Jackson Tracks

In an obscure corner of Jackson Heights, ancient trolley tracks preserve not only the route of an old trolley line, but one of the oldest roads in Queens County.

There's a two-block long section in Jackson Heights that contains remnants of one of the original trolley lines that served the area...and one of the ancient roads of colonial New York City.

The trolley line was built at the beginning of the time that Jackson Heights was being developed from a swampy area then known as Trains Meadow.

The tracks shown at left are on a now private right of way, formerly called Old Bowery Bay Road, now called Jackson Mill Road, just south of 25th Avenue. Jackson's Mill was once located toward the northern terminus of the trolley line.

The original trolley tracks are still there, along with some of the original pavement stones poking through the deteriorated concrete.

Queens and Long Island historian Vincent Seyfried mentions this old trackway in his book Brooklyn Rapid Transit Lines in Queens (© NJ International Inc. 1998)

The trolley right-of-way here is an interesting story. When the line had been constructed in 1893, the only public highway in this area had been the meandering Bowery Bay Road. Rather than purchase a long and expensive private right-of-way, the Brooklyn City Railroad used Bowery Bay Road all the way to North Beach. In 1915 the city adopted the "final" map of Queens, showing streets laid on the grid system. During the 1920s and 1930s the new streets were rapidly opened up on either side of the old road, which meandered back and forth generally between 94th St. and 97th St. The Brooklyn City RR, rather than negotiate a new franchise, let things stay as they were, and the local residents became accustomed to having the local trolley cut across lawns and through back yards.

By the mid-1930s all other sections of the Old Bowery Bay Road had disappeared; only the trolley tracks served to preserve about a mile of the old alignment. In the 1940s the city put a half-hearted top dressing along the tracks and residents used the right-of-way as a convenient street. In parts houses were built abutting the line and the road here was incorporated on the map under the new name of "Jackson's Mill Road." To this day, nearly all the right-of-way remains intact and bids fair to remain. Thus quite accidentally, the Junction Avenue trolley has preserved one of the original colonial highways of Queens County!

On the map at right, note the heavy black line circled in red just above the words "Trains Meadow". It is the trolley line whose remnants are still there today.

The double-tracked line was an extension of the Jackson Avenue trolley line that ran from Long Island City to Flushing. It was a spur that ran north along Junction Avenue, Old Bowery Road and a right of way to North Beach. Parts of the route are now Jackson Mill Road, and North Beach is now occupied by LaGuardia Airport. The line served the airport in its early days. Flushing Avenue is today's Astoria Blvd.

Plainly visible in this 1997 photo on Jackson Mill Road near 24th Avenue are the abandoned tracks and roadbed.

Mid-2000 on Jackson Mill Road near 25th Avenue.

In 1999, change had come to this right-of-way. Townhouses are being built on the portion north of Astoria Boulevard and the ROW will most likely become a private driveway. The portion between 24th and 25th Avenue has been paved over and the tracks obscured. Still, in the vicinity of 25th Avenue the tracks are still plainly in sight as the photos below prove.

Jackson Mill Road and 96th Street just north of Astoria Blvd in mid-1999.

By mid-2001 all trace of the trolley tracks between Astoria Boulevard and 25th Avenue had been eliminated by new housing.

Tracks crossing 25th Avenue at 95th Street.

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