Street Names and Streetscapes

Street Names and Their Origins (PDF)

Autumn is a great time to reflect on Long Island’s colonial history and its beauty—a wonderland of woodlands and waterways. Although modern-day Valley Stream does not resemble that long-ago time, there are clues to our past, hidden in plain sight.  

In 1867, the South Side Railroad built its first route on the south shore of Long Island from Jamaica to Babylon. By 1870, two other branches existed, and a train depot was built south of the tracks on the west side of Rockaway Avenue. The timetable finally included Valley Stream! Also that year, Electus Backus Litchfield (1813-1889), a well-heeled railroad magnate and land speculator, filed a map with the County of Queens (Nassau County formed in 1899) entitled “Plan of Property at Valley Stream.”  

Litchfield hired the renowned architect William Belden Olmsted (1808-1880), who laid out streets that surrounded the depot, as that was the way to grow a village; transportation was an amenity. Olmsted was a distant cousin of Frederick Law Olmsted (1822-1903), the landscape architect of Central and Prospect parks.  

In addition to Litchfield, the Royal Land Co. of New York (est. 1893) and Windsor Land and Improvement (est. 1909), also had maps naming a good majority of the streets in Valley Stream. These days we never give much thought to how streets are named; we take their existence for granted. Most have lost their meaning. But they are more than just mailing addresses and Google Map coordinates—they are a window into our past. 

Connecting the geography of a street to a corresponding piece of history is a dynamic way of experiencing one’s hometown, as it provides knowledge and perspective. Valley Stream has many street-naming categories/themes: Native American words, colonial-era references, early settlers, place names, developers, public servants, landowners, proprietors, geographical features, nature, and bygone landmarks. We also have alphabetical, numerical, and theme-based streets named for presidents, universities, botanicals—even liquor brands!  

Litchfield’s map captures the Native American and place name categories: Jamaica, Merrick, Mineola, and Rockaway. All four refer to neighbors to the north, south, east, and west. It was common practice to name local streets after nearby locales. There are spelling and translation variations for most Native American words and phrases. Indigenous people did not write, and colonists were poor spellers. I have chosen the most common interpretations, but there are others:  

Jamaica (Yameco) — “beaver” or “place of the beaver,” named by the indigenous Lenape Native Americans, members of the Algonquian civilization. In colonial times, the fur trade centered on the exchange of European goods for beaver pelts. The pelts were waterproof—dual-layered with oil-coated fur—perfect for making coats, felt hats, and blankets. Native Americans skilled in trapping bartered their pelts for implements, firearms, cloth, and glass beads.  

Merrick (Merokes) — “oyster bed” or “barren land.” Refers to the Meroke people who inhabited the area.  

Mineola (Meniolagamika) — “a friendly or pleasant village,” Algonquian origin.  

Rockaway (Reckouwacky) — “place of our own people,” a way of differentiating from other indigenous villages. Named by the Canarsie band of Native Americans; members of the Algonquian civilization.  

There are also English and Dutch place names on Litchfield’s map—Hempstead, New York, and Brooklyn. Many of the original street names have since changed.  

Hook Creek Boulevard leads to the scythe-shaped mouth of Jamaica Bay. Watts Place references the Watts family—Englishmen, who migrated from Hempstead to South Valley Stream during the Revolutionary War. Joseph Watts (1785-1822) operated a grist mill on Mill Road. Hoffman Street is named for Paris-born George Hoffman (1866-1924), a well-known restaurateur with a popular roadhouse on the northwest corner of Merrick Road and North Central Avenue. Hoffman dropped dead of a heart attack when undercover agents raided his club during Prohibition. The papers described him as “generous, humane, broad-minded and tolerant—everyone was his friend.” To this day, I can’t pass the Sunoco that stands in Hoffman’s place without thinking about poor George.  

