Editing St. Albans, Queens (section)

== History ==

=== Early settlement ===
Part of a land grant to Dutch settlers from [[New Netherland]] Governor [[Peter Stuyvesant]] in 1655, the area, like much of Queens, remained farmland and forest for most of the next two centuries.

By the 1800s, the lands of four families—the Remsens, Everitts, Ludlums, and Hendricksons—formed the nucleus of this sprawling farm community in the eastern portion of the Town of Jamaica. In 1814, when the Village of Jamaica (the first village on Long Island) was incorporated, its (the village's) boundaries extended eastward to Freeman's Path (now Farmers Boulevard), and south to Lazy Lane (called Central Avenue in 1900, then Foch Boulevard in the 1920s,{{efn|The name ''Foch'' was chosen to honor Marshal [[Ferdinand Foch]], following World War I.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://bkltn.newspapers.com/clip/41698909/|title=New Jamaica Final Maps|work=Brooklyn Daily Eagle|page=44|date=January 5, 1919|access-date=January 5, 2020|via=Brooklyn Public Library; newspapers.com {{open access}}}}</ref> While most of Foch Boulevard still exists, the alignment east of Farmers Boulevard is now part of [[Linden Boulevard]].<ref name="Steve Morse" />}}<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.bklyn-genealogy-info.com/Newspaper/BSU/1929.News.July.html |title=1929... News |quote=LOWERRE Secured Light Charles LOWERRE, treasurer of the St. Albans Lions Club, has succeeded in having the Police Department promise to put a traffic control light at the Foch and Farmers boulevard intersection at St. Albans. |access-date=March 29, 2010 |archive-date=September 17, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100917211453/http://bklyn-genealogy-info.com/Newspaper/BSU/1929.News.July.html |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref name="Steve Morse">{{cite web
|url=http://stevemorse.org/census/changes/QueensChanges1_EtoF.htm
|title=Street Name Changes in Queens, NY (E to F)}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://stevemorse.org/census/changes/SanbornFire.htm|title=Queens, New York|website=stevemorse.org|access-date=February 18, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200104180222/https://stevemorse.org/census/changes/SanbornFire.htm|archive-date=January 4, 2020|url-status=dead}}</ref> thus including parts of present-day St. Albans.<ref name="cqha">{{cite web|url=http://www.cqha.net/docs/History_of_Jamaica_Outline.pdf |title=History of Jamaica |first=Jeff |last=Gottlieb |publisher=Central Queens Historical Association |date=January 2006 |access-date=October 17, 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140713082150/http://www.cqha.net/docs/History_of_Jamaica_Outline.pdf |archive-date=July 13, 2014 }}</ref>
In 1852, the old mill pond that is now at the center of [[Baisley Pond Park]] was acquired by the [[Brooklyn]] [[Ridgewood Reservoir|waterworks]] for use as a reservoir.<ref name="Baisley">{{cite web|title=Baisley Pond Park|url=http://www.nycgovparks.org/parks/baisleypondpark/history|publisher=New York City Department of Parks and Recreation|access-date=November 8, 2013}}</ref>

