Wayanda Park

What was here before?
The Canarsie, who were part of the Lenape nation, originally occupied this land.  The Dutch arrived in the 17th century and settled the Town of Jamaica, believed to be named after the Algonquin word jameco or “beaver.”

To address overcrowding at the burial ground at Prospect Cemetery, the town acquired this site on July 13, 1844 to be used as a potter’s field. Persons of color were buried in a separate area of the cemetery than white individuals. Graves were only marked with wooden stakes that rotted over time, and the site was desolate by the early 1870s.  In 1878, the town authorized individuals described as asylum inmates and poorhouse residents from the towns of Flushing, Newtown, Hempstead, North Hempstead, and Oyster Bay to be interred at the burial ground as well. 

In 1892 the Town created a committee to clean the derelict site, and internments ceased when the five boroughs consolidated in 1898. 

How did this site become a playground?
The playground remained dilapidated until a petition to turn the site into a playground circulated amongst residents in 1907 and approved a year later. In 1911 the first Queens Parks Commissioner Walter Graeme Eliot requested the property be turned over to the Parks Department, which would convert the site into a playground.   Reports state that any evidence of burials had been destroyed, and only two or three burials were disturbed during construction. There were no disinterment and the site was essentially smoothed over. 

The park opened in 1912 and was renovated in 1926 with two tennis courts that could be flooded to become an ice rink, backstops, and paved pathways. Later improvements in 1950 included new sand pits, handball courts, a ballfield and play equipment. 

Further construction in 2003 found evidence of fragmented human remains, which prompted an archeological report, which reilluminated the site’s history. Construction was completed after the survey in consultation with archeologists.  Today, the park features basketball courts, game tables, benches, handball courts, swings for kids, play equipment and lawn. 
 
This playground is a Jointly Operated Playground (JOP) serving P.S. 34 and the local community. Beginning in 1938, the Board of Education agreed to provide land next to schools where the NYC Parks could build and maintain playgrounds that could be used by the school during the day and by the public when school is not in session. 

What is this playground named for?
At the time of the creation of this children's playground, wayanda was thought to be the Algonquin word for "The Place of Happy Hearts."