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Genrefication In Southeast Queens

History On Southeast Queens -Part 1

Back in my teenage years, I used to work for the Queens Central Library as a library page and remember them having an archive downstairs in their basement. About a month ago, when thinking of ways to explore how Southeast Queens used to be, I stumbled upon their archive books by Belcher Hyde and the Sanborn Map Company, with maps dating back to the late 1800s and early 1900s.

The Sanborn Map Company (founded in 1866) specialized in very detailed, color-coded fire insurance maps. They recorded every detail of a structure: whether a house was made of wood, brick, or stone, where gas lines ran, how many windows were present, and even where water pipes lay underground. On the other hand, the E. Belcher Hyde Map Company focused heavily on local real estate across Brooklyn and Queens from the late 19th through the mid-20th century. Their maps tracked exact property lines, lot numbers, original farm boundaries, and developer plots as Queens shifted from open countryside into structured city blocks.

 I decided to take photos of what Jamaica Avenue used to be and where I lived. Ironically, I knew the house my parents bought once coming to America was about 80 years old, but seeing it with these maps made the experience almost surreal. The archive space had over 20 books with different boroughs of New York city.Being there helped me realize the very block where my family lived our lives was already part of a new upcoming documented community long before we ever set foot on it.

Looking through those old sheets can help you trace the incredible transformation of Southeast Queens from rural farmland and quiet suburban estates into one of the most vibrant, historic centers of Black homeownership in the entire country. During the mid-20th century, as Black families moved during the Great Migration alongside Caribbean immigrants coming to New York, Southeast Queens became a beacon for working and middle class families seeking single-family homes, yards, and safety.Neighborhoods like Jamaica, Hollis, Queens Village, and St. Albans grew into booming, culturally rich Black enclaves. 

Tracing Jamaica Avenue through those pages reveals a completely different world showing trolley tracks, open land, and early storefronts where modern bus lanes are used today.  Photographing those maps felt like reaching back through time. Seeing the original outline of my childhood home on paper printed nearly a century ago connected my family's immigrant journey directly to the longer, living history of Queens.

Sanborn Map Company Collection: Library of Congress Geography and Map Division (Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps Database); The New York Public Library

Lionel Pincus and Princess Firyal Map Division.

E. Belcher Hyde Map Company: NYC Municipal Archives Collection Guides (E. Belcher Hyde Real Estate Atlases);

Queens Public Library Long Island History Division.

Southeast Queens History & Demographics: NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission (Addisleigh Park Historic District Designation Report);

The Gotham Center for New York City History ("African Americans and Real Estate in Queens");

Queens Public Library Central Branch Archives.