The local Lenape native word for beaver, Jameco, became the namesake of the English settlement to the north of the pond, which became known as Jamaica.

Beaver fur attracted Dutch colonists to the region and the animal appears on the seal of New York City.

City authorities considered the industrial use of Beaver Pond a health hazard as its outflow contributed to the Brooklyn Water Works.

In April 1906, a grand jury in Queens recommended that the city fill in this "menace to the community and a drawback to the material progress of that section of Jamaica.

It is zoned for manufacturing with auto repair shops, slaughterhouses and undeveloped lots used to store car parts.