Jamaica, Queens: Five Centuries of History

About This Tour

This short walk follows Jamaica Avenue through a few blocks that have been a center of Queens life since the colonial period. Along the way you can see a 1929 movie palace now used as a church, a streamlined Art Moderne nightclub facade from the 1930s, an Episcopal church whose congregation dates to 1702, and the farmhouse where Rufus King, a signer of the Constitution, spent his later years. A Romanesque Revival church built in 1858-59 now serves as an arts venue, and a burial ground generally dated to 1668 holds Revolutionary War soldiers and old Jamaica families. The buildings are the story here. Look for Spanish Baroque terra cotta, stepped pyramids over a marquee, Gothic Revival stonework, Federal and Georgian details in a house with sections from about 1730, and round-arched towers with carved corbel tables. Each stop gives its address, the facts from the landmark reports, and hours where a site is open to visitors. You travel on foot only, and the stops are close together along the avenue. Choose a short, medium or long walk, and pause and resume whenever you like. Three stops are active places of worship and one is a burial ground, so please keep your voice low and view them respectfully.

Tour Highlights

Tour Route & Stops