Juniper Valley Park

Juniper Valley Park is a public park located within Middle Village, Queens, New York, United States. The park's 55.247 acres offer tennis, handball, basketball and bocce courts, as well as seven baseball fields, and a quarter-mile running track around a turf football/soccer field. Since the 1930s it has been run and operated by the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation. [http://www.nycgovparks.org/sub_your_park/historical_signs/hs_historical_sign.php?id=229 Juniper Valley Park] , New York City Department of Parks and Recreation. Accessed May 16 2008.]

Geology and ecology

The park occupies the central portion of what had been Juniper Swamp, a low-lying area formed by runoff from the melting of glaciers that created Long Island some 10,000 to 20,000 years ago. Before the 20th century, Juniper Swamp occupied an area bounded roughly by what are now 69th Street, Caldwell Avenue, 80th Street, and Juniper Valley Road. The post-glacial climate helped form peat bogs, the acidic nature of which was subsequently favored by flora unique to New York City as well as wild blueberry plants harvested by early settlers. [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9505E6D6153FF932A35757C0A9679C8B63&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=all New York Times City Lore: The Trees That Don't Grow in Brooklyn] . Accessed May 16 2008.]

History

During the American Revolutionary War in the 18th century, occupying British troops cut down most of the trees in the vicinity, and some of the swamp's peat was mined to burn for heat. White cedar and the opportunistic eastern red cedar, Juniperus virginiana, that subsquently took hold lent its name to the swamp. In what was perhaps the first recreational use of the area, during winter, the swamp's frozen ponds were a popular location for ice skating.

In 1822 Thomas Pullis purchased 32 acres (8 ha) of land for farming at the eastern side of the swamp. The family cemetery he established by 1846 on its grounds remains today within Juniper Valley Park as one of the few surviving farm burial grounds in New York City. [http://www.nycgovparks.org/sub_your_park/historical_signs/hs_historical_sign.php?id=229 Juniper Valley Park] , New York City Department of Parks and Recreation. Accessed May 16 2008.]

In 1916, for a new railroad route, the New York Connecting Railroad carved a deep cut through the eastern side of the swamp, thereby draining much of its water. The railroad now marks the western edge of the park.

A key figure in the eventual transformation of the swamp into the park is Arnold Rothstein. Rothstein is widely suspected of significant involvement in the throwing of the 1919 World Series, known as the Black Sox Scandal, and soon thereafter using his gains to purchase 88 acres (35 ha) of Juniper Swamp. In the 1920s, he tried to sell the swamp to New York City for use as an airport, but only after first attempting to increase its apparent value by constructing on it a phantom village of 143 homes that were little more than facades. [http://www.nycgovparks.org/sub_your_park/historical_signs/hs_historical_sign.php?id=229 Juniper Valley Park] , New York City Department of Parks and Recreation. Accessed May 16 2008.]

In the 1920s, the area of the swamp east of the railroad and west of what became the tennis courts was called Metropolitan Heights Fairground and was used as a race track for horses, dogs, automobiles and motorcycles. The track was 7/8ths of a mile in length. [http://www.junipercivic.com/HistoryArticle.asp?nid=36 Juniper Valley Racetrack] Accessed May 16 2008.]

Before Rothstein could unload the swamp, he was murdered in 1928 due to what many suspect was non-payment of gambling debts. In 1931, New York City acquired Juniper Swamp at the rate of $5,700 per acre as settlement with the Rothstein estate for back taxes, and immediately tagged it for development as a public park. [http://archiver.rootsweb.ancestry.com/th/read/NYBROOKLYN/2002-11/1037734611 Brooklyn Standard Union-March 7, 1931-News] Accessed May 16 2008.] News of the park, coupled with improvements of Works Progress Administration (WPA) efforts, ushered in a wave of housing growth in the vicinity that continued through the 1960s.

Briefly the swamp was again mined for peat to support road projects of Robert Moses. By 1942 the WPA had completed improvement efforts on the portion of the park east of 76th Street to include eight tennis courts, four baseball fields, handball courts, and a sprinkler/wading pool. The park's western third was left in its original swampy condition except for some paved walking paths and simple lighting. Improvement of the western portion would wait until the addition in 1967 of parking lots, more baseball fields, a running track, and football/soccer field.

More recent changes include in the 1980s closure of the parking lots due to excessive noise at night, removal of those lots in the 1990s, and in the 2000s redesign of the western portion to improve the baseball fields and running track and add a turf field.

References

External links

* [http://www.nycgovparks.org/sub_your_park/historical_signs/hs_historical_sign.php?id=229 Juniper Valley Park] , New York City Department of Parks and Recreation
* [http://www.junipercivic.com Juniper Park Civic Association]