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Whitestone
Making Connections by Bridge and Rail
(from www.lihistory.com)
Beginnings: One of the oldest settlements on Long Island, Whitestone was purchased in the early 1640s from Chief Tachapousha, sachem of Matinecock. In colonial days the settlement was part of the Town of Flushing.
The Names: Legend has it that the name Whitestone came from a big white rock at the point where the tides from the East River and Long Island Sound meet. Other historians say the name came from a chapel erected by Samuel Legget in 1837 and called the White Stone Chapel. The community's name was later changed to Clintonville to honor New York City Mayor (and later Governor) De Witt Clinton, but reverted to Whitestone in 1854.
The Revolution: Though Queens was rife with Tories, one staunch Patriot, Francis Lewis, now best known for the boulevard named in his honor, was a member of the Continental Congress and a signer of the Declaration of Independence. After the war he returned to his Whitestone farm. After seven years of British occupation, residents showed no mercy for the Tories, many of whom fled to Canada.
Turning Points: When John D. Locke, a tinware manufacturer, built a stamping mill in 1854, his workers from Brooklyn followed, and Whitestone boomed like a Gold Rush town with hotels, stores and saloons. Another event in the 1850s was the bubbling up on Whitestone Avenue of the ``iron spring,'' which failed to produce the health-giving qualities it was hyped to possess. Whitestone was incorporated as a village in 1869, and that same year the railroad arrived, bringing millionaires who built waterfront mansions. An upscale waterfront section was developed about 1905 and was called Beechhurst for the fine beech trees growing there. Another upscale waterfront community was called Malba.The next momentous event was the opening of the Bronx-Whitestone Bridge in time for the 1939 New York World's Fair. The Throgs Neck Bridge was completed in 1961 to relieve the heavy traffic on the Bronx-Whitestone.
Brush With Fame: Poet Walt Whitman taught at the Whitestone Chapel in the 1800s.
Where to Find More: ``The Scene From Powell's Hill, From Francis Lewis to Capt. Merritt: A Story of Whitestone,'' by Harry J. Lucas, available in the Queens Borough Central Library, Long Island Collection, Jamaica; Flushing histories in the Whitestone Branch Library, 151-10 14th Rd., Whitestone. Long Island: Our Story | Top of Page
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