Greater Astoria Historial Society 35-20 Broadway, 4th Floor | L.I.C., NY 11106 718.278.0700 | www.astorialic.org Gallery Hours: Mondays & Wednesdays 2-5 PM Saturdays 12-5 PM Exhibits ~ Lectures ~ Documentaries ~ Books Walking Tours ~ Historical Research Unique & Creative Content For more information visit us on the web at www.astorialic.org This image adapted from an invitation to the Long Island City Athletics 33rd Annual Masque Ball, 1909. 32 july 2014 i LIC COURIER i www.queenscourier.com legends We owe most of this material to the late Vincent Seyfried who wrote a book on Astoria’s history under the request of the Greater Astoria Historical Society. Having inherited much of his exceptional collections on Queens and we have named our archives in his memory. The Village of Astoria was founded in 1839, 175 years ago. This is its story. A New York merchant, Stephen Alling Halsey was born on April 7, 1798, the son of a carpenter and lumber dealer. The Halseys had come originally from England and then moved via Massachusetts and Southampton, L.I. and New Jersey to New York City. Stephen became involved in the fur business in New York with his older brother John and in the 1830s the two were in business together under the name of John C. Halsey & Co. at 185 Water St. In 1834 Stephen Halsey purchased a residence in Flushing and in commuting back and forth to the city by steamboat daily, he could not help noticing the green Astoria peninsula at Hell Gate and how rural and attractive it looked despite its close proximity to the city. Within a year’s time he gave up his Flushing residence and moved to Hell Gate. How much of a village was already present in Astoria when Halsey settled there in 1835? We have no reliable information, the census of 1830 and 1840 lists persons by townships only and gives no specific addresses. We do know that the ferry landing was a busy enough spot to account for a few houses and taverns; there were several farms and enough of a local population to encourage the founding of St. George’s Protestant Episcopal Church in 1828. The certificate of incorporation in 1827 bears the names of the prominent residents of the 1820s: Blackwell, Fields, Gibbs, Lawrence, Leverich, Ostrander, Perrot, Polhemus, Rapalye, Rhinelander, Stevens, Suydam and Whittemore, a mixture of English and Dutch families. However, we must bear in mind that the other nearest church was St. James in Newtown Village (Elmhurst) and therefore some of the above families came not just from Astoria alone but from Ravenswood, Bowery Bay and other such outlying areas. Halsey conceived the idea of founding a new village complete with dwellings, stores, factories, schools, churches, etc. Being by now a man of means, he was able to indulge his whim and this soon turned into a consuming passion and lifelong commitment. He was fortunate in securing the help and cooperation of his elder brother, who negotiated his first purchase, the Perrot Farm, on 4th Street and the Blackwell Farm up to 8th Street, embracing nearly all the land lying between Pot and Hallett’s Coves. Between 1835 and 1840 Halsey energetically developed his land into the nucleus of a village, laying out streets and erecting houses and stores. In 1839 Halsey decided that the time had come to formally incorporate his village and the problem of a name immediately arose. Halsey’s own connection with the fur trade brought about the adoption of the name Astoria. He was personally acquainted with John Jacob Astor, the most important fur merchant of the day. It occurred to the trustees that Astor might be recruited into becoming a backer or even financial contributor to a new Episcopal Female Seminary if they did him the honor of naming the place “Astoria.” The amount needed was $2,000. After all, there was a precedent: Astoria, Oregon, had been named after the old man. Halsey is supposed to have offered to drive Astor in a carriage all around the new town and to show him the new buildings and contemplated improvements with the suggestion that it would be a philanthropic gesture on his part to donate towards the establishment of the school. LEGENDS OF LIC BY GREATER ASTORIA HISTORICAL SOCIETY LEGENDS OF LIC
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