the Author THIS May morning, as I sit before my typewriter, I can look out of my window and see the pale green leaves of a thousand trees quivering in the sunlight, and the blue sky through the network of the upper branches, and the white clouds drifting across the blue. I can hear the breeze, in little gusts, whispering through the trees. When I close my eyes I hear the same nature sounds that I hear when I am stretched out flat on my back on some mountain side in the Catskills, a hundred and fifty miles from the heart of civilization. I am far from the rush of dusty, dirty city life. I am in a placid, beautiful country town. My telephone rings. Someone in New York must see me. Eighteen minutes in the cleanest and most comfortable of steel cars, on a swift electric train, puts me in the very heart of Manhattan ! I live in a country town that is a veritable park, and I am nearer the heart of Manhattan than those who live in the crowded tenement-beset Bronx! I was born and raised in Iowa, in a town of 14,000 souls — a town that was a real town, complete in itself and with as much personal character as any man or woman has. Then I came to New York, began Main Street, Flushing 7 FLUSHING AND VICINITY a family, and sickened of living in a trench, with brick walls on two sides and a hot, as- phalted bottom, where you got nature by leaning out of a window and twisting your neck to get a glimpse of the sky. I might have been there yet, for all that, if business had not taken me one noon to a suburban town above Manhattan. I stepped off the train and saw grassy lawns, leafy trees, charming homes and little bevys of school girls in white dresses, hatless, laughing and playful and not, as in New York, scurrying timidly for fear of the brazen mashers and loafers that lined the streets. My soul ex- panded, I can tell you, and I drew a deep breath. I knew then what was the difference between living and merely being alive. Those who live in places like Flushing do live. They have room to live in. I was going to move to that above-New York village at once, but when I spoke to my friends they said "Wow !" I discovered what that meant. High rents, high costs of everything, a place for the extrava- gant and the fashion apes only. Then I began visiting suburbs. You know what most of them are — flat, imitation streets, rows of cheap 1,000 Years Old Oak in Mr. Butler's Yard Bowne Avenue From Corner of Sanford Avenue 8 FLUSHING AND VICINITY houses all alike, as much character as the bottom of a pie pan. And then I happened on Flushing! The day I first visited Flushing I rented a house here. Some years later I bought one. I have lived here a dozen years or more and I never want to live elsewhere. Why? Flushing, more than most towns around New York, has character. It is a complete town in itself. When I live in Flushing I live in a town with a history and an inheritance of memories and meanings, not in a mere collection of houses. Flushing is no mushroom, no real estate developer's suburb. It was settled by the English a few weeks after they settled on Man- hattan. It has al- ways been a town with character. It has families that came with the first English settlers, and that came with the first Quaker set- tlers. It has an- cient houses and Old Town Hall and Soldiers' Monument still more ancient trees — some trees that were grow- ing before Colum- bus was born! Someone has said that to be a gen- tleman a man must begin with his great-grandfather. Flushing began to be what it is before our great-grandfathers were born. Flushing is not only worth living in because it is a town with character and a town by itself, but it has the added advantage of being an actual part of New York City, with city police, city schools, city fire department service, city water, city sewerage systems and all that the city can give in comfort, service and protection. It has clubs, societies, banks, private schools, public schools, parochial schools, churches — Public Library 9 FLUSHING AND VICINITY everything! It has the handsomest high school in New York, and the best equipped. It has a superb hospital. In the spring you smell the lilacs and the magnolias ; in the autumn the pleasant odor of burning leaves tells you you are not cooped up in the city where the principal nose titillation is gasoline smoke. Your children have lawns to play on, not hot streets. Your wife has neigh- bors, not "females in the opposite flats." But, after all, the reason I love Flushing is not because it is the most beautiful town near New York, or the nearest real town, or the most comfortable (although it is all those), but because of the people in it. I think the best and the most friendly and the most kindly and helpful people in the world live right here in Flushing. And a town is only what its people are. You don't find that Flushing is made up of mere commuters, who rush home and eat and sleep, and then rush back to New York. You will find it filled with big-souled and big-hearted men and women who want you to be part of Flushing's life, who are in clubs and societies and organizations for helpfulness and happiness, and who will welcome you and make you one with them. You will find that all the men and women with brains and talent and wealth and good-will are in these little conspiracies, and, before you know how it has hap- pened, some of these friends that are my friends will have welcomed you and you will be part of Flushing, and you will think, as I do, that the best part of Flushing is the people of Flushing. People come to Flushing to live in houses; they stay because they love Flushing itself. Armory, Company I, Tenth Regiment, National Guard HISTORICAL FLUSHING Bp Rev. HENRY D. WALLER THE original Township of Flushing comprised, up to the time of consolidation into Greater New York, the Villages of Flushing, College Point, Whitestone, Bayside, Douglaston and Little Neck. Each had a separate government, and all were represented by Trustees at meeting of the Flushing Town Board. Flushing was originally written Vlissingen ; but it was at a very early date Anglicized. The town was settled in 1645 by a company of English- men, who came from New England and who had received a patent from the Dutch Colony of New Netherland. The town, thus incorporated, was Dutch in all respects but one. Its name, its laws, the titles of its officials, and its allegiance were Dutch ; but the inhabitants were English- men. At no subsequent period did the Dutch element among the in- habitants have any considerable influence in determining the general character of the community, though Flushing is often, erroneously, called an "old Dutch town." Flushing's first reli- gious teacher was the Rev. Francis Doughty, who had been a Church of England clergyman, but who had been de- prived of his living in England because of persistent nonconform- ity. He came to Mas- sachusetts in 1637. Ex- pelled from the Mas- sachusetts Colony for heresy, he came to Long Island as one of the patentees of New Town (then Mespat). Here he Was fined old Quaker Meeting House— 1694 and * imprisoned by Director-General Stuyvesant. Apparently to rid himself of a trouble- some object, Stuyvesant sent Doughty to Flushing as Minister of the Gospel; and by threats compelled the officials to receive him. Doughty's ministry in Flushing is chiefly interesting because it was in connection with him that we find the first reference to Capt. John Underhill, an official of the town, who was the most famous Indian fighter of his day. We first hear of him as an officer in the British forces. He came to Massachusetts with Winthrop, in 1630, and was frequently employed by the Colony as a leader in expeditions against the Indians. He was also professedly a religious enthusiast, much given to sanctimonious expressions in his writings, but of known impurity of life. But Underhill was a good fighter, and that seemed, in the eyes of his contemporaries, to have atoned for his many imperfections. He 11 FLUSHING AND VICINITY Old Bowne House appears as Sheriff of Flushing in 1648, and acting as censor of the pulpit. He was not pleased with Doughty's preaching, and conse- quently closed the door of his preaching-place. He said that the minis- ter "did preach against the present rulers, who were his masters." An official document of 1649 speaks of "Flushing which is an handsome village, and tolerably stocked with cattle," and states that the only known tavern on Long Island, except the one at the ferry, was in Flushing. Our little settlement was 12 years old when (August 6, 1657) the ship IVoodhouse brought to New Netherland a number of members of the Society of Friends. Some of them came to Long Island, and settled in Jamaica and Flushing. A proclamation was issued by the Dutch colonial government, imposing a fine of £50 on any one who gave shelter to a Quaker for one night, and authorizing the confiscation of any vessel that brought Quakers to the Province. This action on the part of the colonial government called out the famous and noble re- monstrance of Flushing (dated Dec. 27, 1657). It was signed by 28 freeholders of Flushing and 2 from Jamaica. They declined to inter- fere with anyone because of religious belief or practice — "Presbyterian, Independent, Baptist or Quaker." The remonstrance was written by Edward Heart, the town Clerk ; and presented by Tobias Feake, the Sheriff. Heart and Feake, together with Edward Farrington and William Noble, magistrates and signers of the remonstrance, were arrested and imprisoned. Heart, Far- rington and Noble weakened and begged for mercy. On Sheriff Feake fell the full weight of Stuyvesant's wrath. The Sheriff was de- graded from office, and sentenced to pay a fine of 200 guilders, or to be banished. Town meetings were forbidden, unless held by the consent of the Director-General and the Council. Prominent among those who championed the rights of the Quakers was John Bowne, whose wife was a member of the Society. He invited the Quakers to meet at his house, Old Prince House and Cedar of Lebanon 12 FLUSHING AND VICINITY which still stands on the Avenue that bears his name. Later he became a member of the Society. For permitting these meetings at his house, Bowne was arrested and fined £25 Flemish. He refused to pay the fine, and was sent to Holland. He stated his case to the Directors of the West India Company, who set him at liberty and rebuked Stuyve- sant. Bell Avenue — Bayside (Upper) Eighth Avenue — Whitestone (Lower) The Quakers were the first religious body to effect a permanent organization in Flushing; and their Meeting House was the first build- ing in Flushing devoted to public worship. The first Meeting House was built in 1694. In 1716 orders were given for the erection of a new Meeting House, which was finished some time between 1716 and 1719 and is still standing on Broadway opposite the Town Hall. In 1672 George Fox, the Founder of the Society of Friends, visited Flushing and was the guest of John Bowne. Fox preached in the open 13 FLUSHING AND VICINITY air under the spreading oaks, the site of which is marked by a stone. The first visit in Flush- ing of a Church of England clergyman was in 1702, when the Rev. George Keith, missionary of the newly organized (London) Society for the Propagation of the Gospel, came to Flushing, accompanied by the Rev. John Talbot, Cha- plain of the warship that brought them to America. Keith had formerly been a traveling preacher of the Quakers. He was natural- ly regarded by them as a deserter. So when Keith appeared in the Flushing Meeting House, and stood up to speak, he encountered a warm but not cordial reception. The Friends accused him of violat- ing the law by preaching for hire, but he replied" that as a Quaker preacher he had received pay from that very meeting. Sometime with- in two years after his visit we find that services of the Church of Eng- land were being regularly held in the Block House, which stood near the site of the Armory on Broad- way. The first church building was erected in 1746, where the present St. George's Church now stands. In 1761 St. George's Church received its charter from King George III. The Rev. Samuel Seabury, Rector, later became the first Bishop of the American Episcopal Church. Flushing was the residence of Sir George Clinton, the Royal Gov- ernor of the Province, about the middle of the 18th Century. It is certain that the Provincial Council was held here at least once — May 3, 1753. When we come to Revolutionary times we find that Flushing oc- cupied a prominent place. Here was the home of Cadwallader Colden, who was Lieutenant-Governor of New York from 1761 until his death, in 1776. He was repeatedly at the head of the government because of the death or absence of various governors. 