Shaw's Hotel, ca. 1905.

This intersection of the Jamaica Plank Road (now Jamaica Avenue) and Eldert’s Lane was once the location of two popular roadhouses, owned by two brothers, John and Jerome Snediker. John's opened in 1812, while Jerome established his in the 1830s. They were popular spots, owing to their proximity to the Union Course, a well-known racetrack, and their location on the major thoroughfare that passed through Queens and into the Village of Brooklyn.

Jerome's business, on the southeast corner of the intersection, burned down in the mid 1830s and was replaced in 1838 by this Dutch Colonial structure. Known as Shaw's Hotel, it was a neighborhood fixture for five decades. In fact, in 1860 the hotel was the venue for a coroner’s inquest into a sensational local murder.

The building was empty and abandoned by the early years of the 20th century. In 1905 for some unknown reason, the structure was cut in half and the two pieces were moved to two corners (one at Danforth and Crescent, and the other half down at the end of the same block, on the corner of Danforth and Hemlock). The half at Crescent burned down in 1957, but the house at 28 Danforth Street remains standing today.