This page courtesy of the Greater Astoria Historical Society

Long Island City, just across the East River from Manhattan, is the largest community in Queens with 250,000 residents. The history of Long Island City spans more than 360 years from its humble beginning as Dutch farmland in the 1640s to its growth into a residential and commercial hub. On the western shore of Queens, the city borders East River to the north and west, Newtown creek to the south, and 51st/Hobart Street to the east. Although it has been an integral part of the history of New York City, Long Island City has its own unique past.

Chartered in 1870, Long Island City was the consolidation of the village of Astoria and several hamlets such as Steinway, Ravenswood, and Hunters Point. Long Island City existed independently from New York City for 28 years until it was incorporated by the City of New York in the consolidation of 1898.

In the beginning of the 1640s, the fertile farmland encouraged the Dutch to settle the area that is now Long Island City. The first part of Queens to be settled, this area continued as an agrarian community until the nineteenth century. In 1839, Steven Halsey, a fur merchant, founded a village at Hallet's Cove and started the 92nd Street Ferry service to Manhattan. Halsey then petitioned the state legislature to name the area for the prominent fur trader John Jacob Astor. Wealthy New Yorkers built mansions on 12th and 14th streets and on 27th Ave. The original village still exists today, with many antebellum mansions, cottages, churches and cemeteries still standing.

The Long Island Rail Road terminal was built on Hunters Point in 1861, which helped the district become an industrial center during the Civil War. After the villages were consolidated into Long Island City, the new city government encouraged the industry, which spread northward with gas plants and chemical and glass factories lining the East River waterfront. By the end of the 19th century, the city had the highest concentration of industry in the United States.

In 1909, the biggest transformation began with the opening of the Queensboro Bridge, immediately changing the community from a remote suburb to a destination minutes from Manhattan. Continuing this expansion, the Second Avenue elevated train opened in 1917 connecting Long Island City even more closely to Manhattan. Queensborough Bridge and the Second Avenue train proved only to be the beginning of the routes in and out of the Long Island City. Today Long Island City is connected with the rest of New York City by six tunnels and five bridges. The development of bridges, tunnels and roads helped make Long Island City an accessible industrial area for New York City.