Douglaston Hill Historic District LPC Designation Report (Requires Adobe Acrobat Reader)   Total In District Founded: 1853   Acreage: 45.6 20.0 Housing: 110 35 The landmarked Douglaston Hill Historic District is located in northeastern Queens County, New York, near the border with Nassau County. Roughly, the district is bounded on the north by the Long Island Railroad; on the south by Northern Boulevard, a major county thoroughfare; on the west by Douglaston Parkway, a main street in the immediate area; and on the east by Udall's Cove Upland Ravine Park, a natural area. The district's boundaries follow the basic configuration of the street grid, encompassing the blocks of 44th Avenue, 43rd Avenue, the southeastern half of 42nd Avenue and the southeastern end of Depew Avenue -- between Douglaston Parkway and 243rd Street (along the edge of Udall's Cove). Boundary Justification The neighborhood of Douglaston Hill is bounded on the east and west by two prominent natural wetlands of northeastern Queens Alley Pond Park and Udall's Cove Park. The neighborhood is bounded on the north and south by the Long Island Railroad (in place since 1867) and Northern Boulevard (a major Queens thoroughfare for more than a century). These boundaries reflect the natural and human development patterns of northeastern Queens. Within that long-held neighborhood boundary, the Historic District boundary is drawn to reflect the natural and human development patterns in northeastern Queens. The District encompasses those features which best reflect the area's historic development. The District fans out in a northwesterly direction from Zion Episcopal Church, with the northeast quadrant of the neighborhood omitted from the District. That quadrant comprises many houses built after the District's period of significance (1900 to 1930), as well as a number of houses that are heavily altered. While there are some physical features within this area that reflect Douglaston Hill's significance, as a whole, this quadrant does not retain the same level of integrity as the Historic District section. Specifically, the district runs from the corner of 244th Street and Northern Boulevard west to Douglaston Parkway; north on Douglaston Parkway to approximately 62 feet (along property line of Lot 21, Block 8107) north of 44th Avenue; east approximately 166 feet (along the rear property lines of Lots 21 and 231 of Block 8107); north approximately 100 feet (along the rear property lines of Lots 214 and 212 of Block 8107); west approximately 288 feet (along the rear property lines of Lots 46, 43, 40, 38 of Block 8107); north approximately 116 feet (along the property line of Lot 38, Block 8107); west approximately 60 feet along 43rd Avenue; north approximately 100 feet (along the property line of Lot 81, Block 8106); east to Douglaston Parkway; north along the edge of the Catherine Turner Richardson Park; east to 240th Street; north across Depew Avenue to edge of Long Island Railroad cut; east approximately 270 feet (along rear property line of Lots 25 and 21, Block 8103). The Origins of Douglaston Hill In 1813, Wynant Van Zandt acquired the Douglaston peninsula, essentially all the land between Northern Boulevard and the Point. In 1829, he donated land at the highest elevation, in today's Douglaston Hill, for the construction of Zion Episcopal Church. Zion is the biblical name for the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, and is a well-suited name, given the location. Construction began that year and dedication took place on June 17, 1830. Wynant Van Zandt died in 1831 and is buried beneath the west wall of the church. Following his death, the southern half of his holdings -- between Hillside Avenue and Northern Boulevard -- changed hands several times, and was eventually acquired by Jeremiah Lambertson in 1843. The northern half became the estate of George Douglas. By 1854 the railroad was extended from Long Island City to Flushing and there was talk of going farther east. Probably in anticipation of increased property values offered by railroad access, Lambertson decided to subdivide his holdings and offer them for sale. Perhaps he was aware of the then nascent architectural movement to create naturalistic residential enclaves connected to the city by rail. The subdivision, recorded on a "Map of the Village of Marathon, Little Neck" (prepared by Benjamin Willets, map No. 223, filed July 23, 1853) provided for one-acre lots on a grid, a popular design at the time, with streets named after trees: pine, poplar, willow and cherry. Interest in the properties was so great that the Flushing Journal reported on February 5, 1853, that prospective buyers came by stage-coach loads. On July 23 and 27, 1853, most of the lots were sold to eighteen persons. The railroad was extended as far as Great Neck in 1866, but commuting to the city was not significantly improved as it was still necessary to cross the East River by ferry, and transportation within the city was slow. An easy commute would have to wait until subways were constructed in Manhattan and the railroad tunnel under the East River was completed. In the interim some housing construction did occur in the Hill, including substantial homes for both locally prominent and summer residents. The newspapers often reported when summer residents returned to their homes in the cities of Brooklyn and Manhattan.