Roosevelt Avenue between Peartree & Morris Avenues, 1923. The landscape between what is now 114th Street and 120th Street was desolate in 1923, just before construction of the Willets Point Station. The area is named for Robert Willets, whose Elm Wood farm was nearby. The Willets Point Station, opened May 7, 1927, started life as a small local stop located at the convergence of Roosevelt Avenue, Willets Point Boulevard, and 126th Street. This area is now the entrance to the Corona Yard, “Home of the 7 Train.” When it was announced that the 1939 World’s Fair was going to be in Flushing Meadows, plans were made to expand the station in anticipation of Fair crowds, and move it to its current location.

Did you know that the construction of the IRT Flushing line (known as the Corona Line until 1925) was the catalyst for real estate development that transformed the rural areas of Queens into vibrant neighborhoods?