Conrad Poppenhusen
Encyclopedia
Conrad Poppenhusen was a German American
philanthropist
, entrepreneur, founder of College Point, Queens
, and founder of the first free kindergarten
in the United States.
Poppenhusen was born in Hamburg, Germany in 1818 and worked for a whalebone purchaser before immigrating to the United States in 1843 to start a whalebone processing plant in Brooklyn. In 1852 Poppenhusen received a license from Charles Goodyear
to produce rubber
products, and then moved the company to a small rural village in Queens.
College Point was founded in 1870 when Poppenhusen incorporated the neighborhoods of Flammersburg and Strattonport together. For his workers in the area, Poppenhusen built housing, the First Reformed Church, and numerous streets.
In 1868 Poppenhusen founded the Flushing and North Side Railroad
, which connected College Point and Flushing with ferries to Manhattan
. (Today the tracks connect to Manhattan directly via tunnels, but no longer to College Point). In that same year he also founded the Poppenhusen Institute
, containing a vocational high school and the free kindergarten. After Poppenhusen retired in 1871, his three sons lost much of his fortune, and he declared bankruptcy. Conrad Poppenhusen died in College Point in 1883 and was memorialized by the community with a statue in Poppenhusen Park in 1884.
German American
German Americans are citizens of the United States of German ancestry and comprise about 51 million people, or 17% of the U.S. population, the country's largest self-reported ancestral group...
philanthropist
Philanthropist
A philanthropist is someone who engages in philanthropy; that is, someone who donates his or her time, money, and/or reputation to charitable causes...
, entrepreneur, founder of College Point, Queens
College Point, Queens
College Point is a working-middle class neighborhood in the New York City borough of Queens. It is located north of Flushing on Flushing Bay and the East River and is part of the Queens Community Board 7. Willets Point Boulevard and the Whitestone Expressway are often the neighborhood's...
, and founder of the first free kindergarten
Kindergarten
A kindergarten is a preschool educational institution for children. The term was created by Friedrich Fröbel for the play and activity institute that he created in 1837 in Bad Blankenburg as a social experience for children for their transition from home to school...
in the United States.
Poppenhusen was born in Hamburg, Germany in 1818 and worked for a whalebone purchaser before immigrating to the United States in 1843 to start a whalebone processing plant in Brooklyn. In 1852 Poppenhusen received a license from Charles Goodyear
Charles Goodyear
Charles Goodyear was an American inventor who developed a process to vulcanize rubber in 1839 -- a method that he perfected while living and working in Springfield, Massachusetts in 1844, and for which he received patent number 3633 from the United States Patent Office on June 15, 1844Although...
to produce rubber
Rubber
Natural rubber, also called India rubber or caoutchouc, is an elastomer that was originally derived from latex, a milky colloid produced by some plants. The plants would be ‘tapped’, that is, an incision made into the bark of the tree and the sticky, milk colored latex sap collected and refined...
products, and then moved the company to a small rural village in Queens.
College Point was founded in 1870 when Poppenhusen incorporated the neighborhoods of Flammersburg and Strattonport together. For his workers in the area, Poppenhusen built housing, the First Reformed Church, and numerous streets.
In 1868 Poppenhusen founded the Flushing and North Side Railroad
Flushing and North Side Railroad
The Flushing and North Side Railroad is a former railroad on Long Island built by Conrad Poppenhusen as a replacement for the former New York and Flushing Railroad. The railroad was established in 1868, was merged with the Central Railroad of Long Island in 1874 to form the Flushing, North Shore,...
, which connected College Point and Flushing with ferries to Manhattan
Manhattan
Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
. (Today the tracks connect to Manhattan directly via tunnels, but no longer to College Point). In that same year he also founded the Poppenhusen Institute
Poppenhusen Institute
Poppenhusen Institute is a historic building at 114—04 14th Road in College Point, Queens that housed the first free kindergarten in America. Currently, the Institute operates as a community cultural center....
, containing a vocational high school and the free kindergarten. After Poppenhusen retired in 1871, his three sons lost much of his fortune, and he declared bankruptcy. Conrad Poppenhusen died in College Point in 1883 and was memorialized by the community with a statue in Poppenhusen Park in 1884.