Kingsland Homestead

Kingsland Homestead is an old house from the 1700s located in Flushing, Queens, New York City. This special building holds a very old and famous tree called The Weeping Beech, which is thought to have been planted in 1847. The house is near another important place, the Bowne House, where the first Quaker meeting happened in New Amsterdam.

Today, the Kingsland Homestead is open to visitors as a museum. It is cared for by the Queens Historical Society, and people can learn about the past there. The homestead is very important and is listed as a landmark by New York City and the National Register of Historic Places. It is also part of the Historic House Trust, which helps protect special places like this for everyone to enjoy.

History

Kingsland was built by Charles Doughty around 1785. The name "Kingsland" likely comes from Joseph King, a British sea captain who bought the home in 1801. Over the years, the house faced threats from development, such as when the New York City Subway planned to extend its Flushing Line in 1923. The community worked hard to protect it, and in 1965, it became one of the city's first landmarks.

In 1968, the Kingsland Preservation Committee helped move the house to its current spot. It was officially opened as a museum in March 1973. In 1996, a major renovation was finished, adding new lighting and a sprinkler system to keep the house safe. More work was needed in 1999 to keep the building in good shape.

Exhibits

The Homestead shows what life was like during the Victorian era, but it has had many different exhibits since it became a museum. One exhibit was about World War II and showed what happened in Queens during the war, with old newspapers and ads. There was also an exhibit about slavery and how it affected Queens and Long Island.

Weeping Beech

Main article: Weeping Beech (Queens)

The Kingsland Homestead is in a park called Weeping Beech Park. This park once had a very special tree, a weeping beech tree that was about 60 feet tall. This tree was so special that it was named a city landmark in 1966, meaning it was one of the most important trees in New York City. People believe the tree came from Belgium and was brought to the United States by a gardener named Samuel Parsons. It is thought to be the first of its kind in the United States.

The tree lived for 151 years before it could no longer survive in 1997. Even after the tree was gone, pieces of it were used by artists to make sculptures and benches in downtown Flushing. A small part of the tree was left in the park as a reminder. Today, seven new trees that came from the original tree can be found in the park near the Homestead.