Deck the halls in Flushing this holiday season
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The Lewis Latimer house opens its doors to visitors as part of the Holly Tour. Photo courtesy of Ran Yan.
By Jonathan Sperling
Fa, la, la, la, la, la, la, la-lushing!
Hop on the No. 7 train and head to Flushing next month, as six historic Queens landmarks open their doors to the public for the 32nd annual Holly Tour.
Family-friendly activities, performances and displays will be bountiful as the landmarks take on the Christmas traditions of the European colonists who settled in Eastern Queens. The holiday extravaganza takes place on Dec. 8 from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m.
Visitors will be able to walk and/or take a dedicated shuttle to the six venues ─ Bowne House; Flushing Town Hall; Quaker Meeting House; Kingsland Homestead; Lewis Latimer House Museum; and Voelker Orth House. Most of the landmarks will be decorated as they were during their first holiday seasons.
All-inclusive tickets are $15 in advance and $20 at the door. Tickets are $5 for children under age 12. Tickets can be purchased at queenshistoricalsociety.org and in person at the Queens Historical Society’s headquarters at Kingsland Homestead, located at 143-35 37th Ave.
The locations and activities of the Holly Tour are as follows:
Quaker Meeting House (137-16 Northern Blvd.)
Enjoy folk singing and sip hot apple cider as you walk around the grounds and view the historic cemetery. The building, which dates to 1694, was the first house of worship in a town that was then called “Vlissengen.” Now it’s New York’s oldest structure in continuous use for religious purposes.
Lewis Howard Latimer House (34-41 137th St.)
Visitors can enjoy STEAM educational programs in the Tinker Lab, view an art exhibition, and watch a video interview of the namesake’s granddaughter, Winifred Latimer Norman, who fought to save the house and raise awareness of his contributions to science. Lewis Latimer lived in this 19th Century Victorian house from 1902 until his death in 1928. He was the African-American son of fugitive slaves and helped develop the telephone and incandescent light bulb, while also being a poet, painter, and musician.
Kingsland Homestead (143-35 37th Ave.)
Take a guided tour of the new Flushing Garden Club exhibition and a workshop on making pressed flower scrapbooks. Built between 1774 and 1785, the Kingsland Homestead is one of the earliest surviving examples of area houses that were common in the late 18th and 19th centuries. Its name comes from British sea captain Joseph King, who bought it in 1801. Five generations of Quakers from the King/Murray family lived there until the 1930s. The house now serves as the Queens Historical Society’s headquarters.
Flushing Town Hall (137-35 Northern Blvd.)
Shop at an annual holiday market, where local artisans sell their wares, including jewelry, paintings, ceramics, paper goods, greeting cards and clothing. Built in 1862, Flushing Town Hall, a Romanesque Revival hall, was Flushing’s cultural and political focal point in the late 19th Century. It hosted swearing-in ceremonies for Union soldiers before the Civil War and later served as an opera house, courthouse, jail and bank branch.
Bowne House (37-01 Bowne St.)
Hear discussions of early holiday traditions and watch demonstrations of Colonial crafts. An early dollhouse with mini furnishings will be on display, and refreshments will include a treat typical of those served in the region of the Bowne family’s ancestral home in the English countryside. Built by English-born religious freedom advocate John Bowne in 1661, it’s the borough’s oldest domicile. Nine generations of the Bowne and Parsons families lived there until 1945, when it became a museum.
