WWW.QNS.COM RIDGEWOOD TIMES JULY 23, 2020 9
OUR NEIGHBORHOOD: THE WAY IT WAS
2. ONDERDONK HOUSE
Standing at the corner of Flushing and Onderdonk Avenues, the Onderdonk House
remains the lone reminder of Ridgewood’s colonial and agricultural past. The house
dates back to the period when the Dutch controlled New York. It today serves as the
home base of the Greater Ridgewood Historical Society, and educates generations of
Ridgewood residents on the neighborhood’s proud history.
3. BOHACK SQUARE
No one calls the corner of Flushing and Metropolitan Avenues “Bohack Square”
anymore, but decades ago, this was the hub of one of New York’s largest supermarket
chains. The intersection housed Bohack’s corporate headquarters and warehouses.
Reminders of the chain’s past remains visible to visitors today passing through the
area.
4. LINDEN HILL CEMETERY
Traveling east on Metropolitan Avenue, the gates to the Linden Hill Cemetery stand
at the intersection of Grandview Avenue. One of the largest and oldest burial grounds
in the community, Linden Hill serves as the fi nal resting place for generations of
Ridgewood residents.
5. GROVER CLEVELAND HIGH SCHOOL
Located further south and east at 2120 Himrod St., Grover Cleveland High School
is the neighborhood’s largest public high school. The school opened in 1931, and its
fi rst principal, Charles Tonsor, led the school for the next several decades. The nearby
Tonsor Street is named for him.
6. THE “CAR BARNS”
A few blocks away, at the corner of Stanhope Street and Seneca Avenue, stood “the
car barns,” the storage depot for the many trolleys serving the Greater Ridgewood
area. The barns were prominent in the 1940 aerial image, but they faded into history
just decades later. The barns were redeveloped as the Grover Cleveland High School
athletic fi elds.
7. ST. ALOYSIUS CHURCH
The twin spires of St. Aloysius Church have stood over the corner of Onderdonk
Avenue and Stockholm Street for decades, inviting the faithful to come and pray. The
house of worship is across the street from the historic, Belgian-brick lined block of
Stockholm Street — Ridgewood’s fi rst landmark district.
8. OUR LADY OF THE MIRACULOUS MEDAL CHURCH
Further to the east stands Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal Church. The Catholic
house of worship has provided services for decades at the corner of 60th Place and
Bleecker Street.
9. LIRR LOWER MONTAUK BRANCH
The Lower Montauk branch of the Long Island Rail Road is quite visible as it cuts a
swath through the community, serving as the border between Ridgewood/Glendale
and Middle Village. The last commuter train ran on this branch back in 1997; today, it
remains in service to freight rail operations.
10. END OF THE M LINE
Originally built as an extension of the Myrtle Avenue El to Downtown Brooklyn,
the 10th site on our list is the current site of the Middle Village-Metropolitan Avenue
subway station. These days, of course, it’s the last stop (or fi rst stop, depending on
your perspective) on the M train, which runs through Bushwick, Williamsburg,
Manhattan and northern/central Queens.
11. FRESH POND CREMATORY
Sitting at the top of “Crematory Hill” overlooking Maspeth and Middle Village
since the early 1920s, the Fresh Pond Crematory has provided services to the dearly
departed for more than a century. The Romanesque structure also houses the ashes
of generations of prominent individuals who lived in New York.
12. ELIOT AVENUE
Developed just before the start of the 1939-40 World’s Fair, Eliot Avenue quickly
became one of the neighborhood’s most important roadways. It also opened up new
farm land for the development of new homes across Maspeth and Middle Village,
including the Juniper Park homes near Juniper Valley Park.
13. ELMHURST GAS TANKS
Finally, the twin Elmhurst Gas Tanks not only provided fuel for local residents
but, in later years, became a landmark on traffi c reports about volume on the Long
Island Expressway, which was built in the 1950s. The tanks fi nally came down in the
late 1990s, and the site was redeveloped as a public park.
* * *
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.
Grover Cleveland High School Ridgewood Times fi le photo
Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal Church Ridgewood Times archives
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