14 St. Michael's Catholic Church (Upper) St. George's Episcopal Church (Lower) FLUSHING AND VICINITY On the outskirts of Flushing, where the village of Whitestone now stands, lived another distinguished man — Francis Lewis, a Signer of the Declaration of Independence. His son, Morgan Lewis, became Governor of New York in 1804. During the Revolution- ary period Queens County was notorious as the home of Royalists — or Tories, as their enemies called them. When, in 1776, the Thirteenth Street — College Point — Flushing Residence Street in College Point Flushing Rector of St. George's Church was ordered by civil authority to omit the prayers for the King and Royal Family, he chose rather to close the Church for five Sundays. Tradition says that the Friend's Meeting House was used as "a prison, a hospital, and a hay magazine." West of the Meeting House was a hospital, where small-pox raged. South of the Meeting House was a parade ground. The Aspinwall house on Broadway — later known as the Bloodgood house — was the headquarters of British officers. Col. Archibald Hamilton, of the Queens County Militia, and Aide-de-camp to Gov. Tryon, had his headquarters at his home "Innerwick," on White- stone Avenue — now the home of Allen Mitchell and his sister. Col. Hamilton's house was destroped by fire on Christmas Eve, 1779. Can- non were mounted on the ridge where the High School stands. A beacon was erected on Washington Street, east of Main Street. This was one of a system of lights extending from near Oyster Bay to New York. On August 1, 1782, Flushing was honored by a visit from His Royal Highness William Henry, the Prince of Clarence, who was afterwards King William IV of England. While in Flushing he was the guest of William Prince, whose house stood opposite the present Prince home- stead. On the 10th of October, 1789, the year of his inauguration as the first President of the United States, Washington visited Flushing to inspect the Linnaean Gardens of William Prince. He remarks in his diary that the inhabitants of the place "showed us what respect they could, by making the best use of one cannon to salute." IS THE TREES OF FLUSHING By EVERETT P. MARTIN, Chairman Tree Planting Committee, The Flushing Association THE trees of Flushing are one of its greatest attractions. In fact, here is an arboretum non catalogued, and if there is a complete list of the trees or any one who knows where all the rare and curious specimens are I am not aware of the fact. The result is that one can live for years in Flushing and be continually discovering new specimens. The oldest, largest and in some respects the most interesting tree in Flushing is the White Oak in the back of Ellis Parker Butler's Old Cedar of Lebanon yard, 242 State Street. This tree is 19 feet in circumference a foot above the ground, 54 feet high, with a stretch of 90 feet across its branches, one branch being 53 feet long. The great breadth and low height of this tree indicates that it grew in the open. Within the memory of residents still living there were several similar oaks growing near this one. It is stated that there was an Indian Village here when the white men first came, and those old oaks probably were left to grow in their cultivated fields for the acorns they bore. Two beautiful rows of oaks line Bowne Avenue from Broadway to Sanford Avenue. They were set out by the Parson brothers about 1848 before the Avenue was opened. Originally there were 21 varieties, but some have disappeared. At present there are white, burr, chestnut, pin, willow-leafed, and possibly black, red and scarlet oaks — most of them 16 FLUSHING AND VICINITY Cedar of Lebanon 17th Street, Near Broadway vigorous — the largest being over 9 feet in circumference 4 feet above the ground. Flushing's most noted tree is the old Cedar of Lebanon, standing in the field between Chestnut and Bayside Avenue, about 400 feet West of the Whitestone trolley line. The history of this tree is lost. It is 13 feet in circumference 7 feet above the ground, 62 feet 8 inches high and 75 feet across. There are two other Cedars of Lebanon, one in the lawn of the Prince Homestead near Law- rence Street on Jackson Avenue, the other in 17th Street South of Broadway. Flushing has 14 Cedars of Mt. Atlas, a hardier species of the same genus as Cedar of Lebanon. They are to be found one on the South side of the Davies place on Bowne Avenue, one back of Mr. J. D. Wells house beside the new High School, 4 are growing on the South side of Chestnut Street near Parsons Avenue, and sev- eral are growing where the old Prince Nursery was just across the Long Island Railroad from the Bridge Street Station. The pines are well represented. There are more white pines than any other, but the Scotch, Austrian Stone and the shrubby knee pine are here. The European larch, with its deci- duous needles, that is one of the earliest trees to don its summer coat of green, is here. The Japanese larch, Pseudo Larix Kaempferi, is represented by one specimen, a beautiful tree in front of Mr. Jackson's on Washington Street. Closely related to the larch is the Cypress (Taxodium), of which there are at least 3 species. The T. Lantifolium on Broadway, in front of the new high school, T. Glypto- strobus on Parsons Avenue, just South of Broadway, noted for its curly needles, and another Chinese species on Sanford Avenue near Parsons Avenue. Other conifera are red cedar or Juniper, Arbor Vitae, Hemlock, several kinds of spruce and balsam. Then there are the beautiful evergreens Retino- spera, Cryptomaria and Yews. There are quite a number of Gingko trees, but the two Japanese Larch— Washington St. that are much the finest specimens are on 17 Weeping Beech, Washington Street FLUSHING AND VICINITY Cypress in Front of New High School Austrian Pine — Madison Ave. Tulip Bowne Avenue, one in Mr. Renwick's near the Avenue and the other 100 feet east of the Avenue between Madison Avenue and Barclay Stareet. Another interesting tree is the Sorrel Tree, Oxydendrum Arboreum. Its leaves are sour like sorrel. It has a great display of white flowers in July and its autumn colors are beautiful. Several specimens are in Mr. W. P. Willis's yard, near the street, 100 feet north of Barclay, on Bowne Avenue. A larger tree grows on the Parsons estate. There are many beautiful elms, American and European. The one with the widest spread is on Whitestone Avenue, opposite the High School. The tallest is a few hundred feet east of the High School on the same side of Broadway. Maples are here in great numbers and of many species, vary- ing in size from the sil- ver maple, nearly 4 feet in diameter, to the cut- leafed maple that is sel- dom more than four feet high. Beeches are quite com- mon and most of them are of im- ported stock but seem at home here. The large weeping Beech on Washington Street near Fox Lane is claimed to be the finest in the United States. It is a wonderful tree and nothing in Flushing equals it. The two Gums, sour and sweet, are natives here, and some fine trees are to be seen. Why two trees so far apart botanically should both be classed as Gums is a puzzle. Some fine old Sycamores are to be seen. The Ash is not a popular shade-tree on account of its slow growth ; still there are some noble Ash trees on Sanford Avenue, north side from Percy to Central Avenue, but the finest are standing in what was 18 Winter Sentinels FLUSHING AND VICINITY the lawn of the old Bowne Mansion near the Stand Pipe. Many fine specimens of weeping trees are to be seen. Besides the Weeping Beech we have the Weeping Birch, Weeping Wil- low, Mulberry, Spruce, Hemlock and For- sythia. The flowering shrubs open the season with the Forsythia early in Old Murray House— Residence Geo. W. Breck, the Artist April and the JapOnica, Almond, Lilac, Syringa, Azalea, Rhododendron, Mountain, Laurel, Fringe tree, Wygelia, Snow- ball, Wisteria, Honeysuckle and many others join in the procession until late in August or September. Hydrangea Grandiflora and Rose of Sharon bring up the rear. Two of the finest collections are to be seen on private grounds, one is on Mr. J. D. Wells's place, on Broadway, and the other on the Parsons estate. And on the latter are the two finest Tulip trees in Flushing. Both are over 3 feet in diameter. The tallest is over 100 feet high. These two trees were standing when the British Redcoats camped there during the Revolutionary War. 19 The PUBLIC SCHOOLS of FLUSHING AND VICINITY By JOHN HOLLEY CLARK, Principal Flushing High School FLUSHING has always been noted for the excellence of its schools. Early in its history its private schools were celebrated. The most prominent of these was the Flushing Institute, on Main St., in charge of Elias A. Fairchild and Allen P. Nothrup, whose memory is fondly cherished by a host of men in or past middle life, who annually hold a banquet, which is largely attended, and where old school days are recalled and old friendships more firmly cemented. Later, free public schools were established and Flushing fortunately had as super- intendent and principals a line of famous educators, including Thomas New Flushing High School F. Harrison, Nelson J. Gates and Sherman Williams. Flushing had the distinction of being the first school district in the State to abolish tuition fees, and make its common schools free. It was also a pioneer in the field of High School education. The Flushing High School was estab- lished by act of the Legislature in 1875 and preceded by a period of 18 years the recognition as a High School of any similar institution in the city, by the Regents of the University of the State of New York. Following Flushing, the next high school in the present city to be officially recognized by the Regents was the Jamaica High School in 1893. Flushing's first Board of Education, authorized by a special act of the Legislature in 1848 and named in the bill, consisted of Effingham H. Lawrence, Edward E. Mitchell, Samuel B. Parsons, William H. Fairweather and Thomas Leggett, Jr. Prior to the erection in 1873 of what is now known as P. S. 20, all the pupils in Flushing were accom- modated in a wooden structure, built in 1848, on the corner of Washing- ton and Union Streets. This was finally condemned as unsafe and was torn down in 1897. 