Bayside Historical Society

Edification value  2/5
Entertainment value  3/5
Should you go?  2/5
Time spent  24 minutes
Best thing I saw or learned Theda Bara, Bayside Historical SocietyIn 1915, Theda Bara, about 30, so-so looks, minor acting credits, exploded into the Madonna of her time. She ranks as the first ever “vamp” in cinema, playing a succession of seductresses and destroyers of men. Every femme fatale since traces her lineage back to Ms. Bara, Bayside resident.

Bayside, Queens, is a neighborhood at the far frontier of New York City, just before it turns into Nassau County.  Today it’s not known for much, except for nice houses and high property values.

Bayside Historical Society, QueensBut just in case anyone is curious about Bayside’s past, it does have a Historical Society, which occupies a little castle of a building on the grounds of nearby Fort Totten.

Originally the officers’ mess and meeting rooms for the Army Corps of Engineers, the building looks excellent today. It shows its age, but is clearly lovingly maintained. And it boasts a modern HVAC system, which I appreciated on a warm summer day. The museum tells essentially one story, that of Bayside’s sole claim to fame. Which is, in fact, fame itself. Continue reading “Bayside Historical Society”