Jan. 27, 2024 By The Old Timer Our Neighborhood has many memorials dedicated to the local soldiers who gave their lives in defense of our country in the First and Second World Wars. However, nearly two centuries ago now, many local residents in what would become the Greater Ridgewood area fought for the Union in…
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Dec. 23, 2023 By The Old Timer On Sept. 26, 1918, the 77th Division — which included many Ridgewood and Glendale soldiers — participated in the Battle of Argonne Forest. They were assigned a front of 7 ½ kilometers, and in 19 days, they managed to move 22 kilometers against five German divisions. One of their units was the famous “Lost Battalion,” which is where Lost Battalion Hall in Rego Park got its name. Elements from the 308th Infantry Regiment and the 306th Machine Gun Battalion, under the command of Charles Whittlesey, were ordered to push ahead in the Argonne…
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Dec. 16, 2023 By The Old Timer Ask someone about the location of St. James Park and the answer could be somewhere in the Bronx or in London, England. But we wonder how many of our readers are aware that the name once referred to a section of Ridgewood. Today, much of what once was known as…
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Nov. 25, 2023 By The Old Timer Years ago, Queens cooks would have had to prepare their holiday dinners without the benefit of supermarkets. Peddlers in horse-drawn wagons made the rounds of the scattered homes of the non-farm families in the area, selling meat, fruit and vegetables. However, as the population grew, stores opened and…
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Nov. 18, 2023 By The Old Timer It’s hard for many Glendale residents to imagine, but the site of what is today Redeemer Lutheran School was once one of the neighborhood’s most popular drinking establishments. Hofmann House Hotel opened in 1902 at the corner of Cooper Avenue and Lafayette Street (present-day 69th Place). It was…
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