20 FLUSHING AND VICINITY The building on the corner of Sandford Ave. and Union St., built in 1873, was called the Flushing High School, and in it were housed not only the High School students, then very few in numbers, but also the upper grammar grades. In the years 1891 and 1892 an extensive addi- tion was made on the east of High School building — larger in fact than the original structure, and in this large building were accommodated all of the high school and grammar school pupils and most of the primary pupils until 1878-79, when new buildings were opened. These schools are P. S. 21, the Washington school, corner of Washington and Union Sts., P. S. 22, the Jefferson school, corner of Sanford Ave. and Murray St., P. S. 23, the Lincoln School, corner of Whitestone Ave. & State St., and P. S. 24, the Jackson school, on Queens Ave., between Robinson Ave. and Union St. Public School 23, by additions, is now three times its original size, and P. S. 22 has increased in size even more. The latter school has for some years been a completely organ- ized elementary school with Kindergartens and classes in cooking and shop work, and has graduated large classes twice a year. Its principal since its organization has been Miss Mary L. Lyles, a teacher of wide experience and culture, who is universally esteemed and loved. The Flushing High School occupied its original building, corner of Sanford Ave. and Union St., a period of 40 years, from 1875 till 1915. During this period it had grown from about five students to more than 800, and had far outgrown its accommodations in the old building. In September, 1915, the beautiful and splendidly equipped build- ing on Broadway and Whitestone Ave. was so far completed that it could be occupied and the High School established its new quarters there. The building in symmetry, statelinesss and impressive- ness is unsurpassed and is justly the ad- miration and pride of Flushing. Its total cost, including grounds and equipment, is not far from $400,000. It was largely efficient and devoted through the faithful, labors of Mr. Rupert B. Thomas, Flushing's representative on the Board of Education from 1907 to 1917, that the school was secured. His portrait, given to the school by its alumni and the citizens of Flushing, hangs in the beautiful audito- 21 FLUSHING AND VICINITY rium. A fine organ is soon to be installed. The high school build- ing was designed to accommodate about 1400 students, and is the only high school building in the city that is not crowded. The largest register to date has been less than 1100. The faculty numbers over forty. Mr. John Holley Clark, the principal, has completed twenty- cipal of the High School. More than 1,000 students have been graduated four years of service in Flushing as Superintendent of Schools and Prin- from the school since 1878, when the first class received their diplomas. Flushing is the residence of people exceptional for intellectual and social cultivation, and the students are largely such as would be ex- pected to come from such homes. When the Flushing High School moved from its old building, this was devoted exclusively to the uses of P. S. 20, and a new principal took charge, Mr. Arthur Boylan, formerly a popular and successful teacher in the De Witt Clinton High School, who was at the head of the eligible list of principals. His many friends predict a brilliant career for him in the school system. Other sections of the Third Ward have also been fortunate in re- spect to their school buildings, principals and teachers. At College Point a handsome building, known as P. S. 27, was erected shortly before consolidation. The principal is George W. Dorland. At White- stone one of the city's standard school buildings was provided, shortly after consolidation. This is P. S. 79. The principal is W r illiam H. Carr. At Bayside, where Mrs. Jennie L. Potter is principal and at Douglaston, where Miss Anna Brett is principal, new school buildings have recently been erected. There are now no part time classes any- where in this section. The Third Ward is exceptionally well provided with accessible and adequate schools, and the many public spirited and aggressive citizens of Flushing and vicinity may be expected to see that this condition continues. 1917 Graduating Class of the Flushing High School 22 CATHOLIC PUBLIC SCHOOLS IN THE FLUSHING VICINITY By Rev. Father THOMAS O'BRIEN THE Borough of Queens, and especially the Flushing section, is well provided with not only the City Public Schools but also what may be termed Catholic Public Schools, as part of the organiza- tion of the Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn. These are maintained in the several parishes, with free tuition and the use of school books. As all the taxpayers support the City schools, so all the Catholic people bear the extra burden of the parish schools. New school buildings of the very latest models have been recently erected in Flushing and Whitestone, and plans are under way for equally fine school buildings in Bayside and College Point. All these are thor- oughly up-to-date as to sanitation, ventilation and heating. The curriculum of studies in all these schools is substantially the same as the course of studv prescribed bv the Board of Education for New York City and by the University of the State of New York for the State schools. The graduates take the Regents Examinations which qualify them for entrance into High School. In College Point the Dominican Sisters also conduct a High School, St. Agnes, approved by the Regents, and have had marked success in their work during the past ten years. The attendance at these parish schools has kept pace with the rapid growth of population in Queens Borough, and has necessitated the building of these new and larger school struc- tures. The attendance figures for the scholastic year 1915-1916 were as follows: St. Michaels, Flushing 655; St. Fidelis, College Point, 560; St. Lukes, Whitestone, 190; St. Agnes, College Point, 110. New Catholic School at Whitestone 23 FLUSHING FROM A SANITARY STANDPOINT By JOHN H. BARRY, M.D., Asst Sanitary Superintendent, Borough of Queens, New York C*Xp FLUSHING occupies from a public health and sanitary standpoint a rather unique position. It is the centre of well-ordered homes and high-minded public-spirited citizens, living with keen regard for their own healthfulness and a conscientious care for their neighbors' comfort and well-being. It has at the same time been tributary to some grave health perils all of which, it is most comforting to report, are in the process of efface- ment or control. The Brooklyn Ash Removal Company have now been working eight years on filling in the Corona and Flushing meadows, and four-fifths of the work can now be properly said to have been performed. Three hun- dred acres have been filled with a mean depth of 15 to 18 feet. About eighty acres remain to be filled. And whilst some distress and dis- comfort to Flushing's people may have been occasioned thereby, much of the graver huge mosquito peril has been eliminated and will within one and one- half years be entirely effaced. The Degnon Contracting Company's work immediately adjoining on the north has been conducted quite free of nuisance and will contribute a large quota in the matter of eradicating another extensive tract of mosquito-breeding land (278 acres). The long open, highly of- fensive, sewer trench at the foot of Grove St. is now hap- pily a thing of the past. It has been changed in its course by the construction of the Nathan Manufacturing Co.'s plant and piped, a distance of 1,015 feet by corrugated 48- inch metal piping down to the Creek outlet, and a branch of 500 feet of 24-inch metal piping. The boxing of Myrtle Ave. open sewer for part of its length, some few years ago, was a highly 24 Kissena Lake Views FLUSHING AND VICINITY desirable and efficient piece of work, and its full extension to the Creek outlet is eager- ly and expectantly contem- plated. Sites are being sought, and appropriation made therefor, for a modern garbage destructor on the outskirts of Flushing, which will relieve the necessity of disposing of garbage in the crude, insanitary way of using same to fill the neigh- boring lowland. Thanks to the most as- siduous care and thought given to the Gutman Swamp The N iantic ciub proposition by our Commis- sioner of Health, Dr. Haven Emerson, contracts have been already awarded for the piping' and drainage of these 129 acres of inundated land down to Flushing Creek, well to the rear of the Forest Hills section, and this highly desirable and most important work will be shortly accom- plished by assessment upon the benefited property owners. The cost is $24,000 and the time limit of contract 120 days. There is every reasonable hope and expectation that Flushing — one of the garden spots of Queens — will go on unfettered and unham- pered by the health perils which had surrounded it, a place to live, to thrive, and to glory in. 25 Women's Organizations of Flushing By ISABEL S. SMITH, President, The Good Citizenship League of Flushing THE women's organizations of Flushing are numerous — 15, irre- spective of the many church societies. The Flushing Female Association was organized February 7, 1814, at the home of Mrs. Elizabeth W. Lawrence, Willowbank, on Lawrence Avenue, by a group of women, most of them in the quaint costume of the Society of Friends. The object was to discuss the situ- ation of the poor children of the neighborhood whose parents were not able to give them an education and who were in danger of be- ing led into vice and im- morality. At this home the foundation of the first free school in Flushing was laid. The Association was incor- porated in 1884. Industrial classes, sewing, carpentry, chair caning and cooking have been supported for many years. Classes have been conducted for adults during several winter ses- sions. Two clubs, one for men and one for boys, were organized in the winter of 1912-1913. The work, begun on the simplest lines when Flushing was a village, has been continued with varied methods to suit circumstances and conditions, but the purpose of the Founders and Testators has been faithfully respected and administered. The Ladies' Employment Society was organized in 1866 — its ob- ject to furnish sewing to the needy, worthy women of Flushing during the winter months. The work of this Society has been and is carried on by the active cooperation o f ladies from all Christian de- nominations in the village. Cloth, bought a t t h e lowest wholesale rates, is cut by the ladies into gar- ments for wo- men and chil- dren and sold sj elter .\ . to the poor at House ' j^,. n ' 4 (Small Oval) The Good Citizenship League Building FLUSHING AND VICINITY Residence Wm. H. Walker bare cost of material. For many years garments to be made have been sent to Flushing from various benevolent institutions in New York and other cities, cut out and ready to give to the women. Thousands of garments are made every year and return- ed to the institutions ready for immediate use. The Good Citizen- ship League is a de- partmental, democratic, civic club with a membership of 275 women. Organized 26 years ago, by a group of earnest and enthusiastic women who met in the old Free Library, its object is to bring together those who earnestly desire to promote the best interests of humanity and by education and cooperation obtain increased power for usefulness. One of its fundamental principles is freedom of speech and freedom of opinion. The League is non-partisan and non-sectarian. It was incor- porated in 1891, with 51 charter members, and shortly thereafter all charitable organizations of Flushing united their efforts, and a few months later the United Workers, the League's eldest daughter, was born. Regular meetings are held on alternate Tuesdays. Some of the League's activities include printing and distributing of the law against cigarette smoking, successful establishment of Free Kindergarten for colored children, demand for paid agent to prevent cruelty to animals, preservation of trees, protection of birds, investigation of causes and prevention of mosquito pest, safeguarding purity of water supply, closing of shops at an early hour, and lecture courses, managed and financed for many years, of great value to the community. The League early joined the General Federation of Women's Clubs, and in 1895 as- sisted in forming the New York State Federation. In the League's second year a nucleus was created ^^^^EBKm for a Building Fund, and in the third year a 27 A New Residence FLUSHING AND VICINITY Reflections at Oakland Lake Committee was ap- pointed to consider ways and means. On the 10th of December, 1901, the League held its first meeting in its own handsome build- ing. Forming of a His- torical Society, Study of and financial assist- ance to Child Labor Movement, endorse- ment of work of Con- sumers' League, help given Young Men's Christian Association in its work for sol- diers, nursing aid rendered in Spanish War, prompt and generous as- sistance to San Francisco Relief Work and originating plans for a Public Playground in Flushing — these are all a part of the League's record. During the past 6 years the League has continued to grow and broaden in usefulness and power, giving its generous support and co- operation to all charitable, philanthropic and civic organizations of Flushing and loyal service to the community. The League Building is given free on Tuesday nights for Community dances, under proper chaperonage, for the young people of Flushing. The Good Citizenship League members are responding to the many calls of duty and service made necessary by the war and have revealed their splendid spirit of cooperation and loyalty. The Club House is given free for all patriotic meetings when needed. League members purchased over $24,000 of Liberty Bonds, and nearly all are working in the Red Cross Society. The United Workers, organized in 1892, is supported by voluntary con- tributions, gifts, and