Another interesting neighborhood full of grandiose homes in the NYC borough of Queens is the lavish and unique area known as Jamaica Estates. It's kind of a northeast version of Beverly Hills or Bel-Air in some ways. This tucked away place is not only packed with Tudor and Colonial styles, as well as Craftsman, Cape Cod and Mediterranean styles, gated mansions and modern mini palaces, but also features a group of both public and private schools that have created an enviable record of student achievement: The Radnor School (P.S. /I.S. 178), the Abigail Adams School (P.S. 131), the Immaculate Conception School, the Mary Louis Academy and the Summit School. Most notably, bordering the Jamaica Estates northwest corner is the world renowned St. John’s University. Lots to check out around here. It’s cool to see the original gatehouse to the community from 1909 still standing on Hillside Avenue as well.
Also, notable and interesting is that this was the neighborhood former President Donald Trump grew up in. You can see the family house at 23:36 that his father, Fred Trump, had built in the late 1940’s on Midland Parkway. It’s a 23-room Neo-classical revival mansion that the present day owners still maintain very nicely. All this and more on my latest walking tour of amazing Queens, NY homes! ENJOY!
A little history: the glaciers that covered much of Queens and Long Island over a million years ago helped to form the hilly terrain characteristic of Jamaica Estates. As the Ice Age receded, rolling hills and valleys formed, punctuated with boulders and rocks deposited from areas further north. Over time, abundant rainfall and rich soil created a dense hardwood forest. The area's first inhabitants were Native Americans, including the Yemacahs, for whom Jamaica is named, and the Man-a-hattans who sold Jamaica Town to the Dutch. Dutch settlers were joined by English colonials, and diverse and independent US citizens followed from 1776 to modern times.
In the early part of this century, the city fathers considered two naturally beautiful areas for a park. One proposed site included this community. The second, the area to the West now known as Forest Park, was the site chosen, freeing the Jamaica Estates area to be developed according to another vision. In 1904, three men - Timothy L. Woodruff, former Lieutenant Governor of New York, Edward Groat, one time State Comptroller, and Michael Degnon, a pioneer in the engineering of our subway system, purchased 503 acres thickly wooded with oak, maple, elm and chestnut trees from the City of New York, with the intent of transforming this park-like setting into a residential community resembling Tuxedo Park in Orange County. They named the area after their firm, the Jamaica Estates Company, located at 353 Fifth Avenue, Manhattan. The boundaries were as they are now: Utopia Parkway/Homelawn Street on the West; Hillside Avenue on the South; Holliswood/188th Street on the East; Union Turnpike on the North.
For more history and information visit: WWW.JAMAICAESTATESASSOCIATION.COM
FEATURES:
0:00 Hillside Ave entrance
0:26 History sign
1:08 Midland Pkwy
6:56 Koi Fish
8:29 Super Tudor
10:21 Grand Central Pkwy
11:06 Midland Pkwy
15:14 Croydon Rd
18:24 Edgerton Blvd
20:35 Croydon Rd
21:08 Wareham Place
22:35 Henley Rd
23:02 Midland Pkwy
23:36 Trump childhood home
24:51 Dalny Rd
27:00 Avon St
27:22 Somerset St
28:49 Henley Rd
30:48 Somerset St
31:41 Hovenden Rd
33:26 Chevy Chase
35:09 Santiago St
37:46 Mural
38:49 Palo Alto Ave
40:17 191st St
41:51 Palo Alto St
46:19 McLaughlin Ave
47:48 85th Rd
49:15 Radnor Rd
53:50 Kent St
54:22 Radnor Rd
55:46 Super Tudor 2
56:57 Grand Central Pkwy
57:43 Aberdeen Rd
1:00:49 Tudor Rd
1:04:14 Edgerton Rd
1:05:19 Kildare Rd
1:12:15 St. Johns Univ
1:13:44 Modern home
1:14:31 Henley Rd
1:15:13 Edgerton Blvd