=== Later development ===
In 1872, the [[Long Island Rail Road]]'s [[Cedarhurst Cut-off]] was built through the area, but no stop appears on the first timetables. In 1892, an area called Francis Farm was surveyed and developed for housing. There were numerous Francis families farming in the eastern portion of the Town of Jamaica in the 1880s.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/MZFW-ST6# | title=1880 Census: sample Francis family in Queens | website=[[FamilySearch]] | access-date=January 29, 2013 }}
Other records indicate at least some of these lived in an area then called Jamaica South and/or Springfield.
[https://familysearch.org/search/record/results#count=20&query=%2Bsurname%3Afrancis~%20%2Brecord_country%3A%22United%20States%22%20%2Brecord_subcountry%3A%22United%20States%2CNew%20York%22%20%2Bresidence_place%3A%22jamaica%2C%20queens%22~%20%2Bresidence_year%3A1879-1881~ Francis households in Jamaica, Queens, in 1880 census]
* [http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~nynassa2/newspapers/febsso.htm 1890 Marriages and Deaths from the ''South Side Observer'']
* [http://bklyn-genealogy-info.stevemorse.org/Death/Jamaica.death.html 1884 Jamaica Deaths]
* [http://dunhamwilcox.net/ny/springfield_cem.htm Springfield Cemetery – pg 1]
* [http://dunhamwilcox.net/ny/springfield_cem2.htm Springfield Cemetery – pg 2]
* [http://www.olivetreegenealogy.com/nn/church/jamaicanybpt.shtml Jamaica baptisms]
Maps from 1873 and from 1891 show a W. Francis owning land just west of the LIRR tracks and north of present-day Linden Boulevard.
* [http://www.geographicus.com/P/AntiqueMap/Jamaica-beers-1873 1873 map of Town of Jamaica with a W. Francis living west of railroad tracks]
* [http://digitalgallery.nypl.org/nypldigital/dgkeysearchdetail.cfm?trg=1&strucID=844853&imageID=1523098&total=54&num=20&word=town%20of%20jamaica&s=1&notword=&d=&c=&f=&k=4&lWord=&lField=&sScope=&sLevel=&sLabel=&imgs=20&pos=26&e=w 1891 map of Town of Jamaica with a W. Francis living west of railroad tracks] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110607185346/http://digitalgallery.nypl.org/nypldigital/dgkeysearchdetail.cfm?trg=1&strucID=844853&imageID=1523098&total=54&num=20&word=town%20of%20jamaica&s=1&notword=&d=&c=&f=&k=4&lWord=&lField=&sScope=&sLevel=&sLabel=&imgs=20&pos=26&e=w |date=June 7, 2011 }}
This 1909 map shows subdivision in the same area as the Francis farm shown on earlier maps.
* [http://lt.images.nypl.org/lizardtech/iserv/calcrgn?cat=NYPL&item=//67/675E/856C/8642/11DD/9F82/4208/9A56/CD/675E856C-8642-11DD-9F82-42089A56CD08.sid&wid=420&hei=400&plugin=false&style=default/view.xsl&browser=win_ie# 1909 map showing a subdivision of Francis farm in the Addisleigh Park area] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161105134246/http://lt.images.nypl.org/lizardtech/iserv/calcrgn?cat=NYPL&item=%2F%2F67%2F675E%2F856C%2F8642%2F11DD%2F9F82%2F4208%2F9A56%2FCD%2F675E856C-8642-11DD-9F82-42089A56CD08.sid&wid=420&hei=400&plugin=false&style=default%2Fview.xsl&browser=win_ie |date=November 5, 2016 }} – earlier subdivision east of the LIRR was called "The Terrace"</ref>
[[Francis Lewis Boulevard]] (named for a signer of the Declaration of Independence, from Queens), which does not yet appear on maps from 1909,<ref name=1909map /> nor in 1910,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://bklyn-genealogy-info.com/Map/Queens.1910.2.html |title=1910 map |access-date=December 17, 2009 |archive-date=August 12, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110812125632/http://bklyn-genealogy-info.com/Map/Queens.1910.2.html |url-status=dead }}</ref> is now the eastern boundary of St. Albans.

Soon, the first street lights illuminated the crossroads that is now [[Linden Boulevard]] and Farmers Boulevard. New shops clustered around August Everitt's lone store. By July 1, 1898, the [[St. Albans (LIRR station)|St. Albans]] Long Island Rail Road station opened where the tracks crossed Locust Avenue (now Baisley Boulevard).<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.lirrhistory.com/oct2001/1898map.jpg |title=1898 map showing Locust Ave station in St. Albans on the Rockaway Branch of the LIRR |format=JPG |access-date=April 5, 2008 |archive-date=March 20, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090320121915/http://www.lirrhistory.com/oct2001/1898map.jpg |url-status=usurped }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://arrts-arrchives.com/STALBANS.html |title=St.Albans Station photos}} (This indicates trains stopped in 1897)</ref> The station was razed and replaced with the current, [[grade separated]] station on October 15, 1935.