members dues. Their motto is "to help the poor to help themselves," "not a charity, just a helping hand." It is non-sectarian and the committees are composed of representatives from all the churches. The various departments under the head of the United Workers are : Day Nursery, Friendly Visitors, Carpet and Rug Industry and Clothing Sales. A very comfortable home has been pro- vided at 30 Monroe Street through the generosity of one of its members. The Day Nursery accomplishes a wonderful work. Every morning scores of little 28 Residence Walter I. Willis, Secretary Queens Chamber of Commerce FLUSHING AND VICINITY children are brought to the Nursery and are nourished and cared for all day by competent women while their mothers are employed outside. The mothers pay 5 cents per day for each child. The Nursery is im- maculate and in perfect order. OTHER CLUBS. — The Green Twigs is a society of young women deservedly popular for their many good deeds and splendid work accom- plished. For a number of years the Flushing Hospital has been very materially helped by their generous contributions. The Flushing Committee of the Women's League for National Service is well organized and efficient. The Park Garden Club and the Mothers' Club are doing wonderful work. Also the Neighborhood Club, Equal Franchise Society, Girls' Community Club, and others of equal importance. There is work in abundance for each to do. Flushing is indeed an ideal place for the ideal home and offers unusual opportunities for willing active service and a useful helpful life. Broadway Country Club 29 THE FUTURE OF THE THIRD WARD OF THE BOROUGH OF QUEENS By MAURICE E. CONNOLLY , President of the Borough of Queens, City of New York NO one can question the wonderful future of the Borough of Queens. Within the greatest city in the world, and composing one-third of the entire territory, it is only a question of days when the flood of settlement will turn this way, and the gain in population will be enormous. The Third Ward of the Borough of Queens is in the infancy of its development, and although the progress of the last ten years has been great, it can hardly be in keeping with the progress that must come when all our many plans begin to bear fruition. The great problem confronting us to-day is to provide homes, factory sites and the many improvements necessary to meet the requirements of the great inrush of population which is about to take place. This moment in the Bor- ough's development may be called — "The Dawn of Rapid Transit." The Subway-"L" trains are now running almost to the doors of Flushing. The Public Service Commission is at present drawing up an agreement with the railroad. Before another year rapid transit trains should be operated through Flushing over the tracks of the Long Island Railroad, one branch to Whitestone, the other to Little Neck. The meadowland on the westerly shore of Flushing Bay is being filled, and along both shores of the Flushing Bay and River there will soon be located many large industries and factories. The site offers almost ideal conditions, there being rail and boat connections, and a large local population from which to draw labor. This will result in a tremen- dous increase in population, for the people who work in the factories will undoubtedly reside in the territory immediately back of the waterfront. What this industrial development means for Flushing is already conspicuously shown by the recently constructed large plant of the Nathan Manufacturing Company, which employs about 2,000 operatives. The Zoning Plan extends to Flushing and vicinity. This Act con- fines the location of industrial development. No interference with the existing high-class developments of the Village of Flushing or of any of the other villages in the Third Ward can take place. Local organizations have succeeded in persuading the Legislature to enact a Law permitting the acquisition of title to lands needed for 30 FLUSHING AND VICINITY widening- and straightening Flushing River. This will permit the Gov- ernment to proceed with its plans for dredging the entire river. The Third Ward, with its 125 miles of improved roads, many of them lined with large shade trees, has become a veritable paradise for motorists. These roads connect with the excellent highways of the rest of Queens and Nassau County. Realizing the necessity of further connecting the old Village of Flushing with that of Whitestone, proceedings have been instituted to extend Central Avenue, Flushing, to join Seventh Avenue, White- stone. Actual construction of this much needed street may soon be initiated. The completion of the Topographical Maps is of considerable im- portance to Flushing and the Third Ward. This will be appreciated, when it is realized that no public improvements can be installed prior to the adoption of the Final Maps of the section. Although Flushing is well provided with sewers for present use, it is necessary to look forward into the future, and drainage plans have been prepared to take care of the 6,400 acres of outlying farmland, allow- ing for the extensive growth in the older sections where existing sewers will become inadequate. In order to meet the future growth of the Third Ward it is proposed to construct a new garbage and refuse incinerator. At the present time the policy of the Board of Estimate and Appor- tionment is to go slow with public improvements, with which policy I am in thorough accord, so far as public improvements which are not vitally necessary to the health, welfare, and convenience of the com- munity are concerned, for at the present time construction costs are ex- tremely high. Flowever, there are some things which are so urgently needed for the health of the people, or the proper development of the Borough, that the advantages derived outweigh the excessive costs. The construction of sewers is pre-eminently a case in point, and I shall at all times urge the advancement of sewer construction as rapidly as the necessary authorization of funds can be obtained from the Board of Estimate and Apportionment. The Third Ward may well feel proud over its future, and I hope that I will not be considered improvident if I urge that, discounting its pros- perity, we handle our civic problems in such a way as to foster and not strangle the natural growth that should follow. 31 "TO KNOW FLUSHING'S TREES IS TO LOVE THEM" Says JOHN E. WEIER, Commissioner of Parks, Borough of Queens, New York City NO city in the United States has more, or more beautiful, or a greater variety of trees than Flushing. The site of the first tree nursery established in America before the Revolution, this early effort is to-day still bearing fruit and will continue to be reflected in years to come. Lovers of trees from all over the United States visit Flushing for a sight of some of the more famous specimens. Of these, the giant Cedar of Lebanon, one of the few of its kind in the country, is the most widely known. Of this wonderful specimen, no less an authority than Dr. Britten of the Botanical Gardens in the Bronx has said: "It alone is worth a trip to Flushing from any distance." A seedling obtained from beneath it is now being raised in the Botanical Gardens in the Bronx. In no other city so far north is to be found the Southern Cypress, Residence and Lawn of James A. Macdonald 32 FLUSHING AND VICINITY withstanding the climate of the Eastern seacoast in this latitude and thriving about as well as in the land farther south. The finest specimens of giant elms are to be found both in the streets and upon private grounds, according to the United States Government authorities. The great weeping beech in Washington Place, under whose sheltering shade a lawn party can be held and a hundred tables placed, is another wonder- ful tree known to foresters throughout the land. A sample of the primeval oak which has withstood the storms of a thousand years, is to be found on the grounds of the home of Ellis Parker Butler. Years ago its companion was destroyed. Those who endeavored to ascertain its age grew tired when they had counted eight hundred and forty rings. The record of its long life was revealed only when the trunk had been sawed through. To attempt to tell of the beauties of Flushing's trees in a few hun- dred words is akin to endeavoring to describe the glorious golden sunset of an autumn day in a single phrase. To know Flushing's trees is to love them. One has to be among them and each day brings a new joy to the tree lover who has this privilege. A Flushing War Garden 33 1,000 ACRES IN FLUSHING BAY RECLAIMED FOR FACTORY SITES APARTMENT HOUSES IN FLUSHING PROFITABLE Bp JOHN J. HALLERAN, Commissioner of Taxes, City of New York THE New Zoning Law, recently adopted by the city, is a permanent guarantee that Flushing will retain its reputation as one of New York City's oldest and most highly developed residential com- munities and grow in the favor of those who seek the right place to reside or secure substantial investment in suburban real estate. The geographical location and transit facilities, together with the low land values, are Flushing's best assets. By comparison with a given center — say 34th Street, 42nd Street or 59th Street, Manhattan, I know of no other section of Greater New York that offers the same opportuni- ties to the home seeker, builder and investor that Flushing offers. The varying prices at which land can be bought will suit every purse. Suit- able sites for modest homes can be bought as low as $300 a lot. This land is high and dry and within reasonable distance by train and trolley to Manhattan. There are other plots better located that can be bought for $500 and $600 a lot. Plots in the restricted sections of Flushing run to value as high as $3,500 per lot. These plots are now available for a new use — for the erection of apartment houses. This type of building will, in my opinion, Show a new and prof- Type of New Apartment House in Flushing itable use for suburban lands for residential purposes. It will, without doubt, show a new earn- ing power for the land. This has been well demonstrated by the erec- tion of a few apartment houses in Flushing, where the rent per room is equivalent in return to that of similar buildings in other parts of the city on land that costs, in some cases, three or four times the price at which Flushing plots can now be had. Many such plots are to be had in the old and new parts of Flushing, adjacent to the stations of the Long Island Railroad, with electric trains to Pennsylvania Station. 