Jamaica, Queens, New York Neighborhood

 Jamaica, Queens, New York Neighborhood

Growing up in Jamaica, Queens, New York was like growing up in any other low-income neighborhoods in queens. Most people have a decent sized home that has a front yard with a walkway,a patch of grass and as for the backyard it also has a patch of grass and has a driveway that you can barely fit a car through.

In South Jamaica for the most part neighborhoods are not really close knit but most people have the decency to smile and say hello.

On occasion, you would have one of the locals stop you at the corner store and try to haggle you for a dollar. The local streets are lined with trees and smaller patches of grass, but tangled within those trees are power lines. As for the main streets, they are home to many businesses, shops, eateries, and many more. Jamaica also serves as a large transportation hub that connects to many different parts of the tri-state area, whether that is via bus, train, or subway.

But before Jamaica got to where it is today.

Most people think that Jamaica, Queens got its name from the country Jamaica. But that is not the case. Jamaica gets its name from the Indian Tribe – Jameco, who are apart of the Algonquin Tribe. The Jameco tribe mostly resided by the Jamaica Bay area. An area home to many beavers. Being that I attended Jamaica High School, our mascot was a beaver, I never questioned why a beaver was our mascot, I was just confused that a beaver was our mascot.

Get quality help now

Writer Lyla

Verified

Proficient in: New York City

5 (876)

“ Have been using her for a while and please believe when I tell you, she never fail. Thanks Writer Lyla you are indeed awesome ”

+84 relevant experts are online

Hire writer

This is because the translation of Jameco means beaver in English. Since the Jameco inhabited this area, they named it after their tribe, calling the area Jamaica. In 1656, the Dutch started to move into the area pushing the Jameco tribe out onto Long Island. The governor at that time, Governor Stuyvesant was credited with establishing Jamaica with a deed on February 15,1666.

Neighborhood History

While the Dutch and English continued to move into the area, Jamaica was quickly growing in size. At this time Jamaica was home to many villagers and farmers being that Jamaica was mostly being used as farmland. Farmers and villagers used Jamaica Avenue as a main road to get around and sell their produce at a trading post. In 1776, the American Revolution took place dividing members of Jamaica. In this case many people favored the British causing an uproar between the opposing sides. Being that the Americans won the revolution, the British marched out of Jamaica on November 25,1783. Due to the American victory, a celebration occurred on what is current day Jamaica Avenue and Parsons Boulevard.

At this point in time Jamaica was expanding more than it already had been, leading to the construction of multiple public school in 1814. Along with public schools, Jamaica offered education at universities like Saint John’s University, Queens College, and Queens Community College. Along Jamaica Avenue and along Fulton street the Brooklyn and Jamaica Railroad Company introduced its first line that led into Jamaica. This meant that horse drawn carriages were a main mode of transportation at this time. During 1898, Jamaica was finally incorporated into Queens, making Jamaica a town and making it the county seat. By the year 1910, Jamaica had reached an all time high population of 58,000 people. Transportation and having a way to get around Queens and getting to the Island continued to get harder due to the high demand of the people. This is when Jamaica experienced rapid growth. In the year 1915, the New York subway system finally reached Jamaica. Due to this rapid growth of Jamaica, farms and open land quickly diminished leaving behind many opportunities to keep Jamaica growing. As farmland started to disappear, more and more homes started to be built. By almost the year 1925 all farmland had been turned into homes and businesses. What used to be farmer’s trading post have now become elevated subway lines that allowed people that lived in Jamaica to travel back and forth to Manhattan for work and travel back home. The Long Island railroad had also finally made it to Jamaica allowing people to use commuter rails to travel from their homes to their work and back.