Woodhavent, Queens : NYC Tourist Guide

Woodhavent, Queens, in NYC, New York, USA


Home » Queens » Neighborhoods » Woodhavent » Info

Woodhavent, Queens, New York City

Getting Started

Index

NYC Neighborhoods

Manhattan
Brooklyn
Queens
Bronx
Staten Island

NYC Icons

Chrysler Building
Flatiron Building
Empire State Building

Safe NYC

NYPD
FDNY

NYC Weather

NYC Climate
NYC Weather Forecast
Winter Season
Spring Season
Summer Season
Fall Season

NYC History & Politics

New York City History
Tammany Hall and Politics
New York City Politicians
New York City Personalities

Culture of Gotham City

Culture of the city
Cultural diversity
City in popular culture

Woodhavent
Woodhaven once known as Woodville, is home to a wealthy mix of middle to upper-class residents, mostly a middle-income neighborhood in the New York City borough of Queens. This neighborhood traditionally preserves its surburban looks. Woodhaven is situated between Forest Park and Richmond Hill and serves one of the most diverse communities in Queens. Woodhaven also resides one of the greatest tree population in the borough and resides just three miles west from the border between Queens and Nassau Country. The convenience from schools to transportation to community involvement and park recreation in Woodhaven serves most of the well-known features in this neighborhood.

Commerce is centered on Jamaica Avenue which effectively bisects Woodhaven. On this avenue, from Forest Parkway on the west to Richmond Hill, Queens, on the east, are a number of stores, most being small and locally owned. One of the oldest and best known was Lewis' of Woodhaven which had two locations and recently closed its doors. Woodhaven is bordered on the north by a public park, Forest Park, and a street named Park Lane South. Woodhaven also forms the border with the neighborhood of Ozone Park.

History

Woodhaven began in the mid-1700s as a small town that revolved around farming. The first European settlements here were by the Ditmar, Lott, Wyckoff, Suydam and Snediker families. One of the greatest battles from the American Revolutionary War took place in Woodhaven, near present-day Forest Park (Golf Course). Later, Woodhaven became the site of two racetracks: the Union Course (1821) and the Centerville (1825). Union Course was a nationally famous racetrack situated in the area now bounded by 78th Street, 82nd Street, Jamaica Avenue and Atlantic Avenue. The Union Course was the site of the first skinned - or dirt - racing surface, a curious novelty at the time. These courses were originally without grandstands. The custom of conducting a single, four-mile race consisting of as many heats as were necessary to determine a winner, gave way to programs consisting of several races. Match races between horses from the South against those from the North drew crowds as high as 70,000. Several hotels (including the Forschback Inn) were built in the area to accommodate the racing crowds.

A Connecticut Yankee, John R. Pitkin, developed the eastern area as a workers' village and named it Woodville (1835). In 1853, he launched a newspaper, and the few inhabitants voted to change the name of the village to Woodhaven.

In 1836, Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) cars were pulled by horses along Atlantic Avenue. The train traveled with other traffic at street level and stopped at all major intersections - much as a bus does - except that people would often hop on and hop off the train while it was moving. The 1848 LIRR schedule shows an intersection called Union Course (serving that racetrack) and another called Woodville (farther east).

Two Frenchmen named Charles Lalance and Florian Grosjean launched the village as a manufacturing community by opening a tin factory and improving the process of tin stamping. As late as 1900, the surrounding area, however, was still primarily farmland, and from Atlantic Avenue one could see as far south as Jamaica Bay, site of present-day John F. Kennedy International Airport.

Since 1894, Woodhaven's local newspaper has been the Leader-Observer. Majority of homes in Woodhaven as stated are one- two-family homes. Technically, it is a mixed neighborhood of single family homes (detached or in rows), and also preserves its suburban-type look from mostly cobble-stone sidewalks to old-fashioned looking lamp posts. Many proclaimed that because of Woodhaven's rich history, sometimes it can remind one of a haunted place with hills going up and then along many areas of the neighborhood.





This is NYC

New York City Neighborhoods

NYC has a rich history in diversity and the city as a whole is nothing more than many small neighborhoods. Explore it with us..

NYC Neighborhoods
Manhattan Island

NYC Waterfronts & Beaches

NYC's waterfront is roughly 600 miles long and the overall form of the Harbor has remained unchanged from the time of Giovanni da Verrazzano. Learn more about the harbor, its shores and its waterways.

NYC Waterfronts
New York City Beaches

History and Politics of NYC

Did you know that New York City was briefly the U.S. capital during 1789-90 and was state capital until 1797?

New York City History
Tammany Hall and Politics
New York City Politicians

Culture of Gotham City

The culture of NYC is shaped by centuries of immigration, the city's size and variety, and its status as the cultural capital of the United States.

Culture of the city
Cultural diversity
City in popular culture




Travel & Transportation

The dominant mode of transportation in New York City is mass transit - Subways and Buses. However, it is the Taxicabs that are real New York icons!

Safety & Security

How safe is New York City? Contrary to popular belief, the City consistantly ranks in the top ten safest large cities in the United States. The NYPD is the largest municipal police force in the world and has it's own Movie/TV Unit.

New York Climate

New York has a humid continental climate resulting from prevailing wind patterns that bring cool air from the interior of the North American continent. New York winters are typically cold with moderate snowfall.
New York Weather Forecast

Demographics

New York's two key demographic features are its density and diversity. The New York City metropolitan area is home to the largest Jewish community outside Israel. It is also home to nearly a quarter of the nation's South Asians, and the largest African American community of any city in the country.
Ethnic composition



New York Newspapers

Niagara Falls Express: Overnight Tour from New York Romance Over Manhattan Private Helicopter Flight

home | get listed | privacy policy | site map back to top

Quick Links to Neighborhoods » Manhattan | Bronx | Brooklyn | Queens | Staten Island

Website: © 2004-08 NYCTouristGuide.com All Rights Reserved. Permission must be secured prior to duplication of any content, including images.
All Photos: © 2000-2007 Nishanth Gopinathan | StockPhotographs.org, unless otherwise credited. All International Rights Reserved.

Hosting: PixvieweRTM Web Hosting | Web Design: Live EyesTM (LiveEyes.org)