King Manor

King Manor, also known as the Rufus King House, is located in Jamaica, Queens. It was the home of Rufus King who was a signer of the United States Constitution, a New York State Senator, and an Ambassador to Great Britain immediately after the American Revolution. It is located at 150th Street and Jamaica Avenue. Descendants of King's family lived in the house until 1896 when Rufus' granddaughter Cornelia King died and the house was sold to the Village of Jamaica. When Jamaica, along with the western half of Queens County was annexed by New York City in 1898, the house and the property were turned over to the New York City Parks Department which re-designated the land as "Rufus King Park."

The original section of King Manor is believed to date to about 1700 and served as an inn and a farmhouse. Before the King family moved in the Manor also functioned as the parsonage for two ministers of Grace Episcopal Church. Reverend Thomas Poyer lived in the house from 1710-1732 and when he died Reverend Thomas Colgan purchased it from his widow. Colgan would live in the house from 1732- 1755. While Reverend Poyer owned the house Reverend Horatio O’ Ladd described the house as having eight rooms on one floor and two good rooms upstairs. The house would pass to his son-in-law Christopher Smith in 1776 following Mrs. Colgan’s death on April 17, 1776.

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