In 1939, 16 years after Gibson founded his eponymously named community, another development was underway: “Green Acres—The Planned Residential Community.” Architect Irwin Chanin (1891-1988) salvaged a few design elements from FDR’s failed Greenbelt Towns (GT) project, a New Deal initiative. The GT project was modeled after London’s Garden City Movement. Chanin’s street names were aspirational, evoking thoughts of utopia—a welcome fantasy after the war. Ash, Birch, Cloverfield, Dahlia, Elderberry, Flower, Garland, and Heatherfield. The West End has a similar street-naming scheme, albeit on a smaller scale.  

How do we pay tribute to worthy individuals and heroes from our most recent past, when there are no streets left to be named? In 2021, Parkwold Drive South in North Valley Stream received a commemorative street sign—Vincent DeMarino Way. DeMarino (1958-2019), a NYPD officer, Ground Zero first responder, and eventually MTA Vice President of Security, died of 9/11-related cancer.  

This past spring, the intersection of Merrick Road and Arlington Avenue was named Detective Hector M. Nunez Way, in honor of Nassau County Fifth Precinct Officer Nunez (1979-2021), a much-loved public servant who was promoted to detective posthumously. He too, passed away from 9/11-related complications during Covid.  

We hope this brief introduction sparks your interest in Valley Stream history. For a comprehensive list of street names and their origins, click on the QR code, or visit the historical society’s webpage on the Village website. The Street names and their origins (spreadsheet) link will take you back in time. 

Street Names and Their Origins (narrative)

1870 - Plan of Property at Valley Stream (Litchfield)

George Woodhull Wheeler "G.W.W" (1879-1937) was a talented teacher and photographer. He is credited with documenting Valley Stream in pictures. His father Eustace Wheeler (1849-1917), was a justice of the peace, newspaper editor, and insurance broker. Before Wheeler Avenue was named in honor of the family, around 1914, it was called Chapel Avenue, after the Methodist church in its vicinity.

Hoffman Street is named for Paris-born George Hoffman (1866-1924), a well-known restaurateur with a popular roadhouse on the northwest corner of Merrick Road and North Central Avenue. Hoffman dropped dead of a heart attack when undercover agents raided his club during Prohibition. The foyer was the approximate location where the medical event took place. The papers described him as “generous, humane, broad-minded and tolerant—everyone was his friend.” —1922 postcard from the estate of Barbara Gribbon.

Frederick Ernst August Finkenstadt (1879-1954) immigrated to America from Wagenfeld, Germany in 1896. He first lived on 10th Avenue in NYC where he clerked for a grocer. In 1906, he married Wilhelmina Meyer. Two of their four children, Charles and Fred Jr., were born before the couple moved to Valley Stream around 1910. William and the youngest, Wilma, were both born shortly thereafter. Fred Sr. purchased three lots of land on Rockaway Avenue (Plan of property at Valley Stream, owned by E.B. Litchfield, by Olmstead & Fosgate, architect, Section 1, District 24) and opened a grocery store. The two-story brick building contained two stores on the ground floor and two apartments on the second floor. The family lived above the store. They rented out the other store and apartment to a tailor, their first tenant. 

Finkenstadt’s, located at modern-day 102-110 Rockaway Avenue, was on the west side of Rockaway, between W. Fairview and W. Mineola avenues. This block was also home to two other historic businesses: Lang’s Department Store and Edward Miller’s Paint Store. Lang’s, before opening their store at 214 Rockaway Avenue, was originally located in a house on the southwest corner of West Fairview and Rockaway avenues. Brancard’s Deli now stands on that land. The other well-known business on the block was Edward Miller’s Paint Store. This store, too, was located in a house, not a commercial building. Many structures on Rockaway Avenue were residential dwellings that later were converted into businesses, and still later torn down and replaced with commercial buildings. Edward's son Charles and Fred Jr., besides living next door to one another, were also best friends. They recorded a combined oral history recording for the historical society in 1987. 

