Cornell Burial Ground
Caffrey Ave. bet. New Haven Ave. and Davies Rd.
Queens
Directions via Google Maps
The history of this lot, which serves as a park and an entryway to the Cornell Burial Ground, is closely intertwined with the restoration of the cemetery that adjoins it. Cornell Cemetery, despite its small size, is a historically significant part of the Queens landscape. On August 23, 1687, Richard Cornell (1625-1693), an ironmaster from Flushing, New York, purchased all of the area now known as Rockaway from John Palmer, who had inherited the land two years earlier. In 1690, Cornell settled on the Rockaway penninsula with his wife Elizabeth and their five sons and two daughters. He built a house on Far Rockaway, near what is now Beach 19th Street. This home was likely the first ever built on Rockaway by a European settler.