Frank Golden Park

14 Rd. bet. 132 St. and 138 St.

Queens

This text is part of Parks’ Historical Signs Project and can be found posted within the park.

This park is named for Frank Golden (1915-1968), a prominent labor leader and noted local politician. During much of the 17th century, the William Lawrence estate occupied this site. Lawrence’s descendants sold their vast estate to Eliphalet Stratton in 1790, and the region became known as Strattonport.

In 1835, Reverend William Augustus Muhlenberg purchased 134 acres of land in Strattonport. The cleric planned to found an Episcopal seminary, the centerpiece of which would be an elegant stone building. As a result of the financial panic that swept the nation in 1837, Muhlenberg abandoned the plan for the grand building. The reverend settled for a more modest accommodation to house St. Paul’s College. Although the institution survived for only ten years, the name College Point remained affixed to this region.