Discover the origins of the names of Long Island City. Also, compare
the former street names with current names on the Street
Names page.
Anable Canal (at the end of 45th road)
Built in 1868 by Henry Anable son-in-law developer of Dr. E. Nott of Hunter's
Point. During construction, a large mastodon bone was found and put on
display in a local store window.
Astoria Boulevard
Started by Steven Halsey, "The Father of Astoria," in 1835 as
a direct route to Flushing. Called the "Hallet's Cove and Flushing
Turnpike Company."
Beebe Avenue or 39th Avenue
Named for George W. Beebe who had a home at the foot of 36th Avenue on
the East River. He was a Wall Street banker and lived there from 1850
to about 1885.
Bennetts Hook
See "Hunter's Point"
Berrien Island
Cornelius Berrien bought the island and land adjacent to it in 1727. The
family farmed it until 1853.
Bliss Street or 46rd Street
Named for Neziah Bliss, a friend of Robert Fulton, was a steam boat builder
from Greenpoint, Brooklyn. His interest in boat building led to experiments
in ship building with Dr. Nott. This friendship turned to real estate
speculation in the 1830s. Dr. Nott and Mr. Bliss were partners in developing
Hunter's Point.
Blissville
Old name for the Second Ward. Small community near Calvary Cemetery on
Newton Creek. Mid nineteenth century real estate project of Neziah Bliss.
Borden Avenue
Built in 1870 to connect Dutch Kills and Blissville on Newtown Creek Named
for Col. William Borden, an owner of real estate and a colonel in the
Seventh Regiment in New York.
Bowery Bay
All the land to the west of Steinway was granted by the Dutch to their
Reformed Church, whose Deacons set up a farm ("bowerie") for
maintenance of the poor. The farm extended to Flushing Bay and included
what is now La Guardia Airport.
Bowery Bay Road or 20th Road
Described as an Indian trail running from Hazen Street to the East River.
Burger's Sluice
A ditch ran parallel and directly south of Northern Boulevard that fed
into a tide mill in today's Sunnyside Yards and Bridge Plaza where a tide
mill ground wheat. The mill stones from the mid-1640s were preserved by
the Paytar Family and are imbedded in the sidewalk at Bridge Plaza. They
are the earliest European artifacts in Queens
Degnon Terminal
Named for Michael J. Degnon, president of Degnon Contracting Co. and the
contractor on the Steinway tunnel
Dominies Hook
See "Hunter's Point"
Dutch Kills
Named for a group of plantations issued to Dutch settlers in the early
1640s, as banners of the local Dutch Kills Civic Association proudly boast.
This is the location of the first European settlement in western Queens.
Indian name is "Canapaukah" which may mean "land on the
long water." "Kill" is Dutch for "Creek."
Ditmars Boulevard
The earliest Ditmars ancestor was Jan Jansen Ditmarsen (John the Son of
John from Ditmars) who immigrated to this country from Holstein in Germany.
The first Ditmars settled in Dutch Kills about 1647. Ditmars Boulevard
and the East River the was the site of Dr. Dow Ditmars' home. The doctor,
who died in 1860 at 90, was held in high esteem by the community. A son,
Abram Ditmars, later became the first Mayor of Long Island City in 1870.
Ely Avenue or 23rd Street
Charles Ely was a partner of Rev. Eliphant Nott, the developer of Hunter's
Point. In the early 1850s, Mr. Ely was hired to level hills and fill in
swamps to create lots for prospective developers.
Emerald Street
See "Van Alst Street"
German Settlement
The United Cabinet Workers Cooperative Association purchased several farms
on Broadway between 35th Street and 50th Street in 1870. Thousands of
home sites were sold developing the central Astoria/Steinway Street area.
Gleasonville
Property owned by Long Island City's last colorful Mayor, Battle-Axe Gleason.
Property was north of Northern Boulevard in Woodside. He formed the "Citizens
Water Supply Co." and attempted to sell water to Long Island City.
Hallet's Cove
Location of estate of William Hallet, Sr. who in 1652 received a grant
of land in what is today Astoria. He also purchased land from the Indians
(the deed still exists in the State Archives in Albany.)
