Greater Astoria Historial Society 35-20 Broadway, 4th Floor | L.I.C., NY 11106 718.278.0700 | www.astorialic.org Gallery Hours: Mondays & Wednesdays 2-5 PM Saturdays 12-5 PM Exhibits ~ Lectures ~ Documentaries ~ Books Walking Tours ~ Historical Research Unique & Creative Content For more information visit us on the web at www.astorialic.org This image adapted from an invitation to the Long Island City Athletics 33rd Annual Masque Ball, 1909. 32 JUNE 2014 I LIC COURIER I www.queenscourier.com legends Robert Leslie Smith (1880- 1960) continues memories of LIC as a boy. This was typed in 1959, a year before his death. Continuing up to the corner of Steinway Street and Broadway you would come to Astoria Schuetzen Park now a commercial building sits at the southeast corner, with its large picnic grounds and assembly hall. Many of the campaign meetings of the Democratic and Republican parties were held in the assembly hall, where I had the pleasure of hearing William Jennings Bryan, then Democratic candidate for President, speak. Running on Broadway from Steinway Avenue to the 92nd Street Ferry was a one-horse car line which would make the trip to Steinway Avenue and then turn around on a turntable and go back. When Steinway Avenue was widened, houses had been removed from each corner of Broadway, and at the northwest corner a large hole was left in the ground. Over this was erected a small building used as a barbershop. At that time barbers in Woodside were charging 15cents for a haircut, while the barber occupying the Astoria shop was charging 10 cents. During the bicycle craze in the early 90s, there was a concrete path on each side of Thomson Avenue which made very pleasant riding for bicyclists. In fact, some of the Woodside young boys used to ride their bicycles down to the 34th Street ferry, stall them at Bresloff’s Cigar store, and take one of the ferries to lower New York in order to reach their places of business. The bicycles played a prominent part in both city and suburban life with the first plans for the Queensboro Bridge which was to be a double-decker, providing for a bicycle path. In 1899 we had a smallpox epidemic in both Queens and Manhattan, of which Long Island City had its share of victims. In order to take care of those so afflicted a large frame building was erected in the center of what is now known as Skillman Avenue, a few hundred feet west of Old Bowery Bay Road. In Woodside and on the opposite side of Old Bowery Bay Road, Louis Sussdorf occupied a large mansion. He didn’t like the idea of a wagon (not an ambulance) carrying smallpox patients making the turn opposite his gate on its way to the so-called pest house. Mr. Sussdorf went to court and tried to obtain removal of the pest house but was unsuccessful. The Ravenswood section of LIC, especially along Vernon Avenue was in the early days lined with very large homes with beautiful gardens. It is told that one of the residents who moved to California had been so impressed with the beauty of Ravenswood that he named his estate “Ravenswood.” The finest section of Astoria was now 14th Street and now 12th Street, running north from now Astoria Blvd., and traveling north you would reach the shore road on which fronted several large estates, including the Woolsey, Barclay and Polhemus estates. LEGENDS OF LIC BY GREATER ASTORIA HISTORICAL SOCIETY LEGENDS OF LIC
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