20 FEBRUARY 27, 2020 RIDGEWOOD TIMES WWW.QNS.COM
A Ridgewood spot that was once a popular place of rest & refreshment
BY THE OLD TIMER
OUR NEIGHBORHOOD: THE WAY IT WAS
EDITORIAL@RIDGEWOODTIMES.COM
@RIDGEWOODTIMES
We’re turning the clock way
back this week to the year
1913, to a site in Ridgewood
that once was a popular hotel and
beer hall.
The Queens County Labor Lyceum
stood for many years at the corner
of Cypress Avenue and Cornelia
Street. In prior years, it was known
as Kreuscher’s Hotel. The building
had been in use as a hotel since its
construction some 50 years earlier.
On Feb. 24, 1860, Andrew Beck
purchased for $2,000 a wooded
plot of land slightly over a half-acre
in size where the hotel was built.
The land formerly belonged to the
Wyckoff Family, which at one point
owned hundreds of acres that would
later be transformed into residential
communities.
Beck cleared a portion of the site
and built a saloon and hotel, which
opened later that same year. It was a
wooden, two-story structure with the
saloon and dining room on the main
fl oor and the hotel above. The dining
room seated 500; a stable for up to 40
horses was provided in a building on
nearby Cypress Hills Plank Road (the
original name of Cypress Avenue).
To light the premises, 100 kerosene
lamps were used, and in colder
weather, 14 coal stoves were used for
heating.
The location turned out to be excellent
for a hotel. Cypress Hills Cemetery,
which opened in 1849, generated
traffi c from Brooklyn along Myrtle
Avenue and Cypress Hills Plank Road.
Also, the Union Course Race Track
was located not too far away in what
would become Woodhaven.
Additional traffi c came from farmers
from eastern Queens and Long
Island who used roadways such as
Myrtle Avenue and the Brooklyn-
Jamaica Plank Road (present-day
Jamaica Avenue) while bringing
goods by horse and buggy to and from
Manhattan.
These farmers used Beck’s Hotel as
a much-needed rest stop.
On July 1, 1871, Andrew Beck sold
the hotel to George Frederick Stroebel
for $21,000. The name of the establishment
changed to Stroebel’s Hotel.
Strobel and his family would take up
residence at the hotel while continuing
to let rooms there to the public.
Stroebel was active in politics and
his hotel was used for several of the
county political club meetings. Also,
the picnic grounds in the rear of the
hotel were used by various societies.
After Strobel’s death in 1878,
his daughter, Rosy, married John
Kreuscher, who took over management
of the hotel. A few years later, to settle
The Queens County Labor Lyceum, formerly Kreuscher’s Hotel, was a popular destination in Ridgewood during
the early 20th century. Ridgewood Times archives/Courtesy of Greater Ridgewood Historical Society
the Stroebel family estate, Kreuscher
bought the hotel and its property for
more than $15,000 and renamed the
business Kreuscher’s Hotel.
John Kreuscher died in about 1907,
and Rosy operated the hotel with the
help of her son, Frederick. Then, the
hotel gained a new standing in the
community.
In the spring of 1909, Father Wagner,
the pastor of St. Matthias Church,
arranged with the Kreuscher family
to have Mass celebrated in the hotel
until the new church on Catalpa
Avenue was ready later in the year.
Previously, Mass had been held at
the Ridgewood Pavilion on Cypress
Avenue between George and Summerfi
eld Streets.
The arrangement between St. Matthias
and Kreuscher’s Hotel continued
until July 18, 1909, when the fi rst Mass
was celebrated at the new church.
Then in 1911, the hotel’s stable was
transformed into one of the fi rst motion
picture theaters in the area.
Finally, on March 22, 1913, the
Kreuscher family exited the hotel
business. Rosy Kreuscher sold the
hotel to Martin Kramer and Martin
Seubert, who then resold it to the
Queens Labor Lyceum Association.
Small storefronts on the site of what was once Kreuscher’s Hotel.
Photo via PropertyShark/Christopher Bride
To build up a trade, the Queens Labor
Lyceum featured three Sunday dinners
at the price of $1.
The nearby Welz and Zerwick
Brewery supplied the beer served to
patrons at the lyceum.
Prohibition, which was enacted on
Jan. 16, 1920, brought business crashing
to a halt. On June 13, 1921, the site
and operated for many years thereafter
as a dance hall and speakeasy.
Following Prohibition, the site
was turned into a row of stores.
Though a March 1966 fi re nearly destroyed
all the businesses, they were
rebuilt — and remain in use today for
commerce.
Reprinted and updated from the Sept.
15 and 22, 1983 Ridgewood Times.
* * *
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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