In the early nineteenth century, resilient free Black community lived in Newtown, the rural village that would later become Elmhurst, Queens. Census records, historical maps, manumission documents, 19th century newspaper articles, and correspondences show that Black families lived, worked, and raised children here decades before the Civil War.

Yet today, almost no visible trace of that community remains.

Unlike places such as Weeksville in Brooklyn, Seneca Village in Manhattan, or Sandy Ground on Staten Island, Newtown’s Black history has largely disappeared from the landscape. At it's peak in the 1850s, the size of its free Black population rivalled Weeksville's. The farms, houses, and roads where these families once lived have been paved over by urban development. Their stories survive mostly in archival records—census pages, property documents, and scattered historical references.

Recent research drawing on nineteenth-century census data and historical records has begun to reconstruct this forgotten community. These records reveal a network of free Black households living among Newtown’s farms and market gardens—families who navigated a society that often limited their rights, including property requirements that restricted Black voting.

Despite their contributions to Queens’ early history, no monument, marker, or public memorial acknowledges their presence.

Elmhurst today is one of the most diverse neighborhoods in New York City. Recognizing the history of its early free Black residents would honor the people who helped shape the area long before it became the vibrant community it is today.

We call on:

• NYC Parks & Recreation
• The Queens Borough President
• New York City Council
• The NYC Public Design Commission

to work with historians, community organizations, and residents to establish a permanent monument or historical marker honoring Newtown’s lost free Black community.

Such a monument would:

• Restore a missing chapter of Queens history
• Recognize the lives of early Black residents who helped build the community
• Educate future generations about the diverse origins of Elmhurst and New York City
• The history of Newtown’s free Black community should not remain buried in archives. It deserves a visible place in the city’s public memory.

The proposed location for the monument would be located adjacent to the plot of land (now a laundromat and parking lot) former slaves purchased for the establishment of a church and school that would serve the growing free Black community. It is currently a street triangle named Middleburgh triangle (seen below).

 

 

Sign this petition to support the creation of a monument honoring the The Ghosts of Newtown.