In 1899, a year after Queens became part of New York City (and with the Town of Jamaica and the Village of Jamaica thereby dissolved), the new post office for the 600 residents<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2p8LnB_q9AYC&q=st+albans+post+office+queens&pg=PA193 |title=The neighborhoods of Queens |first=Claudia Gryvatz |last=Copquin |year=2007 |page=193|publisher=Citizens Committee for New York City |isbn=978-0-300-11299-3 }}</ref>
was named St. Albans, after [[St Albans]] in Hertfordshire, England, which itself was named after a [[Saint Alban]], thought to be the first Christian [[martyr]]ed in England. The name had been in use for the area since at least 1894 for the name of the school district,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://eagle.brooklynpubliclibrary.org/Default/Scripting/ArticleWin.asp?From=Search&Key=BEG/1895/12/12/7/Ar00709.xml&CollName=BEG_APA3_1895-1899&DOCID=172925&PageLabelPrint=&Skin=%42%45%61%67%6c%65&AppName=%32&GZ=%54&sScopeID=%44%52&sPublication=%42%45%47&rEntityType=&ViewMode=GIF&GZ=T |work=[[Brooklyn Eagle]] |title=St. Albans' New School House Dedicated Last Night |date=December 12, 1895 |access-date=November 22, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130810075105/http://eagle.brooklynpubliclibrary.org/Default/Scripting/ArticleWin.asp?From=Search&Key=BEG%2F1895%2F12%2F12%2F7%2FAr00709.xml&CollName=BEG_APA3_1895-1899&DOCID=172925&PageLabelPrint=&Skin=BEagle&AppName=2&GZ=T&sScopeID=DR&sPublication=BEG&rEntityType=&ViewMode=GIF&GZ=T |archive-date=August 10, 2013 |url-status=dead }}. Mentions 1894 split from Hollis. See also full article and sketch of school: {{cite web |url=http://eagle.brooklynpubliclibrary.org/Repository/BEG/1895/12/12/002-BEG-1895-12-12-01-SINGLE.PDF#OLV0_Page_0007 |title=''Brooklyn Eagle'' |date=December 12, 1895 |format=PDF |access-date=April 5, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090320121916/http://eagle.brooklynpubliclibrary.org/Repository/BEG/1895/12/12/002-BEG-1895-12-12-01-SINGLE.PDF#OLV0_Page_0007 |archive-date=March 20, 2009 |url-status=dead }}</ref>
and the LIRR station was named St. Albans when it opened in 1898. A 1909 map also shows a St Albans Avenue and a St Albans Place in the area.<ref name="1909map">{{cite web |url=http://digitalgallery.nypl.org/nypldigital/dgkeysearchdetail.cfm?trg=1&strucID=777666&imageID=1516382&total=354&num=0&word=jamaica%20queens&s=1&notword=&d=&c=&f=&k=0&lWord=&lField=&sScope=&sLevel=&sLabel=&imgs=20&pos=12&e=w |title=1909 map |access-date=December 16, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110607184935/http://digitalgallery.nypl.org/nypldigital/dgkeysearchdetail.cfm?trg=1&strucID=777666&imageID=1516382&total=354&num=0&word=jamaica%20queens&s=1&notword=&d=&c=&f=&k=0&lWord=&lField=&sScope=&sLevel=&sLabel=&imgs=20&pos=12&e=w |archive-date=June 7, 2011 |url-status=dead }} St Albans Avenue was name of 118th Ave east of 196th Street. (Francis Lewis Boulevard is not on the map.) Also, St. Albans Place was the name of 121st Road. (See [http://stevemorse.org/census/changes/SanbornFire.htm Queens, NY, Street Name Changes 1914 – May 1951].)</ref><ref>{{Cite web | url=http://stevemorse.org/census/changes/QueensChanges1_RtoS.htm | title=Street Name Changes in Queens, NY : Old to New : R to S |access-date=July 5, 2013}}</ref>

