Queens Walking Tour in St. Albans with Joseph Landon

Join QHS for A Walk Through St. Albans

Sunday July 30th at 11am

The tour will start in front of the James Brown home located at 175-19 Linden Blvd, Jamaica, NY 11434

Join professional NYC tour guide Joseph Landon of JoJo’s Ventures for an exciting tour of this historic neighborhood.

For more than a generation, one neighborhood was home to some of the most famous African-American entertainers, athletes, and businesspeople. And the neighborhood once known as “the Black Hollywood East” has now been designated a historic district by the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC).

The designation of this vibrant, attractive neighborhood of beautifully landscaped, turn-of-the-century English Tudor and other classically designed homes is a celebration of the rich history of the community and “illuminates African-Americans’ struggle for and achievement of the basic civil right of home ownership,” according to the commission.

One of the first Black residents of the neighborhood was Thomas “Fats” Waller, who came to the neighborhood in the 1930s. Other entertainers followed his lead, including Count Basie, who held legendary pool parties at his home with his wife Catherine; Duke Ellington’s son and band leader, Mercer Ellington; and other jazz greats including Ella Fitzgerald, Billie Holiday, Lena Horne and Brooke Benton. The Godfather of Soul lived there in the 1960s and 1970s–he built a moat around his home. And baseball greats Jackie Robinson and Roy Campanella called the neighborhood home.

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