[note 1][3] In 1685, the band chief, Tackapoucha, and the English governor of the province agreed to sell the Rockaways to a Captain Palmer for 31 pounds sterling.

Palmer and the Town of Hempstead disputed over who owned Rockaway, so in 1687 he sold the land to Richard Cornell, an iron master from Flushing.

They developed the Marine Pavilion on that site, which attracted such guests as Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Washington Irving, and the Vanderbilt family.

In 1915 and 1917, a bill approving secession passed in the legislature but was vetoed by the New York City mayor John Purroy Mitchel.

New apartment complexes were built in the neighborhood following World War II, but the construction of public housing and medical institutions again caused the reputation of Far Rockaway to decline in the 1960s.

This and individual properties, such as the Russell Sage Memorial Church, Trinity Chapel, and United States Post Office are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

The railroad abandoned the Rockaway Beach Branch in 1950 because of the shift of many people to driving private cars.

[18][19] The 1970s New York City budget crisis had a negative effect on the provision of social services, and problems of poverty, unemployment and drug use increased in this area.

[21] The organization donated a collection of materials highlighting its history, correspondence, and activities to the Queens Library Archives in 2008.

[24] Far Rockaway is served by the New York City Fire Department (FDNY)'s Engine Cos. 264 and 328/Ladder Co. 134, located at 16-15 Central Avenue.

During the administration of Mayor Michael Bloomberg in 2011, many large, underperforming, older traditional high schools were closed in the city.

In 2013, New York magazine reported that the city planned to construct a public library in the neighborhood, to be designed by the internationally known architectural firm Snøhetta.

[41][42] The current building is 18,000 square feet (1,700 m2) across two stories, with a glass facade and a blue roof that collects rainwater.

[43] During the early and mid-20th century, many Jewish immigrants and their working-class descendants settled in Far Rockaway, sometimes first as summer visitors.

They founded numerous synagogues and private schools, including those devoted to all-boys or all-girls institutions for educating Orthodox children.

According to The New York Times, Far Rockaway had "flourished in the 1940s but withered...1960s" until "a few Jewish families...started the Hebrew Free Loan Society for new home buyers.