[continued: Forest Hills Timeline]
1937 Queens College opens with 400 students and 56 faculty members.
1937 Forest Hills High School is dedicated.
1939 Two-year World's Fair opens in Flushing Meadows-Corona Park. LaGuardia Airport opens.
1940 Queensborough Hall opens on Queens Boulevard in Kew Gardens. The Queens Midtown Tunnel opens, and the Belt Parkway is finished.
1941 Forest Hills' population is 32,500. Four public elementary schools (P.S. 99, 101, 139, and 144), with approximately 3,800 students, are functioning. Our Lady Queen of Martyrs has 375 students.
1942 The Midway Movie is constructed.
Bonnie Remembers Forest Hills
Bonnie's elementary school was called the Little School in the Gardens a/k/a P.S. 101. The school was built in the architecture of the neighborhood – English Tudor style. Russell Sage Jr. High School, P.S. 190, is across the street from the 112th New York City Police Department precinct. Imagine that?
I grew up in the Church in the Gardens which was affiliated with the Congregational Church. It, too, was built to fit into the neighborhood. What a beautiful sanctuary. We went to Sunday school every week with our Sunday dresses, patent leather shoes, white gloves and hats. Brownies and Girl Scout meetings -- ballet and Christmas Tree sales -- all fond memories.
The Community House (which has a 99 year land lease) is attached by a breezeway to the Church. Through the years, I attended nursery school, played sports in the gym, swam in the pool, and sang on stage. (it's also where I met my future husband!)
Deepdene was a great place to ride bikes and sled down the hill. The Brady's lived in the big mansion with a St. Bernard dog across the street from Geraldine Ferraro who was the first woman candidate for Vice President lives on Deepdene Place where she and her husband (Zacarro) raised their family.
Fond memories of the Hamburger Express was a special treat for us. Bonnie's Dad, who always called it the Hamburger Train, was a carpenter for 45 years in Forest Hills, did all the carpentry work including the train track that went around the counter. The thing that made a life-long impression on Bonnie was that the owners bore numbers tattooed on their arms. It was her first exposure to the horrors of the Holocaust.
Some other memories of Austin Street include two dime stores: Woolworth and Buy-Rite. Woolworth is now gone but Buy-Rite remains. We went to Larry and Laura’s to have our hair cut and to Rose’s Knitting store for yarn; Peter Pan for baked goods, the pizza place across from Our Lady Queen of Martyrs. Of course there was Stride Rite and Miles, King George, Gross' Jewelry, Graces Lingerie, Nedicks, Joe Morton's and Continental Bazaar. Bonnie's first job was at Grads a clothing store a few doors down Peter Reeves grocery which is now Gristedes. Sutton Pharmacy and the candy store. The list goes on.
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