National Register of Historic Places

Flushing High School

Queens, Queens County, New York
Listed
February 10, 1992
Type
Building
Period
Industrial
Ref No.
91002036

About this property

Flushing High School is a four-year public high school in Flushing, in the New York City borough of Queens. The school is operated by the New York City Department of Education. As of the 2020–21 school year, the school had an enrollment of 1,414 students and 92.67 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a student–teacher ratio of 15.26:1. There were 1,173 students (83.0% of enrollment) eligible for free lunch and 64 (4.53% of students) eligible for reduced-cost lunch. Flushing High School was established by the Village of Flushing in 1875 prior to its consolidation with New York City and is the oldest public high school in the city. For decades, the school enjoyed a good reputation with local real estate sales brochures touting proximity to "famed Flushing High School" as late as the 1960s. By the 1980s, the student body ceased to be drawn from the local Jewish and Asian population. As of the 2010s, the school remained generally low-performing. In an attempt to improve conditions, the entire staff had to reapply for their positions in 2017. Since then, graduation rates have increased from 63% in 2017 to 83% in 2021. Flushing High School was originally located on the northeast corner of Union Street and Sanford Avenue. It is currently located on Northern Boulevard, and housed in a distinctive Collegiate Gothic style building featuring turrets and gargoyles. It was built from 1912 to 1915, with another wing added in 1954. The WPA's Federal Art Project funded James Penney to paint four murals which were installed in 1938. The building was designated as a landmark by the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission in 1991. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1992. Dave Barbour (1912–1965), musician who played with Artie Shaw and Benny Goodman Jay Bromley (born 1992), defensive tackle who played in the XFL for the DC Defenders and also played in the NFL for the New York Giants Jerry Bock (1928–2010), musical theater composer who was co-author of the Broadway musical Fiddler On The Roof Lynn Burke (born 1943), Olympic gold medalist in swimming Calvin O. Butts (1949–2022, class of 1967), Pastor of the Abyssinian Baptist Church in Harlem and President of FHS Senior Class of 1967 Godfrey Cambridge (1933–1976), African-American actor and comedian Robert Christgau (born 1942), music critic for The Village Voice Michael Costa (born c. 1948), American football coach who was head coach of the St. Augustine's Falcons football team from 2002 to 2014. Eddie Fogler (born 1948), University of North Carolina Tar Heels basketball star and former college basketball coach

Location

35-01 Union St.
Queens, Queens County, New York
40.76510, -73.82710

Categories

ARCHITECTURE
National Register nomination ›
Sources

Property data from the National Register of Historic Places, National Park Service (public domain).

Description adapted from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

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Nearby Historic Sites

Flushing Armory
Industrial
0.2 mi
Flushing Town Hall
Civil War
0.2 mi
Bowne, John, House
Industrial
0.2 mi
Kingsland Homestead
Industrial
0.2 mi
Old Quaker Meetinghouse
Industrial
0.2 mi

Nearby Battles

Battle of Pelham
1776Revolutionary War
6.9 mi
Action at Pell's Point
1776Revolutionary War
7.4 mi

Questions about this property

When was Flushing High School listed on the National Register?

Flushing High School was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on February 10, 1992.

What type of historic resource is Flushing High School?

Flushing High School is classified as a building in the National Register of Historic Places.

What is the period of significance for Flushing High School?

The period of significance for Flushing High School is recorded as the industrial era.

Can I research the history near Flushing High School?

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