34 FLUSHING AND VICINITY Part of 1,000 Acres of Meadows Reclaimed for Factory Sites. FACTORIES ON FLUSHING BAY Flushing has the most promising future of any section in Greater New York from a commercial standpoint. It is one of the few land- locked harbors in the Greater City. Available for commercial uses are about 1,000 acres of land surrounding and fronting on Flushing Bay and Flushing River. When it is considered that this great body of water is within 10 miles of City Hall and about 5 miles over the Queensboro Bridge to the heart of Manhattan, that it is supported by the great Penn- sylvania-Long Island-New York connecting railroad system and the Terminal of the new State Barge Canal, one may easily picture a great commercial future for the Flushing water front. The bed of Flushing Bay is now being deepened for the Degnon Contracting Company, which owns most of the adjoining lands. It is the Degnon intention to deepen the Bay to give 35 feet of water and to develop the surrounding lands for factory purposes with water and rail connections with the great railroads of the country. Recent legislation enacted permits the City and Federal govern- ments to widen and deepen Flushing River to its headwaters. These im- provements will give water transportation through Flushing, Corona, Forest Hills, Richmond Hill and Jamaica, and incidentally will increase the frontage of Flushing River in the Flushing section about two miles. Flushing and vicinity enjoy the same freight rate as New York City. Immediate improvement of the Barge Terminal on Flushing Bay is being urged by the Queens Chamber of Commerce, to relieve the freight congestion of the Port of New York. Plans for the Flushing Bay Ter- minal are being prepared by Frank M. Williams, State Engineer and Surveyor, and it is hoped the Flushing Terminal will be ready in the Summer. of 1918, when the State Barge Canal System is to be in opera- tion. 35 BIRD'S-EYE VIEW OF COI THE INDUSTRIAL -MANUFACTURING COLLEGE POINT is essentially a manufacturing town — the indus- trial center of the Flushing District. It is an old settlement like Flushing and Whitestone, both of which it immediately adjoins on Flushing Bay, and like both it is rich in its possession of old trees and old houses. It has many fine modern residences, too; and even the proximity of its scores of factories doesn't seem to spoil its charm as one of New York City's pretty home suburbs. Here Mac Neil, the sculptor, pursues his art; nearby, at Malba, John McGraw, of baseball fame, is erecting a costly edifice in which to spend his declining years enjoying the trophies and emoluments he has earned by his mastery of the great American game. Many men important in the affairs of the Greater City live here and like it. In fact, something like 15,000 happy and contented substantial American citizens make up the sum total of its population. Its factories employ be- One of the Public Schools tween five and six thousand persons, 36 SUBWAY TO NEW YORK CITY LONG ISLAND R„ R. UNDER THE METROPOLITAN FREIGHT RATES TROLLEY TO NEW YORK CITY S50 ACRES SUITABLE FOR MANUFACTURING 35 FT. WATER STATE BARGE GE POINT — FLUSHING ENTER OF THE FLUSHING DISTRICT most of whom live here, though a good many come each day from the Bronx and other nearby points. College Point-Flushing — thus the old town is beginning to be called, owing to the fact that the space of less than a mile between the two villages is a part of each claiming immediate industrial development, and also because of a certain community of interest between these two chief centers of the Third Ward of Queens Borough. By studying the above bird's-eye-view illustration one sees why College Point-Flushing should be an excellent place to live and do busi- ness in. Nearly surrounded by water, on high rolling land, the residence portion is from 50 to 100 feet above sea level and affords superb views and cooling summer breezes, while the lower lands are strategically located are successful manufacturing. The 550 acres shown on the map are destined within a few years to become covered with industrial and distributing plants such as now line the Brooklyn and Jersey water - fronts. The College Point-Flushing water-front is declared to be one of the finest within 100 miles Of New York City. Public Library 37 FLUSHING AND VICINITY First Avenue, College Point— Flushing College Point derives its name from the establishment of a college here in 1826. There was quite a settlement at this time, and manufac- turers noting the many facilities offered them located their plants here. Here Goodyear, the discoverer of the process of making hard rubber, began his experiments with Conrad Poppenhusen, who is commonly known as the founder of College Point — which continues to be the home of the hard rubber industry of the United States. Conrad Poppenhusen was a man of marked ability and of distin- guished humanitarian impulse. A worthy disciple of Peter Cooper, whom he sought to emulate, this hard-working, broad-minded, progres- sive German by an endowment for a substantial sum founded a technical school for training in the commercial arts and trades — Poppenhusen Institute. The Institute occupies a commodious building and has devel- oped and trained many thousands of young men and women in useful pursuits. Its yearly roster of students numbers nearly 500, and its curriculum embraces free-hand drawing and design, life drawing, mechanical drawing, architectural drawing, algebra and shop mathe- matics, woodworking, cabinet - making, bookkeeping and penmanship, shorthand and typewriting, civil service training, gymnastics, dressmak- ing and embroidery. Its miscellaneous activities comprise singing and dancing classes, modern playground with instructor, Boy Scouts Troop and Students Clubs and Committees. Poppenhusen, in whose memory the citizens of College Point have erected an imposing monument in the Park named in his honor, was a man of many civic achievements. He laid out the wide, beautiful streets of College Point, paved them, built water and gas mains and sewers; and to-day these public utilities are second to none in the Borough of Queens. For a fact, College Point has 38 FLUSHING AND VICINITY more improvements to the square block than has any other outlying section of Greater New York to the square mile. Poppenhusen also founded the local Savings Bank, which has deposits exceeding one and a half million dollars. College Point has churches of all denominations, and its educational advantages are many. In addition to its own splendid public and Cath- olic schools and the Poppenhusen Institute, the Flushing High School is only 15 minutes by trolley. In transportation — freight and passenger — College Point is well served. The Pennsylvania-Long Island Railroad enters into its heart; the New York and Queens trolley line runs through the town double- tracked all the way to 59th Street and Second Avenue, Manhattan, direct without change in 45 minutes for a five-cent fare; the Dual Subway System, as stated on page 5 in the opening article of this book, is to be extended in 1918 from Corona, where it now ends in Queens Borough, through Flushing to College Point, Malba, Whitestone and Beechurst, and will run from Times Square, or down-town, New York, to College Point in less time than to the Bronx or Washington Heights ; the fast, clean electric service of the Long Island Railroad now takes one to Pennsylvania Station, Manhattan, in less than half an hour many times a day on a monthly commutation of $7.40; and two ferries operate to Manhattan and one to the Bronx. In addition to rail freight via the Pennsylvania - Long Island, under the Metropolitan Freight Rates, Flushing Bay affords a depth of from 20 to 35 feet of water for sea- going vessels, and the State Barge Terminal of the Erie Canal is to be constructed at the town's bulk Or rehandling, all Poppenhusen Monument 39 FLUSHING AND VICINITY tonnage carried by the great Erie Canal System — things vital to a manufacturing community, such as the raw products of the field, the forest and the mine. The Erie Canal will bring to College Point direct brick, lumber, building and construction materials, steel, grain — in fact, whatever may be loaded at the Great Lakes ports or en route on the 1,000-ton barges of the Erie Canal System. And when College Point gets all these raw materials at the lowest possible transportation charge it will refine and manufacture many of them into commodities that it can send forth at the lowest rates to other less favored Eastern communities. The pay-rolls of the College Point factories are said to total a sum larger than that for any other section of Greater New York, based on population. One reason is that labor conditions here are excellent ; that wages paid are fair; that strikes and lockouts are unknown, and that workers are satisfied both with home life and factory job. Typical of the College Point manufacturers'-workingmen's mutality of interest is the record of the American Hard Rubber Company. This concern has been established here over sixty years, employs over 1,000 and has never had a single strike or lockout. Some record ! The big reason, besides the spirit of fairness shown by employers, is simply that the factory people of College Point have nice, comfortable homes, enjoy them, are congenial, get along with their employers and with themselves, are well paid — in short, are satisfied with their lot. There are few vacant houses in College Point, or for that matter in any part of the Flushing Dis- trict. Herein lies an op- portunity for the inves- tor or housebuilder. Of course, owing to condi- Dutch Reformed Church and Sunday School tions resultant from the War, building costs at the moment are comparative- ly high, but statistics for this section of Queens Borough show steady construction and increases over previous years. St. Fredel's Catholic Church 40 FLUSHING AND VICINITY Residence of John W. Rapp, President of Empire Art Metal Co. Houses are sold or satisfactorily rented as soon as put up. The present need is for moderate-priced detached houses, two- and three-family houses and modern housekeep- ing walk-up flats. Any or all of these types of houses will pay the builder or investor, and necessary land favor- ably located maybe had at reasonable fig- ures. W hat Commis- sioner of Taxes John J. Halleran has to say in his article in another part of this book ap- plies to College Point just as much as it does to Flushing — perhaps more so on account of the much larger number of factory workers at College Point. Manufacturing at College Point is varied. Many rubber companies operate plants here ; the Mynepho Silk Mills is one of the oldest of its kind in the country ; the Empire Art Metal Works make the fireproof doors and other trim that are used in buildings like the Woolworth ; Kleinert has produced millions of the dress shields one sees pictured in street-car advertisements ; paints, dyes and chemicals are mixed and developed here ; and now whirrs the recently constructed L. W. F. Engineering Com- pany's aeroplane plant, where six hundred men are building standard- ized craft to help win the world's air battles for the U. S. A. College Point is a busy place — a very, very busy place just now. But immense as its industries w o u 1 d seem to Goodyear and Poppenhusen, could those old pioneers be alive to see, College Point as a factory cen- ter to-day will seem trifling a dozen years Residence of Wm. B. Baumert, 41 the Cheese Manufacturer FLUSHING AND VICINITY Residence of Edward J. Mordaunt hence, when its 550 acres of meadow lands on Flushing Bay have been built over with plants of the kind that more and more are in- evitably finding their way to the metropolis of the American con- tinent. College Point is an integral part of this great world-city of New York, 7 l / 2 miles from Manhattan, with an unrivalled portion of New York's limited water-front, with un- excelled residential facilities, equitable la- bor conditions and ample sources of labor supply, freight and passenger transportation now satisfactory and soon to be unsurpassed. Its com- mercial destiny will be achieved shortly and made manifest, simply because it cannot be ignored or avoided. Manhattan, Brooklyn, the Bronx and the Jersey shore are commercially over-crowded. Practically, only Staten Island — isolated — and College Point-Flushing and one or two other Long Island points — accessible — remain to be developed for water-front manufacturing locations that will size-up to metropolitan and national requirements. As a bit of prophecy, the reader is asked to lay aside this book for ten years and then compare this portrayal of College Point-Flushing conditions as they now exist with those of a decade hence. It is pretty safe to say that the two old mansions, pictures of which are printed with this article — the Stratton and Graham homesteads — that to-day stand as landmarks on the trol- ley line between Col- lege Point and Flush- ing will long since have disappeared, and in their places and on their surrounding acres will have risen many beautiful, modern resi- Residence of Louis Denes, the Silk Manufacturer dences and apartment 42 FLUSHING AND VICINITY houses, and that the meadows some distance away will havebeen covered with manufac- turing plants all the way from the hills to the waters of Flushing Bay. Walking from one part of College Point to another one is agree- ably astonished at the fact that all streets are of asphalt — splendidly graded, smooth as glass and clean as those of the proverbial Spotless Town. At noon time, till the one o'clock whistle blows, the different avenues are alive with men and women workers from the factories, many of whom go to their homes for lunch. The factory operatives of College Point-Flushing are happy, con- tented and thrifty. The buildings they work in are roomy and airy. Vital statistics for College Point show a low death rate and a remarkably fine state of public health. The unusually large deposits of the Savings and other banks bear silent, yet most eloquent, testimony to the thrift of the people and their remunerative work. THEIR WELL