Coe House, ca. 1910. The Coe house and mill were colonial buildings erected on an island in a small waterway known as Horse Brook. The structures dated to 1652 when English settler Captain John Coe established his grist mill on the island to provide the local community of Newtown with bread. The mill operated until 1875 after which it functioned as a hotel. The island had seemingly ceased being an island by the start of the 20th century, with land filled in and a more regular street grid undertaken around around the Coe plot. In 1930 the buildings were demolished for a new highway, called Horace Harding, after its main planner.

This modest, wood-framed building is considered the oldest surviving synagogue in Queens. Its congregation was formed in 1906 or ‘07 and formally incorporated in 1911 as the Home Street Synagogue (its original name). Many early members were recent immigrant Ashkenazi from Eastern Europe moving from the overpopulated Lower East Side. One of these was the young Josephine Esther Mentzer, a Corona resident who became the cosmetics entrepreneur Estée Lauder. Architecturally the building is reminiscent of small synagogues of the Lower East Side, which had to conform to narrow lot sizes meant for tenements. Its façade, with Gothic and Moorish elements, was restored in 2011-12. The complex eventually included a mikveh (ritual bath), yeshiva (Talmudic school) and cemetery. The yeshiva, located a block away at 108-44 53rd Avenue, later became famous as the brief home of pop star Madonna. From 1979-80 she lived in this loft/music studio, playing drums and keyboards in the band The Breakfast Club.Congregation Tifereth Israel is an Individual Landmark and listed on the State and National Register of Historic Places.

The Della Corte Inn (at right) once sat near a bridge that crossed over the Mill Creek (aka Horse Brook). It was built in 1883. This block of Colonial Avenue was demapped with the construction of the Long Island Expressway. The buildings seen here were located in what is now the highway just before the Grand Central Parkway Interchange.

Shady Lake Farmhouse, 1922. At the turn of the 20th century a small pond in what is now busy Corona was used primarily for ice harvesting. The Shady Lake Farmhouse was purchased in 1837 by farmer John H. Smith who opened up the surrounding land as a picnic area. In the first decade of the 20th century, the private pond was an impediment to the extension of 108th Street and as such was doomed to be lost. By 1907 the pond was filled in and street and some nearby structures had been constructed. Today this spot is known for another kind of ice: the Lemon Ice King of Corona, a beloved local shop opened in 1944!