Far Rockaway Postcards
Collections → Far Rockaway Postcards
Far Rockaway is a suburban New York City community in Queens, bordering on Nassau County. It forms the eastern corner of the Rockaway Peninsula, a thin sliver of land jetting out from the south shore of Long Island and into the Atlantic Ocean. Originally an Irish resort town, Jews began to settle in Far Rockaway in the second half of the nineteenth century. By 1910, some 200 Jewish families lived all year around in Far Rockaway, with an additional 2000 Jewish families spending their summer vacation in rented rooms and hotels in the Far Rockaway area. The original Jewish settlers were mostly Reform Jews, but a steady influx of Orthodox Jews would ultimately transform Far Rockaway into a “Torah Suburb by the Sea,” famous for its rabbis, scholars, Jewish communal leaders, Jewish institutions – and its philanthropy. The impact of the Far Rockaway Jewish community on the development of Orthodox Jewry in the nearby Five Towns (Inwood, Lawrence, Cedarhurst, Woodmere, and Hewlett) has been salutary.
Sadly, a history of the Jewish community of Far Rockaway – still thriving today – remains a scholarly desideratum. Until such a history is written, it is important that all documents relating to the general history – and specifically to the Jewish history – of Far Rockaway, be preserved. The postcards that follow are divided into two sections: a) general postcards that capture the physicality of Far Rockaway, and its neighboring communities, during much of the twentieth century, and b) postcards that depict the Jewish institutions of Far Rockaway in the twentieth century. Click on any postcard in order to enlarge its image.
For detailed identifications and descriptions of the general postcards, see Marty Nislick’s Far Rockaway Postcard site at rockawaymemories.com and click on “Postcards,” then on “Leiman Collection.” Click on “About” and “Introduction” for a general orientation, then click on the four sections of postcards for the identifications and descriptions. They were done by an anonymous Far Rockaway enthusiast, whose invaluable postcard collection entitled “…and Summer Fades into Yesterday…,” appears on Marty’s site as well. I am indebted to Marty and to his anonymous friend, now my friend as well, for their encouragement and aid in getting the Far Rockaway portion of this site up in a manner that, hopefully, will be pleasant for the viewer. The identifications and descriptions of the postcards of Jewish interest (on p. 13) are my own.