The site was originally occupied by the St. Albans Golf Course and Country Club,<ref name="NYT-Hospital-1942">{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1942/05/19/archives/queens-site-seized-for-naval-hospital-work-begun-on-st-albans-golf.html|title=Queens Site Seized for Naval Hospital; Work Begun on St. Albans Golf Course as U.S. Files Notice|date=May 19, 1942|work=The New York Times|access-date=January 11, 2020|page=4|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331}}</ref><ref name="System">{{cite web|url=https://www.nyharbor.va.gov/services/St_Albans_Community_Living_Center.asp|title=Veterans Affairs|last=System|first=VA NY Harbor Healthcare|date=April 15, 2013|website=VA NY Harbor Health Care System|access-date=January 12, 2020}}</ref> which was completed in 1915.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://bklyn.newspapers.com/clip/42062271/|title=The New St. Albans Golf Course|date=June 25, 1914|work=Brooklyn Daily Eagle|access-date=January 9, 2020|page=37|via=Brooklyn Public Library; newspapers.com {{open access}}}}</ref> The club brought rich and famous golfers, including baseball star [[Babe Ruth]],<ref name=":0">{{cite news |url=http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/queens/2008/04/08/2008-04-08_queens_building_boom_knocking_out_link_t.html |title=Queens building boom knocking out link to players like Babe Ruth |first=Nicholas |last=Hirshon |date=April 8, 2008 |access-date=March 17, 2009 |newspaper=NY Daily News |quote=To build the U.S. Naval Hospital at Linden Blvd. and 179th St. in 1950, crews destroyed the historic St. Albans Golf Club, where Yankees icon Babe Ruth played regularly from the late 1920s through the 1940s. |archive-date=March 6, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090306204220/http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/queens/2008/04/08/2008-04-08_queens_building_boom_knocking_out_link_t.html |url-status=dead }}
See also:
* http://www.protectsaintalbans.com/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderfiles/ElectedRepresentativeSupportLetters.pdf{{dead link|date=November 2019 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}
* http://www.addisleighpark.org/
* http://www.astorialic.org/starjournal/1940s/1942september_p.php {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081121233835/http://www.astorialic.org/starjournal/1940s/1942september_p.php |date=November 21, 2008 }}
* http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F60612F93858157A93CBA8178ED85F468485F9
* http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F20A1EF83E59157A93C1A9178AD95F4C8485F9
* http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=FB0F11F83C581B7B93C4A81789D85F478485F9</ref> and hosted the 1930 [[Metropolitan Amateur]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://nypost.com/2010/08/22/the-late-great-golf-courses-of-queens/|title=The late, great golf courses of Queens|date=August 22, 2010|website=New York Post|access-date=January 11, 2020}}</ref> The Depression forced the golf course owners to try to sell, but plans for private development fell through. The land was seized by the federal government in 1942,<ref name="NYT-Hospital-1942" />
and construction soon began on the [[St. Albans Naval Hospital]],<ref>{{Cite news|date=February 14, 1960|title=Hospital to Hold Fete; Naval Facility in St. Albans to Celebrate Its 17th Year|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1960/02/14/archives/hospital-to-hold-fete-naval-facility-in-st-albans-to-celebrate-its.html|access-date=March 12, 2023|issn=0362-4331|page=71}}</ref> which opened in 1943.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1943/02/16/archives/navy-commissions-hospital-in-queens-10minute-ceremony-in-minus-8.html|title=Navy Commissions Hospital in Queens; 10-Minute Ceremony in Minus 8 Temperature Marks Formal Opening at St. Albans|date=February 16, 1943|work=The New York Times|access-date=January 13, 2020|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://navy.togetherweserved.com/usn/servlet/tws.webapp.WebApp?cmd=PublicUnitProfile&type=Unit&ID=23350|title=Navy Naval Hospital Long Island, NY (St. Albans) {{!}} Navy Veteran Locator|website=navy.togetherweserved.com|access-date=January 7, 2020}}</ref>
After construction was completed in 1950, the hospital had 3000 beds and contained a network of 76 wards.<ref name=":0" /> The hospital was turned over to the [[United States Department of Veterans Affairs|Veterans Administration]] in 1974,<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1974/03/10/archives/st-albans-holspital-entering-new-phase-twoyear-plan.html|title=St. Albans Hospital Entering New Phase|last=Berliner|first=David C.|date=March 10, 1974|work=The New York Times|access-date=January 7, 2020|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331}}</ref> reopening as a VA hospital two years later,<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/42179665/|title=Dedicate VA Hospital in St. Albans Tomorrow|last=Rabin|first=Bernard|date=October 22, 1976|work=New York Daily News|access-date=January 9, 2020|page=566|via=newspapers.com {{open access}}}}</ref> and more recently evolved into the Veterans Administration St. Albans Primary and Extended Care Facility.<ref name="System" /> A portion of the hospital site became [[Roy Wilkins Park]] in the 1980s.<ref name="New York City Department of Parks & Recreation 19392">{{cite web|url=https://www.nycgovparks.org/parks/roy-wilkins-recreation-center/history|title=Roy Wilkins Recreation Center Highlights : NYC Parks|date=June 26, 1939|website=New York City Department of Parks & Recreation|access-date=January 10, 2020}}</ref>

