Vincent F. Seyfried

Vincent Seyfried (April 18, 1918 – April 14, 2012) was an American teacher, author, World War II veteran, and historian. He is best known for his works on the history of Long Island, New York, New York City, and the Long Island Rail Road.

His work between 1950 and 2010 includes 11 books on trolley systems in Queens and on Long Island, 12 books on areas of Queens, a seven-volume set on the Long Island Rail Road, and a history of the founding of Garden City, where he served as Village Historian from 1987 to 2006. He provided many entries on Queens history for The Encyclopedia of New York City (1995).

Biography

Seyfried was born in Ridgewood, (Queens, New York City) NY on April 18, 1918, and as a child lived in Hollis.

Seyfried was a frequent contributor to the activities of the Greater Astoria Historical Society in Queens, where a room is named in honor of his efforts. He also spent many hours at the Shore Line Trolley Museum in East Haven, Connecticut helping restore their rolling stock. He was a founding trustee of the Garden City Historical Society.

Publications

The New York & Queens County Railway & The Steinway Lines 1867-1939 (1950) The Story of the Long Island Electric Railway and the Jamaica Central Railways 1894-1933 (1951) New York & Long Island Traction Company (1952) Jamaica Trolleys [The Story of the Jamaica Turnpike and Trolley Line] (1953) (reprinted 2002) Third Avenue Railway System - Roster of Equipment 1853-1953 (1953) New York & North Shore Traction Company (1955) (reprinted 2001) BRT Trolley Lines in Queens County [The Brooklyn Rapid Transit Company in Queens] (first edition, 1959) The Long Island Rail Road, a Comprehensive History - Part 1: South Side R.R. of L.I. (1961) A Long Island Academy - The Flushing Institute 1845-1901 (1997) Brooklyn Rapid Transit Trolley Lines in Queens (second edition, 1998) Old Rockaway New York in Early Photographs (with William Asadorian) (2000) Flushing in the Civil War Era 1837 to 1865 (2001) Wonderland of a Million Blooms - Flushing Cemetery (2003) The Rockaway Trolley - the Story of the Ocean Electric Railway 1886 to 1928 (2004) The Queens Boulevard Trolley - the Story of the South Shore Traction Company & the Manhattan & Queens Traction Corporation 1904-1937 (2008) North Beach - Vanished Pleasureland of Queens (2010)