APPOINTED HOMES. Mr. Harry Kleinert, manager of the I. B. Kleinert Rubber Company, employing over 70C| persons, states that his' company in over thirty years of existence has never had a strike, but that on the contrary he has found great pleas- ure and profit in devis- ing and carrying out plans for the bettering of both factory and liv- ing conditions for those on his payroll. And this is true of practical- ly all employers. Mr. John W. Rapp, President of the Em- pire Art Metal Com- pany, IS, perhaps, en- Residence of Morris Straus, the Lawyer 43 Residence of Jacob Cohen, Supt., Empire Art Metal Co. FLUSHING AND VICINITY titled to be called the "1 i v e wire" manufac- turer and booster of College Point-Flush- ing. He is dynamic — physically and mental- ly. Alert, vigorous, broad-minded and pub- lic-spirited, he has led in the successful cam- paigns to secure for College Point-Flushing the State Barge Canal Terminal, Subway Ex- tension, deepening of the harbor, improved public utilities and other progressive works. His faith in Residence of Wm. W. Weitling, Treasurer of American Hard Rubber Co. The Stratton Homestead — Flushing Bay in Background ness here. Mr. Rapp has also given much thought and study to the question of future building" of homes for not only his own 800 factory employees but for those of other con- cerns also, so that Col- the future of the Col- lege Point-Flushing water front is founded on years of careful study of New York's port facilities and needs, and a number of years ago he backed up his judgment by locat- ing his own large busi- The Graham Homestead — over 200 years old 44 FLUSHING AND VICINITY lege Point-Flushing may continue to be known as a beautiful home town of contented workers that keeps abreast of modern ways of living. The following table gives a list of factories now operating at College Point-Flushing, their chief products and the numbers of their employees: Manufacturer American ard Rubber Co Autopress Co Julius Brandes Manf. Co.... R. A. Weber Dye Works Empire Art Metal Co I. B. Kleinert Rubber Co Traun Rubber Co L. W. F. Eng Co Beacon Falls Rubber Shoe Co Rainier Motor Truck Co Frankan & Co Chilton Paint W T orks Kraemer Bros College Point Boat Works. . . . Mynepho Silk Mills Hunter Illum'd Car Sign Co.. Ventilation Co., Inc J. H. Gerlach Co Eureka Rubber Co College Point Engineering Co. National Chain Co Harmon Color Works British-American Chem. Co. . . International Oxygen Co 12 Small Factories No. of Product Employees .Hard Rubber Goods 1,000 .Printing Presses 300 .Silk Ribbons 150 .Dyestuffs 150 Metal Doors, Sash & Trim 800 . Dress Shields, etc 700 .Rubber Goods 400 .Aeroplanes 600 Tennis Shoes 500 Auto Trucks 350 Smoking Pipes 50 Paints and Varnishes 100 Woodworkers 50 Boat Builders 400 Silk Ribbons 350 Car Signs 100 Ventilators, etc 25 Blank Books 25 Raincoats, etc 100 Machine Shop 50 Chains, etc 350 Dyestuffs 10 Medical Chemicals 250 Oxygen 50 Printers, Clothiers, etc 200 Full information as to manufacturing possibilities, resi- dential features and extensive water front properties in College Point-Flushing may be had by writing or telephoning Mr. E. E.'Suydam, Second Avenue and Ninth Street, College Point- Flushing, New York City. Telephone, Flushing 1,000. 45 OUTDOOR SPORTS-FLUSHING ATHLETES By FRED. J. V. DEL ANY, A. A. U. Commissioner for Long Island FLUSHING has always been noted athletically for its ability to turn champions. Since 1900, when Maxwell W. Long flashed his light upon the horizon, the old town has sent them right along spotlight careers. Among the world stars are : Long, who holds many records for distances from 100 yards to quarter mile ; Ike Messer, running on the Irish A. A's Cross-Country Team, won the Metropolitan Champion- ship in 1914; Howard Valentine, now athletic writer for the N. Y. Globe, half mile champion of America in 1903-'04; Robert Crawford, 18 years old, Flushing High School, greatest high school runner in the Interscholastic world and U. S. champion at cross-country; Donald J. Gleason, Xewton High School, all around athlete and sprinter; George Hughes, now letter-man at Cornell, champion hurdler and the stroke of Wahnetah Boat Club ; and Robert Crawford, Captain of Flushing High Track Team, won every race he entered in 1916-T7, including meets with Cornell, Pennsylvania and Columbia Universities. Two other boys, now prominent in business and politics, William T. Yale, real estate operator, and Charles U. Powell, Chief Engineer, Topographical Bureau, Borough of Queens, were champions in their day, — the former being Cornell University's champion hurdler, and the latter Captain of the Cornell Track Team in 1898 and Intercollegiate, American, Metropolitan and Canadian High Jump Champion. On Washington's Birthday, 1917, the 5 mile run championship of Long Island, under the auspices of the Shinnecock Club of Flushing, was won by Charlie Pores of College Point, who has since added to his long-distance laurels. The greatest athletic event ever held in Flushing was the Decora- tion Day Games of the Shinnecock Club in 1915. The program com- prised hurdling, javelin throwing and running, etc., and brought together about 300 of the best known athletes of America — such as Kiviat, Mc- Grath, Filer and Baker the half mile champion runner of the U. S. and England. More than 10,000 people saw the contests. Wahnetah Boat Club Champion Eight. Won American Henley at Philadelphia, 1910 Photograph Taken on Flushing Bay 46 FLUSHING AND VICINITY The clubs that are most prominent in sports are the Triangle of Flushing, Wahnetah Boat Club of Flushing, Flushing Boat Club, Malba Field and Marine Club, Warlow of Whitestone, College Point Lyceum, Broadway Country Club, Broadway-on-the-Hill Tennis Club, and the Shinnecock Club. These are all taking up athletics in various directions, but the real representative club of the Amateur Athletic Union is the Shinnecock which, since joining the A. A. U. in 1915, has from time to time promoted road races and cross-country runs open to the A. A. U. THE WAHNETAH BOAT CLUB succeeded the old Nerius organization in 1897. It is recognized as one of the best rowing associa- tions in the country. In 1910 its eight crew won the American Henley on the Skulkill River (Phila.) against the country's finest crews, and on Decoration Day, 1910, Wahnetah eight won again at the Harlem River Course. Among the Club's coaches have been such famous oarsmen as John Morrissey and John Fitzpatrick, now as- s i s t a n t coach at Princeton Uni- versity. More re- cently the trainer of the eight crew has been David Roach, Champion Single Sculler of the U. S. Thomas F. Cleary was Captain of the Crew for 14 years, and to him much credit is due for the club's rowing pre- eminence. The Brooklyn Daily Eagle every year at the event of the Long Island Rowing Association donates a large silver cup to be competed for, by Long Island crews only, in a four shell race. Wahne- tah, by winning the races in 1910-'11-'12, . i Shinnecock Club Meet now Owns tne Ike Messer winning One-Mile Run Handicap trophy. jack Eller, World's Champion Hurdler 47 FLUSHING BIRTHPLACE OF BOY SCOUT IDEA By DANIEL CARTER BEARD, National Scout Commissioner UNDER the shade of the wonderful Flushing trees, here in the old town of Flushing, the Boy Scout idea was originated and was born- It was in 1905 that the late William Annis of Flushing, busi- ness manager of the Recreation Magazine went to his editor, also a Flushing man, with the request that he get up some scheme to interest the boys. The result was the birth of the Boy Scout idea, and the first Boy Scout in the world is the son of the gentleman who was acting as assistant editor at that time, Mr. Carl Ackerman, now with the Frank Seaman Advertising Company of New York. Boy Scouts of Flushing — Under Command of the Late City Magistrate Joseph Fitch It was not until 1908 that the famous English General Baden-Powell started the English Boy Scouts. But a year previous to that time, in 1907 Colonel Theodore Roosevelt, also a Long Island man, and at that time President of the United States, endorsed the Boy Scout Movement started by the editor of Recreation. At the suggestions of the President of the United States, Admiral Dewey, Major-General Bell and Gifford Pinchot also endorsed the Move- ment. With these distinguished men backing the infant society was the late Colonel Cody, John Muir and John Burroughs. This was one year previous to the organization of the English Boy Scouts and two years after the Boy Scouts had been started here in America. To Flushing, 48 FLUSHING AND VICINITY quaint old Flushing, conservative Flushing, belongs the honor and the credit of originating and launching the greatest boys crusade ever launched in the history of the world. The Boy Scouts local organization of Flushing was organized in the National Scout Commissioner's studio on Bowne Ave. by Mr. C. A. Worden, Mr. Boardman of the National headquarters, Park Commis- sioner Weier and the late Judge Fitch, assisted by Scout Commissioners Clinton Smith and A. H. Spence. In this work and the work of selecting a council from Flushing people they were greatly assisted by suggestions from Mrs. D. C. Beard. The Flushing scouts were a success from the start. Judge Fitch became so enthusiastic over his boys that he declined all high offices in the scout movement, because he said he wanted to be a scoutmaster and "be next to the boys themselves", whom he loved so well. We now have in Flushing 200 splendid troops, including a Jewish troop and the colored troop of which Scoutmaster Hicks is the leader. The success of the Flushing Boy Scouts is due to the splendid en- thusiasm, vigorous and conscientious work of the fine men we have in the positions of commissioners and scoutmasters. The Boy Scouts of Flushing is something in which the business men of Flushing take just pride. They form a group of boys of which Long Island may well be proud. Hon. G. Howland Leavitt is President and Albert H. Spence Dis- trict Commissioner. THE CAMP FIRE GIRLS OF FLUSHING By Miss CAROLYN A. FREEMAN, Guardian AMP Fire Girls is an organization of girls and women to develop the home spirit and make it dominate the entire community. It is a means of organizing a girl's daily home life. It shows that romance, beauty and adventure are to be found on every hand and in wholesome way; that the daily drudgery may be made to contribute to this beauty of living. It gives girls interesting and wholesome things to do together. It deliberately intends to promote happy social life. It uses beautiful ceremonies, has an appealing ritual and bases rank and honor upon personal attainment. There are attractive ceremonial cos- tumes, honor beads and decorations. It interprets daily things in terms of poetry, symbolism, color and imagination. Each group of girls over twelve years old is called a Camp Fire. The responsible head of a Camp Fire is called Guardian of the Fire. She is appointed by the National A Council of the Camp Fire Girls in Flushing Woods 50 FLUSHING AND VICINITY Board. The Camp Fire Girls have three ranks : Wood Gatherer, Fire Maker and Torch Bearer. Ceremonial meetings are held monthly. At this meeting honors are awarded, rank is conferred and new members are received. Weekly meetings are held to help the girls formulate their daily work. Often these meetings are held in conjunction with a hike and the study of nature lore. Camp Fire stands not only for the home, but also for the genuine- ness and simplicity of the out-of-doors. The Camp Fire movement was started in Flushing in May, 1915, by a few girls who asked Miss Carolyn A. Freeman to be their Guardian. A group of ten girls formed and called themselves the Matinicoe Camp Fire, named after the Matinicoe Indians who settled on Long Island in the early days. During November of 1915 an open Council Fire was held in the chapel of the First Methodist Church, the idea being to give the general public an outline of what the work was. Nearly 100 people attended this Council Fire. About this time Miss Beatrice Kennedy was asked to start a group with 12 girls — the Seawanhaka Camp Fire. At present there are seven groups with about 75 girl members in Flushing. The local organization participates in all local patriotic parades and demonstrations held in Flushing, and has done a great deal of charitable work. Fifty dollars has just been raised for the Flushing Chapter of the American Red Cross by a moving-picture show given by all the little groups ; another time an individual group raised money for the Company I fund that was gotten up while this Flushing National Guard Regiment was at Camp Whitman. And recently this same group made Baby Kits, which were given to the needy families of Flushing. 