A Look Back

Developments Between Prospect Avenue and Front Street

Posted

Last week’s article highlighted the development north of Front Street. This week’s column will look at the developments that grew between Prospect Avenue and Front Street, which was East Meadow’s central core and most densely populated section prior to the Second World War.

The first real suburban-type developments in East Meadow were that of the O. L. Schwencke Land and Investment Company. Schwencke eventually developed ten sections of Hempstead Lawns, with the first two being situated between Prospect Avenue and Front Street. He purchased the large tract belonging to the recently-deceased Charles Van Nostrand (1822-1905), which was also farmed by Charles’s father Benjamin Van Nostrand (1789-1877). Land near Front Street (Section 2) was once farmed by J. Wright, A. Hultz, and finally John Terrell. The driving force behind Schwencke’s company was profit through land sales, not home construction. By the turn of that century, prices approached $1,000 per acre – an outstanding sum for the time. Hempstead Lawns Sections 1 and 2 include most of the homes situated on streets from Chestnut Avenue to current-day East Meadow Avenue, including Glenmore, Nostrand, and Belmont avenues. In 1922, Schwencke donated land on Maple Avenue for use by the East Meadow Volunteer Firemen’s Association.

Prior to the subdivision of farmland, Peter H. Berg owned the land at the southeast corner of Merrick Avenue and Front Street. Before the Bergs, the Lewis family farmed there. In 1925, Berg sold off much of his land (except for his home at the current 1606-1620 Front Street) to W.D.W. Realty for the creation of Cold Stream Gardens. This area contains all the homes on Gates, Jeffrey, Berg, and Green avenues and Warren, Spring, and Oswego streets.

Cold Stream Gardens was one of the many projects of Joseph M. Gross (the others included Newbridge Gardens [see last week’s article] and Hempstead Homeland in East Meadow, Bowling Green Estates in Salisbury, Broadway Terrace in Hicksville, and Marvin Manor in Valley Stream and Uniondale). By the end of the Roaring Twenties, Gross had acquired over a million dollars’ worth of real estate and moved his new publicly-traded company into a six-story headquarters at 554 Atlantic Avenue, Brooklyn. Just $65 down could secure one of Gross’s 20x100 foot lots, and prospective customers would be taken for free to see the land. Individual building lots sold for $325 and up, with most houses needing at least three lots. Gross began to stress the investment value of his Long Island properties over the features of the homes that could be built thereupon. “YOU will make money on our Hempstead Properties,” he advertised to Brooklyn customers in 1926. Proximity to the Cold Stream Golf Course (upon which Meadowbrook State Parkway was extended in the 1950s), an expanding State Park Commission and its public beaches, and the bustling Village of Hempstead — a commercial, educational, and entertainment center — were key points in his ads.

By far, the most developed tract of land in this section was that of Hempstead Homeland, which was mapped in 1931 by the same corporation, Joseph M. Gross, Inc. This development includes Starke, Chambers, and Elmore Avenues from Prospect Avenue to Dale Avenue, plus the cross streets. Prior to its subdivision, the area near Haycarter’s Lane (Prospect Avenue) was settled by J. Smith and L. Denton in the mid-19th century. Peter Crosby Barnum later held property there, followed by Harriet Wilson in the early 20th century. By 1935, construction was well under way. As he did for all his real estate investment projects, Gross promised “complete city improvements” with gas, water, electric service, shade trees, and paved roads and sidewalks. The 1938 aerial photograph shows houses already built on most of the lots and a 1940 advertisement in The Brooklyn Daily Eagle advertises eleven new homes on 50x100 foot lots, complete with six rooms and garage.

By far, the largest project of the early Baby Boom era in East Meadow was planned and completed by Kalman Klein and David Teicholz in 1950 and 1951. The first section, located at the corner of Prospect and Bellmore avenues, went through several name changes before development: Hyde Park Terrace, Lakeville Estates Merrick, and finally Lakeville Estates (Klein and Teicholz’s trademark for all their future home developments in the area, based on their earlier project at Lakeville Road in New Hyde Park). Lakeville Estates was not the first project to be planned at this large property, which is generally bordered by Prospect Avenue, Spruce Lane, Cedar Lane, and Merrick Avenue (inclusive). The area was formerly that of Mary Willis. In 1927, the entire section, including the triangle between Bellmore, Merrick, and Prospect avenues, was originally laid out as Hempstead Terrace Gardens.

Streets were mapped on paper but were never built. Curiously, the street names were the same. When Lakeville Estates was built, however, Klein and Teicholz transformed the previously parallel tree-named streets into suburban curves popular in the 1950s. They advertised “100 acres of parklike panorama” for “Mid-century’s most luxurious and superbly styled homes,” access to excellent schools (the new Prospect Avenue School) and proximity to houses of worship. Three different three-bedroom ranch house models (Long Islander, Contemporary, and Nassau) offered every modern amenity. An “expansion garage” was available for purchase. Residents enjoyed the on-site shopping plaza, complete with a supermarket. 

The year 1953 saw the rise of small developments near Hempstead Lawns. Avington Homes was constructed on property owned by Peter J. Klein and Grace Stiles Klein. Prior to the establishment of the Klein nursery, the rectangular property from current-day Vincent Drive to East Meadow Avenue was farmed in succession by Sarah A. Barnum, J. Van Nostrand, C. Smith, and Henry (and later Edward) Alsheimer. This area includes the current-day bowling alley. According to long-term resident Randi Shubin Dresner, children would play baseball on the empty lots that constituted the former nursery. Later condominium developments on the Klein property were Valley Town Houses (1968) and ALMO Realty’s The Meadows (1985). Mr. Klein’s daughter received a house on Vincent Drive as part of the 1968 transaction. Colchester Estates West (Cherry Place) was on a good portion of Mankiewicz’s eight acres. Previously, it had been farmed by B. Parsons, V. Sprague, T. Bowers, Harry Fream, and the Coutean family. Colchester Estates West, developed by Nathan Korgrok, was a continuation of 1950’s Colchester Estates, just across East Meadow Avenue. Carlyle Building Company’s Prospect Park, built in two sections by Samuel Greenhaus and Sons in 1953, was carved out of land previously farmed by W. Abbott, P. Simmas, C. James, and the Meyers family. Though comparatively small, Prospect Park soon established a civic association. One of its leaders, Arthur Leatherman, ran for school board in 1958.

Check out www.eastmeadowhistory.org for a detailed map showing the location of every development in East Meadow. I developed this interactive resource over the past two months from primary sources available from the county’s vast records.

© Scott Eckers

Dr. Scott Eckers is the author of East Meadow (in Arcadia Publishing's Images of America series). He is a trustee on the East Meadow Board of Education and serves as a school administrator. He is also an entertainer and recording artist.