Fosters Meadow Heritage Center

Fosters Meadow ...

Fosters Meadow was a German farming community established in the 1850s, and located on Long Island, New York in present day Queens and western Nassau County.  There has never been defined boundary lines for Fosters Meadow.

 

Today, this area corresponds to

Elmont, North Valley Stream, Rosedale, Laurelton, Cambria Heights, Springfield Gardens, Floral Park and Franklin Square, and influenced the Germanic development of Valley Stream, New Hyde Park, and Queens Village.

 

Fosters Meadow was named after Thomas and Christopher who used the western tip of the Hempstead Plains as a sheep pasture in the 17th Century. In the 18th and first half of the 19th Century it was populated by descendants of Dutch and English immigrants who established a vibrant farming community. But it was in the 1850s when the area received German immigrants that the ethnic identity of the area started to change.

 

The establishment of two German speaking churches (St. Boniface RC Church in 1854 and St Paul’s German Evangelical Church in 1864) encouraged additional German immigrants to migrate to the area and established Fosters Meadow as the cultural center for German speaking population. Starting in the 1850s, word got out about the fertile soil in this area.  Many German speaking people who were previously in areas of Brooklyn and western Queens moved to this area called Fosters Meadow.  As time progressed hotels and general stores were built and the area started to thrive as an agricultural community.  Social groups like the Young Farmers Light Guard and the St. Joseph’s Society were organized.

 

These farmers were known as market or truck farmers, transporting their produce first, by horse and wagon, then by motorized trucks to the various markets in the cities of Brooklyn and New York where it would be sold. By the beginning of the 20th Century the descendants of the German immigrants were the dominant ethnic group in what continued as an active agricultural area serving the large population centers to the west.

 

We invite you to learn more of Fosters Meadow family memories, flip through the archives of maps, newspapers, and more.  Stroll through the extensive photo galleries, relive Heritage Center events and consider joining us for those upcoming.  We are always uploading more and more information and images, please come back often and see what's new. 

Guest Book

Please sign our guest book and anonymously let us know your thoughts about our website (it does not record your email address).  To correspond with a Fosters Meadow committee member, contribute your time and research, or add your name to the mailing list, please contact us.

 

 

We are now on Facebook with an interactive community. Our group is called: Fosters Meadow, A German Farming Community, Est.1850s. Please join us.

  • Reisert, Farm, Valley Stream = Valley Stream

To see more, please visit our Gallery.

Are you a Descendent?

We'd love to hear from anyone tracing their ancestry to Fosters Meadow.  Are any of these families below in your family line?  Do you trace your ancestry to the Fosters Meadow region but are not yet represented?  Please contact us so you too can share your memories, family stories, photos or contribute memorabilia to help preserve the heritage.

 

Fosters Meadow Families

 

Our lists corresponds to families with deeply embedded roots up until 1925 ...

 

Albert, Barb, Barth, Batt, Bauer, Becker (Baker), Boening, Brandenstein, Buck, Casper, Christ, Distelkamp, Dubon,

 

Fausner, Felten, Fiesel, Finn, Froehlich, Gattung, Geiser, Germs, Goeller, Gunther, Hage, Hartmann, Hatt, Hauck, Herman, Herte, Hoeffner, Hoffman, Hummel,

 

Imhoff, Jacobs, Jagnow, Joseph, Kalb, Kappelmeier, Karkheck, Keller, Kiefer, Kiesel, Kinsey, Klein, Kraus, Kreischer, Krug, Krummenacker,

 

Lang, Landgrebe, March (März), Makofske, Meier, Miller, Mirschel, Mosbach, Muller, Musgnug, Pflug, Raberding, Raisig, Rath, Reisert, Reising, Reuter, Richter, Ridder, Robrecht, Rose, Rottkamp, Ruhl, Ryf,

 

Sappelt, Schleider, Schmidt, Schmitt, Schroeher, Schuck, Stattel, Stiehler, Tepe, Vogel, Vollkomer, Walter, Weil, Wesnofske, Wenner, West, Wick/Wicks/Wick, Wulforst, Zimmer, Zimmerman

 

Learn more on Foster Meadow families.

 

If you have a documented family history, contact us to have your family history included.

