Prior to the last quarter of the 19th century today’s Glendale was called Fresh Ponds. Its earliest settlers DeBevoise’, Van Cotts, Devoes, Wycoffs were either Dutch or French Huguenots who had emigrated to Holland. A fertile land blessed by water it supported a flourishing agriculture until it was developed for residential housing and small industry following the Civil War. In 1869 a realtor named Schooley renamed thecommunity Glendale in honor of his hometown of Glendale, Ohio. The many cemeteries one finds in Glendale are a consequence of the Rural Cemeteries Act of 1847. This piece of legislation was enacted by the New York State Legislature to relieve the density of burials in churchyards in urban areas. Glendale along with neighboring Ridgewood was a predominantly German immigrant community during the late 19th and early 20th cenutries. From the 1890s until 1920 Myrtle Avenue was noted for its picnicgrounds. During the first quarter of the 20th century matches, silk and textile factorie abounded along with breweries and silent movie studios. The largest employer in the 1940s was Atlas Terminal.