Queens Village: History

Though settled by colonists in the 1640s, Little Plains, as it was then called, was mostly used as "commons,'' public lands for grazing cattle. In the 1700s it became a village on the edge of the Hempstead Plains, with a few narrow roads and large farms.

The Names: In 1824 Thomas Brush established a blacksmith shop, prospered and expanded to other shops, a factory, more land. The village became known as Brushville and might still be Brushville were it not for the coming of the railroad in 1834. Since this was the first station in Queens, it became the Queens station. Another entrepreneur, Civil War Col. Alfred M. Wood, former mayor of Brooklyn, bought land north of Brush's estate and built another railroad station called Queens Village. The name stuck to the entire area.

Turning Points: Development started south of Jericho Turnpike in the 1870s and the first subdivisions sprouted in 1906. But Queens Village remained largely rural until the arrival of the Roaring '20s, when the big Queens housing boom spread east, and hundreds of row houses with small backyards offered city folk an opportunity to escape to the country.

Shooting Stars: Legend has it that Annie Oakley got her gun here, on the Creedmoor Rifle Range built in 1873 by the newly organized National Rifle Association and used by the country's top competitors for national and international meets. The range was abandoned in 1910 and became the site for the Creedmoor State Psychiatric Center. Other local stars included the Callisters, who started a carriage business in 1853 which became a leading auto dealership in 1914. Writer-editor Christopher Morley and landscape artist Henry Miller also made their homes here.

Where to Find More: See ``History of Queens Village,'' by Vincent F. Seyfried, available in many libraries.
Queens Village Today

A hidden gem just 18 miles from Midtown Manhattan, Queens Village is a community rich in diversity and quality of life amenities. This sprawling section of Eastern Queens extends its north-south  boundaries from GCP in the north to Murdock Blvd. south; It’s east west boundaries are Cross-Island Pkwy. in the east to Francis Lewis Blvd West.

2002 census figures information shows the population of QV to be just over 66,000 with a mix of Afro American, Afro Caribbean,Indo Carribbean, Latino and Asian residents.

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