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ASTORIA Filmmaking, Beer, Pianos and an Airport Beginnings: Astoria was unofficially founded in 1652 when an adventurous Englishman, William Hallet, bought 1,500 acres along the East River from the Dutch governor, Peter Stuyvesant. Indians, not convinced the land was Stuyvesant's to sell, were appeased with beads, seven coats, four kettles and a blanket. The community became known as Hallets Cove. The Name: Stephen A. Halsey, a fur trader, and several associates founded Astoria village in 1839. Old settlers wanted to give it the Indian name Sunswick. Halsey wanted to name it after John Jacob Astor, in hopes the millionaire would bankroll the young community. Mysteriously, the names of the people who petitioned for Sunswick became attached to petitions for Astoria. The effort was in vain. The only money Astor invested in his namesake was a $500 endowment to a Young Women's Seminary. Turning Point: In the 1870s, the waterfront community expanded inland as developers bought farmland. William Steinway, the son of a German immigrant piano maker, bought 400 acres and built a spacious factory and a community called Steinway with a church, library, kindergarten and trolley line. The circa-1865 Steinway mansion, a city landmark, is the last surviving example of the grand homes that lined the Queens shore, according to the Greater Astoria Historical Society. In 1886, Steinway and brewer George Ehret founded a beach resort on Bowery Bay. The North Beach Amusement Park ended with Prohibition in 1919 and is now LaGuardia Airport. Of the many beer gardens and picnic groves that flourished amid the European immigrant population, only the Bohemia Hall and Park remains. Claim to Fame: Astoria can claim to be the birthplace of the American film industry. The Famous Players Film Co. opened in 1919, followed by Paramount Studios. After the industry moved to California, the Astoria studios turned out U.S. Army instructional films for 30 years. Restoration began in 1976, and films are once more produced at the Kaufman-Astoria Studios. The American Museum of the Moving Image opened in 1988. Where to Find More: "A History of Long Island City to 1930," in the Queens Borough Central Library, Long Island Collection, Jamaica.
BELLEROSE The City's Only Working Farm Museum Beginnings: Bellerose is an eastern Queens community not to be confused...