Rutted cow-paths meandering though meadows were replaced by modern straight
roads in the latter half of the nineteenth century. Building a modern
transportation network was essential in the development of Queens. The
most important of these new roads was Northern Boulevard, once called
Jackson Avenue, and originally the 'Hunters Point, Newtown and Flushing
Turnpike.' This great highway cost $40,000 and opened on July 13, 1860.
It had milestones, a gravel roadbed, and maintained a tiny tollhouse and
gate that collected a 9 cent toll for carriages.
The bend in Northern Blvd at Newtown Rd where it runs straight to Flushing
went by the Jackson/Ricker home where the Woodside Houses are. That location,
where 51st (Old Bowery Road an Indian Path) and Newtown (Hell Gate/Hallet
Farm Road mid 1600s) are among the oldest lanes in Queens; a garrison
of Hessians were stationed there during the Revolution as it was the only
high ground leading to western Queens. The hump in Northern at that point
is rumored to be from a beaver dam whose remains were swept away when
they built the subway under the roadbed in the 1930s.
