Historical Timeline Franklin Square-Elmont

Page 8 FRANKLIN SQUARE/ELMONT GUIDE

Elmont and Franklin Square HISTORICAL TIMELINE

•1643

John Carman and the Rev. Robert Fordham traded with four local Indian tribes for approximately 64,000 acres of what became the towns of Hempstead and North Hempstead. The purchase price: approximately $100 in modern money.

•1664

The area passed into English control, becoming part of the colony of New York.

•1790

George Washington passed through on his tour or Long Island. Writing in his diary, he noted that the area was entirely treeless, except for a few “scraggly fruit trees.”

•1851

Bernard Rottkamp and Caroline Engle married and moved to Foster’s Meadow. They were to have 14 children, 10 of whom survived infancy.

•1853

Louis Schroerer built a hotel near a tollgate on what is now Arden Boulevard. The hotel attracted a large number of visitors, especially Germans, many of whom were interested in moving from New York City.

•1867

Ruthless, a 3-year-old filly, won the first Belmont Stakes horse race at Jerome Park in the Bronx. The race was named for Wall Street mogul August Belmont Sr. It moved to Elmont in 1905.

•1887

St. Boniface opened a four-room school, with an auditorium. Nuns of the Dominican order were invited to teach and built a convent on land donated by the parish.

•1650

Christopher and Thomas Foster bought land from the Dutch, intending to raise cattle and sheep. They named the land Foster’s Meadow. The name stuck for the next 200 years.

•1683

The area of Elmont and Franklin Square became part of Queens County under a three-part division of Long Island.

•1840

Walt Whitman served for three months as schoolmaster in the Trimming Square school district, located at the juncture of Franklin Square, Garden City South and West Hempstead.

•1852

The Church of the Nativity of Our Lord Jesus Christ was consecrated. It was reconsecrated in 1857 and dedicated to St. Boniface, the patron saint of Germany.

•1858

The Rev. Peter Hartraub was appointed the first pastor of St. Boniface.

•1882

The area was subdivided into the areas of Alden Manor and Locustwood. Foster’s Meadow was renamed Elmont.

•1899

Elmont and Franklin Square became part of the newly formed Nassau County.

•1902

Perhaps the most significant milestone in the development of modern Elmont, Belmont Park was opened. A turreted neogothic mansion on the property belonging to William de Forest Manice served as the Turf and Field Club headquarters until 1956.

•1910

Orville and Wilbur Wright staged an aerial competition — the first air race ever held in the U.S. — from Elmont to the Statue of Liberty and back. The crowd drew 150,000 spectators.

•1919

Sir Barton became the first Triple Crown winner.

•1923

The Franklin Square Hose and Chemical Company was formed.

•1926

The Franklin Square National Bank opened; it would eventually become the 18th largest bank in the nation.

•1929

Sewanhaka (“island of shells”) High School opened.

•1939

The cornerstone of the new Plattdeutsche Park Restaurant was laid. Originally the Plattdeutsche Volksfest Vereen of Brooklyn, its sister organization, the Plattdeustsche Home and Enhanced Living Apartments, bills itself as “one of the finest senior living complexes on Long Island.”

Courtesy Franklin Square Historical Society Children from Fosters Meadow would crowd around the planes landing at what would become Green Acres Mall.

•1907

The Franklin Hook & Ladder Co. No.1 was formed in Munson.

•1918

The U.S. Postal Service inaugurated airmail service between New York City and Washington, D.C. Belmont Park was designated as the terminus for New York deliveries.

•1920

Man O’ War, one of the great thoroughbreds of all time, won the Belmont Stakes by 20 lengths.

•1924

The Franklin Hook & Ladder Co. and the Franklin Square Hose and Chemical Company merged to become the Franklin Square & Munson Fire District.

•1928

The Elmont Fire Department was established.

•1937

The Franklin Square Free Library Association was formed.

•1939

The Elmont Memorial and Franklin Square Public libraries were granted charters by the state.

2020 - 2021 FRANKLIN SQUARE/ELMONT GUIDE

Elmont and Franklin Square HISTORICAL TIMELINE

continued from previous page •1974 •1939 The Franklin Square National Bank was declared insolvent in a

The Elmont Memorial and Frankscandal involving Italian financier lin Square Public libraries were granted charters by the state. •1940 Belmont Park hosted War Relief Day to benefit the American Michele Sindona. At the time, it was the largest bank failure in U.S. history. •1943 Red Cross.

Between $25 million and $30 million were raised in a “Back the Attack” benefit in which entrants to Belmont Park had to purchase war bonds to gain admission. •1950 •2002 Local residents felt the effects of a 5.1 earthquake that rattled windows and shook computer monitors. •1952 The large number of soldiers returning from military service combined with easy access to New York City helped Franklin Local residents wondered if an Abomb had exploded or Martians had invaded, as an earthquake shook the area for nearly half a minute. •2015 The Franklin National Bank building was placed on the list of National Register of Historic

Square become one of the Places. fastest growing areas on Long

Island. Farmland was almost completely transformed into residential developments. •1964 •1956 Elmont Memorial and H. Frank Carey high schools opened. •2017 Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced that the N.Y. Islanders hockey franchise would be granted the conditional right to build an

Franklin Square and Elmont arena on 43 acres at Belmont libraries celebrated their 25th Park. anniversaries. • 1964-1968 Belmont Park underwent rede•2020 •1973 Secretariat, one of horse racing’s iconic thoroughbreds, won velopment. The worldwide coronavirus pan demic strikes, and Black Lives Matter protests are organized. the Triple Crown, taking the

Belmont Stakes by 31 lengths in a course record for 1½ miles that still stands.

•1992

Hurricane Andrew devastated Elmont and Franklin Square, along with much of Long Island, causing hundreds of millions in damage.

•2012

Superstorm Sandy struck Elmont and Franklin Square, inflicting widespread damage costing tens of millions of dollars. The results can still be seen in zombie houses and buildings that are still awaiting repairs.

•2017

A renewed request was sent out for proposals to develop Belmont Park.

•2018

Civic associations from Elmont, Floral Park and Queens announced the formation of the Belmont Park Community Coalition to oppose the construction of the proposed arena.