The History of Bayside

Arguably, the Bayside Yacht Club, formed in 1902, has been one of the most exclusive adult playgrounds in the community. Years earlier, however, it was nothing more than a haven for smugglers.

One of those smugglers was the notorious pirate, Captain Kidd, who dropped anchor near the present day site of the Yacht Club. Many homes in Bayside had hidden storerooms and underground passages leading to the water's edge. Whale oil, tallow, beef, pork, salt, fish and barrel staves from America were exchanged for wines, rum, sugar, cocoa and gold coins from the West Indies-tax free.

Activities like these would have shocked the early settlers of Bayside. The first, Thomas Foster, sailed as a passenger on a Dutch ship that docked in Little Neck Bay in 1637.

He came ashore on the spot of land that became known as The Alley. He settled there and built a great house that had a cannon on the second floor. This floor could be sealed off and used as a fortress in the event of an Indian attack. The house stood on the street on the site where the Horace Harding Expressway is now.

Seven years later, three brothers, William, John and Thomas Lawrence landed on The Alley well-armed and protected by shipboard cannon. King Charles 11 had awarded the Lawrence family a grant of land that included Bayside, Beechurst, Whitestone and Flushing.

The Lawrences beame magistrates and mayors. Naval Captain James Lawrence became famous for his quote, "Don't give up the ship." The Lawrences and other early settlers came to country to escape religious persecution. In the late 18th century Judge Effingham Lawrence officially named Bayside. The Lawrence family lived in Bayside for 13 generations.

Before the arrival of Thomas Foster and the Lawrences, Bayside was the sole province of 6,500 Algonquin Indians. Peaceful farmers and fisherman, the Indians ere helpful to the Dutch and English settlers of the early 17th century, but later this friendly atmosphere changed. William Kieft, official director of the settlement demanded one-tenth of the Indians' corn as rent for their lands and resorted to murder to enforce his orders. The Indians retaliated and the early citizens of Bayside were forced to barricade themselves in their homes.

Soon Bayside became a community at war. Baysiders submitted a petition to Kieft urging him to leave the Indians at peace. Kieft's response was to invite English troops and settlers from the New England colonies. This began an eventual takeover by the British and also brought such hired killers as Captain John Underhill, a mercenary whose major contribution to the area was the massacre of Indians.

Today Bayside is remembered as being loyal to the British during the Revolutionary War. But there were some patriots. Under the direction of General George Washington, an elaborate spy ring was set up in New York. One of the points of entry for the spies from New England was Bayside. Joseph Lawrence, whose family was publicly loyal to the crown, used his home as a refuge for spies carrying message written in invisible ink.

After the war, Washington visited Flushing during his search for the new nation's capital. He also went to The Alley where he drank ale with Baysiders at the Alley Tavern.

Business was non-existent in this area until well after the Civil War. As the stagecoach brought more settlers, the inevitable merchants, inns and taverns sprung up. One of these taverns provided a footnote to the career of the most notorious political boss in New York City history, Boss Tweed.

In 1875, Tweed was caught with his hand in the public till and was tossed into jail. With help, he broke out and made his way to the Crocheron Hotel on Crochern Avenue in Bayside. He eluded the police and escaped during the night, boarding a ship anchored in Little Neck Bay, which sailed him off to Cuba and freedom.

One of the first major business establishments on Bell Boulevard was the Eagle Hotel, a combination blacksmith and butcher shop. After World War 1, the town began to grow rapidly.

By the end of World War 11, land was already becoming scarce as one-family homes were built everywhere. Real estate agents say that almost every patch of land has been built on.

Still, there are 917 acres of parkland, including Crocheron, John Golden, Alley Pond and Cunningham parks.

Today, the community is bounded by Little Neck Bay on the north, Union Turnpike on the south, the Cross Island Parkway on the east and Francis Lewis Boulevard on the west.