WWW.QNS.COM RIDGEWOOD TIMES JANUARY 9, 2020 23
OUR NEIGHBORHOOD: THE WAY IT WAS
Forest Park transforms from a giant stretch of
land to a park packed with history, tradition
PRESENTED BY THE WOODHAVEN
CULTURAL AND HISTORICAL SOCIETY
EDITORIAL@RIDGEWOODTIMES.COM
@RIDGEWOODTIMES
Brooklyn’s Forest Park (as it was
originally christened), celebrates its
125th anniversary this year, having
been founded in 1895. It boasts some
of the highest lands on Long Island
with spectacular views overlooking
Jamaica Plains. Sitting high on top
of a massive rock formed by glacial
movement, Forest Park has views
stretching all the way to Jamaica Bay
and overlooking all of Brooklyn to
the west, with Manhattan sitting in
the distance.
Although much of Forest Park’s 538
acres consists of natural woodland, the
park itself was planned and designed
by landscape architect Frederick Law
Olmsted. However, the idea of craft -
ing a park at that location came from
James S.T. Stranahan, a congressman
from Brooklyn who was instrumental
in securing the funding and support
for building Prospect Park.
Mr. Stranahan’s original concept
was one giant, continuous park
stretching from Brooklyn all the
way to Jamaica. However, in the few
years since the land for Prospect
Park was purchased by the city, the
population advanced and much of the
property east of Brooklyn began to be
developed.
In fact, the rate of development
was so swift that the city had to rush
and purchase the remaining land at a
much higher price than it would have
paid just a few years earlier when Mr.
Stranahan conceived of the idea. Had
they waited even one more year, it is
likely that Forest Park would never
have been created at all.
A nine-hole golf course was opened
to the public and by 1905, the popularity
of the golf course would prompt it
to expand to 18 holes, stretching south
all the way to Ashland Avenue, where
residential homes marked the start of
Woodhaven proper.
As part of the expansion, a Dutch
Colonial golf clubhouse was built on
the course in 1905 by the architectural
fi rm of Helmle, Huberty & Hudswell,
who also designed the landmark
Williamsburgh Savings Bank tower
in Brooklyn. Surrounded by the golf
course, a set of stairs led from the
building directly to the fi rst tee. The
club house had lockers, parlors and
bathing facilities for the golfers.
In July of 1914, Queens Parks
Commissioner John Weier met with
residents of Woodhaven who had
been pushing to have some of the golf
course turned over to the community.
In particular, the residents were looking
to have the part of the golf course
south of the clubhouse, near Ashland
Avenue, converted into a playground.
The Parks Department agreed to
shift four holes of the golf course
directly off of Ashland and extend
the course northward, picking up
the land to build four replacement
holes near the Myrtle Avenue side
of the park. Development of the playground
(referred to at the time as the
Lott Avenue Playground) was delayed
by World War I, but fi nally opened in
June of 1923.
With these changes, a second golf
clubhouse was built, at 80th Street
and Myrtle Avenue, and over time, the
original clubhouse found itself on the
outside of the course it was built for.
The road that ran past the clubhouse
was named Forest Park Drive and
formed a connection between Woodhaven
and Glendale.
Although the world around us has
changed vastly over the last century,
much of Forest Park has not and everything
described thus far is still visible.
The Forest Park Golf House (now
known as Oak Ridge) went through a
beautiful restoration and currently
houses the administration offi ces of
Forest Park.
Today, the Lott Avenue Playground
is named after Mary Whalen, a
longtime community activist who
served on Community Board 9 and as
the president of the Woodhaven Residents’
Block Association. Ms. Whalen
was also a member of the Ladies Auxiliary
of American Legion Post 118 and
was the founder and fi rst president of
the Greater Woodhaven Development
Corporation.
In the 1920s a borough-wide set of
street naming conventions were developed
and almost every street name
in Queens was changed. Ashland
Avenue, on which the southern end of
the golf course originally bordered,
became Park Lane South and Lott
Avenue became 76th Street.
When James S.T. Stranahan conceived
of Forest Park well over a
hundred years ago, he envisioned
one large park stretching for miles
from Brooklyn to Jamaica. But what
we ended up with is a large park
that belongs to us — a park that’s
packed with beauty, history and
traditions.
* * *
If you have any remembrances or old
photographs of “Our Neighborhood: The
Way It Was” that you would like to share
with our readers, please write to the Old
Timer, c/o Ridgewood Times, 38-15 Bell
Blvd., Bayside, NY 11361, or send an email
to editorial@ridgewoodtimes.com. Any
print photographs mailed to us will be
carefully returned to you upon request.
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