Rediscovering the Beaten Path – Part II

At a glance, Ridgewood seems a typical neighborhood of Queens or Brooklyn – one or two main avenues surrounded by streets with either town or apartment houses. I am, of course, generalizing, but for the most part, that tends to be the case in these two boroughs; I hardly ever venture into Staten Island or The Bronx, so I can’t really speak for them. And while living in a neighborhood over a long period of time tends to make us less mindful of our surroundings, there have always been certain parts of Ridgewood that I found curious or unusual. In learning more about the history of my neighborhood, the real nature behind these seemingly odd places was finally revealed, along with a few others that had cleverly escaped my notice. Here are a few:

Onderdonk House

The Vander Ende - Onderdonk House
via Onderdonkhouse.org

Properly known as the Vander Ende – Onderdonk House, this historical landmark is the oldest Dutch Colonial stone house in New York City. I’ll admit I was completely unaware of its existence until I started learning more about the Dutch history of Ridgewood. Director-General Peter Stuyvesant (the equivalent of a Governor) originally granted the land to the Dutch farmer Henrick Barents Smidt in 1660. The house was built underground as a way of keeping warm during the colder months, a common practice at the time. In 1709 Paulus Vander Onderdonk purchased the farm. Using the foundations of the original structure, he began construction of what is now the current house, with later additions made in the 1820’s by Adrian Onderdonk. According to the official Onderdonk website, the building was also used as a marker for the 1769 Boswijk and Newtown dispute. Even more charming is the fact that the Arbitration Rock, which had also been used as a marker and had been lost for a time, was found and subsequently moved to the Onderdonk House as well.

Ridgewood Theater

Situated between rows of one-story buildings, the Ridgewood Theater’s imposing size and elegantly designed white façade make it stand out in Myrtle Ave.’s commercial area. Constructed in 1916 and designed by the prominent theater architect Thomas Lamb, the theater’s polished look reflects a time when film was trying to branch out into a national form of entertainment. 

Ridgewood Theater

Although it had lost most of its original luster by the time I started going to the movies (the interior was worn down, the projectors were outdated and my little brother once had a mouse for a seat-mate), it still retained its intimate, small theater charm - a contrast to the flashier chain cineplexes that seem to have taken over. Sadly, after running for over 90 years - one of the longest in the country -  the Ridgewood Theater closed in March of 2008. After years of inactivity and community debate, it was recently decided that the building will become a housing residency. As a historical landmark that is protected by the Landmark Preservation, however, the façade will not change.

Radioactive Chemical House

My friend and I have an established banter that occurs whenever she wants to hang out in Queens. Given the odd and inconvenient subway and bus systems in Brooklyn and Queens, I believe my vehement resistance (i.e. “complaints) to venture into any part of Queens, other than Ridgewood, is completely justified. In retaliation to my continuous contempt, she recently sent me an article written by The New Yorker that both surprised and disturbed me. It turns out that from 1930 until 1954 the

Former Site of the Wolff-Alport Chemical
Company via queens.brownstoner.com

Wolff-Alport Chemical Company operated a facility at 1127-1129 Irving Avenue which processed imported monazite sand and extracted rare earth minerals. Nothing wrong with that except for the fact that monazite contains small traces of thorium and sometimes even uranium, both of which are radioactive. Instead of safely disposing these byproducts, they were deposited into the
sewers or buried on site. Erin Brockovich kept flashing through my mind as I read this. Anyway, the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recently conducted some tests and proposed to add this section of Ridgewood to the list of the country's most hazardous waste sites. This would allow funds for local clean-up and radioactive level monitoring. Charming. Don't get me wrong, I am grateful to the EPA but I'll admit that learning that my neighborhood contains toxic elements that put everyone at higher risk for cancer was a bit unexpected, and not something I wanted it to be known for.

Brooklyn/Queens Trolleys

Tracks at 60 Place

Flushing trolley
via junipercivic.com

When I first moved into the neighborhood, I would occasionally notice train tracks poking out from the pavement on certain streets. During my local history research I learned that these tracks were originally used by the Brooklyn Rapid Transit (BRT), which later elevated the train lines and used the tracks for trolley service at the beginning of the 20th century. I was aware that before the train system became the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA), the trains were operated by several different companies (which is why certain trains and stations look different) but I was not aware that some had provided trolley service. Although the trolley tracks ran all along Brooklyn and Queens, the ones in Ridgewood were part of the Fresh Pond Road Line, which began at Myrtle Ave and Palmetto and ran all the way to, what is today, LaGuardia Airport. The line gained fame for servicing passengers during the 1939-40 World's Fair in Flushing Meadows-Corona Park. However, by the late 1940's, bus services began to replace trolley line routes and by 1952 had replaced them altogether. While road construction and renovations have made it harder for me to spot the train/trolley tracks lately, I can't help but give them a particularly fond look whenever I manage to find one.


There are, of course, many other historical places in Ridgewood I could write about, including the Ridgewood Reservoir in Highland Park and the Ridgewood Masonic Temple (which is, funnily enough, part of Bushwick, not Ridgewood - have I mentioned that the Queens/Brooklyn boundary line causes confusion?), but I've decided not to. Partly due to laziness, but mostly because I believe these examples are more than sufficient to highlight the rich history found here and that, essentially, was the original point of researching my town. As I mentioned in the first part of my article and touched upon briefly here, I often get distracted in the idea of unfamiliar places and their pasts that I ignore the wealth of history that can be found locally, which is bizarre considering where I grew up. For many, New York City is a travel destination that promises  excitement, decadence and entertainment all in one place; for me it's simply home, but it's about time I started appreciating it properly.