Down The Ancient Tracks
The fading tracks above are the last of late a 19th century trolley line in Jackson Heights. Eventually they will be totally erased. Tribune Photos By Theresa Juva |
By Theresa Juva
Before the big blue-striped MTA buses, a trolley ambled down the streets of Queens. In May 1894, the Grand Street line stretched through the borough from the Maspeth Depot and Broadway to Junction Avenue and Bowery Bay. Jackson Mill Road in Jackson Heights was the highlight of the trolley’s first ride because it was where passengers could check out the old mill water wheel before continuing on their ride.
Development sprouted around the line, and in the 1920s and 30s, residents learned to adapt to the sound of the trolley chugging outside their doors. Streets were eventually re-mapped, and the trolley lines were abandoned and paved over with more houses.
The Trolley Car Triangle on Astoria Boulevard and 97th Street, which was originally named the Street Car Triangle when the city acquired the land in 1928, commemorates the trolley’s contribution to Queens with a grassy patch of land and site history. The triangle was improved in 2001 with $25,000 from Mayor Giuliani.
A long line of homes now sit in the old path of the trolley. The original Jackson Mill Road has been broken up by the street grid system, which cut the meandering road in half. Jackson Mill is abruptly cut into by 96th Street and disappears and re-emerges at 95th Street just off of 25th Avenue.
The narrow, dusty street is under construction with new houses, but the parallel metal tracks are still visible. Like Jackson Mill Road, they appear and vanish along the length of the street, a ghostly reminder of a time long gone.
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