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Old Astoria Village
A Historically Significant Community without NYC Landmark Designation
The passage of the Landmarks Law more than 50 years ago is instrumental in saving communities from destruction. Old Astoria Village was reasonably intact at that time.
Outside of Greenwich Village or Brooklyn Heights, no community had a greater number of late 18th and early 19th century buildings. When it came to free standing structures, as opposed to row houses, none surpassed this community. It was a prime candidate for Designation.
For more than 50 years, rejection is the fate of every Request for Evaluation submitted to the Landmarks Commission each with the comment that “the building was altered” as an excuse ... notwithstanding this characteristic exists for almost all buildings that are Designated.
Astoria Ferry Landing
The earliest ferry to Hallets Point in the mid-1600s used the same location as the modern service – on Hallets Cove. The early boats were summoned by a bell on the opposite shore.
During the Revolution, the British started regular service. Steven Halsey, the “Father of Astoria” purchased steamboats that kept regular schedule between the tip of Hallets Point and Manhattan. Service terminated with the opening the Triborough Bridge in the 1930s.
There is new interest in reviving direct service to Yorkville.
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Astoria Presbyterian Church
The Astoria Presbyterian Church, at 27th Avenue (1846 – 1920s) later moved to 33rd Street off Broadway, then (about 2005) to a small location on Broadway and 23rd Street. The stained glass windows sold for installation within a Latter Day Saints Temple in Utah about 2015.
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Astoria Houses
Two small buildings (actually on 27th Avenue) were likely the two small buildings depicted in an early drawing of Ft. Stevens (a War of 1812 fortification on Hallets Point). They disappeared about 2005.
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11-45 Welling Court
Still standing (2020) it may be an 18th century survivor perhaps built when the area was a large British camp during the American Revolution. A number of adjacent buildings are gone (as of 2018) despite pleas for saving or at least conducting an archaeological assessment. A former tenant in one of the removed buildings, as a child, found a number of early 19th century coins in his yard.
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First Reformed Church of Astoria
The First Reformed Church of Astoria (1835) the oldest religious congregation in Astoria. The first building is the Fellowship Hall moved back into the former cemetery (tombstones remain on the property). Lighting struck the replacement (late 1880s) – tower now half-original size.
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James Tisdale Mansion
The Samuel Blackwell Mansion (1826 – 1950s) built in the style of an ante-bellum southern planter’s house, was on the highest ground in Astoria with a view of the East River from Roosevelt Island to Hell Gate. Fallen from glory its replaced by a church in the 1960s.
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9-29 27th Avenue
The Craig-Baylies House is a unique Greek Revival brick building in Astoria, built a decade after that style was popular in Manhattan (1840s). No architect on record.
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26-37 12th Street
Robert Blackwell House (1840s) originally had powerful freestanding columns in front. The brick and front addition we see today are 20th Century additions.
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St. George's Episcopal Church
The stone for St George’s Episcopal Church (1825 destroyed by possible arson; present building 1904) is surplus from the Queensboro Bridge construction. Churchyard has remains of many prominent 19th century Astorians.
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14-22 27th Avenue
‘Astoria Institute’ (1825 – 1860?) funded by John Jacob Astor, was a young woman’s private school, part of a revolutionary development at that time in women’s educational opportunities giving rise to the Seneca Falls Convention. 'Hallets Cove' changed its name to 'Astoria' because of this building. It was later a parish house for St. George Church. Soon after its Request for Evaluation rejected by the Landmarks Commission, demolished for the Gloria D'Amico Senior Residence, named for a late Queens County Clerk.
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"Astoria Flatiron Building"
L. Gally Furniture (1889), a four story brick building on Astoria Boulevard, just a few blocks from the Manhattan ferry, once the heart of the Astoria Village Business District. Locals dub it the “Astoria Flatiron Building.”
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Our Lady of Mount Carmel Cemetery
Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Cemetery (1844 – 1926) is at the parish’s first church site and is almost exclusively Irish. Frequently vandalized and neglected until 1983 when the grounds were fenced and cleaned.
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