The Next Pond Over Great Gatsby In Bayside
John Golden's Extravagant Home, a Retreat from Broadway
The home of famous broadway producer and play-write John Golden's is remembered as one of Bayside's finest. Golden purchased the home in 1920 and immediately opened his gates to the community. He made a name for himself in Bayside. Quite literally, as he donated his 19 acre estate to NYC Parks for a community park in Bayside Queens. “For the use and enjoyment by the young people of the community of all races and creeds in a manner similar to that in which I made this property available for recreation and community acts during my lifetime.”
Photo source: Nicholl House - Golden Estate - Flushing May 1936. Queens Library.
Sharing a similar waterfront property along a bay in the Long Island Sound, Bayside and Great Neck have a similar geography and history as the fabled West Egg and East Egg of the F. Scott Fitzgerald's novel, The Great Gatsby. Bayside is situated on the western side of Little Neck Bay, while Great Neck is a peninsula that spans both Little Neck Bay and Manhasset Bay. Both Great Neck (West Egg) and Bayside are just close enough to Manhattan for the glitz, glamor, and business - yet far enough away to enjoy that suburban, or during the 1920s, country life. For the rich and famous of the roaring 20s in New York City, Eastern Queens and Long Island provided fresh air from the factories and tenement buildings in Manhattan, Bayside, like West Egg, also has the Long Island Rail Road.
It would only take 20 minutes for an express train to take you from Bayside to Penn Station. Like Great Neck, Bayside was known for having new money. New money included actors, writers, and for Bayside, a heavy weight champion turned actor, James Corbett. Much like the Gatsby, John Golden, and the home's previous owner Pearl White, came from humble beginnings, by way of the West, to settle in Long Island, NY.
Photo Source: Unknown
Joseph Crocheron is a member of the Crocheron family who left Europe prior to 1685 and settled on Staten Island, New York where they remained for many generations. There are members of the family who have gone south and west and a U49er" who went to California and came back. There is a town named Crocheron in Maryland, with a zip code and Crocheron Park in Bayside, Queens, New York. They have been farmers, politicians, merchants, sea captains, seamen, clerks, millers, yeomen, militiamen, hotel proprietor and carpenters. They have contributed to the growth and development of this country as they are a part of its history.
Joseph, an 8th generation descendant of the Staten Island family, was born on 8 May 1824 on Staten Island and died on 18 August 1896, at the Crocheron House in Bayside, Queens, New York. He was a son of Danie1 7 and Mary (Merrill) Crocheron, both of whom were born on Staten Island. Daniel's great interest in horse racing who ran the horses Sally Walker and Snowball influenced his son Joseph who became well known as a racer of horses, along with Cornelius Vanderbilt Il and August Belmont. Joseph was a well-known resident of Flushing. On 10 April 1861, he and others purchased land in what was then Newtown, now Corona, NY and this property became known as the Fashion Race Corner and the scene of speed contests between trotters, including Dexter, Fiora Temple and others.
Bayside Ladies Are Not "Just Pretty Little Fools"
Daisy's famous line about women only being able to be "pretty little fools" played out in Bayside's history. Along with having women working as actresses and comedians, Bayside also had a number of women that still took on women's traditional domestic roles. Others, made the decision to take on the 'boy's jobs' - and cause quiet the stir.
Pearl White, legendary film and stage actress, was a comedian, stunt woman, and pig lover. In 1920 she sold John Golden her estate before divorcing her husband and moving to France. She was known to stroll down Bell Blvd, with her pet pig. She made over 200 films during her career. Locals say that some were film on her estate and the adjoining Crocheron Park, unfortunately few of her films survived.New Paragraph
Photo Source: Pearl White, 1916. Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.; neg. no. LC USZ 62 57953.
In the summer of 1922, a number of women stepped out of their role as a 'pretty little fool.' It started with mothers and daughters deciding that work as a caddy is not just work for males. A golf club owner in Bayside made the decision, probably based on economics and publicity more than equality, to allow women to become caddies at his local golf course. The battle between the opposing sides is detailed in newspaper articles. A journalist wrote "[f]rom Bayside comes a storm of protest against their daughters lugging around the heavy sticks and bags of husky golfers." Quotes from local residents and church leaders are featured in the article include:
" "It hurts the school attendance and these girls are needed for domestic help," says the Rev. Charles A. Brown, pastor of the Bayside P. E. Church. "
Articles Source: 1922. Brooklyn Public Library.
Then in June, Elsie Hudson, former dancer and part of the Weston and Weston duo, left her husband and started working at the Bayside Yacht Club. Unhappy with her husband's handling of their new business venture, she made the decision to leave him for good in the summer of 1922. She found that she made plenty of money as a waitress at the Bayside Yacht Club. Stating that she no longer needs her husband, who she told reporters had a new woman anyway. A love triangle similar to that Daisy's husband, Tom, created with Myrtle, but with a happier ending.
Bayside - Almost Hollywood
Bayside Historical Society's video, Bayside: The Actor's Enclave, reviews Bayside's glamorous history, the almost Hollywood, where the rich and famous enjoyed sailing, clambakes, and parties.
Video Source: Bayside Historical Society.
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Friends of Crocheron & John Golden Park
PO Box 610300
Bayside, NY 11361
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Friends of Crocheron & John Golden Park is fiscally sponsored by FJC, a 501c3 public charity. As such, all donations are tax deductible to the extent allowed by law.
©2024 by Jessica Burke
All photographs are owned by NYC Parks and/or Daniel Avila, unless otherwise noted.