Jamaica owes its strength as a major shopping area to transportation. Jamaica Avenue was once a toll road between the ferry in Brooklyn and Hempstead. The Long Island Rail Road in Jamaica developed into a major hub. King Kullen, the first self service supermarket in the U.S., opened on Jamaica Avenue in 1930.

Jamaica was a former town and capital of Queens County. The first European settlers were probably New Englanders from Hempstead. They were granted a patent by Peter Stuyvesant, governor of New Netherland, on March 21, 1656. The settlement was initially called Rusdorf. After the English conquest in 1664 the name was changed to Jameco, after the Indians who were the earliest inhabitants of the area. In 1680, the present name was adopted.

On May 17, 1686, New York governor Thomas Dongan issued a charter to the landowners of Jamaica. The Dongan Charter consolidated the various hamlets into the town of Jamaica and set its boundaries. (The Dongan Charter is on display in the Long Island Division of the Central Library.)

In 1702 Jamaica briefly served as the capital of the New York Colony during a Yellow Fever outbreak in Manhattan.

Important to the history of Jamaica is Prospect Cemetery. The cemetery, which is the oldest cemetery in Queens, dates back to 1668 and includes the graves of some of the earliest inhabitants of Jamaica.

Two of Jamaica's important landmarks are King Manor and Grace Episcopal Church. King Manor is named after Rufus King, a Massachusetts delegate to the Continental Congress, one of the two first New York Senators to Congress, a diplomat, and anti-slavery advocate. Grace Church was founded in 1702 and served as the official church of the British colonial government during the Revolutionary War. Rufus King is among those buried in the Church's graveyard.

In 1898 Queens became part of the City of New York of which Jamaica was the county seat.

Source: Queens County Library