Going Back to Breslau

Have you ever wanted to go to Germany but it’s too far away?  Did you know that Lindenhurst was started as a German town?  That is where it got its name from.  Let’s go back to the 1860’s. 

At first, there was a man named Thomas Welwood who bought a huge piece of land after the railroad was made.  He bought so much land that they named a train station after him.  A little bit later he met Charles Shchleier from Breslau, Germany. He came to America to live in Brooklyn.  A little later, Schleier became business partners with Welwood. According to the villageoflindenhurstny.gov, Charles Shchleier’s dream was to make “A Place Where German Settlers can Live and Work” .  Charles Shchleier had then told Thomas Welwood about his idea about establishing the “City of Breslau ”.    

     Thomas Welwood was a farmer before working with Charles Shchleier.  He and his wife Abby farmed on land that is known today as Montauk Highway.                                      

     Most people who came to The City of Breslau were settlers from Breslau, Germany.  Most of them came by boat to New York City, and then they came to the City of Breslau by train.  The amount of money an original house would cost was from $50 to $500.  The average cost of a house today is $500,000. That is 10,000 times more than the average price back in the 1860s.

      In 1891, people in the City of Breslau planted Lindy Trees, to remind them of their home back in Germany. Later the town’s name  changed to Lindenhurst because of the Lindy Trees. Finally, in 1923, Lindenhurst became “The Incorporated Village of Lindenhurst”. 

Thomas Welwood (top) and Charles Schleier (Bottom).