Corona: The Early Years

Nestled between old Newtown (today’s Elmhurst) and the village of Flushing in the borough of Queens lies Corona. Blessed with an enchanting landscape, the area attracted development as early as 1854, when the West Flushing Land Company sought to create a suburban residential neighborhood in its midst. For Corona’s cherished way of life, represented by Colonial-era farms, dirt roads, and gaslight streetlamps, this marked a distinct break from the past. Developer Benjamin Hitchcock’s novel installment-plan system had helped place Corona on the map for good by 1870, laying down a historical precedent for later communities like Forest Hills and Jackson Heights to take shape. Before Mets baseball and the US Open were fixtures on the local scene, New Yorkers flocked to the National Race Course, one of the first such complexes in the entire country, for an exciting day at the races. Meanwhile, in its Corona-based factory, the Tiffany Glass Company forged distinctive lamps and glassware that in time would become world famous.