This month's guest is Eddie Costello "Antique Road Show" giving a talk on "Trash vs. Treasure."  Do you have something in your attic, or laying at the back of a closet someplace in your home -- something old, maybe a bit unusual or out of the ordinary?  Do you have something laying around your house that you look at once in a while and wonder if it's worth something -- maybe even a lot of money? 

Eddie Costello is a veteran appraiser with over 40 years experience.  Attendees are encouraged to bring an item -- and time permitting, Mr. Costello will try and evaluate it for you. For example, I have a nice little concertina that I suspect is worth something -- or, maybe it's garbage! On Wednesday, we'll find out which.

Leonora Lavan, President of the WCHS, will be a guest on Project Woodhaven Radio, LIVE on Monday Night at 7 PM.

Click here at 7 PM Monday to hear the show -- and if you would like to call in and ask Leonora a question -- or you just want to talk about Woodhaven -- the call in number is 646-378-1612.

The Mystery of The Southside Cemetery Sign

This week, Leonora Lavan told us about a mystery that's recently emerged.  One of the things that the WCHS do is arrange for all those neat landmark signs (see the top of this page for examples).  A few years ago, they ordered 4 of them:

The Post Office on Forest Parkway
The Woodhaven Library
The Forest Park Carousel
The Southside Cemetery

Most readers of this site will be familiar with the first three locations - but the fourth may be new to most of you.  The Southside Cemetery is actually in Ozone Park.  Back in the late 1600's, much of this area was part of the Town of Jamaica.  At that time, a prominent family named Van Wicklen donated a small plot of their land to be used by all as a burial ground -- including families that were amongst the first to live in what is now known as Woodhaven.  Each family was given a portion -- those families included names such as the Durlands, the Fredericks, the Ryders, the Remsens, the Stoothoffs, and the Smiths.  Here is that cemetery today, hidden in plain sight at the corner of Redding St. and Albert Road (near the Crossbay Fields).   

Burial plots were buried over and re-used over the year and it was estimated that nearly two thousand souls were laid to rest here.  The fence is locked, but you can plainly see the few headstones that remain from the street.

This isn't just a burial ground.  It's where people came to say their final goodbyes to the ones they loved.  Many tears were shed on this plot of land.  And, over the years, many flowers were laid down at the headstones that remained standing.  If you close your eyes, and let your mind wander a bit, you can picture a funeral procession, marching through the woods and down the dirt roads - past the farms, maybe even through the snow - and ending up here, on what is now this little hidden corner in Queens.

The last person buried in the Southside Cemetery was Harry L. Van Wicklen in 1919.  By the late 1920's there were just under 80 headstones left and within a decade that number had crumbled to 10.  Construction in the area - on roads, sewers, and houses - all contributed to the decline of the burial ground, which over the years also went under the names Aqueduct Cemetery, Homestead Cemetery, Old Farmers' Cemetery, and Van Wicklen Cemetery.