The Early Days
In 1956, shopping malls were starting to dot the landscape on Long Island. St. John’s Protectory was an abandoned property on Broadway which once housed the boy’s orphanage. The 68-acre property would become Long Island's third shopping mall designed by the Walter Stackler & Leonard Frank of the Stackler and Frank Company.
The property was once owned by Bernard Earle and in 1890 was deeded to the Roman Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn for an orphanage and farm. Saint John’s Protectory was operated by the Sisters of St Joseph, under the Diocese of Brooklyn as an orphanage for boys, as well as a vegetable and dairy farm. The orphanage raised produce that was shipped, along with milk and dairy products, to St. John's and St. Joseph's Homes in Brooklyn. For many years there were 200 orphan boys at the Protectory. The older boys worked the farm and tended a herd of about 50 cows. Every
St. John's Home Sunday, Father Fuchs would be picked up by one of the older boys in a cart to offer Mass at the home before the first Mass at St. Ignatius. In 1937 the boys were transferred to Brooklyn and the orphanage was shuttered. Today, the only thing that you can find left over is the priest's home, which was moved to Burns Avenue.
In 1949, the Hicksville population started to boom and it took 15 years before the land was sold. Town leaders were able to secure a good portion of the property for the Burns Avenue Elementary School and in February of 1952, ground was broken. It would be January 5, 1953, when students were greeted by Allen Davis, Principal for Burns Avenue. During the same year, the Hicksville Fire Department held its annual Labor Day Tournament on Burns Ave with the grandstands erected on Burns Avenue, across from the School property.