Hazen Street
One source suggested that Hazen, a family name, was a variant spelled
Heffard (in Flushing) and Hazard (in Rhode Island)
Hell Gate
The name is obscure, the Dutch rendering, "Hellgat," translated
as "open passage" (to Long Island Sound. Certainly it earned
its reputation as a difficult waterway with tricky tides and many obstructions
given such colorful names as the Gridiron, Pot Rock, Hen & Chickens,
Niggerhead, Bald-headed Billy, Shell Drake Rock, Frying Pan Rock, and
Way's and Bread & Cheese Reefs. Indian legend held that at low tide
it was possible to jump to each reef crossing Hell Gate without swimming.
During the Revolution, a
British pay ship "Hussar" sank at in the passage, but no treasure
was recovered (some suspect the sinking was a cover-up for theft of the
money.) During much of the nineteenth century, the Hell Gate Pilots Association
guided ships through the passage. In the 1870s the reefs were blasted;
supposedly the explosion was heard as far away as Newark.
Honeywell Street
The architect H. W. Honeywell built Thomson Avenue and may have given
his name to a cross street. See "Rawson Street"
Hoyt
Millionaire Edwin Hoyt and ex-governor William Sprague of Rhode Island were
partners in a dry goods business in New York in the 1860s and 1870s. William Sprague Hoyt and
Sprague married sisters, the daughters of Salmon P. Chase, Chief Justice
and member of President Lincoln's cabinet. (For trivia fans, Mr. Chase's
face is on the $10,000 bill and is the namesake of the Chase Manhattan
Bank.)
Hoyt Avenue or Lawrence Lane, later Linden Street
The Hoyt Family lived in Astoria in the nineteenth century. The Lawrence
family lived in Astoria in the eighteenth century. The street was once
lined with Linden trees. It was near a stream "Vleigh Brook"
that drained into Pot Cove.
Hunter's Point
Named Dominie's Hook for a farm granted to New Amsterdam's first minister,
Dominie Bogardus in the 1640s. The land became Bennett's Hook after William
Bennett who lived there in the late eighteenth century. His daughter married
Captain George Hunter, and the name changed to Hunters Point. Supposedly
the "Point" came from rocks that extended into the East River.
Jackson Avenue or Northern Boulevard
This road was opened about 1860 to connect Flushing with the ferries at
Hunters Point. President of the Hunter's Point, Flushing and Newtown Turnpike
Company was John C. Jackson whose leadership and effort caused the road
to be built. The road extends in a straight line from his house, which
was at 51st Street, to Flushing.
Laurel Hill
A small hamlet from the seventeenth century along Newtown Creek. Laurel
Hill Boulevard runs under the Long Island Expressway to Elmhurst.
Linden Street
See "Hoyt Avenue"
Long Island City
The name was first suggested by Captain Levy Hayden in 1853 who believed
that Hunter's Point, Astoria and Ravenswood would someday unite into a
city. The name was picked up and popularized by a newspaper, the "Long
Island City Star."
Lowery Street or 40th Street
The Lowery Farm was at Northern Boulevard and 46th Street.
Main Avenue
William Hallet, Sr. divided his farm between his two sons along this street
line.
Middleton
This early eighteenth century hamlet still exists in a cluster of old
homes on Newtown Road and 46th Street. In 1721 one of the first schools
in Queens was built at this intersection of Hallet's Road (to Hell Gate)
and Ridge Road (to Hunter's Point.) One hundred years later a bag containing
thousands of dollars in gold coins (which were hidden during the Revolution)
was found in its walls.
Newtown Creek
Originally Maspeth Creek, the name Newtown honors the second 1652 settlement
of the Town of Newtown (the first 1642 settlement at Masepth was destroyed
by Indians.)
Newtown Road/ Newtown Avenue
The mid-seventeenth century lane to the Hallet farm at Hell Gate started
at Woodside Avenue/Northern Boulevard, followed Newtown Road to 30th Avenue,
then Newtown Avenue to Hell Gate. Accounts during the Revolution mention
Hessian soldiers marching up Newtown Road en route to crossing the East
River in the Battle of Kips Bay in Manhattan. Ironically, some wanted
to build a statue to British Monarch Queen Catherine near the Revolutionary
War site.
Payntar Avenue or 40th Avenue
This family, one who became Mayor of Long Island City, owned much of the
land near Bridge Plaza.
