Conrad Poppenhusen (April 1, 1818 – December 12, 1883) was a

German American German Americans (, ) are Americans who have full or partial German ancestry. According to the United States Census Bureau's figures from 2022, German Americans make up roughly 41 million people in the US, which is approximately 12% of the pop ...

businessman. He was also a

philanthropist Philanthropy is a form of altruism that consists of "private initiatives for the public good, focusing on quality of life". Philanthropy contrasts with business initiatives, which are private initiatives for private good, focusing on material ...

, a founder of College Point, Queens, and the founder of the first free

kindergarten Kindergarten is a preschool educational approach based on playing, singing, practical activities such as drawing, and social interaction as part of the transition from home to school. Such institutions were originally made in the late 18th cen ...

in the United States (on July 1, 1870). ''See also:''

Early life

Poppenhusen was born in

Hamburg Hamburg (, ; ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg,. is the List of cities in Germany by population, second-largest city in Germany after Berlin and List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, 7th-lar ...

, Germany, in 1818.

Career

Poppenhusen worked for a whalebone purchaser before immigrating to the United States in 1843 to start a whalebone processing plant in

Brooklyn Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

, New York, New York. In 1852 Poppenhusen received a license from Charles Goodyear to produce hard rubber products and subsequently moved the company to a small rural village in

Queens Queens is the largest by area of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. Located near the western end of Long Island, it is bordered by the ...

. College Point was founded in 1870 when Poppenhusen incorporated the neighborhoods of Flammersburg and Strattonport together. For his workers in the area, Poppenhusen built housing, the First Reformed Church, and numerous streets. In 1868 Poppenhusen founded the Flushing and North Side Railroad which connected College Point and

Flushing, Queens Flushing is a neighborhood in the north-central portion of the New York City Borough (New York City), borough of Queens. The neighborhood is the fourth-largest central business district in New York City. Downtown Flushing is a major commercial ...

with ferries to

Manhattan Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...

. (Today the tracks connect to Manhattan directly via tunnels, but no longer to College Point.) In that same year he also founded the Poppenhusen Institute, containing a vocational high school and in 1870, added the first free kindergarten.

Post-career

After Poppenhusen retired in 1871, his three sons lost much of his fortune, and he declared bankruptcy for over $4 million (at least about $130 million — or perhaps as much as $1.9 billion — in 2024 dollars).

Family and personal life

Poppenhusen married Bertha Marie Henrietta Karker in May 1841. They had four children: sons Adolph Conrad (1842–1882), Heinrich Conrad (1846–1847), Herman Christian (1847–1891) and Alfred (1850–1887), and daughter Marie (1849–1874). Conrad Poppenhusen died in College Point in 1883 and was memorialized by the community with a statue in Poppenhusen Park in 1884. His remains were stored temporarily in nearby Flushing Cemetery and were then shipped months later to his native Germany where they were buried in Ohlsdorf Cemetery in Hamburg. The College Point branch of the Queens Library, built in 1904, bears his name. Additionally, streets in Hamburg and in College Point are named for him.

References

External links

Poppenhusen InstitutePoppenhusen Statue
{{DEFAULTSORT:PoppenHusen, Conrad 1818 births 1883 deaths Emigrants from the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg Immigrants to the United States American railroad executives Long Island Rail Road people Burials at the Ohlsdorf Cemetery 19th-century American philanthropists 19th-century American businesspeople