WWW.QNS.COM RIDGEWOOD TIMES JANUARY 4, 2018 21
OUR NEIGHBORHOOD: THE WAY IT WAS
Turning back the clock to
Woodhaven from a century ago
PRESENTED BY THE WOODHAVEN
CULTURAL AND HISTORICAL SOCIETY
PROJECTWOODHAVEN@GMAIL.COM
As we enter the year 2018, let’s
take a look back 100 years ago
to see what life was like in
Woodhaven.
The biggest change of life in 1918
Woodhaven was the addition of the
elevated train, which had just opened
the previous May after several
years of heated controversy. Most
residents of Woodhaven didn’t want
an elevated line to run down Jamaica
Avenue, opting instead for a planned
subway.
The city was unimpressed with
arguments made by those pushing for
a subway instead of an elevated line,
promising that the resulting track
would be safe and “practically noiseless.”
They made it clear, though, that
residents had little choice in the matter
when a representative from the BRT
said at a meeting that “Woodhaven
would take the El or walk!”
And so, Woodhaven has had an
elevated train ever since, though it’s
about as far from “practically noiseless”
as anything could possibly get.
1918 also saw a new school completing
its fi rst year, P.S. 97 on Yarmouth
Street (which today, is known as
85th Street). A century later, P.S. 97 is
known as the “Forest Park School” and
is going strong.
The fi rst principal of P.S. 97 was
Martin Joyce, who also served as the
principal of P.S. 60 and P.S. 65 at the
same time. Can you imagine serving
as principal for 3 schools at the same
time?
P.S. 60 was a small wooden schoolhouse
on 87th Road between 80th and
85th Streets, but it was demolished
in the 1960s and moved to its current
location near 92nd Street and 88th Avenue.
And P.S. 65 was on 78th Street off
Jamaica Avenue and was deactivated
and demolished long ago.
Residents of Woodhaven in 1918
could go to see a movie at either the
Parkway on 85th and Jamaica (where
they could view movies indoor our
outside) or the Manor at 96th and
Jamaica. Both would be closed before
1920 and all of the theaters which came
aft er (the Willard, the Haven and the
Roosevelt) are also gone from our
current landscape.
With the Haven closing in the mid-
1980s, there will soon come a time
when no person living in Woodhaven
could say that they were ever in any of
our hometown theaters.
A time traveler from 1918 would no
doubt be shocked by the changes to
Woodhaven, but would also be comforted
by many of the same buildings and roads
and even some of the same businesses.
Popp’s Restaurant is still at the corner
of 86th and Jamaica, just as it has
since 1907. Manor Delicatessen is still
at 94th Street and Jamaica Avenue, just
as it has been since 1914.
You can still make your way to
Forest Park to ride the carousel, except
these days it sports a New York
City Landmark designation. Walker
Funeral Home is still in business, as
is Neir’s Tavern.
Many of the houses in Woodhaven
are 100 years old or more, so there’s a
good chance the time traveler from
1918 could visit the home they lived in,
and stop in a few old establishments.
But in the end, our time traveler
will return home to a very somber
Woodhaven in 1918. The United States
had entered World War I in April of
the previous year and casualty reports
were starting to come in.
The war would be over soon, before
the end of 1918. But the community of
Woodhaven would be hit hard, eventually
building a living memorial to
the fallen in Forest Park. Some of the
original Memorial Trees of Forest
Park planted in memory of the young
soldiers who died are still standing.
And just as residents of Woodhaven
did in the aft ermath of that war, American
Legion Post 118 and the Woodhaven
Cultural & Historical Society will
decorate the trees in honor of the
fallen for Memorial Day.
And so, we hope our time traveler
will return home to 1918 and tell residents
about the ‘practically noiseless’
train, and the traffi c and all of our
other failings. But we hope the time
traveler will also let them know that
we still honor Woodhaven’s young
residents who gave their life to this
country a century before.
