Bowman's Show Place
This is what Bowman's Showplace looks like as of 2022. It has transitioned from being a retail space to a church.
This is Bowman's Showplace in 2013. The facade has changed almost completely aside from the gable end and roof.
This is a photo of Bowman's Showplace from the 1980s taken for tax purposes. As seen in the photo, there have been some slight changes to the building facade from the 1940 tax photo.
This is a photo taken for tax purposes during 1940. This is the building in its original form.
This is the tax map for Bowman's Show Place from 2008. It is block 10951, lot 104.
This is the tax map for Bowman's Show Place from 1967. It is block 10951, lot 104.
Known Name(s)
Bowman's Show Place
Address
111-59 Farmers Blvd. St. Albins, NY
Physical Status
Extant
Description
At 111-59 Farmers Blvd, St. Albans (now Jamaica, Queens), New York, the building that housed the Bowman’s Show Place still stands. While it retains the same overall shape as it did in the 1940s, there are still some stark changes. In the 1940s, it was a two-story square building with cross gable roofs facing Farmers Boulevard and 112th Avenue. It had a brick façade with several sets of sash windows on the second story. On the first floor, there were two sets of store front windows meant to showcase retail goods to passersby on Farmers Boulevard. Below the first story windows were panels with Tudor style faux half timbering infilled with stone.
By the 1980s, there were some changes. The exterior was painted white, and awnings added to the windows. By 2013, most of the awnings were taken down, except for a long retail sign awning for a 99-cent store over the first story windows. The Tudor-style stick decoration was replaced with more windowpanes. In the present day, the awning was changed to a red and yellow one for the Shiloh Apostolic Church. The shop windows are now covered with pull down metal grates.
Detailed History
Built in 1927, 111-59 Farmers Blvd has spent most of its life as a mixed commercial and residential space. Not much is known about its early history, except that it used to be known as the Pickwick Tavern. There is an article from the Long Island Daily Press about a couple having a fiftieth wedding anniversary party at this address in 1940. Other newspaper articles reported Frank Garland, who ran the Pickwick Tavern, was accused of serving alcohol to minors in 1954.
Bowman’s Show Place first appeared in the 1961 edition of the Green Book. The Bowmans were a Black family according to the 1950 census; Lawson Bowman Jr. hailed from South Carolina and lived on Edgecombe Avenue with his wife Hyerte and son Lawson in that year. In 1973, there was an article in the NY Amsterdam News about the Bowman’s Show Place’s recently deceased owner, Lawson Bowman, and his friendship with baseball player Willie Mays.
The property has remained with the Bowman family. In 2017, Lawson Bowman IV transferred it to 111-59 Farmers Blvd LLC. At some point before 2013, it had become a 99-cent store. Currently, it is Shiloh Apostolic Church.
