Village Dedicates First Historical Marker

By Carisa Keane

The Village of Floral Park will dedicate its first historical marker at 3 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 4. on Tulip Avenue, across the street from the library, at the home and seed house of John Lewis Childs, village founder.

"It's fitting that we honor him with an official marker, which we hope will be the first of a number of markers to be placed around the village by the Floral Park Historical Society," Mayor Ann Corbett said.

Village Historian Walter Gosden, the Floral Park Historical Society and a $500 contribution from the Floral Park AARP made the project possible. The unveiling was originally scheduled for Sunday, Sept. 23 during Spirit Weekend but was postponed due to the recent tragic events.

John Lewis Childs was the village's first president and a New York State senator. His name and reputation throughout the world as the leading mail order flower seed merchant really put Floral Park on the map. In fact, he is responsible for choosing the name Floral Park, Corbett said. The marker was completed by a company located upstate.

Before Europeans settled, the area that is now Floral Park marked the western edge of the great Hempstead Plains. It was initially known as Plainfield. Until the Civil War the area consisted mainly of scattered farms. The community began to take shape in the early 1800s thanks to the Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) and Jericho Turnpike, both of which came through what had then become known as Hinsdale and served farmers. Hinsdale served more than two dozen flower farms after the war.

In the mid-1970s Childs came to Hinsdale intent on promoting both his seed company and the village. He suggested changing the name Hinsdale to Floral Park. His mail order business was then set up using Floral Park as the return address. His business was so successful that the Floral Park Post Office was built primarily to handle the enormous volume of his mailings. Under Childs' guidance, the village was incorporated in 1908.

Well into the 1920s, dozens of flower farms blanketed the area. The beautiful array of flowers along the route greeted LIRR commuters. Eventually, however, a real estate boom put an end to those fields of flowers, making way for residential neighborhoods. The streets of today's Floral Park still carry the names of those flowers.

Following the ceremony, Corbett will host an informal gathering in her office at Village Hall. The Historical Society will hold its next meeting Monday, Nov. 5 at 7:30 p.m. in the parlor of the United Methodist Church on Verbena Avenue. Chances will be available at the meeting for a raffle to be held at the Dec. 3 meeting. The prize is a one-of-a-kind commemorative tray with a floral design inspired by the original artwork from the Childs Seeds Catalogs and donated to the society by local artist Mary Gosden.