A History of Selwyn Park
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Selwyn Park Neighborhood was created in the late 1940s to meet the demand for affordable housing for young families after WWII. Construction of the earliest homes was completed in 1950. The housing boom was underway and Selwyn Park was soon joined by the surrounding neighborhoods. Madison Park began in the late 1950 and early 1960s. Montclaire and Parkdale in the 1960s. Originally there was a cut thru from Cortland Road East where it now dead ends at Little Hope Creek Just after crossing Valley Stream Road. The current maps shows what appears to be a street there. (It is covered with grass but the curbing is there.) Older maps dating to the early 1950s show a bridge where the road would have crossed over Little Hope Creek and connected to the Madison Park Neighborhood.
Sometime in 1951-52 Little Hope Creek flooded and the bridge was washed out on the West bank. One of the residents at that time said that heavy equipment was washed around and it took quite some time before they were able to get the equipment back to the dry areas on this side of the creek. You can still walk through the woods at the end of Buckingham Road and reach Marion Diehl Park on the other side of the creek. You will find street curbing leading to the creek. The city has never rebuilt the bridge on Cortland Road West nor did they continue Buckingham Road across the creek. Seneca Place was straightened and widened in the 1960s and sidewalks added in 2000. Park Road was made a four lane in the late 1960s and the Selwyn Park Homes on Park Road went commercial. Tyvola Road which originally ended at Marion Diehl Park was extended in the late 1960s to meet Fairview Rd. |
The current layout of the neighborhood. Arrows indicate where the streets were suppose to continue. |
Here you can see pieces of the curb that broke during the flood. This picture taken March 2011.
(click to enlarge) |
Claridge used to be named Mayfair, but there was another Mayfair in the city (off Old Steele Creek Road) so it was changed to avoid confusion. Guess they have ever hear of Queens Road, Sharon Road, etc.
On Valley Stream Road there is only one house that has a basement garage. A woman who had been the girlfriend said a former NASCAR driver had lived there. This was back in the days when corporate racing was not even a thought, it was all about the passion for racing. She said that he kept his cars in the garage and that it was where he built the engines and got them ready for the track.
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| Where the Marion Deihl Center is, was once the home of the local Soap Box Derby track. It was a paved track with a steep grade and families would build their wooden cars and they would race them there. It is a dwindling sport now across the country but at one time it brought out large crowds and families to take part in or be a spectator. |
Here is an example of Soap Box Derby.
(click to enlarge) |
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| Shopping |
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Originally there was a Harris Grocery at 5010 Park Road, in the late 1960s Colony Foods took over the site then the name was changed to Giant Genie In the early 1970s. The grocery was privately owned and continued operations until 1999. The present Park Selwyn Terrace Shopping Center was built in 2001 and opened in 2002. Auto Access to the center was blocked, as the cut through traffic was considered to be a problem. Several houses on Buckingham were bought and razed to provide more room for the shopping center and the wall was built. The first house on the left after the wall ends once had horses, an electric fence and a stable where the center's back parking lot is now found. |
| Park Road Shopping Center opened in November 1956 with a JC Penny’s, FW Woolworth and two groceries A&P and Colonial which later became Big Star and then HarrisTeeter opened the present store. The A&P was replaced by Michaels. Black Hawk Hardware is one of the city’s best stores and has been there since at least the 1970s. South Park Mall, approximately 2 miles away, opened in 1970 and has continued to grow and evolve. |
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| Today |
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Selwyn Park is a jewel bordered by Park Road, Seneca Place and Little Hope Creek. The neighborhood tucked between Parkdale to the East and Madison Park to the West. is unique with an eclectic mix of properties and people with its single and two-family dwellings. The narrow lots allow neighbors to meet, and share a sense of community. |
| The area has two parks near by: Park Road Park with tennis courts, Ball fields and hiking and picnic areas and Marion Diehl Park and Tyvola Senior Center, with swimming, track and soccer fields shared with Queens University. The Senior Center Provides activities and services for those 55 and older. The neighborhood has many excellent restaurants within walking distance. |
Park Road Park (click to enlarge) |
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Shopping is close by with Park Road Shopping Center and Southpark Shopping Center. June’s Pops in the Park is also a very easy drive or bike from the neighborhood. Public transportation is available at bus stops on Park Road and train stations at Tyvola and Old Pineville Road about 2 miles to the park and ride lot. We are 4.5 miles south of uptown with easy access to the interstates and the airports. There are many bike lanes in nearby streets and off road bike trails in Marion Diehl Park and for the more adventurous in the right-away across Tyvola under the transmission lines. After you have lived in this area for a few months other areas will not measure up,You have found your Home. |
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