Jamaica High School

167-01 Gothic Drive | Jamaica Hills | built 1925

Open on the map4 entries

The lot about 1940
About 1940. Via 1940s.nyc
The lot about 1985
About 1985. Via 80s.nyc

The city photographed every building for its tax records around 1940 and again in the 1980s. NYC Municipal Archives.

Written with AI from the source each entry cites, then fact-checked.

  1. 1927

    February 1

    Jamaica High School opens in a Georgian Revival building topped by a tiered cupola

    Jamaica's older high school on Hillside Avenue needed three annexes and part-time sessions by 1926. Lobbying for a new building began by 1922, but local groups backed different sites until the city settled in 1925 on a plateau at the head of 168th Street, and the new school opened on February 1, 1927. Its Georgian Revival design uses brick walls, granite columns and a symmetrical plan, with a pedimented central pavilion crowned by a tiered cupola.

    “This site, a "vast plateau of land at the head of 168th Street" ... was finally chosen in 1925 and work began. The school opened February 1, 1927.”

    Source: NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission

  2. 1929

    May

    Board of Education buys the houses in front of the school to make the nation's largest school site

    The Board of Education approved roughly $275,000 in May 1929 to buy the land in front of Jamaica High School, where houses hid the new building from the main streets. The houses were torn down for a landscaped lawn and approaches. The purchase gave the school almost 625,000 square feet, said to be the largest school site in the country.

    Source: NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission

  3. 1930

    Artist Suzanne Miller fills the school with murals of Long Island's history

    In 1930 a series of murals telling the full history of Long Island was installed inside Jamaica High School. They were painted by Suzanne Miller, described as a noted New York artist. Neither the murals nor the school's athletic fields are covered by the building's 2009 landmark designation.

    “…a series of murals showing the complete history of Long Island was installed in 1930, created by the "noted New York artist" Suzanne Miller.”

    Source: NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission

  4. 1948

    Jamaica High dedicates a bronze plaque to 188 former students killed in World War II

    In 1948 the school dedicated a bronze memorial to 188 of its former students who died in World War II. Paul Fjelde, a professor at Pratt Institute, designed the plaque, which was mounted on the side of the building near Gothic Drive. It has since been taken down.

    Source: NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission

Nearby

All 4 buildings with stories in Jamaica Hills