I was recently in Flushing, Queens in the City of New York for a meeting. I spent many enjoyable evenings in Flushing over the years meeting with friends at the Minkwon Center of the Korean community there and dining at Chinese, Korean, and Japanese restaurants. I remembered that there was a Civil War monument there and I decided to take a walk and grab some photos.
The monument is on a promenade across from the old Flushing Town Hall. Town Hall itself is a Civil War relic, having been its corner stone laid in 1862, the second year of the conflict. Two very tall stories high, it was a premier gathering place in the region during the war. In 1865, while the war was still going on, Frederick Douglass spoke there on the role of Blacks in the United States before the war.
Town Hall is now a performance space and a place where history and culture are offered to the community. It was recently restored and it is a beautiful building.
You can see the decorative artistry of the mid-19th Century on every aspect of Town Hall.
Across the street is the oldest house of worship in New York State, the Quaker Meeting House, and in between is the Civil War Monument.
Historical markers about in this section of Flushing, offering a chance to quickly learn the history of the area.
The monument is dedicated to the “PATRIOTIC VOLUNTEERS FROM FLUSHING” that died defending their country.
It was raining most of the day and I was lucky to get some shots in.
Three of the sides of the monument have the names of local men killed in the war. The first name is that of Captain William Dermody and immigrant who served in the “1st Long Island Regiment.”
Across the street is the wooden 1694 Quaker Meeting House. At the time, Quakers were a discriminated against portion of British society. Locals in Flushing drew up the “Flushing Remonstrances” calling for an end to persecution based on religion.
During the Mid-19th Century the Meeting House was a stop on the Underground Railroad.
Nearby is the old Flushing Armory. Although it was built four decades after the Civil War, its design owed much to the 1863 Draft Riots. Following that uprising, New York armories were built like castles to help repel mob attacks.