==== <span class="anchor" id="Addisleigh Park"></span>Addisleigh Park subsection ====
[[File:Addisleigh Park 01.JPG|thumb|right|275px|Houses in Addisleigh Park]]
[[File:Addisleigh Park 02.JPG|thumb|right|275px|Welcome sign]]
Within St. Albans is the small western enclave of Addisleigh Park, a U.S. [[Historic district (United States)|historic district]] that consists of single-family homes built in a variety of styles between the 1910s and 1930s. Though originally intended as a [[housing segregation|segregated]] community for [[white people]] only, from the late 1930s many notable [[African Americans]] have lived there.<ref name=LPC /> Today, it remains a predominantly African American and Jamaican enclave that is more upscale than surrounding areas in southeast Queens.<ref>{{cite web |url= http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/02/01/queens-neighborhood-gains-landmark-status/?_php=true&_type=blogs&_php=true&_type=blogs&_r=1 |title=Addisleigh Park, Historic Black Neighborhood in Queens, Gains Landmark Status |first=Alice |last=Speri |work=The New York Times |date=February 1, 2011 |access-date=June 20, 2014}}</ref>

Between 1900 and 1940, the village of Addisleigh Park was developed by a handful of eminent white entrepreneurs including Edwin H. Brown, Gerald C. English, and Alexander Rodman.<ref>{{cite web|last=Cowan|first=Jane|title=Addisleigh Park: Enclave of Greats in African-American History, Wholly Intact 20th Century Garden City Suburb and Site of Important American Housing History|url=http://learnfrombuildings.com/wp-content/uploads/addisleigh-park-report-jane-cowan.pdf}}</ref> Restrictive covenants were established to prohibit the sale of any of its properties to blacks.<ref>{{cite web|title=The Legacy of Addisleigh Park|url=http://www.theroot.com/multimedia/legacy-addisleigh-park|work=The Root|access-date=January 23, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130125151122/http://www.theroot.com/multimedia/legacy-addisleigh-park|archive-date=January 25, 2013|url-status=dead}}</ref> A 1926 ''New York Times'' article insists, "Addisleigh, together with the St. Albans Golf Club, was laid out under the personal direction of Edwin H. Brown, and carries a land and house restriction of the highest type."<ref>{{cite news|title=Queens Lots Lead in Suburban Sales|newspaper=The New York Times|date=February 6, 1926}}</ref> Two lawsuits were filed successfully by white residents who accused their neighbors of breaking the contractual segregation imposed on the neighborhood by its developers. Simeon Bankoff, executive director of the New York Historic Districts Council, says about this backlash, "It was unpleasant, as it was a case of a number of narrow-minded neighbors trying to fight what they saw as an invasion of unwanted people in their area."<ref>{{cite web|last=McNamara|first=Elizabeth|title=New York's Finest Black Suburb|url=http://www.preservationnation.org/magazine/story-of-the-week/2011/new-yorks-finest-black.html|publisher=National Trust for Historic Preservation}}</ref> Affluent white New York City-based public figures moved into Addisleigh Park to experience the privacy of suburban seclusion. Addisleigh Park boasted well-kept rows of [[Tudor architecture|Tudor]] and [[Colonial architecture|Colonial]] homes. The neighborhood's close proximity to Manhattan allowed for quick and frequent commuting. During the [[Swing Era]], Manhattan's [[52nd Street (Manhattan)|52nd Street]] served as the epicenter of [[Swing Era]] live entertainment and musical innovation. For this reason, many successful African American jazz musicians began to recognize Addisleigh Park as the newest suburban haven for wealthy, influential artists.

In 1948, the United States Supreme Court ruled that racially restrictive covenants violated the equal-protection clause of the 14th Amendment, though by that year, Addisleigh Park had already become a haven for world-famous African Americans in jazz and sports.<ref name="New York Times">{{cite news|title=Historic Black Enclave in Queens Gains Landmark Status|url=http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/02/01/queens-neighborhood-gains-landmark-status/|access-date=January 22, 2013|newspaper=New York Times|date=February 1, 2011}}</ref> The neighborhood was declared a historic district by the [[New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission|NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission]] in 2011.<ref name="LPC">{{cite web|title=Addisleigh Park Historic District Designation Report|url=http://www.nyc.gov/html/lpc/downloads/pdf/reports/2405.pdf|publisher=NYC.gov|access-date=January 23, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170224081542/https://www1.nyc.gov/html/lpc/downloads/pdf/reports/2405.pdf|archive-date=February 24, 2017|url-status=dead}}</ref>