A Cobblestone House and Gateposts on Bell Boulevard Point to the Past

At Bell Boulevard and 36th Avenue in Bayside stands a magnificent two-story building with an exterior made of cobblestone walls. There are a number of cobbled-wall houses around town, but this one is the most striking, with its triple-arched front. It was declared a New York City landmark in October 2004.

The stones are naturally shaped, not beveled or cut in any way, and give some idea of what New York City street paving was like before cobblestones gave way to flatter Belgian blocks and, later, smooth macadam and asphalt. The stones are closely set in concrete.

The house was built in 1906 and, according to local legend, housed a speakeasy during Prohibition. Utahan actress Maude Adams (1872-1953), who played Peter Pan in over 1,500 performances on Broadway, is thought to have lived in the house during her days on the Great White Way.

Meanwhile, two cobblestone gateposts can be seen on either side of 36th Avenue at Bell Boulevard. Often, markers like this were used by real estate nabobs to indicate private residential developments. Over time, most of these developments have melted into the fabric of their surrounding neighborhoods, leaving the gateposts without function.

Former street street names can often be found on such leftovers, and these are no exception. Here, for example, the gateposts bear slate signs indicating “Lamartine Avenue” for 36th, and “Bell Avenue” for Bell Boulevard. In the 1920s, under a borough-wide street renaming system, most streets received numbers, while a large number of major roads had their monikers changed from “Avenue” to “Boulevard.”

Kevin Walsh’s website is Forgotten New York. His book of the same title was released in 2006.