 

Recent Updates: Jagnow  June 1, 2023

 

We are seeking members of the Jagnow family to work on creating a 3 generation history of the early “Jagnow” family and their involvement in the local Fosters Meadow community and with the St. Paul’s Presbyterian Church in Fosters Meadow (Elmont).

 

Any members of the Fosters Meadow Facebook Page, that have any information on the Jagnow Family, please help. 

 

The first-generation history will start with Karl (Charles) Jagnow, and his wife, Julia Jeffke.

 

The second-generation will include their five children, Ferdinand, Johann (John), Karl (Charles) Jr., Alwina, and Albert Jagnow. 

 

The third-generation will list the children of the second generation. 

 

This three-generation Jagnow family history can then be included on the Fosters Meadow web site with the along with the other early families that lived and worked in the surrounding Fosters Meadow communities.

 

Please contact George Bauer, Email:  lds5050@aol.com

 

St. Paul's German Presbyterian Church Records are now available.


Special Thanks

We'd like to extend a special thanks to the following people and institutions for their time and contributions:

 

Nancy Achstattler, Liz Bailey, George Bauer, Dr. Pete Brennan, Kathy Castagnetta, Michael Capoziello (EFD), George (✝) and Helene (✝) Christ, Susan Coppola, Paul DeLuca, Marge Divan, Dominican Sisters of Amityville, Debby Doughty-Lucas, John Dubon (✝), Bernie Dubon, Elmont Fire Department, Catherine Finn, Florida Agricultural Museum, Carol Froehlich-Hintze, Kathleen Froehlich, Marie Froehlich-Mildner, Mary Ann Froehlich, Joseph Gunther (✝), Linda Hartz, Gerd Hemminger, Kathleen and Maureen Herman, Steve Herman, Anthony Hoeffner, Bal Hoeffner, Carolyn Hoeffner-Dubon, Diane Hoeffner-Buhler, Joan Hoeffner-Fatone (✝), Cheryl Hauck, Lorraine Hoeffner-West, Raymond Hoeffner, John Hoeffner (✝), Vi Hoeffner, Paul Hoffman, Marilyn and Judy Hoeg, Joseph Hummel, Peggy Hummel-Brochu, Doris Jones (✝), Jeffrey Jones Jr., Marion Joseph, Rosemary Joseph (✝), Barbara Kalb, Clare Kelly, Roxanne Kiefer, Jean Kraft-Kohler,  Dorothy M. Kramer, Frances Kraus, Mary Kraus-Meyers, Florence Kraus-Reisert (✝), Marilyn Krug-Fuerst (✝), Donna Krumenacker-Foder, Larry Krummenacker, Caroline McBride-Sheehan, Clara Kiesel-Murphy, Bob Lebohner (✝), Ken Lebohner, Long Island Studies Institute, Jackie Malec, John Mazur (✝), Betty McIssac, Karen Meyer-Yasinoski, Maureen Dubon-O’Shea, Carol Dubon-O’Hea, Erin O’Hea, Jeanine Picchioni, Queens County Farm Museum, Queens Library-Long Island Division, Madeline Reisert-Schlichtig, Marge Reimel-Divan, Marie Reisert-Bailey (✝), Arlene Rottkamp-Brennan, Barbara Rottkamp, Larry Rottkamp, Gerald Rottkamp, Mildred Rottkamp-Hoeffner (✝), Raymond Rottkamp, Richard Rottkamp, Teresa Rottkamp-Schmitt, Wayne Rottkamp, (✝), Mae Hoffman-Ross (✝ ), Jara Salmon, Joseph Schlosser, Kathleen Sheehan, Ambrose Schmitt, Anthony Schmitt Jr. (✝), Anthony Schmitt, III, Jean Schmitt-Garvey (✝), Kenny Schmitt, Ralph Schmitt (✝), Robert Schmitt, Roger Schmitt (✝), Joan Schmitt, St. Boniface RC Church, St. Paul's Presbyterian Church of Elmont, Florence Stattel (✝), Stony Brook University-Special Collections and University Archives, Karin Sypher, Kathleen Sypher-Castagnetta, Gail Tliford-Peach, Richard Totten, Valley Stream Historical Society, Dr. Paul van Wie, Mike Voilad, Fred Weidner, Ed Wesnofske, Meg Woods, Mary T. Wulforst-Rottkamp Family, Florence Wuerfel-Gunther.