Nameoke Park

What was here before?
Rockaway and its vicinity were populated by the Rockaway and Canarsie tribes before Europeans arrived. Rockaway has been translated as “sandy place” or “place of our people”. Captain John Palmer “purchased” the peninsula from Indigenous chiefs in 1685, and in 1687 Palmer and his wife Sarah sold the undeveloped land to Richard Cornell, an ironmaster from Flushing. Cornell and his family are believed to have been the peninsula’s first white settlers.  They built a house in Far Rockaway in 1690, and their household included at least three enslaved persons.

In 1830, John Leake Norton purchased a portion of the Cornell Estate, and three years later, he organized the Rockaway Association. The Association soon demolished the old Cornell house and constructed, in its place, the Rockaways’ first commercial hotel—the Marine Pavilion—as well as a new stagecoach route called the Jamaica and Rockaway Turnpike. Over its three decades in business, the Marine established the peninsula’s reputation as an upscale seaside resort and spurred the construction of several other hotels. Many hotels and sites adopted Indigenous names such as the Tackapoucha Hotel, for fashionable purposes.

The area was devastated by a hurricane in 1893 and never fully recovered as a vacation destination, becoming more residential and industrial. In the early 20^th century, the land was under the control of the Department of Sanitation.

How did this site become a park?
In March 2015, the Department of Sanitation demolished a deteriorated building on this site that was formerly used as a field office for personnel servicing sections of Queens Community District 14.

With no other parks within a quarter-mile radius (5-minute walk), , the Far Rockaway community lobbied to have a neighborhood park built as part of the Downtown Far Rockaway rezoning effort.

This new park features game tables, and a seating area that can also double as performance and gathering space. A dedicated adult fitness area is located off the main plaza and two multigenerational play units. A central spray shower adds extra play value to the site during the warmer months, and in the colder months it serves as a flexible, free-play area.                                                                                                 

Who is this park named for?
Nameoke is of Mohegan origin meaning “fishing place” or “where fish are taken”.

A well-known 19^th century romantic novel Nix’s Mate by Rufus Dawes had an Indigenous heroine protagonist by the same name. The connection to indigenous history made Nameoke a popular namesake lending its fame to a former Rockaway development, Nameoke Park and the local Democratic Party, Nameoke Club.