Voelker Orth Museum, Bird Sanctuary and Victorian Garden

Flushing, New York,

Achieves Landmark Status

By Helga Brenner

        Surrounded by a sea of multi-storied brick buildings in historic Flushing’s Murray Hill neighborhood, not far from Northern Boulevard, a jewel from a bygone time can be found - a lovely Victorian mansion that graces the corner of 149^th Place and 38^th Avenue. Conrad Voelcker, a German emigrant from Edenkoben (German Wine Road) who came to the United States in 1881 when he was about nineteen and purchased the house in 1899.

        A self-made man, Conrad Voelcker became a successful printer and publisher. He had married Elizabeth Maibach, a first generation American, whose father, Peter Maibach, was born in Bavaria. When their daughter Theresa was about a year old they moved to Flushing and lived in the beautiful white wooden house, adorned with delicate pink Victorian trimmings.

        The Murray Hill neighborhood then was an attractive suburb of Manhattan. The Long Island Railroad already operating at the turn of the 19^th century provided Conrad Voelcker with a convenient way to travel to Long Island City from where a ferry would take him to his business in Manhattan. After the completion of the LIRR tunnel, train service extended to Penn Station. The Murray Hill Station of the LIRR is only a few minutes walk from the Victorian mansion.

        The Voelcker family made various changes to the mansion and the décor still reflects the refined tastes and genteel lifestyle of the Voelcker family. Conrad Voelcker’s first wife, Elizabeth Maibach Voelker died in 1919. After Conrad Voelcker’s death in 1930 his house became the home of Theresa Voelker, his daughter, to whom he had left most of his estate. (From her generation onward the family name was spelled without the “c”). Interestingly, among Voelcker’s other bequests he left one thousand dollars to Edenkoben, his birthplace.

        Theresa Voelker married Dr. Rudolph Orth, a physician, who in 1921 was appointed a police surgeon. Their daughter, Elisabetha Orth, lived most of her life in the Voelker-Orth homestead. Before her tragic death after a car accident in the 1995 she had established in her will the organization which now runs the museum. For nearly a century the house had been the home of three generations of one German-American family.

        As soon as one enters the mansion of the Victorian garden one is transported into another time and age. Many visitors, especially German-Americans who were born in Europe, are filled with a sense of pride and déjà vu when they enter the lovely small library or the music parlor with its grand piano. The interior reminds them of the homes of their grandparents.

        Fortunately, the museum, which is a testimony to the cultured lifestyle of the Victorian Age, continues to celebrate the heritage of the Voelker Orth family and everyone is welcome to take a tour of the house or attend the delightful events organized by the museum. Whether it is a Maifest, a Harvest and Wine Festival, a musical soiree, a lecture on horticulture or a Victorian Tea, all feel touched by the atmosphere of this lovely Victorian home.

        Elisabetha Orth would be pleased to know that in October 2007 the New York City Landmark Preservation Commission awarded the Voelker Orth Museum landmark status.

Voelker Orth Museum Public Hours:
Saturday and Sunday

Bird Sanctuary and 1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.

Victorian Garden Office Hours: Monday through Friday

149-19 38^th Avenue 9:00 to 4:00 p.m.

Flushing, NY 11354

Directions:

Telephone: 718-359-6227

By Subway - No. 7 train to Main

Website: http://www.vomuseum.org Street; then take one of the following buses:

E-mail: voelkerorthmuseum@nyc.rr.com Roosevelt Avenue: Q15

On 39^th Avenue/Lippman Plaza: Q13, Q28

Literature:

By LIRR – to Murray Hill Station on the

- The History of Murray Hill & the Port Washington Line

Voelker Orth House

By James Driscoll (Historian)

- Flushing 1880 – 1935

By James Driscoll