51 52 THE GIRL PIONEERS OF AMERICA By Miss UNA BEARD FOUNDED in Flushing by Miss Lina Beard in 1912, the Girl Pioneers of America has become National in its scope and a true sister to the Boy Scouts of America. Its inspiration and name are derived from the early settlers of America. The pioneer attributes of sturdy independence, staunch uprightness and indomitable courage are being taught and developed in its members. The Girl Pioneer is always patriotic, and now in this time of stress and war she has qualified to render active service and give practical first aid for her Country. She knows how to do hospital and home sewing invalid, camp and home cooking; plants and raises vegetables ; cares for infants and lit- tle children ; gives all necessary local information such as where to find hospitals, drug lief in cases of famine, earthquake, floods, fires, or other disasters. The watch word of the Girl Pioneer is I CAN. Her pledge, "I will speak the truth at all times, I will be honest in all things. I will obey the Pioneer law." The Girl Pioneers have their banners, Pioneer sign, ceremony of initiation and membership certificate; their rallies, field days and other . general meetings indoor and out. They have their official cheer and song, and each Band and each group has a cheer of its own. The principles of the Girl Pioneers are not merely lip-practice pre- cepts, but are realized in real work and in the delightful activities of the movement. The Girl Pioneers of America is governed by an Executive Board, of which Miss Beard is the head, and there is a National Council made up of prominent men and women. The ranks are open to all girls. For those with children who contemplate moving to Flushing, the Girl Pioneers, together with the Camp Fire Girls and the Boy Scouts elsewhere described, offer free courses of beneficial training and a lot of good fun and play for boys and girls. stores, railroad stations, police headquarters, serves in signal- ing, carrying mes- sages, etc. And in times of peace Girl Pioneers stand ready to as- sist in giving re- 53 THE FLUSHING HOSPITAL AND DISPENSARY By A. DOUGLAS NASH, Secretary FLUSHING is justly proud of its Hospital. Its equipment is equal to the best in New York. Its foundation is due to the work of The Art Class of Flushing and other prominent Flushing women. The Hospital conducts a Training School for Nurses, and over 125 have graduated from the Institution. Living accommodations for pupil nurses was solved in 1908 by the erection of the Nurses' Home. By 1912 the growth of the Hospital, which serves not only Flushing but the neighboring villages, necessitated a new building. A whirlwind campaign netted $109,349 and was a supreme test of the friendship of the people of Flushing and Allied Towns for the Hospital. This sum was insufficient, and $30,000 were obtained on mortgage to complete the present Hospital. One hundred and twenty patients were accommo- dated, and there are thirteen private rooms. With the expansion of the Hospital came increased expenses, so in 1913 the Aid Association held a Circus and Carnival, in 1914 a Cam- paign for Annual Subscriptions was conducted, and in 1916 another money-raising effort to provide needed funds for operation. An institution of this character must be sup- ported by the commun- ity. No hospital ever ex- isted which could get along without such support. Still the books show that the Flushing Hospital earned $53,590, in 1916, but the expenses for that year were $81,288. Plans for the coming years are upon a scale commensurate with the rapid growth of the Flushing district, but large sums will be re- quired and the money will no doubt be loyal- ly contributed by the community which is so well served in times of The Flushing Hospital illness and accidents. 54 THE MEN'S CLUBS OF FLUSHING THE MEN'S SOCIETY OF THE FIRST CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH of Flushing was organized December 15, 1908. Its purpose is "to make the church more effective by undertaking such responsibilities in the work of the church, for the community, and for the world, as may appear appropriate." The membership is 150. The Society's activities have comprised a Social Survey of Flushing ; initiating movements for suppression of evil dance-halls and for opening of Public Library on Sunday afternoons; cataloguing and photograph- ing Flushing's trees and presenting these photographs, together with photographs of unsightly spots needing attention before a mass meeting of the civic associations and public schools ; support of public playground in Murray Hill section ; conduct of public meetings on civic matters. The Society is a member of and special contributor to the Associated Charities. It has been addressed by New York's Mayor and City de- partment heads, by General Wood, Ex-President Taft and other cele- brities. One of its best works was the inauguration of the movement for a Y. M. C. A. in Flushing. THE MEN'S CLUB OF THE REFORMED CHURCH of Flush- ing was organized about fourteen years ago and has now more than 200 active members. It is one of the oldest and largest of such organ- izations in the Borough of Queens and indeed in the City of New York. It has never missed a regular meeting, and has been singularly fortunate in the number of distinguished men who have appeared before it. It includes in its membership men of every communion and of no com- munion. It is not distinctively a religious organization but places its main emphasis upon fellowship. The idea that it embodies is that one of the best places for forming and cultivating friendships is within the walls of the Church. ST. GEORGE'S BROTHERHOOD, organized in 1870 and incor- porated in 1871, has nearly 50 members. The object of the Brotherhood is quite different from that of most men's clubs organized by churches. It has from the start been a working organization, carrying out its duties through committees. Monthly meetings are held for business purposes. The Brotherhood has taken an active part in missionary operations that have made St. George's the mother of many churches. Its field has extended from College Point to the village of Queens. It supports a mission Chapel on Bowne Avenue and a Club House on Colden Avenue open for men every evening. Members of the Brotherhood also super- intend the work among boys that is carried on in the Parish House, and act upon various parochial committees. By MAYNARD H. SPEAR 55 PARK GARDEN CLUB OF FLUSHING By Mrs. JOHN W. PARIS "The kiss of the sun for pardon, The song of the birds for mirth, One is nearer God's heart in a garden Than anywhere else on earth" (Inscription on an old garden seat.) THE Park Garden Club of Flushing was organized in April, 1914, as a neighborhood club, with 30 members. Within three months after organization inquiries were re- ceived from all parts of Flushing and vicinity as to our plan of work and requirements for membership. The interest has continued growing until now our active member- ship, limited to one hundred, is closed. Associate membership is un- limited. The object of the club is to help those who love gardens to make them more beautiful; to stimulate interest in cooperative garden- ing; to aid in the protection of native plants and birds; to encourage civic planting and to study in all its aspects the fine art of gardening. Quoting from one whose life has been spent among gardens and garden interests, "a garden is as much the expression of an idea as a painting, a symphony, or a poem." The club gave the first Flower show ever held in Flushing on September 27, 1915, in the Public Library. The interest and attendance exceeded expectations. A Rose Show in June and a Dahlia Show in September were the fea- tures of 1916. In Febru- ary, 1917, the Garden Club, realizing the seri- ousness of the food situa- tion and the necessity of reducing the high cost of living, decided to devote its time and energy to directing the Home Garden Movement. Arrangements were made with the College of Agri- culture at Farmingdale, Long Island, for a course of study in Practical Gardening for the Home. Experts on the different subjects were sent us to teach this course. When the National League for Woman's A Corner of the Garden of Mrs. John W. Paris FLUSHING AND VICINITY Old Elms on Jackson Ave. (Lower) Service was organized, in March, and Flushing decided to work as a unit, the Garden Club was asked to take charge of the agricultural and gardening part of the work. This being a commun- ity work in which all civic associations should take part, the Flushing Home Gardens Committee was organized to carry on this work. The committee is composed of all the business and civic organiza- tions, and many individuals. Hundreds of individual gardens have been planted and many acres planted in potatoes, corn and larger crops. Vacant lots and waste places of the community have been trans- formed into Neighborhood Food Gardens where men, women and children are each doing their bit. Lessons on Canning and Preserving Fruits and Vegetables began in June. Gardens are rapidly becoming as popular and as necessary a part of the home in Flushings as they are in Europe. Long Island has a very interesting history agriculturally. Many years ago noted scientists of Europe, after years spent in investigation, reported that there were only two places in the earth where climate conditions were perfect for the growing of vegetation. One of these was the southermost part of Japan, the other Long Island. Never since the planting of the Orient Point region in 1642 has a crop been wiped out by drought." Flushing with its great wealth of rare trees, shrubs and plants of all varieties, second to none, has proven this is a veritable garden spot. A fit setting for the homes of garden lovers and all interested in the beautiful things of life. 57 IN THE HEART OF OLD FLUSHING ONE by one the old estates of Flushing have been broken up to make way for modern homes for modern people. The transforma- tion was very slow — the old estates died hard. But the people of New York were destined to have their place in the sun — and in the shade of a mellow old town like Flushing. One of the last to go was the Wallace homestead of 15 acres, in the very center of Flushing's best residential section. Mr. J. W. Doolittle, who recently developed a fine residential suburb — Douglaston Park near Flushing — out of rough, hilly, wooded Long Island land, secured control of this property. He opened macadamed streets, put in sewers, water, gas and electricity and other city conveniences. He has been successful in disposing of many plots in Waldheim to leading men of Flushing, Long Island City and Manhattan, simply because he "had the goods." And these buyers have built fine homes, some of them shown here. The "show" streets of Flushing, containing the finest residences, lawns and trees are Bowne Avenue, Sanford Avenue, Parsons Avenue Ash Street, Waldheim-Flushing 58 FLUSHING AND VICINITY and old Broadway — now Jackson Avenue. Wald- heim immediately ad- joins the first three ave- nues named. A glance at the accompanying outline map will show its exact location, ar- rangement and accessi- bility to Long Island Railroad station and Big Trees Abound in Waldheim the trolley Hnes Rather than attempt to word-picture Waldheim as one of the choicest and most charming of Flushing's residential sections for homes for the well-to-do — which it is — I prefer to print herewith the businesslike and truthful statement given to me by Mr. J. W. Doolittle, whose office is in the Woolworth Building, New York: WALDHEIM FACTS "Waldheim" means A Home in the Woods, and it is properly so called on account of the immense shade trees on all the lots. LOCATED between Parsons and Bowne Avenues, extending from Ash Street to Cypress Avenue, inclusive, it is in the very center of Old Flushing, seven minutes walk to Main Street or Murray Hill Station on the L. I. Railroad. Two lines of trolley, to New York and Jamaica, are within two short blocks. Churches, schools, shops, etc., nearby, and yet a restricted residential park of the highest type. Winding paved roads, with all street improvements, including sewers, and no future assessments for these improvements as they have been paid for. Quality assured by careful restrictions and the handsome residences already built, owned and occupied by leading business and professional men of Flushing and New York City. Houses now built range in value, including land, from $7,500 to $40,000. Land can still be purchased as low as $1875 for a lot with fifty feet of street frontage. Houses can be constructed from $5,000 up. 59 FLUSHING AND VICINITY Every house in Waldheim has been designed to suit its individual location. Xo speculative building has ever been done there. The J. W. Doolittle Organization, which controls this property, offers to home seekers an opportunity of securing a home in this beautiful park under "THE SINGLE CONTRACT PLAN" which enables the purchaser to choose the site and have a house built according to his individual taste, as this organization is equipped to plan, finance, build and turn the completed property over to the customer under one contract and permits one to enjoy home ownership with but a small cash payment. The J. W. Doolittle Organization has solved the home problem for many in its properties at Douglaston, L. I., as well as in Waldheim. 