The Finkenstadt’s were practicing Lutherans, congregants of St. Paul’s Evangelical Lutheran Church. The churchgoers first met at the Hook and Ladder Co. No. 1 on Corona Avenue (upstairs) before their church was built on Grove and Mineola (mostly all the churches and synagogues in Valley Stream first met at Hook & Ladder―one might say it’s Valley Stream’s first holy place!). 

The grocery, or delicatessen, also played a prominent role during Prohibition. Fred Sr. sold all the ingredients and utensils necessary to make beer, wine, or whiskey. It was legal to do so! 

After the tailor and his family moved out, Fred rented the space to Lester Blake, who operated a popular pool parlor. The pool hall was a big hit with the locals and is mentioned fondly in many oral history recordings. But, in 1921, Blake closed his pool hall and Finkenstadt rented the space to a home furnishings concern from Brooklyn. The space, which included an apartment on the second floor, rented for $50 a month.  

In 1925, or thereabouts, the Finkenstadt’s and their four children moved to 42 W. Mineola Avenue to a lovely house that claims to have been built in 1888 (according to the property card). It is around that time, I believe, that the original brick structure was demolished and replaced with a larger version of similar design. The property card for that location states that 102-110 Rockaway Avenue was built in 1928.  

The Finkenstadt’s were avid sport enthusiasts. Fred Sr. and two of his three sons, Charles and Fred Jr., were active in the Sago Athletic Club. The AC, which was formed in 1909, was one of the Village’s earliest baseball leagues - the predecessor to the Fire Department Vamps, Firemen’s Field home team. Many of the Vamps were originally Sago players.  

By 1942, Fred was out of the grocery business. He was 63 years of age by then, and took a part-time job working for Louis Ringhoff, who operated a nursery on Terrace Place. In 1950, at age 71, he was repairing oil furnaces. Fred Sr. passed away in 1954, two years after his beloved Wilhelmina. Both are buried in Greenfield Cemetery in Uniondale. 

Fred Jr. (1908-1991) was perhaps the best known offspring of Fred Sr. and Wilhelmina. In the early 1940s, Fred was the Valley Stream Republican Club’s financial secretary. In the mid-40s, he was elected Deputy Village Clerk and Deputy Tax Collector. His annual salary in 1948 was $2,914. Fred Jr., his wife Margaret, and their three children, George, Joy, and John, lived at 77 Beverly Blvd. They too, were laid to rest in Greenfield Cemetery.

December 4, 1920 - ad (Daily Long Island Farmer)

The American Legion post was named in honor of Andrew Fatscher, who, in 1918, gave his life for his country. (His brother, Otto, also a soldier during WWI, died that same year from pneumonia.)

The post was originally located on South Corona and Fairview avenues. During the 1947 construction of the new building, the members used the "Hut," located across the road from the building site, on the corner of Cochran Place and Roosevelt Avenue.

The "Hut," was the nickname given to the Veterans of Foreign Wars clubhouse. The "Hut" was torn down when the VFW moved to Merrick Road. It was an empty lot for many years. That site is now home to a brand new three-story, 17-unit apartment complex.

Originally, there were four windows on the front of the building. Each window had a plaque on top with the years 1917, 1918, 1941, and 1945 — representing the start and finish of the two World Wars.

In 1970, the building suffered a fire. In 1972, it was remodeled, which included an addition.  

Streamers reminisce about the American Legion. Many remember playing Bingo there, working the refreshment stand, and attending Christmas parties for members and their families. A pool table and bar were located in the basement. Many high school fraternity parties and dances were held there. 

The windows have long since been covered up. Intact, however, on the windowless facade, are the four dates, representing the start and finish of both World Wars. They float above the faint outline of the windows, attached to nothing.

Photos from John H. Trunk (1903-1993), given to Helen Frering Zang (1915-1999) in 1990.
The Zang family gifted the photos to the historical society in 2022.