In the beginning, there were beavers – hundreds of them – feverishly gnawing their way through the great woods of the Rockaways. They were hunted by the tribes of Rockaway and Canarsie Indians, who named the land Yamecah or Jameco (tribal for beaver).

Settlers, farmers and fishermen came to the lowlands in 1644. They took a chance setting up homesteads in the area, which had not yet been sanctioned by the government.

The Indians traded food and animal pelts with the settlers for items that were unique to the tribes – products carved from wood, stools, eating utensils and "put-up" jams, jellies and preserved foods.

Before long, Yamecah became the center of trade, with its strategic proximity to Manhattan and Long Island. Settlers Daniel Danton and Roger Linas signed a deed for the land in 1655, with the chiefs of both tribes. The community was granted a patent in 1656 by Peter Stuyvesant. The settlers moved onto land on Jamaica Bay (dubbed Rustdorp), a site now incorporated into JFK International Airport.

In 1703, the Colonial legislature enacted a law that created a highway from the East River to Brooklyn. The route later became known in Queens as Jamaica Avenue. Originally an Indian trail, Jamaica Avenue became a highway in 1776, which British troops used during the Revolutionary War. Commerce in Yamecah all but halted during the war, but when the cannon’s roar ceased, waterborne commerce was established at new landing parts in Jamaica Bay.

By 1880, steam powered locomotives roared through "Jamaica," bringing new commercial activity to the area. Jamaica was then a key rail center, boasting seven bakers, 14 blacksmiths, one druggist, two "flour and feed" stores, three doctors, three dry goods stores, 21 liquor stores, one publisher, five saloons, one pickle shop and two policemen – just part of the tradesmiths who conducted business there.

In 1898, Jamaica joined the other chartered towns of Newtown, Flushing, Hempstead and Long Island City to form the Greater City of New York. Along with the incorporation came a surge of much-needed municipal services, including sanitation, police and fire.

"Downtown" Jamaica continued to grow in leaps and bounds over the next 10 years. The first May Co. (later changed to Mays Department Store) appeared with Gertz on 168th Street, and the once-spacious towns of Hollis, St. Albans, Laurelton, South Ozone Park and Jamaica experienced a housing boom.

In the years following the end of World War II, Jamaica Avenue flourished as a commercial strip for many reasons. Returning veterans settled in the "new suburbs" of Levittown, East Meadow and Hempstead. The suburbs were a welcome change to the new families – but there were too few places to shop on Long Island in Nassau County. Shoppers headed into Queens – and Jamaica Avenue was located "just this side" of the Nassau border.

Underneath the Jamaica Avenue "EL" in 1968.

Department stores started to appear in the area, Macy’s, Gertz and Gimbels. Chain stores located branches in the downtown Jamaica area. Martin Paints, Woolworth, St. Kresge, Genovese and Stevens Appliance were also among the names that filled the strip. Before long, there were three places to shop in New York City – Fifth Avenue, Fulton Street in Brooklyn and Jamaica Avenue. Transportation was available via the Long Island Rail Road, the Jamaica Avenue "El" and surface bus service.

There were many movie houses on Jamaica Avenue as well – regal movie palaces like the Loews Valencia and other, smaller theaters. The Long Island Press operated from a building in downtown Jamaica, adding diversity to the area’s already "interesting" economic picture.

During the Lindsay administration in the 1960s, the city established a "mini City Hall" in downtown Jamaica, which encouraged further development of local infrastructure. Gov. Hugh Carey urged the development of York College at its present location – a move that received further support from Borough President Donald Manes.

Jamaica Avenue prospered during the 1960s, bustling with commercial activity. But changes were on the horizon.

The 1970s brought a series of sweeping changes to Jamaica Avenue.

Shopping patterns changed when the Roosevelt Field Shopping Center opened in the late 60s – Long Islanders no longer traveled to the "city" to shop. The large department stores disappeared from the strip. Macy’s and Gimbels relocated to locations in Flushing and Elmhurst. The Queens Center Mall opened, drawing Queens residents to its big-name stores in a comfortable indoor location – with plenty of parking.

Gertz moved from Jamaica Avenue during the late 1970s, as demolition
of the "El" cluttered the already congested strip. Transportation tie-ups forced the smaller stores to shut down. Even the theaters closed their doors. And the appearance of an Alexander’s Department Store in Rego Park – complete with more than adequate parking facilities – drew even more shoppers away from downtown Jamaica.

The Long Island Press shut its doors on Jamaica Avenue in the 1970s, further devastating the already declining shopping/commercial strip.

Jamaica Avenue was in a decline, badly in need of a shot in the arm.

And along came Carlisle Towery – a man with a plan.

Back in the 1970s, Carlisle Towery started working with a man named Don Moore, then executive director of the Downtown Brooklyn Development Association. Together, the pair pioneered the idea of a "Special Assessment District" on the 165th Street mall area in Jamaica.

At the time, shopping malls were popping up all over. A store in a mall would rent floor space and ante-up an additional fee for mall security, sanitation, holiday decorations and other improvements. Towery and Moore wondered why a street with small stores couldn’t get together
and pay for some added security or sanitation services –
or better lighting.

Towery said the question was raised: "How do you get the tenants to provide supplemental services, amenities to make the street more attractive to shoppers?"

He found the answer in Minneapolis, where he also found the only working example of an organized strip of stores – not in an enclosed mall. Moore went out to visit and came back with an idea that would save downtown Jamaica and spread throughout the city.

There was a problem, though. New York State law stipulated that if a neighborhood wanted to levy a special tax, it had to get permission from Albany. Towery and Moore set a course through the upstate red tape, teamed up with the Department of Business Services and got permission to establish the 165th Street Mall Association. The plan was quickly adopted by legislators, who established a blanket law covering the creation of Special Assessment Districts, a.k.a Business Improvement Districts.

Almost overnight (it seemed) the Jamaica Economic Development "Opportunity" Zone began to charter a new course for the downtown Jamaica shopping area.

Government incentives and increased "attention" brought new stores to the area, more jobs and increased income. As a result, business strips throughout Jamaica have flourished.

Since 1987, nearly 200 stores and companies in Jamaica have pledged to invest over $100 million in the downtown area. The Queens borough president’s office invested $1.2 million in the development of the Jamaica Farmer’s Market – one of the biggest and most economically robust public markets of its kind in the nation.

The new millennium dawned on downtown Jamaica, revealing the area as a bustling business center – ripe for investment and new development.

The Federal Aviation Administration opened a regional headquarters in Southeast Queens in 2000, named after the Rev. Floyd Flake. York College remains an anchor and the Farmer’s Market continues to flourish. Chain stores have returned to Jamaica Avenue, adding new zest to the revitalization effort.

And construction of Jamaica Center Site One is well underway. Located at 159th Street and Jamaica Avenue, the mall is expected to open in December, 2002.