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Elmhurst (formerly Newtown) is a neighborhood in the borough of Queens in New York City. It is bounded by Roosevelt Avenue on the north; the Long Island Expressway on the south; Junction Boulevard on the east; and the New York Connecting Railroad on the west. The village, originally named Middleburgh, was established in 1652 by English Puritans, approximately 7 miles (11 km) from New Amsterdam. When the British took over New Netherland in 1664, they renamed it New Town, which was eventually simplified to Newtown. It remained a rural community until the late 1890s, when it was renamed Elmhurst and became part of the City of Greater New York. Elmhurst became heavily developed with residential and commercial structures in the early 20th century, and many immigrants started moving in during the latter part of the century. Elmhurst is located in Queens Community District 4 and its ZIP Code is 11373. It is patrolled by the New York City Police Department's 110th Precinct. Politically, Elmhurst is represented by the New York City Council's 25th District and small parts of the 21st, 24th, and 29th Districts. History 17th and 18th centuries The village was founded in 1652 in the Dutch colony of New Netherland (Nieuw Nederland) by English Puritans from Connecticut and Massachusetts. They named it Middelburgh ('Middleburgh') after the capital of the Dutch province of Zeeland, which had been a refuge of Puritans fleeing religious persecution in England. The village was located approximately 7 miles (11 km) from the growing city of New Amsterdam (Nieuw Amsterdam) and just east of the settlement at Maspat (now called Maspeth), which had been abandoned following threats and attacks by local Lenape Native Americans. When the British took over New Netherland in 1664, they renamed Middleburgh as Nieuwe Stad (New Town) to maintain a connection to its Dutch heritage. This was eventually simplified to Newtown. In a deed dated July 9, 1666, the settlers took title to the lands of Newtown from the Native American tribes. A town building, near what is now Broadway and Dongan Street, was erected to serve as both a community and religious building. Use of this building was shared by the different religious denominations in Middleburgh: the Church of England, the Dutch Reformed Church, the Presbyterians, and the Quakers. In 1669, the town planned a new church for all of these denominations, on a plot of land donated by Ralph Hunt near Grand Avenue and Queens Boulevard. According to the town records, the new building was to cost forty pounds, half in corn and half in cattle. The village of Newtown was established as the town seat for the township in 1683, when Queens County was reorganized as a "one county, five towns" model. The Town of Newtown, which had a town hall, jail, tax office, and town clerk's office, was the center of a municipality that comprised the villages that were located north of present-day Forest Park and west of Flushing Meadows. By 1700, the town had a population of 1,000, including 405 youths under the age of sixteen, 434 adults, and 161 slaves. Among the English settlers in the present Elmhurst section of Newtown was Gershom Moore, who lived at what is now the intersection of Broadway, 45th Avenue, and Elmhurst Avenue. A chance seedling on his farm eventually produced the Newtown Pippin, Colonial America's most famous apple. The St. James Church was founded in 1704, followed by the Reformed Church of Newtown in 1731. The Colonel Bernardus Bloom Farmhouse at 90-11 56th Avenue, which existed from the 17th century to 2015, was one of the oldest surviving farmhouses in Newtown through the 21st century. 19th century Newtown was also the center of a population of free blacks and slaves by the early 19th century. With the program of gradual abolition and the manumission of some slaves by masters following the American Revolution, the free population increased. In 1828, a year after slavery in New York state was finally abolished under the terms of a 1799 gradual abolition law, landowner James Hunter and his wife deeded 2 acres (0.81 ha) to the community for a church and parsonage. They had already been using land at Corona Avenue and 90th Street as a burial ground since about 1818. This was associated with the United African Society of Newtown, by 1906 known as St. Mark's A.M.E. Church. By 1886, more than 300 burials had been made in the cemetery. The church moved further east and gradually the burial ground was forgotten until the remains of a woman were discovered in an iron coffin in 2011 during development. The church is hoping to buy the land for preservation. More concentrated residential development in the area was spurred by the completion of a horsecar line, the Grand Street Line, which reached New Town in 1854. The Long Island Rail Road's Main Line was built through Newtown in 1876, attracting more residents to the neighborhood. Renaming and incorporation into city Cord Meyer bought land at Broadway and Whitney Avenue in 1896. He proposed that the town be renamed "Elmhurst", meaning "a grove of elms"; in 1897, one year before Queens County was incorporated in the Greater City of New York, the town was renamed. The renaming was done partially to disassociate the town from nearby Maspeth and the smelly, polluted Newtown Creek, and partially to celebrate the elm trees (Ulmus americana) that abounded in the area. Elmhurst developed as a fashionable district due to a housing development built by the Cord Meyer Development Company between 1896 and 1910, north of the Port Washington Branch railroad station. Cord Meyer expanded its holdings between 1905 and 1930, including Elmhurst Square, Elmhurst South, Elmhurst Heights, and New Elmhurst. Elmhurst also was the site of the Grand Street LIRR station just west of the current Grand Avenue – Newtown subway station. The Grand Street LIRR station was served by the Main Line and the former Rockaway Beach Branch. In the 1930s, the Independent Subway System's Queens Boulevard line was built through the neighborhood, spurring economic development but also destroying many old buildings. Prior to World War II, Elmhurst had become an almost exclusively Jewish and Italian neighborhood, made up of early 20th century immigrants and their descendants. Following the war, Elmhurst evolved into what has been considered one of the most ethnically diverse neighborhoods in New York City, as immigrants arrived from new areas. By the 1980s, there were persons from 112 nations in residence in the neighborhood, which has continued to diversify since then. Among the most numerous ethnic groups that have settled in the area are Latinos and Chinese Americans. For many years, the Elmhurst gas tanks, a pair of large natural gas storage structures built in 1910 and 1921 on 57th Avenue between 74th and 80th Streets, were well-known landmarks, standing 200 feet (61 m) high. Because the Long Island Expressway frequently became congested in that area, ".... Discover the Nicholas Hirshon popular books. Find the top 100 most popular Nicholas Hirshon books.