Penny Bridge
The Long Island Rail Road recently closed this historic stop on Newtown
Creek. Through much of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, it was
a toll bridge on the Bushwick & Newtown Turnpike. Back to the seventeenth
century, it was the location of a ferry between Laurel Hill / Maspeth
and Greenpoint / Bushwick. The ferry was started by Humphrey Clay, an
associate of pirate Captain Kidd.
Rawson Street or 37th Street
The firm of Moore & Rawson of Greenpoint completed Thomson Avenue
and may have given their names to the cross streets. See "Honeywell
Street"
Ravenswood
Col. George Gibbs purchased land in 1814 with the intent of developing
a private residential park and adopted the name "Ravenswood,"
perhaps from a location mentioned in Sir Walter Scott's novel "Bride
of Lammermoor," a novel popular at the time.
Ridge Road
Road from Middleton to Dutch Kills. The beginning of the road can be seen
behind a house at 46th Street and Newton Avenue.
Riker's Island
The Riker family trace their German-Dutch roots back to the crusades nearly
1,000 years ago. Abraham Riker immigrated in 1638, and received a grant
for the property in 1652. The family received Riker's Island in 1664,
when Governor Stuyvesant deeded it to the family. They owned the 85 acre
island until 1884 when the city purchased it for a penal colony.
Skillman Avenue
Name of early family in area
Steinway Street
The Steinway family of piano fame, bought land in 1870 to for space in
their growing business and to avoid labor problems in Manhattan. The family
took a leading role in developing a community and bringing in transportation.
Steinway Street was named in the 1870s in their honor.
Steinway
This area, built before the 1880s, was the company town for the piano
factory. This self-contained community included a free library, churches,
transportation and an amusement park! The obsolete street names on the
buildings honor Steinway family members.
Sunnyside
This area is named for a roadhouse built on Jackson Avenue to accommodate
visitors to the Fashion Race Course in Corona during the 1850s and 1860s.
Sunswick Creek
A drained marsh near the foot of Broadway. Scholars believe it may come
from an Indian word "Sunkisq" meaning perhaps "Woman Chief"
or "Sachem's Wife."
Thomson Avenue or Queens Boulevard
James Thomson was a wealthy New Yorker who invested in Hunters Point.
He purchased several farms in the 1860s for real estate speculation.
Van Alst Street or 21st Street
The first settler near Dutch Kills was Joris Stevensen Van Alst who received
a grant in 1670. This street was laid across Sunswick Creek and meadows
from Hallet's Farm to Dutch Kills. It was later known as Emerald Street
as there was a large settlement of Irish near Astoria Boulevard in the
mid-nineteenth century.
Van Dam Street
Van Dam is an old Dutch family name associated with Manhattan (Van Dam
Street in New York.)
Welling Court
Originally known as Welling Street and Greenoak Street, names of two early
families in the area. The street was the lane leading to William Hallett's
house and the land between it and Main Avenue defined the shape of the
Hallet garden.
Woodside
The name is derived from a series of articles entitled "Letters from
Woodside" written by newspaperman John Andrew Kelley, the son of
a mid-nineteenth century resident.
Woodside Avenue, earlier Hurl Gate Road, earlier Road to Narrow Passage Either and Indian Trail or one of the fist road built, this was the
main road from western Queens to the Village of Newtown. A tongue of dry
land between the swamps of "Long Trains Meadow" (towards Jackson
Heights), "Wolf Swamp (towards Maspeth) and Burger's Sluice (along
Northern Boulevard.) Strategic point garrisoned by Hessians during the
Revolution. The slight hump in the terrain at Woodside Ave. and Northern
Blvd. may have been a beaver dam.
(Elmhurst)
Grand Avenue was known at the "Old Road to the Town Dock".
Grand Avenue, Calamus Avenue, and Maurice Avenue were probably the first
road.
Broadway ran only as far as Woodside Avenue, where it continued in a
series of Indian trails (called Newtown Road in Astoria) leading to the
Hell Gate.
Queens Boulevard started at the intersection of Broadway and Grand. It
was known earlier as "Hoffman Boulevard," and still earlier
as "the road to Jamaica". They are from the 1600s.
Woodhaven Boulevard was called "Trotting Course Lane," and
yet earlier," the Road to Jamaica Bay."
