Remembering Woodhaven 

In 1997, the Woodhaven Cultural & Historical Society began a project -- interviewing folks about their memories of Woodhaven.  Their first subject -- and as it turned out their last subject -- was long time resident, and self proclaimed "Woodhavenite until he died" John Fischer.

Born in the early 1900s and around for the very early days of Woodhaven and its' surrounding areas -- Mr. Fischer passes along a bunch of great memories -- from sledding down 85th Street to Jamaica Avenue, to the farms in the area, to where the 18th hole of the Forest Park Golf Course used to be -- this is great stuff, folks.

Mr. Fischer has since passed on -- and from what we've learned, his family has moved away.  We thank him and his family for this contribution to Woodhaven's history -- and we hope they see that he is fondly remembered as one of our own :-)

Part 1:

 Part II:

Part III:

Part IV:

Bonus!

John Fischer, when asked about the Union Course, spoke about a hidden street -- Clemente Court.  They never made clear what the connection was between Clemente Ct. and Union Course -- but he spoke about this street and it sounded interesting.

Have any of you ever heard of this street?  We looked it up on Google -- check it out!  It's there!

So, we drove down that way and looked for it -- and we had to drive down the block twice -- and finally we spotted the street sign -- it was hard to see.  And, as you can see, it looks like a driveway -- it's stuck between two houses!

We got out of the car and walked down Clemente Court -- but we felt like trespassers!  Here's a close up of the sign -- I wonder who Clemente was -- 

Basically, it's a little alley way that goes behind the normal houses -- and then veers off to the left into a small courtyard where there are a few more houses.  Kinda like the block was pregnant -- with 2 other houses in its' belly.  That's the best I can describe it.  Here's the alleyway:

We took pictures of the houses -- but as we felt we were on private property, this is all that we'll show.  I'd love to know what the connection is between this street and the Union Course -- it's only 4 blocks away from Neir's.  Clemente Ct. seems like a quiet block to live on -- but, then again, it must be tough during storms -- you're closed in.  And if you call for an emergency vehicle you'd need to worry about being found.   

Strange cross-street, 82nd St. -- the sidewalk is way higher than the street -- and in some places, they needed to build steps.  That's got to be a bitch and a half to shovel! 

If you have any comments, or would like to suggest other projects, drop us a line at info@projectwoodhaven.com or projectwoodhaven@aol.com

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