Rego Park is a shining example of how to create something grand out of nothing. If one were curious to know, the land used to be known as the Hempstead swamp as it literally was one. The area was thereby settled in 1653 as many Dutch Farmers which included Remsen, Furman, Springsteen, and Morell Families. The two major roads that were constructed to cut through the marsh at the time were the Whitepot Road (the current Yellowstone Boulevard) and Remsen’s Lane (the current 63^rd drive and 64^th Road).^[1] Whitepot was part of the Township of Newtown. It was called Whitepot because it was purchased from the Indians for the cost of three white pots, but its actual original Dutch name was ‘Whiteput,’ which means “hollow creek”.

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A short path that runs along the western edge of the Remsen Cemetery is still intact. A map of Newtown, New York, from 1909 shows that Rego Park does not yet exist. It depicts Rego Park as the eastern edge of Newtown and there’s not much here except farms and fields. The main roads through at the time were Whitepot Road, Trotting Course Lane, Woodhaven Boulevard, Remsen’s Lane and Hoffman Boulevard.^[4] In the 1920s, the Real Good Construction Company bought the land and began building hundreds of Tudor-style one-family attached and detached homes. And the now standing neighborhood had found its name “Rego” being simply the contraction of “Real” and “Good.”^[5] Similar to Forest Hills, Rego Park had developed a large population of Jewish decent, most of which whom have immigrated from Georgia and Russia, with many synagogues and kosher restaurants that have been known to be large cultural establishment from them.^[6]

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The Soviet Union also had an effect on the culture of the population as many Russian Jewish people fled Russia in the mid 1900’s and has led Rego Park to have a Russian feel with many signs in Russian Cyrillic. Immigrant populations from Albania, Israel, Romania, Iran, Colombia, South Asia, China, Bulgaria and South Korea are also well represented as the wave of immigration during the mid 1900’s has led Rego Park to be home to many different cultures from every region of the Asian continent^[8]

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^[1] Wilkinson, Christina. “Forgotten NY neighborhoods: Crescent City, Rego Park.” March 19, 2006.

^[2] Wilkinson, Christina. “Forgotten NY neighborhoods: Crescent City, Rego Park.” March 19, 2006.

^[3] Wilkinson, Christina. “Forgotten NY neighborhoods: Crescent City, Rego Park.” March 19, 2006.

^[4] Wilkinson, Christina. “Forgotten NY neighborhoods: Crescent City, Rego Park.” March 19, 2006.

^[5] Wilkinson, Christina. “Forgotten NY neighborhoods: Crescent City, Rego Park.” March 19, 2006.

^[6]  Copquin, Claudia Gryvatz, and Kenneth T. Jackson. “Rego Park.” 2007.

^[7] Wilkinson, Christina. “Forgotten NY neighborhoods: Crescent City, Rego Park.” March 19, 2006

^[8] Copquin, Claudia Gryvatz, and Kenneth T. Jackson. “Rego Park.” 2007.