60 SEASHORE AND COUNTRY COMBINED Once part of old Flushing Township, Malba - on - the - Sound comprises a beautiful section of Long Island shore and wooded land. Malba Station on the Long Island Railroad is reached from Penn- sylvania Station, New York, in 26 minutes by electric train. Malba land is un- dulating, and golf vies with bathing, boating and yachting in popularity. On the golf course of the Malba Field and Marine Club many tourna- ments are held. Natural landlocked harbor with deep water anchorage, a mile of shore front, 700 foot pier with landing dock and pier house, tree-lined drives and avenues winding gracefully between beach and upland, com- bine to make a strong appeal to those who desire a country home on Long Island Sound within easy reach of the City's business, shopping and theatre centers. Here many prominent New York business men own homes costing from $7,500 to $60,000. Landscape architects have beautified this bit of shore upland, and improvements represent more than $2,000,000. Within the City of New York, Malba enjoys city facilities — side- walks, macadamized roads, gas, water and electricity, mail delivery and police and fire protection. The stores and schools of Flushing and Whitestone are nearby. Purchasers of plots will be financed to build their homes according to their own ideas, or houses already constructed may be secured upon monthly payments equivalent to rent and a small initial payment. Malba offices are upon the property and in the Astor Building, 217 Broadway, New York. MALBA ESTATES CORPORATION 61 GOLF AND COUNTRY CLUBS IN QUEENS BOROUGH BECAUSE of natural advantages and accessibility the Flushing-Bay- side-Little Neck-Great Neck district has been carefully considered and chosen as the home and playing ground of a number of New York's leading golf and country clubs, among them being the Oakland Golf and the Bayside Golf clubs at Bayside, the Great Neck Golf Club at Great Neck and the Flushing Country Club at Flushing. These and the other clubs here have proved very successful. Their memberships com- prise men prominent in society and business, in the professions and in finance and politics. Each has its authorized membership filled, and the waiting lists are long ones. They have become very exclusive organiza- tions. And the same situation exists in other sections of Long Island as in Westchester and New Jersey. There are to-day probably more per- sons of Greater New York playing golf by courtesy arrangement on the well-known private and public courses and in the city's parks who are not members of any club owning its own grounds than there are members of such ownership clubs. Various associations, perhaps, a score or more, such as the Hardware Club, the Advertising Men's Club, the Traffic Club, ft Oakland Country Club — Bayside 62 FLUSHING AND VICINITY etc., are alien players by special privilege. Recently the Engineers Golf Club of New York became an ownership playing club by buying its own land on Long Island at Roslyn, a few miles from Flushing. In these times of financial and business uncertainty, when security of investment is the prime requisite, the attention of capitalists and large operators and promoters is directed to the possibilities of certain large bodies of land exceptionally located and suitable for Golf and Country Clubs in the Flushing District of Queens Borough, which the under- signed control, and which will be sold upon terms that will enable the formation of new golf and country clubs, or which will be leased there- for upon attractive terms, or which may be secured by option to purchase for a term of years hence. The opportunity now exists to organize groups of professional men, doctors, lawyers, dentists, and others of sedentary occupation into active members of a Golf and Country Club located in a section that enjoys real rapid transit to Manhattan. That section for the golf players of New York is the Flushing District of Queens Borough. The undersigned holds, among others, one property of about 200 acres in New York City that a leading golf expert has visited and pro- nounced an unrivalled site for a golf and country club. Bayside Yacht Club — Little Neck Bay 63 FLUSHING AND VICINITY This property will accommodate an 18-hole course and a 27 if necessary. Another holding of 60 acres is ideal for a limited member- ship playing 9-hole golf. Both are 30 minutes from Pennsylvania Station, within the limits of Greater New York. The undersigned will match dollar for dollar any golf-country club propostion to utilize the property in the Flushing District which is offered for that purpose. Remember that New York City suburban land increases in value each year. Your principal is not only safe beyond a doubt, but beyond a doubt, also, the yearly increase in value of the land will amount to much more than ordinary interest return on the investment. In addition, all carry- ing charges should be met by the plan which has been evolved by the undersigned and which will be explained in detail at a personal inter- view. HALLERAN AGENCY, Real Estate — Insurance — Mortgages — Loans Auctioneers — Expert Appraisers. 63 Broadway Telephone : Flushing 874. Flushing, New York City. 64 FLUSHING AND VICINITY H CQ UJ - 3 h a O 1 O « Q | Id S w < I cd o S CQ -s z D 67 FLUSHING AND VICINITY The New York and Queens Gas Company, which supplies the Third Ward, Borough of Queens, has its principal office at 88 Main Street, Flushing, in a handsome office building erected particularly for its own use and has on display all the modern gas appliances to help enlighten the labors of the housewife, to improve the quality of the articles cooked and save money for the housewife. It has always aimed to give the very best possible service and with a special trained corps of men ready to give advice to the housewife, storekeeper or the manufacturer as to the best appliance to install for their particular needs and to use the minimum amount of gas. To hear the commendatory remarks made by its patrons it must have succeeded well. They have on display in their show-room, besides gas-ranges to suit all places, the handy and indispensable gas-heated irons and the instanta- neous automatic water heater which delivers hot water by simply turning on the faucet and makes life worth living. They try to impress their patrons with the idea that there are new gas appliances coming out all the time and all one has to do is to consult them on their particular needs to get a suggestion as to what is best suited. The Company was established in 1854 by men living in Flushing and whose names are linked with everything in its development. They were proud of the Gas Company and its connection with the community and this same feeling prevails to-day. This Gas Company is an individual and enters into everything that promotes the interests of Flushing, the same as any other individual. 68 CITIZENS OF FLUSHING: For your purpose a bank is exactly as good as the service it can render to you. What your bank can do for you is what in- terests you most. The Flushing National Bank is first of all a Flushing bank, managed by Flushing citizens, and depending on Flushing patronage for its success. It is not a branch bank. Unless it pleases and satisfies Flushing citizens it has no excuse for being and cannot succeed. The Flushing National Bank is a success; increasingly so each week. The efficient, satisfactory service we are giving other Flushing citizens we can give you as well and we wish to do so. We invite you to become a patron of this bank and a user of our little blue checks. CLARENCE M. LOWES, President ELLIS PARKER BUTLER 1 Vice- HARRY N. RENNER, Cashier HARRY B. PEACE /Pres. CARL MEYER, Asst. Cashier DIRECTORS ELLIS PARKER BUTLER CHARLES U. POWELL HERBERT S. HARVEY CHARLES H. ROBERTS WILLIAM W. KNOWLES GILBERT W. ROBERTS CLARENCE M. LOWES CLINTON T. ROE FRANK B. McCORD GILBERT W. STEELE HARRY B. PEACE CHARLES G. M. THOMAS AUBREY WEYMOUTH FLUSHING NATIONAL BANK Main and Amity Streets Member Federal Reserve System. Depository U. S. Postal Savings Funds. 69 Smokers Everywhere are Peculiar in their Tastes and Whims TASTES— I have in stock matured tobaccos — Havana and Domestic — of such varied character, flavor and strength that I am quite sure to meet the requirements of ANY tobacco taste. WHIMS— Years ago there were only a few different shapes of cigars made — Conchas, Panatelas, Perfectos, etc. To-day each manufacturer puts out a large number of differ- ent styles. Cigar shapes and styles reflect the individual whim. One or two sizes would meet all practical uses. But every man to his fancy. I am now making at least 50 styles of cigars, to suit the whims of my customers. Maybe one of these will suit you. IF NOT— I will make you any style of cigar you desire, out of any kind of tobacco you desire. All my cigars are hand-rolled on my own premises. Prices range from $5 per 100 to $12 per 100 for cigars of varying quality and size. PIPES— I pride myself on my judgment in buying pipes to sell dis- criminating smokers and in keeping on hand the several brands of smoking tobaccos that experienced pipe-smokers have found to be the most agreeable and satisfying. LOCAL BOOSTING— Those who have the interests of this community most at heart should, so far as practicable, buy the goods of local mer- chants. On this principle I ask consideration for my line of goods. Special Christmas and New Year's orders filled. Established 1858 Telephone 1412 Flushing H. G. GALATIAN, Prop. MANUFACTURER OF FINE CIGARS 5/ 2 Main Street FLUSHING, N. Y. / will take time to wait on you personally if you come to my shop 70 FLUSHING The City of Beautiful Homes and Trees We know FLUSHING will grow, we are preparing for this by building a new sub-station, large enough not only to supply the moderate demands of our present consumers, but also the extraordinary demands for future growth. This is the Electric Age You can not afford to be without Electricity in your Home— Wire It! Dont delay — Visit our new Flushing Office at 81 MAIN STREET, and learn HOW TO MAKE HOME MORE ATTRACTIVE and convenient and HOUSEWORK EASIER New York and Queens Electric Light and Power Go. 71 *. Altaian $c GIo. Visitors to New York will find in B. Altman & Co.'s store everything needed for the complete replenishment of their wardrobes FASHIONABLE CLOTHES FOR ALL OCCASIONS Toilet Necessaries Leather Goods Correct Stationery and other requirements of the man and woman of fastidious tastes JFtftfj Atmtur — iHa&tson Aimm* Nnti fork Own Your Home in Beautiful FLUSHING We have a selected list of attractive houses now in course of construction in desirable locations. Prices varying from $8,500 to $20,000 We also have desirable plots with mort- gage loans for home builders. If you are in search of a home, a plot for a home, or a mortgage loan, ask MR. HALLERAN Halleran Agency Phones : Flushing \^\ FLUSHING, N. Y.