In the series ... "I REMEMBER THE ROCKAWAYS"... Stevie S. Stevens writes about
"Arverne at the Turn of the Century"

Arverne, Queens, in a revealing photograph taken on July 21st of 1911. Our picture of Alexander Avenue provides an excellent representation of just how rural the area really was during the first twenty years of the new century. This view (according to the photo itself) is facing directly north on what is now known as Beach 62nd Street. The rail road crossing shown belonged to the Long Island line which had "taken over" and combined ALL the railway systems which had managed to transverse the peninsula immediately prior to the early 1900s.

The earliest building took place along the shore lines - primarily in and around docking areas. The first transports to the island were boats and so small villages and communities "grew up" initially at the edges of the peninsula. As rail lines were extended westward, commercial ventures and rooming houses and hotels of all sizes "sprang up" next to train stations and within convenient reach of major street crossings.

The large English-Tudor style structure at the left side of the picture (west) was a mid sized unidentified pub. By this time, there were many private homes and dozens of small commercial ventures - such as what we now refer to as "mom and pop" stores - but they were not located in one particular location, rather they were spread out within the local community. The two business concerns (now appearing as bam-like structures on the other side of the tracks) were built there strictly because those very tracks provided the delivery service needed to import needed raw materials as well as to transport exports - most likely into the city itself. Most of the good "produced" were food stuffs - such as green vegetables and potatoes.

Of course there were certain areas of Arverne which by the year 1911 had been very nicely developed. Remington Avenue (now Beach 69th Street) comes to mind : an ocean block housing a large luxury hotel and many impressive private residences which housed the elite of the day. But for the most part, Arverne like the other western sections of the Rockaway peninsula was far from a bustling community back in those early days.

Authorities have written volumes on what the Rockaway Beach areas appeared to be back some one hundred years ago - most of this "fact" appears to be nothing more than speculation - stories told and retold over the decades; a handful of picture postcards (fortunately some of which are actual photographs) and every now and then a decent "period" photograph surfaces to supply some proof or documentation to support one theory or another. Looking at the photograph supplied with this essay, I would be committed to report that the view is taken looking southward - towards the as-of-yet undeveloped oceanfront. However, I am not going to argue with the hard-copy evidence. If this caption is to be believed we are indeed facing north, there is NO Rockaway Beach Boulevard running along southside of this series of railroad tracks. Property lots and buildings are standing on what will eventually become a system of smaller roads, streets, and avenues - which will eventually be linked and combined to form that major thoroughfare. It would have made more sense to me that both the north and south sides of these railroad lines would be left open and available to provide passage for horses and wagons and later on, for motor cars to expedite the movement of people and supplies.

Our unadulterated photograph clearly shows massive systems of overhead electric lines, muddy streets - however sidewalks seem to be in place.

You might also notice a small protruding sign at the side of the rooming house which invites the public to make use of "pay station" telephones. In the year 1911, phone calls were a nickle. Limited long distance required the services of a "live" operator. In fact, in Arverne a system of "operator-connected" calls was still in use right up to the late 1940s - even though rotary dials had been introduced three decades earlier to most of the other sections of the city.

If the caption on this photograph is to be taken at face value, most of the buildings lining the south side of the railroad tracks would be demolished shortly into the mid 1920s to make way for the construction of connecting boulevards. It has to be noted that over the next period of a dozen or so years, there would be more and more motor cars utilizing the rural roads and railway crossings such as this one would become more and more dangerous. Major crossings would eventually be assigned "gatekeepers" - men who "minded" the crossings and would manually lower and raise the gates to protect auto traffic (and pedestrians) from on-coming trains. Back then, you could always tell which crossings had human supervision by the presence of a "train booth" - a small wooden abode (or shack) somewhat resembling a closed-in telephone booth -and that is where the "gatekeep" would spend his time between train passings.

By the year 1928, the City of New York realized it had a problem with the numerous train crossings and "pressure" was applied to the independent operator (the Long Island Rail Road) to make some provisions to alleviate the many problems caused by these street dangers - more and more vehicles were being struck by moving trains and the death toll was mounting. The Long Island Rail Road did a study and decided to eliminate many of the local crossings - in fact, this very crossing was slated to be closed sometime soon. But then in October of 1929, the world economy stumbled and with the stock market crash, railroad improvements were put on hold.

Our photo does NOT show a railroad station. This was a simple "crossing." One of many located throughout the island. Sometime in the mid 1930s, the (still solvent) privately-owned railroad would acquire the appropriate funds to begin the preparation for an overhead trestle which would eventually eliminate almost ALL of the roadside "gated" crossways. Construction began in the middle of the year 1939 and by the end of the year 1941, street crossings (in the Rockaways) were a thing of the past and many of the train stations were eliminated as well.

For many decades, the "village" of Arverne was a lovely residential area surrounded by a popular and resort community. Other than a series of decent hotels and lovely private residences, Arverne had no major shopping centers, and up until the year 1952, it had no large housing developments. Arverne has never played host to a famous restaurant, never housed an amusement park and was never known as a "gated community." What Arverne offered was a beautiful and healthy beachfront environment - a great place in which to grow up and raise a family. Unfortunately, after the mid 1950s, the Rockaway peninsula experienced major urban development issues and Arverne was not immune to a sweeping social and economic decline.

email: steviesstevens@cs.com