By Fred Hadley
Those who came out for the tour discovered from Lewis that Kew Gardens is one of Queens' Seven Sisters, the planned communities laid out from the 1870s through the 1950s. Richmond Hill, Forest Hills Gardens, Jackson Heights, Douglaston, Sunnyside Gardens and Fresh Meadows are the others.
Kew Gardens was built with a specific purpose in mind, Lewis told the two dozen participants. “Unlike Sunnyside and Forest Hills Gardens, which were built as urban utopias, Kew Gardens was built to make money,” he said.
In 1860 developer Albon Man bought the land that later became Richmond Hill. Man's property included hilly terrain that had been carved by glaciers in the last Ice Age, and a flat outwash plain, worn to a gentle slope by flowing meltwater from the glaciers. He developed the flatter, southern portion of the property for homes, and left the glaciated hills of the northern portion alone.
His sons built a golf course in the hills that were not desirable for housing because of the rough landscape and the distance from the Richmond Hill station of the Long Island rail Road.
Lewis told the group that in 1910 when the LIRR was electrified, railroad officials wanted to build a new, straight track right through the Richmond Hill Country Club. The Mans allowed it, but insisted on a station that would increase real estate values by encouraging residential development. The Mans suggested calling it “North Richmond Hill.” The LIRR rejected that idea since it would be too easily confused with the Richmond Hill station on the old right-of-way.
The Mans decided on a different name for new station that placed their land just 16 minutes from midtown Manhattan and five minutes from the movie palaces and department stores of Jamaica.
The Kew Gardens station, still operating at its original location, was named after the Royal Botanical Gardens next to Richmond-on-Thames in England. To prevent the railroad from completely splitting the coming community, a bridge brought Lefferts Boulevard over the tracks and a unique suspension system for the shops along the route. Rather than resting on the bridge, the rows of stores are hung from overhead on hidden “curtain rods” that take the load off the bridge and help isolate the building from the vibrations of the express trains roaring through underneath.
Kew Gardens was now housing-ready. The concept of an urban village was simple: The weary commuter would step off the train or subway and come home to surroundings where he could rest and relax. Even the building materials – wood, shingle, tile and stucco – were to have a calming effect. “Instead of harsh materials banging on your head, which was what the city was all about,” Lewis said, “this said 'comfortable,' 'relax,' 'take it easy.' It's a very American transcendental belief that if you come home to nature, that will help to heal the modern soul.”
