20 JULY 2, 2020 RIDGEWOOD TIMES WWW.QNS.COM
OUR NEIGHBORHOOD: THE WAY IT WAS
This school was torn apart during a devastating storm 125 years ago
Public School 59 on Rockaway Boulevard in Old Woodhaven South (now Ozone Park) in the aftermath of the cyclone that struck with devastation
force 125 years ago, on July 13, 1895. Courtesy of the Woodhaven Cultural and Historical Society
PRESENTED BY THE WOODHAVEN
CULTURAL AND HISTORICAL SOCIETY
EDITORIAL@RIDGEWOODTIMES.COM
@RIDGEWOODTIMES
Last month, we wrote about the
tremendous storm that struck Woodhaven
125 years ago on July 13, 1895.
The worst scene of destruction was at
P.S. 59, the newly built two-story brick
schoolhouse at University Place (95th
Avenue) and Rockaway Boulevard.
The roof of the schoolhouse was
ripped off and the upper half of the
building collapsed. “I could see fl ying
bricks and debris of all kinds,
and then the whole landscape was
obscured by clouds of dust,” said one
eyewitness. “Great beams and roofs
blew about for the space of fully half
a minute.”
Only that this storm struck on a
Saturday prevented this from being
a far more tragic tale. No one was
injured inside the collapsed school
building. Outside, however, was a
diff erent story.
One block east of the school, at
Third Avenue (84th Street) and
Rockaway Boulevard, 16-year-old
newlywed Louise Petroquien, was at
her sewing machine when she heard
the commotion outside. Looking out
the window, she saw the massive
dark cloud overhead and ran outside
to warn her mother.
She emerged from a side doorway
but before she could shout out a
warning, a large beam torn from
the roof of P.S. 59 slammed into her
head and neck, killing her instantly.
It was her mother, returning aft er
the storm had passed, who found
her daughter’s body next to the steps
leading to their home.
The storm moved south and out
toward Jamaica Bay, leaving an eerie
silence amidst the massive amount
of destruction in its wake. Although
there were close to 150 home damaged,
accounts vary on how many
homes were completely destroyed,
and the number is probably somewhere
between 15 and 30.
In the days following the storm,
over 100,000 people came to Woodhaven
via the Long Island Rail
Road on Atlantic Avenue to view
the damage. While locals bustled
about, clearing away debris, visitors
dropped coins and bills into barrels
set up for the close to three hundred
people who lost everything, or nearly
everything, to the storm.
The main attraction for the visitors,
however, seemed to be the home of Ms.
Petroquien. The family permitted
visitors to enter her home, through
the door which she had rushed out
of, stepping over the spot where she
lost her life.
They were led into the parlor
where they could view and pay respects
to the young bride, who was
lying in a rosewood coffi n under a
large pile of fl owers.
For over one hundred years, stories
looking back on the storm of 1895
have referred to Louise Petroquien
as the sole fatality from Woodhaven.
However, one small victim of that
storm has been forgotten over the
past century — 5-year-old Johnny
Kolb.
The boy had been playing on Atlantic
and Rockaway when the storm hit
and aft erwards he was discovered lying
under the rubble by P.S. 59 School
Superintendent William F. Buckley.
Buckley was also a member of the
Woodhaven Volunteer Fire Department
and had heard the cries for
help from the young boy. He carried
Johnny Kolb inside where a doctor
examined him and found that the boy
had broken both an arm and a leg.
However, the next day, his condition
took a turn for the worse and he
passed away, bringing the number
of Woodhaven fatalities to two. Both
Louise Petroquien and Johnny Kolb
were buried in Cypress Hills cemetery
on the same day.
Today, the intersection of 83rd
Street and Rockaway is now part
of Ozone Park. There is nothing to
indicate that this was once the scene
of a powerful and destructive storm.
An offi ce building stands where the
school once sat; for many years,
this building was well known as a
Friendly Frost appliance store.
What happened there 125 years
ago serves as a reminder that we are
forever at the mercy of nature and
its tendency to humble us without
warning.
* * *
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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