Answer:1645
As with many other parts of New York City, Flushing began its existance in the "New World" as part of the Dutch colony of New Amsterdam. But it was not settled by the Dutch.
English settlements in Queens began in the 1640s with the approval of the Dutch government. Some English from New England took up lands in Maspeth at the headwaters of Newtown Creek in 1642, only to be driven out by Indian attacks the following year. A more enduring settlement dating from 1652 began further inland at Newtown, now Elmhurst.
Other English started Flushing in 1645 and still others Jamaica in 1656. Dutch authorities gave these places Dutch names and a Dutch form of government. In October, 1645, Governor William Kieft granted a patent to establish the town of Vlissingen, today known as Flushing. Because Dutch farmers from Brooklyn settled among the English, Queens became a place of diverse cultural traditions from its outset.
your thoughts, reactions, memories. Send us your photos, drawings, pictures of your grandchildren, urls. If you think you can do better than this, send us your questions (with answers, please.) We were all there; let's be here, too.
