Greater Astoria
Historial Society
35-20 Broadway, 4th Floor | L.I.C., NY 11106
718.278.0700 | www.astorialic.org
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32 FEBRuary 2017 i LIC COURIER i www.qns.com
“On the Way
to Prosperity!”
By Greater Astoria
Historical Society
During July 1859 Long Island Rail
Road President Oliver Charlick
announced plans to build, in
partnership with Henry Anable – Long
Island City’s largest developer, a rail
terminal with machine shops, a train
yard, and a depot for both freight and
passengers. They bought land south
of Borden Avenue (then called Ferry
Street), between the waterfront and
Vernon Avenue.
The Flushing Journal followed progress
over the following spring and summer:
Extensive improvements are making
Hunter’s Point the terminal of the Long
Island R.R. Some 10 acres of land are
to be made by filling in the docks for
car houses, engine houses, machine
shops and a depot. Machines are busy
driving piles into a solid foundation for
these buildings. A fleet of sloops and
schooners are bringing in construction
material. Flushing Journal, Apr.
28, 1860
The buildings at Hunter’s Point are
now nearly ready for use. An engine
house and an 800 foot depot for passengers
and freight are nearly completed.
They are framed of heavy timber
covered with slate for fire-proofing.
The 34th Street Ferry wharves are at
the required 15 feet depth. Flushing
Journal, Aug. 18, 1860
On May 6, 1861 the first Long Island
R.R. freight train ran into Hunter’s
Point. A few days later, on May 9th,
the first passenger train arrived. The
sudden traffic from extensive rail passenger
and freight business immediately
transformed a quiet hamlet into
a bustling city.
Businesses sprang up at once to
meet new opportunities. There was a
sudden need for hotels to accommodate
passengers and commercial travelers,
saloons for commuters and railroad
crews, restaurants, boarding houses,
stores, lumber and coal yards – as well
as private houses for persons working
at these new jobs.
The city’s business community
quickly diversified beyond the needs
of travelers. With access to a rail network
embracing all Long Island, large
scale industry was now possible. An
interconnected network of rails and
boats easily moved large shipments of
raw materials and finished products.
The community was connected to both
New York City – and the world.
To build a hotel, Chadwick bought
land at the corner of Borden Avenue
and 2nd Street, which faced the railroad
station. Its first proprietor was
Charles Stevens, a popular Little
Neck inn keeper who opened the facility
in March 1861. Later known as
Tony Miller’s Hotel, it endured until
the 1920s finally closing when ferry
service ended. According to legend,
the building later lost a story to a fire.
It remained a warehouse until 1976
when its restaurant-bar was reborn
as the Waterfront Crabhouse. This
March 2017 the Crabhouse will be
156 years old
In 1861, the Flushing Journal noted,
“lots are selling quickly. We expect to
see a great improvement in Hunters
Point; the community is being launched
on the way to prosperity.”
(With thanks to our mentor, the late
Vincent Seyfried)
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This image adapted from an invitation to the
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