Bill Florio

Around Elmont and Rosedale Bill Florio

Once portions of a farming community called Fosters Meadow, Elmont and Rosedale have changed dramatically since Thomas and Christopher Foster first farmed the land in the 1600s. In the 1850s, immigrant German farmers settled in the area abutting Elmont Road, Brookville Boulevard, Linden Boulevard, and Merrick Boulevard. The remnants of that German farming community continued into the early 20th century, despite encroaching suburbanization, renamed streets, and subdivided farmland, along with Irish, Italian, and Jewish immigrants changing the area's ethnic makeup. This new suburban area covering the southern corners of Nassau and Queens Counties became home to landmarks like the Argo Theatre, Rottkamp Farm, Schmitt Farm, Laurelton Parkway, Gouz Dairy, Sapienza Bakery, St. John's Methodist Church, and world-famous Belmont Park. Today, Elmont, Rosedale, and the rest of the former Fosters Meadow are home to a large population of Caribbean immigrants, bringing a new culture to the area and, with it, new landmarks and new ideas.