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Jackson Heights is a neighborhood in the northwestern portion of the borough of Queens in New York City. Jackson Heights is neighbored by North Corona to the east, Elmhurst to the south, Woodside to the west, northern Astoria (Ditmars-Steinway) to the northwest, and East Elmhurst to the north and northeast. Jackson Heights has an ethnically diverse community, with half the population having been foreign-born since the 2000s. According to the 2010 United States Census, the neighborhood has a population of 108,152.

The site of Jackson Heights was a vast marsh named Trains Meadow until 1909 when Edward A. MacDougall's Queensboro Corporation bought of undeveloped land and farms. The Queensboro Corporation named the land Jackson Heights after John C. Jackson, a descendant of one of the original Queens families and a respected Queens entrepreneur. Further development arose through the development of transit, and "garden apartments" and "garden homes" soon became prevalent in Jackson Heights. During the 1960s, Jackson Heights' white middle-class families began moving to the suburbs, and non-white residents began moving in.

Jackson Heights retains much of its residential character in the modern day. It also has numerous commercial establishments clustered around 37th Avenue, as well as along several side streets served by subway stations. Much of the neighborhood is part of a national historic district called the Jackson Heights Historic District , which was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1999. Part of the neighborhood was placed on a New York City historic district of the same name in 1993.

Jackson Heights is located in Queens Community District 3 and its ZIP Code is 11372. The zip code 11370 is shared with East Elmhurst. It is patrolled by the New York City Police Department's 115th Precinct. Politically, Jackson Heights is represented by the New York City Council's 21st and 25th districts.

History

Early history

From colonial times to the 1900s, the area now known as Jackson Heights was a vast marsh named Trains Meadow. Urbanization at the turn of the century was creating a New York City housing shortage and urban sprawl. In 1909, Edward A. MacDougall's Queensboro Corporation bought of undeveloped land and farms and christened them Jackson Heights after John C. Jackson, a descendant of one of the original Queens families and a respected Queens County entrepreneur. Northern Boulevard, a major thoroughfare that bisects the neighborhood, was also originally named Jackson Avenue the name of this road is still retained in a short stretch between Queens Plaza and Queens–Midtown Tunnel in Long Island City. Though the land was not especially known for its elevation, the addition of the term "Heights" echoed the prestige of the neighborhood of Brooklyn Heights and indicated that Jackson Heights was meant to be an exclusive neighborhood. At that time the area could most easily be reached via a ferry from Manhattan or the Brooklyn Bridge more direct access came with the Queensboro Bridge in 1909, followed by the elevated IRT Flushing Line—the present-day , just 20 minutes from Midtown Manhattan—in 1917, and the Fifth Avenue Coach Company double-decker coaches in 1922.

Development

Jackson Heights was conceived as a planned development for middle- to upper-middle income workers looking to escape an overcrowded Manhattan. Inspired by Sir Ebenezer Howard's garden city movement, it was laid out by Edward MacDougall's Queensboro Corporation in 1916 and began attracting residents after the arrival of the Flushing Line in 1917. The Queensboro Corporation coined the name "garden apartment" to convey the concept of apartments built around private parks. Although land for churches was provided, the apartments themselves were limited to White Anglo-Saxon Protestants, excluding Jews, Blacks, and perhaps Greeks and Italians.

Several of the buildings in Jackson Heights were built by the Queensboro Corporation as part of a planned community located a few blocks off of the Flushing Line between Northern Boulevard and 37th Avenue. Targeted toward the middle class, these multi-story apartment buildings designed in the Colonial Revival and neo-Tudor styles were based on similar ones in Berlin. They were to share garden spaces, have ornate exteriors and features such as fireplaces, parquet floors, sun rooms, and built-in bathtubs with showers and be cooperatively owned. In addition, the corporation divided the land into blocks and building lots, as well as installed streets, sidewalks, and power, water, and sewage lines.

The Laurel apartment building on 82nd Street at Northern Boulevard was the first of the Queensboro Corporation buildings in Jackson Heights, completed in