www.qns.com RIDGEWOOD TIMES OCTOBER 11, 2018 27
OUR NEIGHBORHOOD: THE WAY IT WAS
One of the toughest holes on the
course was the eighth, which was
known as “San Juan Hill” in honor of
Teddy Roosevelt and his Rough Riders
in the Spanish American War.
In the winter time, the children
used Forest Park for sleigh riding, but
only the more daring would go down
San Juan Hill with their sleighs.
Edward Bourcier, a Frenchman,
lived on 17 acres on the south side of
Myrtle Avenue at what is now 80th
Street in Glendale. In 1895, he sold
14.816 acres to the City of Brooklyn
for Brooklyn Forest Park for $29,632
(or $2,000 per acre, which was slightly
below the average price they paid of
$2,154 per acre for the entire park).
He retained approximately two acres
and the house he lived in. A U-shaped
path lined with poplar trees led from
Myrtle Avenue to his house.
Bourcier died in 1906, and his heirs
sold the property to Charles Strain
for $26,700. Strain immediately
converted the house — a three-story
wooden building with a large porch
on the west side — to a clubhouse for
a private golf course for the more
affluent golfers who used the Forest
Park Links.
Some of the members of this club
were Charles Baum, who had a leather
goods store on Myrtle Avenue in
Ridgewood; Arthur Stearns; Devereau
Lord; Henry Miller, who was the
golf pro at Forest Park Links; Charles
Stoddard; Doctor Steele, a minister;
and Gilbert Tompkins, who was the
Lido Country Club champion.
In addition, there was a public clubhouse
in the southern part of the links
adjacent to Park Lane South.
To accommodate the golfers who
could not afford membership in the
private club, William Rail — who had a
cigar and candy store on the north side
of Myrtle Avenue near Dry Harbor
Road (now 80th Street) — installed
lockers which he rented to golfers.
He also sold golf balls and other golf
suppliers.
There were a number of Scots
living in Glendale and they were
enthusiastic golfers. They formed the
Clansmen Club, which was used for
social activities.
In the 1920s, Arthur “Dazzy” Vance
— the famous fastball pitcher for the
Brooklyn Dodgers — enjoyed playing
golf at the Forest Park Links, as did
Wilbert “Uncle Robbie” Robinson,
manager of the Dodgers. Sherrod
Smith and Leon Cadore, both of whom
pitched for the Dodgers between 1915
and 1922, also played the course at
regular intervals.
Some of the professional golfers
who played Forest Park were Wilfred
“Wiffie” Cox, Pat Doyle and Stewart
Doyle. Among the fine amateur golfers
who played at Forest Park were Davey
Ross, the Forest Park Links champion,
and the Dauble brothers who lived
on Ford Avenue (now 79th Place) in
Glendale.
THE PARK CONTINUES
TO GROW
The year 1912 brought a chestnut
tree blight that destroyed a large number
of trees in Forest Park. A contract
was let by the city on March 5, 1912,
to Viaduct Contracting Company for
removal of the approximately 15,000
dead and diseased trees.
A logging camp was set up — the
only one in this area of the United
States at that time. Under the terms
of the contract, the city paid nothing
for the removal of trees and they received
20 percent of the felled timber,
which they used for fence posts, rustic
steps and boardwalk planks in the
Rockaways.
Sadly, many storms through the
years knocked down scores of other
trees around Forest Park. Hurricane
Sandy in October 2012 hit the park
particularly hard, but local volunteers
quickly rose to the occasion,
clearing fallen trees from Forest Park
Drive and other roadways in or near
the park.
In 1914, telephones were installed in
the Overlook, the greenhouse, the golf
clubhouse, the superintendent’s house
at Jackson’s Pond and in the stables.
Old timers in Glendale thought
the park originally extended west to
about what is 73rd Street. However,
park-like area from what is now 73rd
Street to what is now 79th Lane was
actually Section 14 of Cypress Hills
Cemetery. Up until 1914, it was not
used for burials.
In December of that year, this
85-acre section of land was sold by
Cypress Hills Cemetery to the Mount
Lebanon Cemetery Corporation.
Be sure to come back next week for
our second part, which focuses on the
Forest Park Carousel, the Dry Harbor
Playground, Victory Field and the
Jackie Robinson Parkway. Meantime,
we welcome any of your memories of
one of Queens’ most historic parks.
Reprinted from the Oct. 23, 2014,
issue of the Ridgewood Times.
* * *
If you have any memories and photos
that you’d like to share about “Our
Neighborhood:The Way it Was,” write
to The Old Timer, c/o Ridgewood Times,
38-15 Bell Blvd., Bayside, NY 11361, or
send an email to editorial@ridgewoodtimes.
com. All mailed pictures will be
carefully returned upon request.
Buddy Memorial
The Overlook at Forest Park
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