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Contents 1 A HISTORY OF FRESH MEADOWS 1.1 Colonial and Revolutionary Times 1.2 The Nineteenth Century 1.3 Twentieth Century 1.4 A New Millennium 1.5 References

A HISTORY OF FRESH MEADOWS

Colonial and Revolutionary Times

Fresh Meadows was originally named Vlissingen by Dutch sailors who discovered the area in 1628. The name translates to “salt meadow valley” and is also the name of a town in Holland. Following the influx of residents to Flushing after an English colony was established there in 1640, a migration to Fresh Meadows, the “southern suburb” of Flushing, ensued. The area was then called “Black Stump” after the blackened stumps used to separate large farmlands.^[2] Only two roads ran through the area in colonial times: Black Stump Road and Fresh Meadow Lane (named for the “fresh water meadows through which it ran”).^[3]

Black Stump was a British stronghold during the American Revolutionary War; Benedict Arnold and his troops marched through Black Stump and even spent some nights in the area. While in Fresh Meadows, the British troops stayed at Ryerson's Tavern, which could be found on today’s 74th Avenue and Utopia Parkway. The Klein Family, a major landholder in Fresh Meadows, demolished the building in 1933.^[4]

The Nineteenth Century

The Black Stump School was established in the 1800's, located at the present location of Utopia Playground at Utopia Parkway and 73rd Avenue.^[6] (Some sources list its location at the current location of P.S. 26 at 73rd Ave and 195 St.^[7]) The school was a “one-room wood frame country schoolhouse,” attended by 10-15 students during the winter but as many as 50 children during the summer. After the school was abandoned, it served as the headquarters of “Black Stump Hook, Ladder and Bucket Co. #1,” a group of firefighters who served neighborhood farms until 1913.^[8]

Twentieth Century

The 1900's were a period of great change to Black Stump, which began to be referred to by its current name, Fresh Meadows. In 1923, Benjamin C. Ribman opened the 141-acre Fresh Meadows Country Club that operated until 1946.^[11] During its 23 years of existence, the Country Club hosted the 1932 U.S. Open (won by Gene Sarazen) and the 1930 PGA Championship. Other celebrities who played on the course include baseball greats Babe Ruth and Ty Cobb, boxer Joe Lewis, and golfer Bobby Jones. ^[12] The Country Club was sold in 1946 to the New York Life Insurance Company.

After acquiring the Fresh Meadows Country Club and most of the farmland holdings of the Klein Family, the New York Life Insurance Company constructed the Fresh Meadows Housing Development, intended to be a “model community for returning WWII soldiers and their families.”^[14]

The Development contains two and three story houses, apartment buildings, shopping centers, a movie theater, a public library, and schools, including P.S. 26.^[16] Viewed as a pioneer in “site planning,” the development contained many open landscapes, accessible from each apartment unit. The shopping center was actually one of the first to be built with an “automobile-oriented” layout. It officially opened in 1949 and still operates today.^[17] The other large housing development in Fresh Meadows is the Utopia Estates, a 1,000 house development opened in 1940.^[18]

A New Millennium

In late 2003, what remained of the Klein Farm, a two-acre parcel of land that was previously part of the 100-acre Klein Farm, was sold to developers, ending the farming history of Fresh Meadows. Today, Fresh Meadows has come a long way from its early farm days as a predominately white neighborhood, and is one of the more diverse areas in America. A contemporary profile of Fresh Meadows can be found here.

References

1. ↑ Seyfried, Vincent F. Queens, a pictorial history. Norfolk, Va: Donning Co., 1982. 32.
2. ↑ Amon, Rhoda, Bill Blyer, Molly McCarthy, Tom Morris, and Andrew Smith. "Our Town." Newsday [New York City] 22 Feb. 1998: H7.
3. ↑ "Fresh Meadows Community History." Queens Library. 2 Mar. 2009 <http://www.queenslibrary.org/index.aspx?page_nm=CL-Communityinfo&branch_id=FM&#clhistory>.
4. ↑ "Fresh Meadows Community History." Queens Library. 2 Mar. 2009 <http://www.queenslibrary.org/index.aspx?page_nm=CL-Communityinfo&branch_id=FM&#clhistory>.
5. ↑ Queens Library, Long Island Division: Fresh Meadows loose clippings
6. ↑ "Fresh Meadows Community History." Queens Library. 2 Mar. 2009 <http://www.queenslibrary.org/index.aspx?page_nm=CL-Communityinfo&branch_id=FM&#clhistory>.
7. ↑ "Long Island A to Z / Fresh Meadows." Internet Archive: Wayback Machine. 25 Mar. 2009 <http://web.archive.org/web/20010804192540/www.newsday.com/azq/freshmea.htm>.
8. ↑ "Fresh Meadows Community History." Queens Library. 2 Mar. 2009 <http://www.queenslibrary.org/index.aspx?page_nm=CL-Communityinfo&branch_id=FM&#clhistory>.
9. ↑ "Freshmeadows." Forgotten NY. 2 Apr. 2009 <http://www.forgotten-ny.com/NEIGHBORHOODS/freshmeadows/freshmeadows2.html>.
10. ↑ http://www.vanderbiltcupraces.com/index.php/blog/article/wednesday_february_11_2009_in_search_of_the_fresh_meadows_toll_booth_part_i
11. ↑ Amon, Rhoda, Bill Blyer, Molly McCarthy, Tom Morris, and Andrew Smith. "Our Town." Newsday [New York City] 22 Feb. 1998: H7.
12. ↑ "Long Island Golf Club Histories. Rare and Collectable Golf Books. 15 Mar. 2009 <http://valuablebook.wordpress.com/2008/03/09/long-island-golf-club-histories-garden-city-fishers-island-etc/>.
13. ↑ http://www.vanderbiltcupraces.com/index.php/blog/article/wednesday_january_7_2008_a_fresh_meadows_view_of_the_western_limp_terminus
14. ↑ "Fresh Meadows Community History." Queens Library. 2 Mar. 2009 <http://www.queenslibrary.org/index.aspx?page_nm=CL-Communityinfo&branch_id=FM&#clhistory>.
15. ↑ Marzlock, Ronald. "Turning Back the Clock: Babe Ruth in Fresh Meadows, N.Y." Greater Ridgewood Historical Society.
16. ↑ Jackson, Kenneth T., ed. "Fresh Meadows." The Encyclopedia of New York City. New Haven: Yale UP, 1995. 441-42.
17. ↑ Goldberger, Paul. "TO UTOPIA BY BUS AND SUBWAY." The New York Times 17 Apr. 1981. 15 Mar. 2009 <http://www.nytimes.com/1981/04/17/arts/to-utopia-by-bus-and-subway.html?scp=1&sq=utopia%20by%20bus%20and%20subway&st=cse>.
18. ↑ Shaman, Diana. "If You're Thinking of Living In/Utopia, Queens; A Neighborhood Aspires to Its Name." The New York Times 21 Dec. 2003. 15 Mar. 2009 <http://www.nytimes.com/2003/12/21/realestate/if-you-re-thinking-of-living-in-utopia-queens-a-neighborhood-aspires-to-its-name.html>.