Birth of Hillside

If anything, in 1931 Winchester Boulevard was a bit more developed than Hillside Avenue out in Hollis Hills. Both were dirt roads that got muddy in a hurry after the rain. Not much going on here that year, but looks can deceive. A forlorn service station stands on Hillside at left. But consider that “Model Homes” shack on the right. Already, developers had their eyes on this stretch of Hollis Hills near the Creedmoor Hospital complex, which replaced the Creedmoor Rifle Range of the 19th Century. Street names like Winchester, Musket and Range pay tribute to it.

Already, gateposts marking what would be 233rd and 234th Streets have been installed. And, note the buildings off to the right.

Those Spanish Colonials…unusual for Queens side streets this far east…are still there, on 233rd and 234th Street. Undoubtedly the development had a name, which I have yet to find. If you look at this section in 1940sNYC the area had been built up, with paved streets and curb trees, all in the span of nine years.

Today, Hillside Avenue begins at Myrtle Avenue in Richmond Hill and roars east out to East Williston in Nassau County, finally merging with Jericho Turnpike. But as this newspaper clip proves, it opened east past Braddock Avenue in Hollis Hills officially in 1934, three years after the unpaved track we saw previously.

Kevin Walsh is the webmaster of the award-winning website Forgotten NY, and the author of the books Forgotten New York (HarperCollins, 2006) and also, with the Greater Astoria Historical Society, Forgotten Queens (Arcadia, 2013)