South of Union Square logo
South of Union Square
Post
77-20 Jamaica Avenue
77-20 Jamaica Avenue
1

Theodore Snedeker House

Theodore Snedeker House. Also known as the Vanderveer House. Torn down in 1924.
hand written on back of print: Theodore Snedeker House same as no 9 s w cor Jamaica + 78 St Jamaica 1922

1922

77-20 Jamaica Avenue

Theodore Snedeker House

Theodore Snedeker House. Also known as the Vanderveer House. Torn down in 1924.
hand written on back of print: Theodore Snedeker House same as no 9 s w cor Jamaica + 78 St Jamaica 1922

IMAGE DATE1922
FromQueens Public Library logoQueens Public Library

This house (once belonging to the local Snedeker and Vanderveer families) sat on the south side of Jamaica Avenue between 77th and 78th Streets. According to the photograph's metadata, the home was razed in 1924. In 1933, Fred Trump (father to Donald) built Queens' first supermarket on this plot. The Woodhaven-born Fred Trump begun building houses two years out of high school in 1925 and spent the second half of the 1920s developing homes in southern Queens. After the homebuilding market dried up with the Depression, Trump moved briefly into the food market. Six months after opening the 'Trump Market" he sold it to the King Kullen chain.

(Supposedly, when they took the Trump sign off the market, the senior Trump vowed never to put his name on a building again. That did not last, as the giant Coney Island development of the 1960s was given his moniker, and his progeny has followed suit, only more consistently and garishly.)

Today, a supermarket still stands on the site, as does a historical marker about Fred Trump's venture.

ByUrban Archive logoUrban Archive
Privacy PolicyTerms of Service