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Photograph of Sidewalk clock on Jamaica Avenue
Photograph by jim.henderson, CC BY-SA 3.0. Via Wikimedia Commons.

Sidewalk Clock at 161-11 Jamaica Avenue, New York, NY

Listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1985. 17 historic topographic surveys show this location, the earliest from 1889.

From the record

“The sidewalk clock on Jamaica Avenue is an early-20th-century sidewalk clock at the southwest corner of Jamaica Avenue and Union Hall Street in the Jamaica neighborhood of Queens in New York City. The cast iron clock's design incorporates a bell-cast shaped column base and an anthemion finial above the dial casing.”

Wikipedia article Sidewalk clock on Jamaica Avenue, CC BY-SA 4.0.

One of 108 National Register listings published here for Queens County · listed in 1985 · category: Object.

Sources: the Wikipedia article · the case file at the National Archives · the National Register database, National Park Service

The listing

  • What is counted as historic. The nomination lists 1 object as contributing to the listing.
  • Address. 161-11 Jamaica Ave., New York, 11432
  • When was it listed? April 1985
  • Category. object
  • Also known as. Sidewalk Clocks of New York City TR
  • Borough. Queens
  • National Register reference number. 85000931 - the number the National Park Service assigned this property when it was listed, and the key its nomination file is catalogued under at the National Archives.

Then and now

1889 to 1994

The ground this property stands on, surveyed 105 years apart. Drag the handle to wipe between them. Both sheets are United States Geological Survey originals; neither has been altered.

Topographic sheet covering Sidewalk Clock at 161-11 Jamaica Avenue, New York, NY, surveyed 1994
Topographic sheet covering Sidewalk Clock at 161-11 Jamaica Avenue, New York, NY, surveyed 1889

Fires near this property

2,812 since 1992

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 2,812 fires within 5 miles of Sidewalk Clock at 161-11 Jamaica Avenue, New York, NY between 1992 and 2020, burning about 1,294 acres in total. 158 started naturally. 169 were recorded as arson. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a fire counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.

Reported cause Fires
Missing data/not specified/undetermined2024
Arson/incendiarism169
Natural158
Smoking145
Misuse of fire by a minor86
Equipment and vehicle use69
Debris and open burning62
Recreation and ceremony54
Power generation/transmission/distribution41
Fireworks2
Railroad operations and maintenance2

The most recent of them, most recent first, with the day each was reported and the service that recorded it.

DateCause SizeReported by Name on the report
9 September 2010Arson/incendiarismunder an acreFire Department of New Yorknot named
9 September 2005Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreFire Department of New Yorknot named
9 September 2005Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreFire Department of New Yorknot named
9 September 2005Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreFire Department of New Yorknot named
9 September 2005Smokingunder an acreFire Department of New Yorknot named
9 September 2004Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreFire Department of New Yorknot named
9 September 1998Missing data/not specified/undetermined3.0 acresGateway National Recreation AreaCREEK19
8 September 2020Equipment and vehicle useunder an acreFire Department of New YorkNA

Every fire recorded in Queens County

Mines and quarries near this property

1 within 5 miles

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 1 working within 5 miles of Sidewalk Clock at 161-11 Jamaica Avenue, New York, NY: 1 producer. All of them still produce. What was taken out: Sand and Gravel, Construction. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a quarry counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.

Where SiteCommodity StatusRecorded
Bay Shore PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionProducer

Every working recorded in Queens County

Maps showing this location

17 surveys

United States Geological Survey topographic sheets whose coverage includes this point. Matched by taking the coordinate the National Park Service records for this property, then testing that coordinate against the published boundary of every sheet.

Listed places nearby

6 within 8 miles

Other National Register properties close enough to walk or drive between, ordered by distance from this one. Both positions come from the same geocoding pass that matched these properties to their map sheets.

Photograph PropertyDistance Listed
Jamaica Savings Bankunder 500 feet1983
Office of the Registerunder 500 feet1980
La Casinaunder 500 feet1990
Kurtz, J., and Sons Store Buildingunder 500 feet1983
Jamaica Chamber of Commerce Buildingunder 500 feet1983
Grace Episcopal Church Complex0.2 miles1983

Sources for this property

National Archives recordThe nomination case file for reference 85000931 in Record Group 79.
Wikipedia articleCommunity-written account of this property, licensed CC BY-SA.
Queens CountyAll 108 listed properties in this county.

Provenance

  • Listing record. National Park Service National Register of Historic Places, listed-properties dataset, current to 2026-05-22.
  • Map join. Address geocoded through the United States Census geocoder, then tested against the published boundary of every sheet in the USGS Historical Topographic Map Collection.
  • How this page is made. Listing fields come from federal records; map-sheet coverage is a labelled coordinate-to-boundary calculation, not a source-field claim.
  • Wildfire. Short, Karen C. 2022. Spatial wildfire occurrence data for the United States, 1992-2020 [FPA_FOD_20221014]. 6th Edition. Fort Collins, CO: Forest Service Research Data Archive. https://doi.org/10.2737/RDS-2013-0009.6 Collected with United States Government funding and usable without additional permissions or fees.
  • Mines and quarries. USGS Mineral Resources Data System (MRDS) https://mrdata.usgs.gov/mrds/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.