and workshops on subjects that focus on the borough’s past and
present.
Inside scoop: From 1847 until 1998, a 60-foot-high weeping
beech -- with an umbrella of branches that stretched 85 feet --
lived in the backyard. The tree had NYC landmark status, and
it’s believed to be the original source for all weeping beeches
in the United States. Henry Stern, who was the NYC Parks
Commissioner at the time, held an outdoor, public funeral for the
tree in 1998.
Address: 143-35 37th Ave., Flushing,
and www.queenshistoricalsociety.org.
LEWIS LATIMER HOUSE MUSEUM
Lewis Latimer (1848–1928) was an African-American inventor
who worked with Alexander Graham Bell on the telephone and
Thomas A. Edison on the lightbulb. The Renaissance man was a
self-taught master draftsman, an expert on patent law, a poet, and
a painter.
The son of fugitive slaves, Latimer settled in Flushing, where he
helped found the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Queens
and lived in what is now his namesake museum. The woodframed,
two-story residence, which features Queen Anne style
architecture, remained in Latimer’s family until 1963. Under
threat of demolition in 1988, it was moved to its current location,
converted into a museum, and designated an NYC Landmark.
Today, the nonprofit’s public programs call attention to the many
contributions to science and technology that Latimer and other
African-Americans have made over the centuries.
Inside scoop: The nearby Latimer Gardens complex is named
after the inventor. These four, 10-story, city-run apartment
buildings are bordered by 34th and 35th avenues, Linden Place
and Leavitt Street.
Address: 34-41 137th St., Flushing, and www.latimernow.org.
POPPENHUSEN INSTITUTE
In 1868, Conrad Poppenhusen, an immigrant from Germany’s
Hamburg, built the institute with the specific charter that the
four-story edifice be used to improve individuals’ job skills or
recreational/cultural awareness, regardless of their race, creed or
religion. He also developed the nearby roadway that is currently
called “College Point Boulevard.”
The institution once housed a courthouse, a bank, the area’s
first library, a sheriff’s office (two vacant jail cells are still
84 QUEENS IN YOUR POCKET • www.itsinqueens.com
/www.queenshistoricalsociety.org
/www.latimernow.org
/www.itsinqueens.com
/www.queenshistoricalsociety.org
/www.latimernow.org
/www.itsinqueens.com
